Photoplethysmography-based assessment of varicose vein-related risk factors, exercise health beliefs, and venous refill time in healthcare professionals working in operating rooms and outpatient clinics.

Bacground: Impaired venous return is observed in healthcare professionals who spend long periods standing and sitting. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate varicose vein-related risk factors, exercise health beliefs, and venous refill time in healthcare professionals working in operating rooms and outpatient clinics by photoplethysmography.

Method: The study sample consisted of 100 healthcare professionals without a diagnosis of peripheral venous insufficiency.

Assessment of right ventricular functions in acromegaly: comparison of active disease with remission.

Aim    Cardiac involvement in acromegaly is defined as acromegalic cardiomyopathy, an insidious and chronic disease. Previous research on acromegalic cardiomyopathy was largely focused on morphological and functional assessment of the left heart. Since the literature data regarding right heart function in acromegalic patients are limited, we aimed to evaluate the structure and function of the right heart in such patients.

Visfatin Levels May be an Early Marker of Atherosclerosis in Patients with Acromegaly.

The purpose of the study was to compare serum visfatin levels between patients with acromegaly and healthy controls and to evaluate the relationships between visfatin levels and epicardial fat thickness (EFT), carotid intima media thickness (cIMT), and ankle brachial index (ABI). We conducted a cross-sectional case-control study of 54 patients with acromegaly (37 females and 17 males) and 34 healthy controls (22 females and 12 males). Serum visfatin was measured by ELISA.

Coronary slow flow phenomenon associated with high serum levels of soluble CD40 ligand and urotensin II: a multi-marker approach.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the serum soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) levels, serum uroten- sin II levels, and serum leptin levels as an indirect indicator of endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and atherosclerosis at the microvascular level, and the comparison of those values with those of the control group with a nor- mal coronary flow pattern.

Methods: The study included 35 consecutive patients (17 women, 18 men; average age: 51.20 ± 10.

The Association between the Epicardial Adipose Tissue Thickness and Oxidative Stress Parameters in Isolated Metabolic Syndrome Patients: A Multimarker Approach.

The risk for cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus significantly increases in the patient population with metabolic syndrome (MeS). The present study aimed to investigate the association between the epicardial adipose tissue thickness (EATT) and the oxidative stress parameters in MeS patients. The study included 181 patients as a patient group of 92 consecutive patients with MeS and a control group of 89 consecutive patients with similar age and gender.

Risk of cerebral embolism after interventional closure of symptomatic patent foramen ovale or atrial septal defect: a diffusion-weighted MRI and neuron-specific enolase-based study.

Objectives: The aim of this single-center prospective study is to investigate the silent and clinically apparent cerebral embolic events after transcatheter closure of atrial septal defect (ASD) and patent foramen ovale (PFO).

Background: Although transcatheter closure of ASD and PFO is a widely accepted technique and has been proven to be safe and effective with different kinds of devices, there are few studies in the literature that report the peri-interventional cerebral embolism risk and neurological complications. In this study, we investigated the peri-interventional cerebral embolism incidence with diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) and its relation to patients' clinical neurologic examination findings and plasma neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels.

A rare association recognized before cardiac surgery: persistent left superior vena cava and secundum atrial septal defect.

One of the most common congenital anomalies of systemic veins is persistent left superior vena cava. Association of persistent left superior vena cava with other congenital cardiac diseases is common and frequently encountered during diagnostic studies. Contrast echocardiography has an important role in the diagnosis.