[Detection of inflammation in an atherosclerose plaque: the role of the positron emission tomography and C reactive protein].

Objectives: To demonstrate that inflammatory atheromatose carotid plaques can be visualized with positron emission tomography with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG PET) in symptomatic patients, in order to correlate them with systemic inflammatory markers, such as CRP.

Method: Fifteen patients with cerebral ischemia due to atherosclerotic carotid disease were studied. 18FDG uptake with PET was considered and blood samples were taken for determining high sensibility C reactive protein (HsCRP).

Cost reduction in abdominal CT by weight-adjusted dose.

Aim: To analyze the influence of contrast dose adjusted by weight vs. fixed contrast dose in the attenuation and cost of abdominal computed tomography (CT).

Materials And Methods: A randomised, consecutive, parallel group study was conducted in 151 patients (74 men and 77 women, age range 22-67 years), studied with the same CT helical protocol.

Idebenone treatment in paediatric and adult patients with Friedreich ataxia: long-term follow-up.

Background: Antioxidant therapy is a new therapeutical approach for patients with Friedreich ataxia.

Aims: To assess the effectiveness of long-term idebenone treatment in Friedreich ataxia patients.

Methods: An open-labelled prospective study.

Pre-pulseless Takayasu's arteritis evaluated with 18F-FDG positron emission tomography and gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography.

Takayasu's arteritis is a primary vasculitis that affects large vessels and is characterized by chronic granulomatous inflammation. Diagnosis has been primarily clinical, with verification by angiography as the gold standard. More recently, however, it has become apparent that positron emission tomography enables better evaluation of vascular inflammation.

Reproducibility of the circadian blood pressure pattern in 24-h versus 48-h recordings: the Spanish Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Registry.

Objectives: To assess the reproducibility of the circadian blood pressure (BP) pattern over a 48-h period by comparing the first 24 h of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) with the following 24 h and with the mean over 48 h.

Patients And Methods: Patients undergoing 48-h ABPM within the National ABPM Registry of the Spanish Society of Hypertension, based on 800 Spacelabs 90207 monitors distributed throughout Spain in hypertension units and primary healthcare centres, were included. Between June 2004 and September 2005, 611 valid 48-h ABPM recordings were obtained, 235 corresponded to patients without antihypertensive treatment.

[Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (CABPM): clinical characteristics of 31,530 patients].

Background And Objective: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is a useful diagnostic and therapeutic tool in hypertensive patients. This study reports the clinical characteristics of 31,530 patients included in the Spanish Registry of ABPM.

Patients And Method: A total number of 767 investigators recruited patients with suspected or confirmed hypertension to whom an ABPM was indicated with a validated device and included them in the study.

[Primary care doctors' and nurses' opinion of elder abuse and neglect].

Objective: To identify primary care health professionals' opinion of elder abuse and its management. Qualitative study through focus groups.

Participants: Twenty-seven health professionals in primary care.

[Ischemic heart disease: anatomic and functional evaluation in a single exploration with multi-slice PET-CT].

A complete evaluation of the patient with ischemic heart disease requires an anatomical and functional assessment of the myocardium and coronary arteries. Recent technological advances have allowed a quantitative and physiological evaluation of the cardiovascular system with Positron Emission Tomography (PET). This method is a valuable tool for the assessment of heart metabolism, myocardial perfusion, ventricular function, coronary blood flow, myocardial viability and endothelial function.

The myopia of governments contributes to maternal mortality: dying from socioeconomic and physical distances.

Geographical, socioeconomic and cultural factors contribute to high maternal mortality rates in developing countries

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in hypertensive patients with high cardiovascular risk: a cross-sectional analysis of a 20,000-patient database in Spain.

Objective: To evaluate ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) parameters in a broad sample of high-risk hypertensive patients.

Methods: The Spanish Society of Hypertension is developing a nationwide project in which more than 900 physicians send ABPM registries and corresponding clinical records to a central database via www.cardiorisc.

Oral insulin-mimetic compounds that act independently of insulin.

The hallmarks of insulin action are the stimulation and suppression of anabolic and catabolic responses, respectively. These responses are orchestrated by the insulin pathway and are initiated by the binding of insulin to the insulin receptor, which leads to activation of the receptor's intrinsic tyrosine kinase. Severe defects in the insulin pathway, such as in types A and B and advanced type 1 and 2 diabetes lead to severe insulin resistance, resulting in a partial or complete absence of response to exogenous insulin and other known classes of antidiabetes therapies.

Intestinal permeability in different feedings in infancy.

Aim: To determine the intestinal permeability (IP) as a marker of intestinal epithelial integrity in formula-fed infants compared with healthy breast-fed infants.

Methods: IP was measured in 57 healthy infants less than 4 months old. A dual sugar test with lactulose and mannitol was performed.

A simple multichromophore design for energy transfer in distyrylbenzenes with pyrene pendants.

A set of Don --> Acc <-- Don multichromophores was synthesized based on a simple design with two pyrene donors (absorbing antennae) connected to a bis-1,4-(3,4,5-trimethoxystyryl)benzene core acceptor using various flexible, nonconjugated tethers. Excitation of the pyrene donors at 276 nm in solution yields near exclusive emission from the core chromophore at 445-450 nm, with energy transfer efficiencies up to 92%, far better than achieved with simple mixtures. The simple tethering design imposes a high "local" concentration of the pyrene near the acceptor core unit that is maintained even at very low multichromophore concentrations.

Relation of left ventricular hypertrophy to regional cerebral blood flow: single photon emission computed tomography abnormalities in essential hypertension.

Several reports have shown that left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an independent predictor of acute cerebrovascular events. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between LVH and cerebral blood flow in middle-aged patients with essential hypertension. Forty never-treated hypertensive patients (24 men, 16 women, aged 50-60 years) without clinical evidence of target organ damage were studied.

White matter lesions and cognitive impairment as silent cerebral disease in hypertension.

Although the pathogenesis and clinical significance of cerebral white matter lesions remain controversial, it is well established that age and hypertension are the most important factors related to the presence of these lesions. Hypertension is known to be the most important factor for developing stroke and vascular dementia. In addition, the presence of cerebral white matter lesions is an important prognostic factor for the development of stroke, and also for cognitive impairment and dementia.

Low-high and high-low biphasic injection forms in computed tomography examinations of the upper abdomen.

Purpose: To analyze the influence of different biphasic and monophasic injection rate protocols in abdominal computed tomography (CT).

Material And Methods: A randomized, consecutive, parallel group study was designed and conducted in 60 patients studied with the same CT helical protocol. Patients were randomly distributed into three groups: (A) monophasic (120 ml at 2.

Increased levels of atherosclerosis markers in salt-sensitive hypertension.

Background: Salt sensitivity in essential hypertension is associated with both endothelial dysfunction and increased cardiovascular risk. We evaluated several serum markers of atherosclerosis and endothelial function in a group of essential hypertensive patients classified on the basis of their salt sensitivity.

Methods: Forty-three patients were classified as having salt-sensitive (20 subjects) or salt-resistant (23 subjects) hypertension on the basis of their 24-h blood pressure (BP) response from low salt (50 mmol/d) to high salt (250 mmol/d) intake.

The effect of sugars and free amino acids from the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii hemolymph on lectin activity and on oxidative burst.

We determined the effect of low molecular weight components (LMWC) from healthy juvenile and adult Macrobrachium rosenbergii hemolymph on lectin activity and oxidative burst (OB) in hemocytes. In an attempt to identify the LMWC that affect the lectin's hemagglutinating activity or oxidative burst, we determined the hemolymph carbohydrates and free amino acids (FAA) concentration. The LMWC (<2000 Da) were obtained after dialysis of the hemolymph.

Antihypertensive, cardiovascular, and pleiotropic effects of angiotensin-receptor blockers.

Purpose Of Review: To review the antihypertensive, cardiovascular and pleiotropic effects of angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs).

Recent Findings: ARBs are the most recently approved class of antihypertensive agents. They selectively block the angiotensin II type 1 receptor, thus inhibiting most of the deleterious effects of angiotensin II.

[Lack of association between blood pressure variability and left ventricular hypertrophy in essential hypertension].

Background And Objective: Blood pressure (BP) fluctuations may contribute to the development of target organ damage in essential hypertension. However, a possible relationship with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is controversial. The aim of the present study was to analyze the association between BP variability, defined through different instrument measures, and LVH in a group of essential hypertensive patients.

Cerebral hemodynamics and silent cerebral white matter lesions in middle-aged essential hypertensive patients.

Cerebral white matter lesions (WML) represent a subclinical form of ischemic brain damage that have been associated with risk of future stroke. Studies have shown an association between WML and impaired cerebral autoregulation in hypertensives who had previously suffered a stroke. The aim of the study was to evaluate cerebral hemodynamics in asymptomatic hypertensives according to the presence or absence of WML.

Participation of serum and membrane lectins on the oxidative burst regulation in Macrobrachium rosenbergii hemocytes.

Using a spectrophotometric NBT reduction assay and phagocytosis, we identified that production of superoxide anions and phagocytic activity of hemocytes from Macrobrachium rosenbergii were significantly higher in the presence of rat, rabbit, and chicken erythrocytes than with human, pig, or horse erythrocytes. Hemocytes stimulated with MrL, MrLMab, or PMA increased 4.7, 5.

Blood pressure variability and silent cerebral damage in essential hypertension.

Background: It is recognized that blood pressure (BP) variability has prognostic significance in determining target organ damage and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. The aim of this study was to analyze the association between blood pressure variability and the presence of silent cerebral white matter lesions in middle-aged asymptomatic essential hypertensives.

Methods: We studied 43 middle-aged untreated hypertensive patients.