Publications by authors named "M J W Berends"
Aims: Wild-type transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTRwt-CM) is an under-recognized aetiology of heart failure (HF), necessitating early detection for timely treatment. Our study aimed to differentiate patients with ATTRwt-CM from ATTRwt-negative HFpEF/HFmrEF patients by identifying and validating circulating protein biomarkers. In addition, we measured the same biomarkers in patients with cardiomyopathy due to light chain amyloidosis (AL)-CM to gain disease-specific insights.
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- A systematic review analyzed studies on NfL levels in patients with systemic amyloidosis, including data from 1604 participants, revealing that higher NfL levels indicate the presence of polyneuropathy.
- The findings suggest NfL can be useful for early detection, monitoring of disease progression, and evaluating treatment responses in systemic amyloidosis, though it shouldn't be used as a final outcome measure.
Objective: To evaluate serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) as biomarker of disease onset, progression and treatment effect in hereditary transthyretin (ATTRv) amyloidosis patients and variant (v) carriers.
Methods: sNfL levels were assessed longitudinally in persistently asymptomatic v carriers ( = 12), persistently asymptomatic ATTRv amyloidosis patients (defined as asymptomatic patients but with amyloid detectable in subcutaneous abdominal fat tissue) ( = 8), in v carriers who developed polyneuropathy ( = 7) and in ATTRv amyloidosis patients with polyneuropathy on treatment (TTR-stabiliser ( = 20) or TTR-silencer ( = 18)). Polyneuropathy was confirmed by nerve conduction studies or quantitative sensory testing.
Article Synopsis
- Duodenoscopes, which are tools used in certain medical procedures, can spread dangerous germs that are hard to treat.
- An investigation into patients who got sick after using the same duodenoscope found that some of them had infections caused by harmful bacteria.
- Even though regular testing of the duodenoscope didn’t find any germs, a deeper investigation revealed that a specific part of the tool was contaminated.