Publications by authors named "Marco Pons"

Background: Venous thromboembolism is a dreaded complication of hospitalised patients, with associated morbidity, mortality and increased healthcare costs. Previous studies have shown that pharmacological thromboprophylaxis, though effective, is inadequately administered in a large proportion of medical inpatients.

Study Aims: Our primary aim was to evaluate the contemporary adequacy of thromboprophylaxis in medical inpatients admitted to two Swiss hospitals (a university hospital and a regional hospital).

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All over the world, SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia is causing a significant short and medium-term morbidity and mortality, with reported persisting symptoms, radiological and lung alterations up to 6 months after symptoms onset. Nevertheless, the 1-year impact on affected patients is still poorly known. In this prospective observational study, 39 patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia were recruited from a single COVID-19 hospital in Southern Switzerland.

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We present the unusual case of a 62-year-old male with profound asthenia and dyspnea for the last two months. Blood exams showed a severe hypercalcemia. Suspecting an underlying malignancy, we performed a 18F-FDG PET-CT, revealing widespread metabolic uptakes in muscles, consistent with an inflammatory process.

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Introduction: Sleep-related breathing disorders are highly prevalent in patients with ischemic stroke. Among sleep-disordered breathing disorders, obstructive sleep apnea is the most represented one, but central sleep apnea, isolated or in the context of a periodic breathing/Cheyne-Stokes respiration, is frequently reported in these patients. Altered baroreflex responses have been reported in the acute phases of a cerebral event.

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Obesity has complex links to respiratory health. Mendelian randomization (MR) enables assessment of causality of body mass index (BMI) effects on airflow obstruction and mid-expiratory flow. In the adult SAPALDIA cohort, recruiting 9,651 population-representative samples aged 18-60 years at baseline (female 51%), BMI and the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV) to forced vital capacity (FVC) as well as forced mid-expiratory flow (FEF25-75%) were measured three times over 20 follow-up years.

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Background: All over the world, SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia is causing a significant short-term morbidity and mortality, but the medium-term impact on lung function and quality of life of affected patients are still unknown.

Methods: In this prospective observational study, 39 patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia were recruited from a single COVID-19 hospital in Southern Switzerland. At three months patients underwent radiological and functional follow-up through CT scan, lung function tests, and 6 min walking test.

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Noise exposure is affecting health-related quality of life (HRQoL). There are many modelling approaches linking specific noise sources with single health-related outcomes. However, an integrated approach is missing taking into account measured levels as well as noise annoyance and sensitivity and assessing their independent association with HRQoL domains.

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CME: Legionella pneumonia Legionnaire's disease is a usually severe form of pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophila, a Gram-negative bacterium with an airborne transmission. The infection is acquired in the community, but cases of hospital acquisition from hot water systems have been described. The most common clinical features are cough, fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, hyponatremia and altered liver function tests.

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Transportation noise leads to sleep disturbance and to psychological and physiological sustained stress reactions, which could impact respiratory health. However, epidemiologic evidence on associations of objective transportation noise exposure and also perceived noise annoyance with respiratory morbidity is limited. We investigated independent associations of transportation noise exposure and noise annoyance with prevalent respiratory symptoms and incident asthma in adults.

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Background: The pathophysiological role of SERPINA1 in respiratory health may be more strongly determined by the regulation of its expression than by common genetic variants. A family based study of predominantly smoking adults found methylation at two Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine sites (CpGs) in SERPINA1 gene to be associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk. The objective of this study was to confirm the association of lung function with SERPINA1 methylation in general population samples by testing a comprehensive set of CpGs in the SERPINA gene cluster.

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Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not restricted to smokers. Dietary habits may contribute to the disease occurrence. Epidemiological studies point to a protective effect of fruit and vegetable intake against COPD.

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Background And Aims: Alpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT) is the most abundant serine protease inhibitor in human blood and exerts important anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory effects. In combination with smoking or other long-term noxious exposures such as occupational dust and fumes, genetic A1AT deficiency can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a condition with elevated cardiovascular risk. The effects of A1AT deficiency on cardiovascular risk have hardly been studied today.

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Introduction: Smoking is still the most preventable cause of disease and premature death in Switzerland, as elsewhere. We aimed to assess the main determinants of smoking cessation in the population-based cohort of SAPALDIA (Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults).

Methods: The SAPALDIA study was initiated in 1991 with 9651 participants aged 18 to 60 years from eight areas (S1).

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The restrictive spirometric pattern is associated with a substantial morbidity and mortality burden. We sought to determine to what extent spirometric restriction is associated with impaired quality of life.We used data from two large population-based European cohorts: 6698 European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) and 6069 Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA) adult participants.

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Rationale: The association between early menarche and new onset of asthma warrants further investigation in those aged >30 years.

Objectives: Using data from the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA), we investigated whether early menarche was associated with new onset of asthma in women aged 18-60 years at baseline.

Methods: Our analysis included 2492 women with information on age at menarche and doctor-diagnosed asthma, who had been asthma free at the time of menarche and had complete covariate information.

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Healthy lifestyles are integral in preventing and treating common cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The aim of this study was to observe smoking habits, alcohol intake, physical activity and body mass index over a 10-year period in a population-based cohort, particularly focusing on participants with hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Included were 4155 participants from the first (2001-2003) and second (2010-2011) follow-ups of the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Disease in Adults (SAPALDIA).

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Background: Overweight has been associated with an increase in inflammatory markers and with an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system, such as a decrease in heart rate variability (HRV). In this study we aimed to investigate the modifying effect of a genetic variation in a major anti-inflammatory marker gene, NFE2L2, on the relationship between overweight and HRV.

Methods: We analyzed participants of the SAPALDIA cohort aged 50years and older, twice in 2002/2003 (N=1472) and 2010/2011 (N=1235).

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Questions Under Study: High blood pressure, the single leading health risk factor worldwide, contributes greatly to morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to add to the understanding of diagnosed and undiagnosed high blood pressure in Switzerland and to evaluate adherence to hypertension guidelines.

Methods: Included were 3962 participants from the first (2001-2003) and second (2010-2011) follow-ups of the population-based Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Disease in Adults.

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Exposure to ambient air pollution (AP) exposure has been linked to type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk. Evidence on the impact of T2D genetic variants on AP susceptibility is lacking. Compared to single variants, joint genetic variants contribute substantially to disease risk.

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Lung function is an independent predictor of mortality and serves as an aging marker in never smokers. The protein sirtuin-1 of gene SIRT1 has profound anti-inflammatory effects and regulates metabolic pathways. Its suggested longevity effects on lower organisms remain poorly studied in humans.

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