Rapid Rule-Out of Myocardial Infarction After 30 Minutes as an Alternative to 1 Hour: The RACING-MI Cohort Study.

Study Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether myocardial infarction can be safely ruled in or out after 30 minutes as an alternative to 1 hour.

Methods: This was a prospective, single-center clinical study enrolling patients admitted to the emergency department. Patients with chest pain suggestive of myocardial infarction were eligible for inclusion.

External validation of a high-sensitive troponin I algorithm for rapid evaluation of acute myocardial infarction in a Danish cohort.

Aims: An accelerated diagnostic algorithm for ruling-in or ruling-out myocardial infarction (MI) after 1 hour (1 h) has recently been derived and internally validated for the Siemens ADVIA Centaur TNIH assay. We aimed to validate the diagnostic performance of the TNIH 0 h/1 h algorithm ad modum Boeddinghaus in a Danish cohort.

Methods And Results: Patients with chest pain suggestive of MI were prospectively enrolled.

Single troponin measurement to rule-out acute myocardial infarction in early presenters.

Background: A single high-sensitive cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) can be used to rule-out acute myocardial infarction (MI) in patients presenting >3 hours (3 h) after chest pain onset to the emergency department. This study aimed to investigate the safety of ruling-out MI in early presenters with chest pain ≤3 h using a single hs-cTnI at admission.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled patients presenting with chest pain suggestive of MI.

[Haemoglobin A1c measurements when to use and when not].

Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) reflects the glycaemic status of the latest 2-3 month and is used in both diagnosing and monitoring diabetes. Different circumstances may lead to spurious HbA1c results as summarised in this review. HbA1c is susceptible to changes in erythrocyte turnover (e.

Methotrexate pharmacokinetic is influenced by co-administration of cyclosporin in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Results from a randomized clinical trial.

The aim was to investigate if the pharmacokinetics of methotrexate (MTX) are affected by the addition of cyclosporin (CsA). Forty patients diagnosed with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were included in this open prospective study: 20 patients were treated with a dose of 7.5 mg MTX and a dose of 2.

Rapid use of high-sensitive cardiac troponin I for ruling-in and ruling-out of acute myocardial infarction (RACING-MI): study protocol.

Introduction: The European Society of Cardiology has suggested an accelerated algorithm for ruling-in and ruling-out myocardial infarction (MI) with high-sensitive cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) measured at admission (0 hour) and after 1 hour (1 hour) as an alternative to standard measurements at 0 hour and 3 hours. However, the 0 hour/1 hour algorithm has only been tested in a limited amount of patient cohorts and not for all hs-cTn assays. Moreover, it is unknown if MI can be ruled-out faster than 1 hour.

NT-proBNP to exclude heart failure in primary care - a pragmatic, cluster-randomized study.

Heart failure (HF) is difficult to recognize in primary care. N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) can be used as a rule-out test in HF due to its high negative predictive value. We aim to determine whether the number per 1000 patients of HF diagnoses increase among patients referred from primary care to an outpatient HF clinic, if general practitioners (GPs) were offered NT-proBNP in a real-life setting.

The value of using the faecal immunochemical test in general practice on patients presenting with non-alarm symptoms of colorectal cancer.

Background: Around 50% of individuals with colorectal cancer (CRC) initially present with non-alarm symptoms.

Methods: We investigated the value of using the faecal immunochemical test (FIT) in the diagnostic process of CRC and other serious bowel disease in individuals presenting with non-alarm symptoms in general practice. The study was conducted in the Central Denmark Region from 1 September 2015 to 30 August 2016.

Effects of hyperoxia on myocardial injury following cardioversion-A randomized clinical trial.

Unlabelled: Oxygen has long been assumed beneficial for all ill and injured patients. However, hyperoxia may be harmful and aggravate myocardial injury such as that caused by myocardial infarction. We aimed to investigate if hyperoxia increases myocardial injury following direct current cardioversion compared with room air.

Calprotectin in patients with chronic rheumatoid arthritis correlates with disease activity and responsiveness to methotrexate.

Objective: Calprotectin (myeloid-related protein 8/14) is elevated in inflammatory diseases and a correlation of serum calprotectin and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been shown. In this study, we investigated plasma calprotectin as a disease marker in patients with chronic RA treated with methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy and compared plasma calprotectin with C-reactive protein (CRP) in this matter.

Methods: Seventy-six patients with chronic RA were included in this open prospective study and of these 40 were included prior to initiation of MTX therapy.

Delayed sample arrival at the laboratory does not lead to more false negatives in the Danish population screening for colorectal cancer.

In Denmark, biennial population screening for colorectal cancer was introduced in 2014 for all aged 50-74 years. Five laboratories representative for the regional division of Denmark perform the immunochemical testing of faecal occult blood in the screening samples (iFOBT, OC-Sensor (Eiken Chemical, cut-off 100 µg/L)). In July 2016, a new agreement on the public post-delivery entailed an increased lag time (five days) from the screening participant drops the screening sample into a mail-box until sample arrival at the laboratories.

Elevated calprotectin in patients with atrial fibrillation with and without heart failure.

Calprotectin is an inflammatory marker, which has been found elevated in patients suffering from cardiac conditions, e.g. myocardial infarction, unstable angina and chronic heart failure.

Cardioversion Efficacy Using Pulsed Biphasic or Biphasic Truncated Exponential Waveforms: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Several different defibrillators are currently used for cardioversion and defibrillation of cardiac arrhythmias. The efficacy of a novel pulsed biphasic (PB) waveform has not been compared to other biphasic waveforms. Accordingly, this study aims to compare the efficacy and safety of PB shocks with biphasic truncated exponential (BTE) shocks in patients undergoing cardioversion of atrial fibrillation or -flutter.

Protocol Outlines for Parts 1 and 2 of the Prospective Endoscopy III Study for the Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer: Validation of a Concept Based on Blood Biomarkers.

Background: Programs for population screening of colorectal cancer (CRC) have been implemented in several countries with fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) as the preferred platform. However, the major obstacle for a feces-based testing method is the limited compliance that reduces the clinical sensitivity for detection of participants with non-symptomatic CRC. Therefore, research approaches have been initiated to develop screening concepts based on biomarkers in blood.

Implementation of immunochemical faecal occult blood test in general practice: a study protocol using a cluster-randomised stepped-wedge design.

Background: Colorectal cancer is a common malignancy and a leading cause of cancer-related death. Half of patients with colorectal cancer initially present with non-specific or vague symptoms. In the need for a safe low-cost test, the immunochemical faecal occult blood test (iFOBT) may be part of the evaluation of such patients in primary care.

Fecal calprotectin in healthy children.

Calprotectin is a protein found in the cytosol of inflammatory cells and is a marker of the presence and the degree of inflammation in the bowel system. Calprotectin in feces has great diagnostic value in the matter of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In feces, the protein is stable up to seven days, and since the protein can easily be measured with an ELISA, the use of fecal calprotectin (FC) means no invasive measures.

[Research in regional hospitals in two Danish regions].

The quantity of interest, experience, and barriers to research in non-university hospitals in Denmark is undocumented. Therefore, a questionnaire was distributed to all employees at non-university hospitals in two Danish regions. The results showed that a substantial number of medical doctors were engaged in ongoing research.

A substantial number of scientific publications originate from non-university hospitals.

Introduction: As we found no recent published reports on the amount and kind of research published from Danish hospitals without university affiliation, we have found it relevant to conduct a bibliometric survey disclosing these research activities.

Material And Methods: We retrieved all scientific papers published in the period 2000-2009 emanating from all seven Danish non-university hospitals in two regions, comprising 1.8 million inhabitants, and which were registered in a minimum of one of the three databases: PubMed MEDLINE, Thomson Reuters Web of Science and Elsevier's Scopus.

[A survey of research funding at Danish regional hospitals].

Introduction: According to recently passed Danish legislation, all Danish hospitals are obliged to take part in scientific research. As data on financial support for research activities are lacking, we assessed the resources allocated to research from the budget of the central hospital management as a percentage of the total budget at Danish regional hospitals in 2007.

Material And Methods: A postal survey was conducted at 13 hospitals in the Western part of Denmark.

Plasma adiponectin in patients with active, early, and chronic rheumatoid arthritis who are steroid- and disease-modifying antirheumatic drug-naive compared with patients with osteoarthritis and controls.

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic chronic inflammatory joint disease, whereas osteoarthritis (OA) is a local joint disease with low-level inflammatory activity. The pathogenic role of the adipocytokine adiponectin is largely unknown in these diseases. We hypothesized (1) that plasma adiponectin concentrations differ in healthy controls and patients with early disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)-naive RA, chronic RA, and OA; (2) that changes in adiponectin are observed during methotrexate (MTX) treatment of chronic RA; and (3) that adiponectin correlates to disease activity measures in RA.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with methotrexate (MTX): concentrations of steady-state erythrocyte MTX correlate to plasma concentrations and clinical efficacy.

Objective: To investigate the accumulation of methotrexate (MTX) in circulating erythrocytes and the association with pharmacokinetic variables, weekly dose, and clinical efficacy in 2 cohorts of patients with chronic active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) undergoing MTX monotherapy.

Methods: Seventy-six patients with RA were included in this open prospective study: 40 were included before initiation of MTX therapy. Laboratory analyses, intracellular MTX concentrations in erythrocytes (Ery-MTX), and clinical examinations including toxicity data were performed prospectively for 52 weeks.

Plasma level of CXC-chemokine CXCL12 is increased in rheumatoid arthritis and is independent of disease activity and methotrexate treatment.

Objective: Several actions of the chemokine CXCL12 have potential relevance for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Interaction with CXCR4, the unique receptor for CXCL12, stimulates angiogenesis, mononuclear cell trafficking into the joints, lymphoid-tissue-like rearrangement of T cells within the synovium, and chondrocyte release of cartilage-degrading metalloproteinases. We investigated the level of CXCL12 in plasma (p-CXCL12) as a marker of RA diagnosis, RA disease activity, and response to methotrexate (MTX) treatment.

Folate, homocysteine, and cobalamin status in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with methotrexate, and the effect of low dose folic acid supplement.

Objective: To investigate the effect of methotrexate (MTX) treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on folate metabolism, and to determine the effect of low dose folic acid on toxicity, efficacy, and folate status.

Methods: A 52-week prospective study of 81 patients with RA treated with MTX and self-administered low dose folic acid; 38 patients were included prior to MTX therapy, 33 patients continued established MTX therapy, and 10 patients were excluded. Drug efficacy and side effects were monitored with biochemical and clinical indicators.