Retinal vascular events and relationship to CANCER development.

Background: Central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) is a frequent and clinically relevant vascular pathology. The main risk factors are the same as systemic cardiovascular risk factors, but recently other significant risk factors have been studied. The aim of this study is to analyse the risk factors for retinal venous thrombosis and their relationship with the development of cancer.

SIRS criteria versus qSOFA score in patients with severe alcohol-related hepatitis.

Severe alcohol-related hepatitis (sAH) is a potentially life-threatening complication of alcohol-related liver disease. SIRS criteria have been related to disease severity and may be a prognostic factor. Recently, qSOFA has been shown to be more prognostically accurate than SIRS in other inflammatory conditions.

A Primary Health Care Program and COVID-19. Impact in Hospital Admissions and Mortality.

Background: Most patients with mild or moderate COVID infection did not require hospital admission, but depending on their personal history, they needed medical supervision. In monitoring these patients in primary care, the design of specific surveillance programs was of great help. Between February 2021 and March 2022, EDCO program was designed in Tenerife, Spain, to telemonitor patients with COVID infection who had at least one vulnerability factor to reduce hospital admissions and mortality.

Mortality and COVID Infection: Predictors of Mortality 10 Months after Discharge.

Background: The long-term survival of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and the factors associated with poorer survival months after infection are not well understood. The aims of the present study were to analyze the overall mortality 10 months after admission.

Methods: 762 patients with COVID-19 disease were included.

Glycemic control and prescription profiles in internal medicine inpatients: The role of frailty.

Aim: This work aims to characterize the clinical profile of individuals with frailty syndrome, diabetes mellitus (DM), and hyperglycemia during hospitalization in regard to glycemic control and treatment regimen.

Methods: This cross-sectional multicentric study included patients with DM or hyperglycemia at admission. Demographic data, blood glucose values, treatment administered during hospitalization, and treatment indicated at discharge were analyzed.

Value of inflammatory response and oxidative damage in the diagnosis of infections in severe alcoholic hepatitis.

Severe alcoholic hepatitis is the most lethal complication in alcohol dependent patients. The concurrence of infections in these patients is very frequent. Both produce a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), secondary to intense release of inflammatory cytokines, which can complicate the diagnosis.

Sarcopenic Obesity in People with Alcoholic Use Disorder: Relation with Inflammation, Vascular Risk Factors and Serum Vitamin D Levels.

In recent years, the terms sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity, and osteosarcopenic obesity (OSO) were coined to define a situation in elderly people strongly associated with frailty and increased mortality. Possibly, a complex interplay of several hormones and cytokines are involved in its development. Ongoing research detected that OSO may occur at any age and in several conditions.

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.

High-Risk Obesity Phenotypes: Target for Multimorbidity Prevention at the ROFEMI Study.

Background: Describe the profile of patients with obesity in internal medicine to determine the role of adiposity and related inflammation on the metabolic risk profile and, identify various “high-risk obesity” phenotypes by means of a cluster analysis. This study aimed to identify different profiles of patients with high-risk obesity based on a cluster analysis. Methods: Cross-sectional, multicenter project that included outpatients attended to in internal medicine.

Alpha Klotho and Fibroblast Growth Factor-23 Among Alcoholics.

Aims: Alcoholism may be a cardiovascular risk factor. Osteocyte derived molecules such as fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) and soluble α Klotho have recently been associated with cardiovascular disease, but their role in alcoholics is unknown. We here analyze the behavior of FGF23 and α Klotho in alcoholics.

Clinical and microbiological features of infection in alcoholic hepatitis: an international cohort study.

Background: Previous studies have described the clinical impact of infection in alcoholic hepatitis (AH) but none have comprehensively explored the aetiopathogenesis of infection in this setting. We examined the causes, consequences and treatment of infection in a cohort of patients with AH.

Methods: We undertook a retrospective cohort study of patients with AH admitted between 2009 and 2014 to seven centres in Europe and the USA.

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.

Homocysteine, Liver Function Derangement and Brain Atrophy in Alcoholics.

Aims: Hyperhomocysteinemia may be involved in the development of brain atrophy in alcoholics. Its pathogenesis is multifactorial. In the present study, we analyse the relationship between homocysteine levels and brain atrophy, and the relative weight of co-existing factors such as liver function impairment, the amount of ethanol consumed, serum vitamin B12, B6, and folic acid levels on homocysteine levels and brain alterations in alcoholic patients.

Thrombin activation and liver inflammation in advanced hepatitis C virus infection.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with increased thrombotic risk. Several mechanisms are involved including direct endothelial damage by the HCV virus, with activation of tissue factor, altered fibrinolysis and increased platelet aggregation and activation. In advanced stages, chronic HCV infection may evolve to liver cirrhosis, a condition in which alterations in the portal microcirculation may also ultimately lead to thrombin activation, platelet aggregation, and clot formation.

Adipokines, cytokines and body fat stores in hepatitis C virus liver steatosis.

Aim: To identify patients with or without liver steatosis and its severity in treatment-naïve patients affected by hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Methods: We included 56 HCV infected patients, and assessed the amount of liver fat by histomorphometry, and its relationships with fat and lean mass at different parts of the body (by densitometry), hormones [insulin, homeostatic model assessment (HOMA)], adipokines (resistin, adiponectin, leptin), and cytokines (tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin-6).

Results: Although the intensity of liver steatosis is related to trunk fat mass and HOMA, 33% of patients showed no liver steatosis, and this finding was not related to body mass index or genotype.

Liver steatosis in hepatitis C patients.

There is controversy regarding some aspects of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection-associated liver steatosis, and their relationship with body fat stores. It has classically been found that HCV, especially genotype 3, exerts direct metabolic effects which lead to liver steatosis. This supports the existence of a so called viral steatosis and a metabolic steatosis, which would affect HCV patients who are also obese or diabetics.