Making shared decision-making (SDM) a reality: protocol of a large-scale long-term SDM implementation programme at a Northern German University Hospital.

Introduction: Shared decision-making (SDM) is not yet widely used when making decisions in German hospitals. Making SDM a reality is a complex task. It involves training healthcare professionals in SDM communication and enabling patients to actively participate in communication, in addition to providing sound, easy to understand information on treatment alternatives in the form of evidence-based patient decision aids (EbPDAs).

The association between red cell distribution width and venous thromboembolism is not explained by myocardial infarction, stroke, or cancer.

Background: Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a risk marker of venous thromboembolism (VTE), myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and cancer. Due to interrelations between these diseases, the association between RDW and VTE may be explained by MI, stroke, or cancer.

Objective: To investigate whether the effect of RDW on VTE could be explained by intermediate development of MI, stroke, or cancer.

The association between anemia and falls in community-living women and men aged 65 years and older from the fifth Tromsø Study 2001-02: a replication study.

Background: Falls are common among elderly people, and the risk increase with age. Falls are associated with both health and social consequences for the patient, and major societal costs. Identification of risk factors should be investigated to prevent falls.

Benzylpenicillin plus an aminoglycoside versus meropenem in neutropenic lymphoma and leukaemia patients with a suspected bacterial infection: a randomized, controlled trial.

Objectives: In Norway, initial treatment of febrile neutropenia (FN) has traditionally been benzylpenicillin plus an aminoglycoside. Internationally, FN is often treated with a broad-spectrum β-lactam antibiotic. We aimed to compare these two regimens in a prospective, randomized, trial in patients with lymphoma or leukaemia with an expected period of neutropenia ≥7 days, and a suspected bacterial infection.

Red cell distribution width is associated with future risk of incident stroke. The Tromsø Study.

Red cell distribution width (RDW), a measure of the variability in size of the circulating erythrocytes, is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We aimed to investigate whether RDW was associated with incident stroke and case fatality in subjects recruited from the general population. Baseline characteristics were obtained from 25,992 subjects participating in the fourth survey of the Tromsø Study, conducted in 1994/95.

Red cell distribution width and carotid atherosclerosis progression. The Tromsø Study.

Red cell distribution width (RDW), a measure of the size variability of circulating erythrocytes, is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We aimed to investigate whether RDW was associated with progression of atherosclerotic plaques in subjects recruited from the general population. Baseline characteristics, including RDW, were collected from 4677 participants in the fourth survey of the Tromsø Study conducted in 1994/95.

Red cell distribution width is associated with incident venous thromboembolism (VTE) and case-fatality after VTE in a general population.

Recent studies suggest an association between red cell distribution width (RDW) and incident venous thromboembolism (VTE). We aimed to investigate the impact of RDW on risk of incident and recurrent VTE, and case-fatality, in a general population. RDW was measured in 26,223 participants enrolled in the Tromsø Study in 1994-1995.

Red cell distribution width is associated with incident myocardial infarction in a general population: the Tromsø Study.

Background: Red cell distribution width (RDW), a measure of the variability in size of circulating erythrocytes, is associated with mortality and adverse outcome in selected populations with cardiovascular disease. It is scarcely known whether RDW is associated with incident myocardial infarction (MI). We aimed to investigate whether RDW was associated with risk of first-ever MI in a large cohort study with participants recruited from a general population.

Inflammatory biomarkers as risk factors for future atrial fibrillation. An eleven-year follow-up of 6315 men and women: the Tromsø study.

Background: Inflammatory biomarkers are reported as risk factors for atrial fibrillation (AF), but their impact is uncertain.

Objective: We investigated the associations between inflammatory biomarkers and future AF in a large general cohort.

Methods: Available markers were white blood cells (WBCs) with subgroups, fibrinogen, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and osteoprotegerin (OPG).

[Survival in adults with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia].

Background: The Norwegian treatment protocol for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in adults was introduced in 1982 and has undergone minor changes thereafter. Earlier studies from The South Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority have reported 50 % five-year overall survival in patients treated according to this protocol. This article presents survival data for Norwegian adults with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia on a national basis.

Changes in body mass index and smoking habits have a different impact on hemoglobin concentration in men and women: a longitudinal follow-up of the Tromsø Study, 1994-2002.

Background: Body mass index (BMI) and smoking have been positively associated with hemoglobin concentration, and both are risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether there were sex differences in how changes in BMI and smoking habits influenced hemoglobin concentration.

Methods: In 1994-95 and 2001-02, a longitudinal, population-based study was conducted in the municipality of Tromsø, in northern Norway.

Anemia and the risk of non-vertebral fractures: the Tromsø Study.

Unlabelled: In this longitudinal study of 5,286 persons, men with anemia had a 2.15 higher risk of non-vertebral fractures than men with high hemoglobin levels. Women with anemia had no increased fracture risk.

[Survival in adults with acute myelogenous leukemia].

Background: Acute myelogenous leukemia is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults. The condition is lethal within a few months without treatment, but most young patients reach complete remission with chemotherapy. Many of them will relapse after a while, but an increasing number of young people survive for a long time.

Severe antibody-mediated agranulocytosis.

A 56-year-old female with Crohn's disease was admitted to the hospital with malaise, fever, and a low white blood cell count (0.8 x 10(9)/l) with no granulocytes or myeloid precursor cells in the bone marrow. The leucopenia was initially thought to be the result of an infection and she was treated with antibiotics and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF, filgrastim).

Haemoglobin predicts total mortality in a general young and middle-aged male population. The Tromsø Study.

Objective: The prognostic value of haemoglobin within normal references is seldom emphasized. The relationship between haemoglobin and mortality has been questioned because of the possible confounding of other risk factors. We investigated whether there was a curve linear relationship between haemoglobin and total mortality, and evaluated the possible modifying effects of smoking, body mass index, total cholesterol and systolic blood pressure.

Changes in haemoglobin levels according to changes in body mass index and smoking habits, a 20-year follow-up of a male cohort: the Tromsø Study 1974-1995.

Haemoglobin level declines with increasing age in cross sectional studies. Little is known about the longitudinal changes of haemoglobin. Because both high or low haemoglobin levels increase mortality and morbidity we examined how changes in lifestyle factors like body mass index (BMI) and smoking habits influence cohort changes in haemoglobin level.

Haemoglobin and anaemia in a gender perspective: the Tromsø Study.

Objectives: To examine the gender-specific distribution of haemoglobin (Hb) and the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for anaemia compared with the 2.5 percentile for Hb.

Methods: A population-based study from Tromsø, Northern Norway.

Haematological malignancies in a general population, based on information collected from a population study, hospital records, and the Cancer Registry of Norway: the Tromsø Study.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence and incidence of haematological malignancies, and to compare the rates found with those reported from the Cancer Registry of Norway.

Methods: Three sources of information were used: (1) automated blood cell counts from 27 145 persons older than 24 yr (72% of those invited), participating in a population study (the Tromsø Study 1994-95); (2) patient medical records at the University Hospital of Tromsø during 1991-96; (3) the Cancer Registry of Norway.

Results: (1) In the population study, 13 new cases of haematological malignancies were diagnosed.

Perfusing isolated rat hearts with hydrogen peroxide: an experimental model of cardiac dysfunction caused by reactive oxygen species.

A model of cardiac dysfunction induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) was established by adding hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to the perfusate of isolated, Langendorff-perfused rat hearts, and the mechanism of functional injury was investigated. The following groups were included: 1 (n = 7), control perfusion; 2 (n = 11), perfusion with H2O2 (180 mumol 1(-1) for 10 min followed by recovery for 50 min; 3 (n = 4), control perfusion with N-acetylcysteine (NAC, 100 mumol 1(-1); 4 (n = 7), perfusion with H2O2 and NAC; 5 (n = 4), control perfusion with thiourea (15 mmol 1(-1), 6 (n = 7), H2O2 and thiourea together; 7 (n = 4), control perfusion with catalase (150 U ml-1); 8 (n = 7), catalase and H2O2, 9 (n = 4), control perfusion with deferoxamine (5 mmol 1(-1); and 10 (n = 7), deferoxamine and H2O2. coronary flow (CF), left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), and heart rate (HR) were measured.

The role of nitric oxide in the cardiac effects of hydrogen peroxide.

Oxidative stress mediated by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) increases coronary flow (CF) in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts. We investigated the possible role of nitric oxide (NO) in H2O2-induced vasodilation. A dose-response study was conducted to find a concentration of H2O2 which increased CF without influencing left ventricular developed (LVDP) or end-diastolic (LVEDP) pressures.

The effects of exogenous histamine in isolated rat hearts.

The role of histamine in cardiac physiology and pathophysiology is not clarified, but is dependent on species. The effects of exogenous histamine in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts were investigated. 1 mM, 100, 10, 1 and 0.