Serum lipoprotein(a) concentrations do not change significantly in the immediate seven-day period post myocardial infarction.

Background: Lipoprotein(a) is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease and its variability after myocardial infarction was assessed in this study.

Methods: Lipoprotein(a) was analysed by a size insensitive latex immunoturbidimetric end point assay in samples from days 0 to 7 in 31 patients admitted with myocardial infarction.

Results: Median lipoprotein(a) changed by -0.

High rates of non-adherence to antihypertensive treatment revealed by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HP LC-MS/MS) urine analysis.

Objectives: Non-adherence to therapy is an important cause of suboptimal blood pressure control but few practical tools exist to accurately and routinely detect it. We used a simple urine-based assay to evaluate the prevalence of antihypertensive treatment non-adherence and its impact on blood pressure in a specialist hypertension centre.

Methods: 208 hypertensive patients (125 new referrals, 66 follow-up patients with inadequate blood pressure control and 17 renal denervation referrals) underwent assessment of antihypertensive drug intake using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HP LC-MS/MS) urine analysis at the time of clinical appointment.

Methadone toxicity in infants: a report of two fatalities.

Fatalities in infants resulting from methadone toxicity are rare within the United Kingdom. We report two cases of fatality attributed to methadone toxicity in infants aged 3(1/2) and 15 months of age, respectively. One of the two cases was also associated with diazepam ingestion.

An unusual case of concurrent insulinoma and nesidioblastosis.

Context: Endogenous hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia in adults is most commonly caused by an insulinoma. Adult nesidioblastosis is rarely reported. To the best of our knowledge the presence of both insulinoma and nesidioblastosis has not been reported before.

Prospective double-blind randomized study of the effects of four intravenous fluids on platelet function and hemostasis in elective hip surgery.

A prospective randomized double-blind study was performed to determine the effects of three colloids, Haemaccel, Gelofusine and albumin, and also saline on platelet activation, platelet aggregation (induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP), epinephrine, collagen) platelet agglutination by ristocetin and other hemostatic variables in 55 patients undergoing primary unilateral total hip replacement. The fluids were administered according to normal clinical practice and assessments were made immediately before, at the end, and 2 h after the end of surgery. Surgery was accompanied by thrombin generation (increases in thrombin/antithrombin III complex, prothrombin F1 +2 fragment) platelet activation (betaTG) and compromised coagulation.