Reproducibility and Repeatability in Focus: Evaluating LVEF Measurements with 3D Echocardiography by Medical Technologists.

Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) is currently the preferred method for monitoring left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in cancer patients receiving potentially cardiotoxic anti-neoplastic therapy. In Denmark, however, the traditional standard for LVEF monitoring has been rooted in nuclear medicine departments utilizing equilibrium radionuclide angiography (ERNA). Although ERNA remains a principal modality, there is an emerging trend towards the adoption of echocardiography for this purpose.

Empagliflozin to elderly and obese patients with increased risk of developing heart failure: Study protocol for the Empire Prevent trial program.

Introduction: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have previously demonstrated cardioprotective properties in patients with type 2 diabetes, suggesting a preventive effect on heart failure (HF). The Empire Prevent trial program investigates the therapeutic potential for HF prevention by evaluating the cardiac, metabolic, and renal effects of the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin in patients with increased risk of developing HF, but without diabetes or established HF.

Methods: The Empire Prevent trial program is an investigator-initiated, double-blind, randomized clinical trial program including elderly and obese patients (60-84 years, body mass index >28 kg/m) with at least one manifestation of hypertension, cardiovascular or chronic kidney disease, but no history of diabetes or HF.

Effects of an early intervention with Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment on arm lymphedema and quality of life after breast cancer-an explorative clinical trial.

Purpose: Lymphedema (LE) is a common complication after breast cancer treatment, which negatively affects the quality of life (QOL). Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment (HBOT) is an established treatment for radiation-induced tissue injury, but evidence of effect on breast cancer-related LE is inconclusive. We aimed to explore effects of HBOT on early breast cancer-related LE and the implications for QOL.

Dopamine Synthesis Capacity and GABA and Glutamate Levels Separate Antipsychotic-Naïve Patients With First-Episode Psychosis From Healthy Control Subjects in a Multimodal Prediction Model.

Background: Disturbances in presynaptic dopamine activity and levels of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) and glutamate plus glutamine collectively may have a role in the pathophysiology of psychosis, although separately they are poor diagnostic markers. We tested whether these neurotransmitters in combination improve the distinction of antipsychotic-naïve patients with first-episode psychosis from healthy control subjects.

Methods: We included 23 patients (mean age 22.

Changes in quality of life 6 months after parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism.

Objective: The extent of symptoms due to primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) depends on the population being studied. PHPT is mainly discovered incidentally through routine laboratory findings. Less is known about patient-experienced improvement following successful parathyroidectomy.

Dopaminergic Activity in Antipsychotic-Naïve Patients Assessed With Positron Emission Tomography Before and After Partial Dopamine D Receptor Agonist Treatment: Association With Psychotic Symptoms and Treatment Response.

Background: Dopamine activity has been associated with the response to antipsychotic treatment. Our study used a four-parameter model to test the association between the striatal decarboxylation rate of F-DOPA to F-dopamine (k) and the effect of treatment on psychotic symptoms in antipsychotic-naïve patients with first-episode psychosis. We further explored the effect of treatment with a partial dopamine D receptor agonist (aripiprazole) on k and dopamine synthesis capacity (DSC) determined by the four-parameter model and by the conventional tissue reference method.

Enhanced Physiological Stress Response in Patients with Normal Tension Glaucoma during Hypoxia.

Purpose: To investigate whether patients with normal tension glaucoma (NTG) show an enhanced stress response to reduced oxygen supply compared to age-matched healthy controls, measured by serum adrenaline and endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels and changes in distal finger temperature.

Methods: A thorough clinical characterization of patients with NTG and age-matched controls was performed prior to inclusion in the study. Twelve patients with NTG and eleven healthy controls met the inclusion criteria and were enrolled in the study.

Locating hyperfunctioning parathyroid glands using C-Choline PET/CT: an inter- and intra-observer variation study.

Background: Use of C-Choline PET/CT is gaining ground in detecting hyperfunctioning parathyroid glands in primary hyperparathyroidism. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the robustness of C-Choline PET/CT by assessing intra- and inter-observer agreement to determine whether the method was reader sensitive and therefore should only be performed at highly specialised sites with a high number of cases. PET/CT images of 40 patients diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism were anonymised and evaluated three times by three readers: an expert reader and two non-experts (non-experts were experienced in PET/CT imaging, but not in C-Choline PET/CT in the setting of primary hyperparathyroidism).

Vibration Perception Threshold and Heart Rate Variability as methods to assess chemotherapy-induced neuropathy in women with breast cancer - a pilot study.

Purpose: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a recognized adverse effect of standard (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer (BC) treatment. However, there is no consensus on a validated method for assessing CIPN. Heart rate variability (HRV) and vibration perception threshold (VPT) could be used as objective measures to describe CIPN.

Infrared Thermography as a Method of Verification in Raynaud's Phenomenon.

Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is characterized by the episodic whitening of the fingers upon exposure to cold. A recently described thermographic algorithm was proposed as a diagnostic replacement of the currently applied finger systolic pressure (FSP) test. The aim of the study was to evaluate the performance of the thermographic algorithm when applied in patients suspected of having RP.

Heart rate variability and vibration perception threshold to assess chemotherapy-induced neuropathy in women with breast cancer - a systematic review.

Background: It is well known that breast cancer (BC) patients often suffer from chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). However, it is not always recognized that they have higher risk of falling, dizziness and other signs of dysfunctional autonomous nervous system. We performed a systematic review of the literature on vibration perception threshold (VPT) and heart rate variability (HRV) as methods to objectively assess (CIPN) in BC-patients.

Effects of empagliflozin on estimated extracellular volume, estimated plasma volume, and measured glomerular filtration rate in patients with heart failure (Empire HF Renal): a prespecified substudy of a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: SGLT2 inhibitors are a promising treatment option in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction. We aimed to investigate the effects of empagliflozin on estimated extracellular volume, estimated plasma volume, and measured glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction.

Methods: Empire HF Renal was a prespecified substudy of the investigator-initiated, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled Empire HF trial.

C-Choline PET/CT vs. Tc-MIBI/Iodide Subtraction SPECT/CT for Preoperative Detection of Abnormal Parathyroid Glands in Primary Hyperparathyroidism: A Prospective, Single-Centre Clinical Trial in 60 Patients.

Background: In patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) locating hyperfunctioning glands (HPGs) is crucial when planning minimally invasive surgery. Dual-isotope subtraction scintigraphy with Tc-MIBI/Iodide using SPECT/CT and planar pinhole imaging (Method A) has previously shown a sensitivity >93%. However, the method is costly and time consuming and entails a high radiation dose.

Hypophosphatemic Hypovitaminosis D Induces Osteomalacia in the Adult Female Rat.

Osteomalacia is a bone-demineralizing disease of adulthood, often caused by hypovitaminosis D. Current animal models of the disease mimic osteomalacia as a consequence of gastric bypass or toxic exposure to metals, but a relevant model of diet-induced osteomalacia is lacking. For that purpose, 7-month-old female Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned into 2 weight-stratified groups and maintained for 4 months on synthetic diets containing negligible or normal levels of vitamin D.

The relation between dopamine D receptor blockade and the brain reward system: a longitudinal study of first-episode schizophrenia patients.

Background: Psychotic symptoms have been linked to salience abnormalities in the brain reward system, perhaps caused by a dysfunction of the dopamine neurotransmission in striatal regions. Blocking dopamine D2 receptors dampens psychotic symptoms and normalises reward disturbances, but a direct relationship between D2 receptor blockade, normalisation of reward processing and symptom improvement has not yet been demonstrated. The current study examined the association between blockade of D2 receptors in the caudate nucleus, alterations in reward processing and the psychopathology in a longitudinal study of antipsychotic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia patients.

Oxygen conserving mitochondrial adaptations in the skeletal muscles of breath hold divers.

Background: The performance of elite breath hold divers (BHD) includes static breath hold for more than 11 minutes, swimming as far as 300 m, or going below 250 m in depth, all on a single breath of air. Diving mammals are adapted to sustain oxidative metabolism in hypoxic conditions through several metabolic adaptations, including improved capacity for oxygen transport and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in skeletal muscle. It was hypothesized that similar adaptations characterized human BHD.

Modulation of the sympathetic nervous system in youngsters by vitamin-D supplementation.

The level of circulating vitamin D is known to be associated with the ejection fraction in heart failure patients and studies in rats have shown that vitamin D depletion leads to increased levels of circulating norepinephrine and decreased atrial contractility. We elucidated the effects of vitamin D supplementation on the autonomous nervous system in healthy youngsters. Thirty healthy subjects aged 18-25 years were recruited based on their serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D): 15 vitamin D insufficient (25[OH]D < 50 nmol/L) and 15 vitamin D sufficient (25[OH]D > 80 nmol/L) subjects.

Determinants of vitamin D status in young adults: influence of lifestyle, sociodemographic and anthropometric factors.

Background: Very few studies have investigated the determinants of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) in young adults (18-25 years old) using a set of variables that include lifestyle, sociodemographic, and anthropometric data. Our aim was to investigate the association between these variables and vitamin D status in a sample of untreated young adults.

Methods: A total of 738 young adults were enrolled in a (June cross-sectional study 2012 to May 2014) and were recruited from educational institutions in the Copenhagen area.

Physical exercise associated with improved BMD independently of sex and vitamin D levels in young adults.

Purpose: Young men and women accrue the majority of their bone mass in their teens and twenties, where their bone mass peaks (PBM), yet little is known about the roles of physical exercise, vitamin D levels and bone mineral density (BMD) near PBM.

Methods: To comparatively examine the effect of physical exercise and two vitamin D levels (insufficient s-25[OH]D <50 nmol/L and sufficient s-25[OH]D >80 nmol/L) on the BMD measured at the femoral neck, total hip (bilaterally) and the lumbar spine (L2-L4) in male and female participants approaching PBM.

Results: The insufficient s-25[OH]D group, median age 21.

Radioiodine Therapy Does Not Change the Atherosclerotic Burden of the Carotid Arteries.

Background And Aim: Atherosclerosis evolves or accelerates when arteries are exposed to ionizing radiation, both early and late after exposure. Radioiodine therapy of benign thyroid disease exposes the carotid arteries to 4-50 Gy, and may thereby increase the risk of atherosclerosis. Increased risk of cerebrovascular events has been reported after radioiodine therapy.