Serum uric acid as an independent predictor of early death after acute stroke.

Background: The prognostic significance of uric acid (UA) levels in acute stroke is unclear, so the objective of this study was to determine the association between levels of serum UA (SUA) and mortality in acute stroke.

Methods And Results: Consecutive patients (n=435) presenting with ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage were included in the study. The length of stay in hospital and the occurrence of death were recorded.

Treatment of recurrent gastrointestinal haemorrhage in a patient with von Willebrand's disease with administration of octreotide LAR and propranolol.

We report a patient with von Willebrand' s disease who had had recurrent and life-threatening bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract. Despite extensive investigation, no apparent cause of haemorrhage was identified. He was successfully treated with combined administration of octreotide LAR (long-acting release) and propranolol.

The unilateral measurement of blood pressure may mask the diagnosis or delay the effective treatment of hypertension.

Several studies have indicated the presence of significant interarm blood pressure (BP) differences; this could result in misclassification of BP status. Nevertheless, the findings of these studies were not consistent. This prospective, observational study investigated the presence and magnitude of interarm BP differences and determined the influence of age, gender, arm circumference, smoking, being hypertensive or diabetic, or having a previous history of cardiovascular disease in these differences.