Markers of Renal Function in Older Adults Completing a Higher Protein Obesity Intervention and One Year Later: Findings from the MEASUR-UP Trial.

Increases in rates of obesity in the older population are hastening the development of chronic illnesses, including chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, obesity reduction in older adults is besought with concerns about the long-term benefit/risk, especially regarding loss of muscle mass and its impact on function. Higher protein intakes have been advocated to help offset the tendency for loss of muscle during weight reduction but this raises concerns about possible negative effects on older kidneys.

Intraoperative Renal Resistive Index as an Acute Kidney Injury Biomarker: Development and Validation of an Automated Analysis Algorithm.

Objective: Intraoperative Doppler-determined renal resistive index (RRI) is a promising early acute kidney injury (AKI) biomarker. As RRI continues to be studied, its clinical usefulness and robustness in research settings will be linked to the ease, efficiency, and precision with which it can be interpreted. Therefore, the authors assessed the usefulness of computer vision technology as an approach to developing an automated RRI-estimating algorithm with equivalent reliability and reproducibility to human experts.

Combined Inflammation and Metabolism Biomarker Indices of Robust and Impaired Physical Function in Older Adults.

Objectives: To determine whether combinations of inflammatory markers are related to physical function.

Design And Subjects: secondary analysis of baseline of three observational studies of community-dwelling older adults MEASUREMENTS: The baseline data from 3 cohorts of older adults with different health and disease status were employed. Twenty markers of inflammation and metabolism were individually assessed for correlation with usual gait speed and were separated into robust and impairment quartiles.

Accurate IVIM model-based liver lesion characterisation can be achieved with only three b-value DWI.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate a simplified intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) approach of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with four b-values for liver lesion characterisation at 1.5 T.

Methods: DWI data from a respiratory-gated MRI sequence with b = 0, 50, 250, 800 s/mm were retrospectively analysed in 173 lesions and 40 healthy livers.

Interstitial Transpedal MR-Lymphangiography of Central Lymphatics Using a Standard MR Contrast Agent: Feasibility and Initial Results in Patients with Chylous Effusions.

Purpose: To describe a novel technique for transpedal magnetic resonance lymphangiography (tMRL) with interstitial injection of a standard gadolinium-based contrast agent, and to assess its ability to visualize the central lymphatic system (CLS) in patients with chylous effusions.

Materials And Methods: Experiences with tMRL were retrospectively reviewed in seven patients with chylous effusions. High-resolution three-dimensional multi-echo (mDIXON) images of the entire torso were obtained before and after interstitial injection of an extracellular gadolinium-based contrast agent.

The Warrior Wellness Study: A Randomized Controlled Exercise Trial for Older Veterans with PTSD.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects up to 30% of military veterans. Older veterans, many of whom have lived with PTSD symptoms for several decades, report a number of negative health outcomes. Despite the demonstrated benefits of regular exercise on physical and psychological health, no studies have explored the impact of exercise in older veterans with PTSD.

Influence of Protein Intake, Race, and Age on Responses to a Weight-Reduction Intervention in Obese Women.

Background: Women have higher rates of obesity than men and develop more pronounced functional deficits as a result. Yet, little is known about how obesity reduction affects their functional status, including whether their responses differ when protein intake is enhanced.

Objective: The aim of this study was to confirm the feasibility of delivery of a higher-protein (balanced at each meal) calorie-restricted diet in obese women and determine its efficacy for influencing function and retention of lean mass.

Effects of 2 years of caloric restriction on oxidative status assessed by urinary F2-isoprostanes: The CALERIE 2 randomized clinical trial.

Calorie restriction (CR) without malnutrition slows aging in animal models. Oxidative stress reduction was proposed to mediate CR effects. CR effect on urinary F2-isoprostanes, validated oxidative stress markers, was assessed in CALERIE, a two-year randomized controlled trial.

Cerebral Microbleeds are an Independent Predictor of Hemorrhagic Transformation Following Intravenous Alteplase Administration in Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Background And Purpose: Intravenous alteplase (rt-PA) increases the risk of hemorrhagic transformation of acute ischemic stroke. The objective of our study was to evaluate clinical, laboratory, and imaging predictors on forecasting the risk of hemorrhagic transformation following treatment with rt-PA. We also evaluated the factors associated with cerebral microbleeds that increase the risk of hemorrhagic transformation.

Association of Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQOL-36) with mortality and hospitalization in older adults receiving hemodialysis.

Background: For older adults receiving dialysis, health-related quality of life is not often considered in prognostication of death or future hospitalizations. To determine if routine health-related quality of life measures may be useful for prognostication, the objective of this study is to determine the extent of association of Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQOL-36) subscales with adverse outcomes in older adults receiving dialysis.

Methods: This is a longitudinal study of 3500 adults aged ≥75 years receiving dialysis in the United States in 2012 and 2013.

Competing Risks of Fracture and Death in Older Adults with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Objectives: To examine whether chronic kidney disease (CKD) at any stage is associated with fracture risk after adjusting for competing mortality and to determine whether age or race modify the relationship between CKD and fracture risk.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) national healthcare system.

Intracerebral hemorrhage after IV tPA for stroke as early symptom of ANCA-associated vasculitis.

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitides (AAV) are rare diseases characterized by a necrotizing small-vessel vasculitis and circulating ANCA that comprise granulomatosis with polyangiitis, microscopic polyangiitis, and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) can be a manifestation of central nervous system (CNS) involvement in these diseases. Furthermore, intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a potential complication of these necrotizing vasculitides.

PRIME: A Novel Low-Mass, High-Repetition Approach to Improve Function in Older Adults.

Introduction: The ability to maintain functional independence in a rapidly aging population results in an increased life expectancy without corresponding increases in health care costs. The accelerated decline in V˙O2peak after the age of 65 yr is primarily due to peripheral tissue changes rather than centrally mediated factors. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Peripheral Remodeling through Intermittent Muscular Exercise (PRIME) approach, consisting of a low-mass, high-repetition/duration skeletal muscle focused training regimen would provide superior functional benefits in participants older than 70 yr old and at risk for losing functional independence.

Clinical Fractures Among Older Men With Diabetes Are Mediated by Diabetic Complications.

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus among older women has been associated with increased bone mineral density, but paradoxically with increased fracture risk. Findings among older men have varied, and potential mechanisms have not been fully elucidated.

Methods: A retrospective study of male veterans 65 to 99 years of age who received primary care in the Veterans Health Administration from 2000 to 2010, using administrative data from all 146 Veterans Health Administration medical centers linked to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare fee-for-service data.

Yttrium-90 radioembolization of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma - a single center experience.

Purpose: To determine the value of radioembolization (RE) for treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Patients And Methods: Records of patients undergoing RE for unresectable HCC were retrospectively reviewed. Biochemical and clinical toxicities, imaging response (according to modified Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors), time-to-progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed.

Predictive Validity of Radiographic Trabecular Bone Texture in Knee Osteoarthritis: The Osteoarthritis Research Society International/Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Osteoarthritis Biomarkers Consortium.

Objective: To evaluate radiographic subchondral trabecular bone texture (TBT) as a predictor of clinically relevant osteoarthritis (OA) progression (combination of symptom and structural worsening).

Methods: The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) OA Biomarkers Consortium undertook a study of progressive knee OA cases (n = 194 knees with both radiographic and pain progression over 24-48 months) and comparators (n = 406 OA knees not meeting the case definition). TBT parameters were extracted from a medial subchondral tibial region of interest by fractal signature analysis of radiographs using validated semiautomated software.

Combined Dietary Nitrate and Exercise Intervention in Peripheral Artery Disease: Protocol Rationale and Design.

Background: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is caused by atherosclerotic occlusions in the legs. It affects approximately 8-12 million people in the United States alone, one-third of whom suffer from intermittent claudication (IC), defined as ischemic leg pain that occurs with walking and improves with rest. Patients with IC suffer a markedly impaired quality of life and a high perception of disability.

[Interventional Radiological Treatment of Intercostal Artery Bleedings - a Retrospective Analysis].

Intercostal artery bleedings are potentially fatal injuries. Apart from conservative and surgical treatment options, emergency interventional radiological treatment can also be performed. We report our experience with emergency intercostal artery embolisation.

In Vitro Evaluation of the Occlusive Properties of the ArtVentive Endoluminal Occlusion System Occlusion Device for Transrenal Ureteral Occlusion.

Purpose: Current techniques for percutaneous ureteral occlusion are either technically difficult or not satisfactory because of frequent ureteral recanalization. The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the occlusive properties of an "off the shelf" solution (Endoluminal Occlusion System [EOS™]; ArtVentive Medical Group, Inc., Carlsbad, CA) for transrenal ureteral occlusion.

Does accounting for seizure frequency variability increase clinical trial power?

Objective: Seizure frequency variability is associated with placebo responses in randomized controlled trials (RCT). Increased variability can result in drug misclassification and, hence, decreased statistical power. We investigated a new method that directly incorporated variability into RCT analysis, Z.

Endovascular Management of Malignant Inferior Vena Cava Syndromes.

Purpose: Malignant obstructions of the inferior vena cava (IVC) are a common cause of the IVC syndrome. As reports on interventional treatment of malignant inferior caval obstructions are very sparse, the purpose of this study was to retrospectively assess the outcome of endovascular treatment of symptomatic, malignant IVC syndromes.

Materials And Methods: Between 2000 and 2015, 19 patients (six women; mean age 59 years ± 14) received endovascular treatment of malignant IVC obstruction/occlusion.