The prognostic significance of serum sodium in a population undergoing cardiac resynchronisation therapy.

Purpose: To determine the prognostic implications of changes towards hyponatremia at varying time-points in the treatment of patients undergoing cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT).

Methods: A retrospective series of 249 patients was studied from 2002 to 2013. The population was categorized on the basis of serum sodium profile at baseline, at 1 month and at 6 month follow up visits following successful CRT implantation.

In-hospital treatment and outcomes of heart failure in specialist and non-specialist services: a retrospective cohort study in the elderly.

Background: Heart failure is common in the elderly and is associated with high rates of hospitalisation, readmission and mortality. International guidelines however are not frequently implemented in this population.

Methods: We retrospectively studied the clinical profile, investigations, treatment on discharge, length of hospital stay, readmission rate and mortality in 261 patients, aged ≥75 years, with a discharge diagnosis of heart failure.

Post-procedural arterial hypertension: implications for clinical outcome after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Persistent arterial hypertension (HT) has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality after surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR). The impact of increased blood pressure (BP) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has not yet been fully elucidated.

Methods: The mean systolic and diastolic BP after TAVI were calculated from the last 10 non-invasive recordings performed before discharge in 176 patients.

Distribution and neurochemical characterization of neurons within the nucleus of the solitary tract responsive to serotonin agonist-induced hypophagia.

Pharmacological compounds enhancing serotonergic tone significantly decrease food intake and are among the most clinically efficacious treatments for obesity. However, the central mechanisms through which serotonergic compounds modulate feeding behavior have not been fully defined. The primary relay center receiving visceral gastrointestinal information in the central nervous system is the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) in the caudal brainstem.