Mean platelet volume and mortality in patients with alcohol use disorder.

Several recent studies have pointed out the relationship of platelet size with increased mortality or adverse clinical course. Most studies show that increased mean platelet volume (MPV) may be associated with a deleterious outcome in different settings such as sepsis or neoplasia, whereas other researchers have found the opposite. In inflammatory conditions there is an altered secretion of several cytokines, some of them exerting a marked influence on platelet biogenesis and/or on platelet activation and aggregation.

Serum Myostatin among Excessive Drinkers.

Myostatin acts as a negative regulator of muscle growth. Its effect on fat mass is subject to debate. Among alcoholics, there is a high prevalence of muscle atrophy, and increased fat deposition has been also described in these patients.

Ferritin, Serum Iron and Hemoglobin as Acute Phase Reactants in Laparoscopic and Open Surgery of Cholecystectomy: An Observational Prospective Study.

Cytokines are expressed by various cells after several stimuli such as surgical tissue damage, producing a systemic inflammatory response (SIR). C-reactive protein (CRP) is used extensively in clinical practice after operative injury, but proinflammatory cytokines, iron status, albumin, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (N/L) ratio and hemoglobin, as acute phase reactants, have been poorly documented. This study aims to show how they behave after surgery, comparing laparoscopic (LC) versus open cholecystectomy (OC).

Ferritin and liver fibrosis among patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

Introduction: In chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection there is increased iron absorption leading to iron overload, a fact that may promote ferritin synthesis. Theoretically, increased ferritin should promote ongoing liver fibrosis but disparate results have been described.

Objective: We analyze the behavior of iron metabolism- related variables, comparing them with fibrosis and inflammatory activity in liver biopsy in HCV infected patients.

Incidence of cancer and mortality among heavy alcoholics.

Background And Aims: Cancer risk is increased in alcoholics. Heavy ethanol consumption is also associated with other potentially lethal conditions such as cirrhosis, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia or malnutrition, that increase mortality. The aim of the present study is to analyze the impact on mortality of new cancer development in a cohort of heavy alcoholics.

Transforming Growth Factor Beta 1 and Vascular Risk in Alcoholics.

Introduction: Transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1) is a pleiotropic cytokine. Its relationship with atherosclerosis is debatable, protective or deleterious effects have been described. Alcoholics are at increased vascular risk.

Soluble α-Klotho in Liver Cirrhosis and Alcoholism.

Aims And Background: Alpha Klotho is a transmembrane protein that serves as co-receptor for FGF23. Ectodomain of membrane bound α Klotho may be shed by membrane bound proteases (activated, among other factors, by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α) generating the soluble form of the protein (sKl) that functions as a hormone by itself. It modulates calcium influx into cells, blunts IGF-1/Insulin signaling, promotes synthesis of antioxidants, generally slows down tumor progression, delays cell senescence, is neuroprotective and promotes oligodendrocyte maturation and myelin synthesis, and muscle rejuvenation.

Malondialdehyde as a Prognostic Factor in Alcoholic Hepatitis.

Aims: Alcoholic hepatitis is a severe complication of alcoholism, associated with high short-term mortality. Although pathogenesis remains obscure, it is generally accepted that lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine secretion with further generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) play outstanding roles. Prognosis is uncertain, and the usually employed prognostic scores do not include variables related to ROS generation.

Clinicopathological differences between familial colorectal cancer type X and sporadic cancer in an isolated area of spain.

Aim: Very few studies have compared the epidemiological characteristics of patients with familial colorectal cancer Type X (FCCTX) with those of sporadic colorectal cancer (S-CRC). The aim of this study was to compare clinicopathological characteristics and survival between FCCTX and S-CRC in patients from a historically isolated geographical region.

Method: A retrospective study was carried out of patients with S-CRC and FCCTX treated in the Canary Islands.

[Prognostic value of serum homocysteine levels in elderly hospitalized patients].

Background And Objectives: Increased serum homocysteine levels are related to vascular disease and increased mortality. The decrease of homocysteine is also associated with a worse prognosis in patients on hemodialysis; however, this relationship has not been well studied in other patients. Our goal is to study the prognosis of increased and decreased serum homocysteine levels in elderly patients admitted to a general internal medicine unit.

Bone changes in alcoholic liver disease.

Alcoholism has been associated with growth impairment, osteomalacia, delayed fracture healing, and aseptic necrosis (primarily necrosis of the femoral head), but the main alterations observed in the bones of alcoholic patients are osteoporosis and an increased risk of fractures. Decreased bone mass is a hallmark of osteoporosis, and it may be due either to decreased bone synthesis and/or to increased bone breakdown. Ethanol may affect both mechanisms.

Clinicopathological analysis of factors related to colorectal tumor perforation: influence of angiogenesis.

Colorectal tumor perforation is a life-threatening complication of this disease. However, little is known about the anatomopathological factors or pathophysiologic mechanisms involved. Pathological and immunohistochemical analysis of factors related with tumoral neo-angiogenesis, which could influence tumor perforation are assessed in this study.

Prognostic value of physical function tests: hand grip strength and six-minute walking test in elderly hospitalized patients.

To discern if physical function test are better mortality predictors than muscle mass in elderly hospitalized patients, we analyzed the prognostic value of muscle mass malnutrition and compared it with physical muscle function tests, including the six-minute walking test (6 MWT) and hand grip strength. We included the ankle brachial index (ABI) to assess arterial disease, related to muscle atrophy due to hypoperfusion. We also analyzed the relationship of ABI with malnutrition, physical function tests and survival.

Appendiceal diverticulitis and acute appendicitis: differences and similarities.

Introduction: Acute appendiceal diverticulitis is an unusual cause of acute abdomen, considered clinically indistinguishable from acute appendicitis.

Material And Methods: In a historic cohort study with 27 cases of appendiceal diverticulitis and 54 cases of acute appendicitis, we compared clinical characteristics, diagnostic tests and pathology findings of the two processes.

Results: Mean age at presentation was lower in acute appendicitis (37.

[Gallstone ileus as a cause of acute abdomen. Importance of early diagnosis for surgical treatment].

Gallstone ileus is an uncommon type of mechanical intestinal obstruction caused by an intraluminal gallstone, and preoperative diagnosis is difficult in the Emergency department. This study is a retrospective analysis of the clinical presentation of 5 patients with gallstone ileus treated between 2000-2010. Clinical features, diagnostic testing, and surgical treatment were analyzed.

Metastatic lymphs nodes and lymph node ratio as predictive factors of survival in perforated and non-perforated T4 colorectal tumors.

Aims: Recently it has been hypothesized that perforation of colorectal cancer (CRC) itself is not a predictor of poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to analyze the prognostic impact, of the spontaneous perforation of the tumour, metastatic lymph nodes and lymph node ratio (LNR) after potentially curative surgery.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of oncologic outcomes of patients with T4a CRC grouped by perforated and non-perforated tumours.

The obesity paradox in elderly patients with heart failure: analysis of nutritional status.

Objective: The obesity paradox refers to the improved survival of obese compared with non-obese elderly or diseased patients for reasons that are not clear. To assess the relative roles of fat and other factors in this improved survival, we analyzed the prognostic value of overweight and obesity elderly patients with heart failure (HF), controlling for other nutritional data such as midarm anthropometrics, serum proteins, and muscle strength.

Methods: Two hundred forty-four patients (83.

Prognostic value of changes in lean and fat mass in alcoholics.

Background & Aims: The prognostic value of nutritional status and/or lean and fat mass assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) has been widely analyzed, in both alcoholics and non-alcoholics. However, the prognostic value of changes in fat and lean mass over time in alcoholics has scarcely been studied, nor has the effect of alcohol abstinence on these changes.

Methods: From an initial cohort of 113 alcoholic patients, 70 prospectively underwent two DEXA assessments six months apart.

Prognostic value of inflammatory markers (notably cytokines and procalcitonin), nutritional assessment, and organ function in patients with sepsis.

Objective: Procalcitonin is useful for the diagnosis of sepsis, but its prognostic value regarding mortality is unclear. Our objective was to determine the prognostic value of procalcitonin determined at the onset of sepsis, and to compare it with other markers of inflammatory response, malnutrition and organ dysfunction data.

Methods: We studied 253 hospitalized patients (146 men, 107 women) with a median age of 65 years.

Factors involved in the paradox of reverse epidemiology.

Background & Aims: The hypothesis of reverse epidemiology holds that some cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity, hypercholesterolemia and hypertension, in the elderly or in some chronic diseases are not harmful but permit better survival. However, this phenomenon is controversial and the underlying reasons are poorly understood.

Objective: To search for factors simultaneously linked to reverse epidemiology and to short or long term survival.

Serum leptin levels in community acquired pneumonia (CAP) are related to nutritional status and not to acute phase reaction.

To determine whether leptin in patients with CAP acts as a nutritional or as an inflammatory marker and whether leptin plays any role regarding survival, we included 222 patients diagnosed of CAP, 142 men and 80 women, median age 74 years. We did not find significant differences in serum leptin levels between CAP patients and healthy controls, even after adjusting by BMI. Serum leptin levels were directly related with BMI, body fat and muscle mass and inversely related with inflammatory markers, including pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines.