Echocardiographic evaluation of the right ventricular dimension and systolic function in dogs with pulmonary hypertension.

Background: Right ventricular (RV) enlargement and dysfunction are associated with prognosis in humans with pulmonary hypertension (PH).

Hypothesis/objectives: To assess RV size and systolic function in dogs with PH and to determine if they are associated with disease severity and right-sided congestive heart failure (R-CHF).

Animals: 89 dogs with PH and 74 healthy dogs.

Clinical significance of congestive heart failure in prosthetic valve endocarditis. A multicenter study with 257 patients.

Introduction And Objectives: There have been no studies conducted in the past that focus on the significance of congestive heart failure in patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis. We studied the incidence of congestive heart failure in patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis and analyzed its profile. In this study, we addressed the prognostic significance of heart failure in patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis and analyzed its outcome based on chosen therapeutic strategies.

The significance of antiretroviral-associated acute kidney injury in a cohort of ambulatory human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients.

Background: To determine the incidence and significance of acute kidney injury (AKI) after initiating highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Methods: A prospective cohort study of 271 consecutively treated HIV-infected patients, initiating first (75) or sequential HAART (196) from January 2008 to June 2011. AKI was diagnosed according to the Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss of kidney function, End-stage renal disease (RIFLE)/Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria, and the risk of progression to chronic kidney disease (CKD) was evaluated.

Social isolation in HIV-infected patients according to subjective patient assessment and DEXA-confirmed severity of lipodystrophy.

This study was designed to investigate the persistence of lipodystrophy (LD)-related social distress and isolation in HIV-infected patients in the current era, according to confirmatory dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) measurements. Cross-sectional interview data were collected from 168 HIV-positive adult patients taking more than 2 years of antiretroviral therapy (133 cases with LD diagnosed a mean of 7.2 years before; 35 without LD, controls).

Lipid-lowering effect and efficacy after switching to etravirine in HIV-infected patients with intolerance to suppressive HAART.

Purpose: Etravirine (ETR) has shown a good lipid profile in previous studies. The aim of this study was to determine the virologic, immunologic, and lipid outcome in HIV-infected patients switching to an ETR-based antiretroviral regimen due to intolerance or toxicity.

Methods: Observational cohort study of 125 HIV-infected patients who switched therapy to an ETR-based regimen.

Short communication: lamivudine plus a boosted-protease inhibitor as simplification strategy in HIV-infected patients: proof of concept.

There are scarce data about the use of a dual therapy with lamivudine plus a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor (PI/r) as simplification strategy. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 44 HIV-infected patients on suppressive triple therapy PI/r-based HAART, HBV negative, who discontinued one nucleoside analogue (NA) due to toxicity, and continued dual therapy with lamivudine plus the PI/r. The median time of HIV infection was 18.

Proximal tubular renal dysfunction or damage in HIV-infected patients.

Antiretroviral-associated toxicity, especially in the case of tenofovir plus boosted protease inhibitors, could affect different functions of the proximal renal tubule. Considering the long-term use of antiretroviral therapy and the concomitant presence of other risk factors, several degrees of proximal tubular toxicity, from chronic subclinical renal dysfunction to Fanconi syndrome, could be observed in HIV-infected patients. However, the clinical significance of isolated tubular dysfunction, in the short and long term, remains unclear.

The use of biomarkers for assessing HAART-associated renal toxicity in HIV-infected patients.

Renal toxicity has become an important issue in HIV-infected patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Several biomarkers are available for monitoring renal function, although no consensus exists on how best to apply these tools in HIV infection. The best biomarker is the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and several creatinine-based estimates equations of GFR are widely used in HIV infection, with clinical advantages for the equation developed by Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI).

Safety and pharmacokinetics of lopinavir in HIV/HCV coinfected patients with advanced liver disease.

Purpose: There are few data about the safety and pharmacokinetics of lopinavir in HIV/HCV coinfected patients with very advanced liver disease.

Method: Prospective study of 60 HIV/HCV coinfected patients who underwent a liver biopsy and received a lopinavir-based regimen. The rate of hepatotoxiciy and plasma trough levels were determined in absence/presence of cirrhosis (25 cases), especially in 11 patients with Child-Pugh stage B-C.

HIV-1 infection and neurocognitive impairment in the current era.

Brain HIV-1-infection may result in a syndrome of profound cognitive, behavioral and motor impairment known as AIDS dementia complex (ADC) in adults and HIV-related encephalopathy in children. Although the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has prolonged and improved the lives of infected individuals, it is clear that HAART does not provide complete protection against neurological damage in HIV/AIDS. HIV-1 associated dementia is a complex phenomenon, which could be the result of several mechanisms caused by those players using different intracellular signaling pathways.

Broncholithiasis in a cat: clinical findings, long-term evolution and histopathological features.

A 14-year-old neutered male Persian cat was evaluated because of an acute exacerbation of a chronic cough of 2-3 years of duration. Physical examination was normal except for the auscultation of accentuated breath sounds and wheezes cranially on both sides of the chest. Complete blood count, biochemical parameters and urinalysis were normal.

Systemic hypertension in dogs with leishmaniasis: prevalence and clinical consequences.

A prospective study was performed (November 1998 to December 2003) to determine the prevalence of systemic hypertension (SH) in dogs with glomerular disease secondary to leishmaniasis. One hundred and five dogs with leishmaniasis were screened and staged for the presence of renal disease (RD) and SH. For the purpose of the study, RD was defined as serum creatinine concentration > or = 1.