Little is known regarding objective predictors of cachexia affecting patients with heart failure (HF). We studied 108 stable chronic systolic HF patients with serial echocardiography and biomarker measurements over 10 months. Cachexia was defined as weight loss ≥5 % from baseline or final BMI <20 kg/m; 18.5 % developed cachexia. While there were no significant differences in baseline or serial echocardiographic measures in those developing cachexia, we found significant differences in baseline amino-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), highly sensitive troponin I, sST2, and endothelin-1. Baseline log NT-proBNP (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.57, p = 0.004) and edema (HR = 3.36, p = 0.04) were predictive of cachexia in an adjusted analysis. When serial measurement of biomarkers was considered, only percent time with NT-proBNP ≥1000 pg/mL was predictive of cachexia. Thus, a close association exists between baseline and serial measurement of NT-proBNP and HF cachexia.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12265-016-9710-4 | DOI Listing |
Front Transplant
December 2024
Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery (BREATHE), Department of CHROMETA, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Long-term survival after lung transplantation is limited due to chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD), which encompasses two main phenotypes: bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) and restrictive allograft syndrome (RAS). Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) is a biomarker for (sub)clinical allograft injury and could be a tool for monitoring of lung allograft health across the (pre)clinical spectrum of CLAD. In this proof-of-concept study, we therefore assessed post-transplant plasma dd-cfDNA levels in 20 CLAD patients (11 BOS and 9 RAS) at three consecutive time points free from concurrent infection or acute rejection, during stable condition, preclinical CLAD, and established CLAD ( = 3 × 20 samples).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Health Serv Res
January 2025
Department of Epidemiology, College of Health Sciences, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
Background: We sought to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic affected care delivery for HIV patients in Ghana.
Methods: Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), we performed a cross-sectional study between May and July 2021 among 40 people living with HIV and 19 healthcare providers caring for HIV patients. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were done with HIV patients, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, data scientists, administrators, and counselors to ascertain barriers and facilitators to HIV care during the pandemic.
BMC Pediatr
January 2025
Department of Pediatrics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
Background: Generalized lymphatic anomaly (GLA) is a rare congenital lymphatic malformation (LM) characterized by multiple infiltrating lymphangiomas in various tissues. Owing to its rarity, information on this disease is obtained mainly through case reports, leading to delayed diagnosis. In this study, we reported a case of generalized lymphatic anomaly in a pediatric patient manifesting as hemorrhagic pleural effusion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To investigate the long-term impact of half-fluence photodynamic therapy (PDT) on chorioretinal architecture in chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (cCSCR) through novel choroidal vascularity index (CVI) versus previously established subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT).
Methods: This post-hoc analysis included prospectively collected swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) images of a total of 29 cCSCR and fellow eyes (FE), acquired before, one and 12 months after PDT. CVI, total choroidal area (TCA), luminal area (LA) and stromal area (SA) were calculated using validated binarization technique.
J Clin Orthop Trauma
January 2025
Resident, Department of Community Medicine, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, SBVU (Deemed to be University), Pondicherry, India.
Introduction: Osteoporosis is a silent disease that is more prevalent among postmenopausal women (PMW) due to hormonal transition. Various toolkits, including the Osteoporosis Knowledge Assessment Tool (OKAT), were available for the knowledge assessment. The Osteoporosis-related knowledge is crucial for preventing osteoporosis, but there is no validated, reliable questionnaire in Tamil to measure this knowledge.
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