High ADMA Is Associated with Worse Health Profile in Heart Failure Patients Hospitalized for Episodes of Acute Decompensation.

: episodes of acute decompensation in chronic heart failure (ADHF), a common health problem for the growing elderly population, pose a significant socio-economic burden on the public health systems. Limited knowledge is available on both the endothelial function in and the cardio-metabolic health profile of old adults hospitalized due to ADHF. This study aimed to investigate the connection between asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA)-a potent inhibitor of nitric oxide-and key health biomarkers in this category of high-risk patients.

The Congestion "Pandemic" in Acute Heart Failure Patients.

Congestion not only represents a cardinal sign of heart failure (HF) but is also now recognized as the primary cause of hospital admissions, rehospitalization, and mortality among patients with acute heart failure (AHF). Congestion can manifest through various HF phenotypes in acute settings: volume overload, volume redistribution, or both. Recognizing the congestion phenotype is paramount, as it implies different therapeutic strategies for decongestion.

Tertiary prevention strategies for micrometastatic lymph node cervical cancer: A systematic review and a prototype of an adapted model of care.

Purpose: We found a need for balancing the application of clinical guidelines and tailored approaches to follow-up of cervical cancer (CC) patients in the lymph node micrometastatic (MICs) setting. This review aimed to determine the current knowledge of management of MIC-positive CC cases.

Methodology: We addressed prognostic and risk of recurrence monitoring impacts associated with MIC+ cases.

Pentraxin-3 and Other Inflammatory Markers for an Infected Diabetic Foot Ulcer Diagnosis: A Prospective Study.

Strategies have been researched and implemented to reduce the number of people with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). One problem is the accurate assessment of DFU severity, which is the main factor in resource allocation and treatment choice. The primary objective of this study was to assess pentraxin-3 as a biomarker of an infected DFU (IDFU), the limb amputation level prognosis, and patient survival.

Serum YKL-40 Levels in Patients with Asthma or COPD: A Pilot Study.

Bronchial asthma (BA) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are not only common obstructive respiratory conditions but also major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There is, however, a surprising lack of blood-based biomarkers for separating between these pulmonary disorders. The aim of this study was to assess the practical relevance of using serum YKL-40, single or combined, for this purpose.

Clinical Relevance of Plasma Concentrations of MBL in Accordance with IgE Levels in Children Diagnosed with Bronchial Asthma.

Bronchial asthma is a heterogeneous, multifactorial pulmonary disease characterized by variable airway obstruction caused by chronic inflammation. Our study investigates the clinical relevance of MBL plasma levels in accordance with IgE values in children who attended a pediatric consult for respiratory symptoms with bronchial asthma. The study population consists of patients <18-years-old and included 43 patients with bronchial asthma and 64 age-matched healthy subjects as a control group.

Uterine Artery Doppler Flow Indices in Pregnant Women During the 11 Weeks + 0 Days and 13 Weeks + 6 Days Gestational Ages: a Study of 168 Patients.

Objectives: Uterine artery Doppler flow studies during the 11th and 14th week of pregnancy are important in the prediction of preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction in pregnant women as well as in the prevention thereof.

Methods: Our study on Doppler flow indices of the uterine arteries involved 168 patients examined in our clinic, with pregnancies ranging from 11 weeks + 0 days to 13 weeks + 6 days.

Results: There were 72 patients from 11 weeks + 0 days to 11 weeks + 6 days (42.

Post-medication Stevens-Johnson syndrome in a girl hospitalized for a norovirus and rotavirus infection.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is a cutaneous mucosal disorder characterized by extended necrosis and detachment of the epidermis affecting <10% of the body surface, caused by drugs or infections. The authors report a case of a girl with Depakine resistant epilepsy, who develops a SJS in the third week of introducing lamotrigine. The girl also presents an acute diarrheal disease with double viral etiology - rotavirus and norovirus.

Galectin-3 as a marker for clinical prognosis and cardiac remodeling in acute heart failure.

Background: Galectin-3 has been reported as a mediator of heart failure (HF) development and progression. Most studies, however, have been conducted on patients with chronic HF rather than acute HF (AHF). The aim of this study was to confirm galectin-3 as a prognostic marker in subjects with AHF and to investigate its possible relationship with left ventricular (LV) remodeling.

Simultaneous analysis of neutral monosaccharides, fatty acids and cholesterol as biomarkers from a drop of blood.

Aim: We have developed a method for simultaneous monitoring of more biomarkers from three different classes of compounds by simultaneous analysis of neutral monosaccharides, fatty acids (FAs) and cholesterol as their per-O-methylated derivatives from a drop of blood by GC-MS. This work is a development of our previous results about analysis of neutral monosaccharides from a drop of blood.

Methods & Results: The simultaneous per-O-methylation was obtained by methylation in one step with methyl iodide and NaOH in DMSO.

Galectin-3: A Link between Myocardial and Arterial Stiffening in Patients with Acute Decompensated Heart Failure?

Background: Heart failure is accompanied by abnormalities in ventricular-vascular interaction due to increased myocardial and arterial stiffness. Galectin-3 is a recently discovered biomarker that plays an important role in myocardial and vascular fibrosis and heart failure progression.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether galectin-3 is correlated with arterial stiffening markers and impaired ventricular-arterial coupling in decompensated heart failure patients.

Determination of Neutral Monosaccharides as Per-O-methylated Derivatives Directly from a Drop of Whole Blood by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.

A new analytical procedure was developed for the simultaneous quantification of neutral monosaccharides from a drop of whole blood using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis (GC-MS) of their per-O-methylated derivatives. The per-O-methylation reaction with methyl iodide and solid sodium hydroxide in methyl sulfoxide was used for the first time for analysis of blood monosaccharides. A blood drop volume of 0.

Galectin-3 in heart failure pathology--"another brick in the wall"?

Heart failure is a disease affecting millions of patients each year, and is responsible for burdening the world with high mortality rates. More concerns come from its numerous hospital readmissions (with an estimated number of 2.6 million per year which makes it one of the leading diseases responsible for national healthcare expenditures).

Recent progress in the study of occupational lung diseases in Romania.

This paper reviews studies of occupational lung diseases in Romania in the last two decades. Work concerned with the effects of exposure to textile fibres, irritant gases and fumes in the chemical industry, welding fumes, asbestos, cadmium oxide, and the relation between dust exposure, pneumoconiosis, and chronic bronchitis is briefly presented.

Aspects of pulmonary mechanics in arc welders' siderosis.

Sixteen working welders with more than seven years' exposure and a chest radiograph suggestive of siderosis and 13 healthy unexposed men were studied. Each subject had a comprehensive medical and work history, physical examination, standard chest film, and pulmonary function investigation (lung volumes, ventilatory capacities, pulmonary compliance in static and dynamic conditions, specific compliance, and elastic work of breathing). Seven of the welders had some exertional dyspnoea and three complained of cough.