Functional assessment of high-grade ICA stenosis with duplex ultrasound and transcranial Doppler.

Background: Duplex ultrasound (DUS) has shown a >90% accuracy compared to angiography, concerning the degree of internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis. However, uncertainty may occur in a severe stenosis, in which peak systolic velocity (PSV) may decrease owing to high flow resistance or high backward pressure. We investigated intracranial collateral flows using transcranial Doppler (TCD) to further evaluate the hemodynamic significance of high-grade ICA stenosis.

Daily physical-rest activities in relation to nutritional state, metabolism, and quality of life in cancer patients with progressive cachexia.

Purpose: To evaluate daily physical-rest activities in cancer patients losing weight in relation to disease progression.

Experimental Design: Physical activity-rest rhythms were measured (ActiGraph, armband sensor from BodyMedia) in relation to body composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), energy metabolism, exercise capacity (walking test), and self-scored quality of life (SF-36, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) in weight-losing outpatients with systemic cancer (71 +/- 2 years, n = 53). Well-nourished, age-matched, and previously hospitalized non-cancer patients served as controls (74 +/- 4 years, n = 8).

Insulin treatment in cancer cachexia: effects on survival, metabolism, and physical functioning.

Purpose: The present study was designed to evaluate whether daily insulin treatment for weight-losing cancer patients attenuates the progression of cancer cachexia and improves metabolism and physical functioning in palliative care.

Experimental Design: One hundred and thirty-eight unselected patients with mainly advanced gastrointestinal malignancy were randomized to receive insulin (0.11 +/- 0.

Body composition and time course changes in regional distribution of fat and lean tissue in unselected cancer patients on palliative care--correlations with food intake, metabolism, exercise capacity, and hormones.

Background: Several investigations that yielded different results in terms of net changes in body composition of weight-losing cancer patients have been reported that employed a variety of methods based on fundamentally different technology. Most of those reports were cross-sectional, whereas to the authors' knowledge there is sparse information available on longitudinal follow-up measurements in relation to other independent methods for the assessment of metabolism and performance.

Methods: For the current report, the authors evaluated time course changes in body composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) with measurements of whole body and regional distribution of fat and lean tissue in relation to food and dietary intake, host metabolism (indirect calorimetry), maximum exercise capacity (walking test), and circulating hormones in cancer patients who were receiving palliative care during 4-62 months of follow-up.

Effects of recombinant erythropoietin in palliative treatment of unselected cancer patients.

Purpose: The purpose is to evaluate relationships between objectively assessed exercise capacity and subjectively assessed scoring of physical functioning and well-being after erythropoietin treatment in cancer patients on palliative care.

Experimental Design: Unselected cancer patients (n = 108) who experienced progressive cachexia were randomized to receive either anti-inflammatory treatment alone (indomethacin) or recombinant erythropoietin plus indomethacin to prevent the appearance of disease-induced anemia and thereby protect patients' exercise capacity. Follow-up investigations of nutritional status, exercise capacity, and health-related quality of life assessed by SF-36 and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 were compared.