Degradable starch microspheres transarterial chemoembolization (DSM-TACE) in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: results from the Prospective Multicenter Observational HepaStar Trial.

Objectives: Despite increasing interest, prospective data on the use of degradable starch microsphere-transarterial chemoembolization (DSM-TACE) in the management of patients with unresectable HCC are still scarce. The objective of the HepaStar study was to collect prospective safety and effectiveness data in a prospective multicenter observational study.

Materials And Methods: Between January 2017 and December 2022, consecutive participants with unresectable or recurrent HCC treated with DSM-TACE as standard of care at 6 participating centers in Europe were enrolled.

Superior load-to-failure in an all-suture anchor system for all-inside meniscal repair compared to a PEEK-cage anchor system in an experimental cadaveric test setting.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the biomechanical properties of a latest generation all-suture anchor repair device (ASARD) for meniscal repair with that of a latest generation PEEK-cage anchor repair device (PCARD) in an experimental setting using cadaveric menisci.

Methods: Twenty-six menisci were obtained from the knees of fresh body donors. Artificially created meniscal lesions were treated randomly, using a single stitch with either an ASARD or a PCARD.

Stage-adapted treatment of HIV-associated Hodgkin lymphoma: Long-term results of a prospective, multicenter study.

Results of a prospective study of stage-adapted treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated Hodgkin lymphoma (HIV-HL) showed a 2-year overall survival (OS) of 90.7% with no significant difference between early favorable (EF), early unfavorable (EU), and advanced HL. Patients with EF HIV-HL received two to four cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) + 30 Gy involved field (IF) radiation, those with EU HIV-HL received four cycles of ABVD or BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone) baseline + 30 Gy IF, and six to eight cycles of BEACOPP baseline were administered in advanced disease.

Simultaneous assessment of vascular distensibility and vessel wall area at coronary, carotid, and aortic level in diabetic patients using CMR: detection of vascular remodeling.

Aims: No data is available about the significance of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) derived vascular distensibility (VD) and vessel wall ratio (VWR) for risk stratification in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of T2DM on VD and VWR using CMR in both central and peripheral territories.

Methods: Thirty-one T2DM-patients and nine controls underwent CMR.

Soluble Urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor and Venous Thromboembolism in COVID-19.

Background Venous thromboembolism (VTE) contributes significantly to COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. The urokinase receptor system is involved in the regulation of coagulation. Levels of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) reflect hyperinflammation and are strongly predictive of outcomes in COVID-19.

Cardiovascular Safety Reporting in Contemporary Breast Cancer Clinical Trials.

Background Several cancer therapies have been associated with cardiovascular harm in early-phase clinical trials. However, some cardiovascular harms do not manifest until later-phase trials. To limit interdisease variability, we focused on breast cancer.

Spastic Paraplegia Type 7 and Movement Disorders: Beyond the Spastic Paraplegia.

Background: Spastic paraplegia type 7 (SPG7) mutations can present either as a pure form or a complex phenotype with movement disorders.

Objective: Describe the main features of subjects with SPG7 mutations associated with movement disorders.

Methods: We analyzed the clinical and paraclinical information of subjects with SPG7 mutations associated with movement disorders.

Sialylated -glycans mediate monocyte uptake of extracellular vesicles secreted from -infected red blood cells.

Glycoconjugates on extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a vital role in internalization and mediate interaction as well as regulation of the host immune system by viruses, bacteria, and parasites. During their intraerythrocytic life-cycle stages, malaria parasites, () mediate the secretion of EVs by infected red blood cells (RBCs) that carry a diverse range of parasitic and host-derived molecules. These molecules facilitate parasite-parasite and parasite-host interactions to ensure parasite survival.

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors, Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers, and Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19.

Background Use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEi/ARB) is thought to affect COVID-19 through modulating levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, the cell entry receptor for SARS-CoV2. We sought to assess the association between ACEi/ARB, biomarkers of inflammation, and outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Methods and Results We leveraged the ISIC (International Study of Inflammation in COVID-19), identified patients admitted for symptomatic COVID-19 between February 1, 2020 and June 1, 2021 for COVID-19, and examined the association between in-hospital ACEi/ARB use and all-cause death, need for ventilation, and need for dialysis.

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Reveals Incipient Cardiomyopathy Traits in Adult Patients With Phenylketonuria.

Background Phenylketonuria is the most common inborn error of amino acid metabolism, where oxidative stress and collateral metabolic abnormalities are likely to cause cardiac structural and functional modifications. We aim herein to characterize the cardiac phenotype of adult subjects with phenylketonuria using advanced cardiac imaging. Methods and Results Thirty-nine adult patients with phenylketonuria (age, 30.

Aggression Toward Others Misdiagnosed as Primary Tics.

Background: Tics describe a wide range of sudden and repetitive behaviors. Their multifaceted clinical features may resemble other explosive behaviors, including repetitive episodes of aggression toward others (allo-aggression) reported by subjects without tics. Here, we document 3 exemplary cases that help disentangle allo-aggressive behaviors from tics.

Elevated soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor serum levels indicate poor survival following transarterial chemoembolization therapy for hepatic malignancies: An exploratory analysis.

Background And Aim: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) represents a standard of care for patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or liver metastases. However, identification of the ideal candidates for TACE therapy remains challenging. The soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) has recently evolved as a prognostic marker in patients with cancer; however no data on suPAR in the context of TACE exists.

Levosimendan Efficacy and Safety: 20 years of SIMDAX in Clinical Use.

Levosimendan was first approved for clinic use in 2000, when authorisation was granted by Swedish regulatory authorities for the haemodynamic stabilisation of patients with acutely decompensated chronic heart failure. In the ensuing 20 years, this distinctive inodilator, which enhances cardiac contractility through calcium sensitisation and promotes vasodilatation through the opening of adenosine triphosphate-dependent potassium channels on vascular smooth muscle cells, has been approved in more than 60 jurisdictions, including most of the countries of the European Union and Latin America. Areas of clinical application have expanded considerably and now include cardiogenic shock, takotsubo cardiomyopathy, advanced heart failure, right ventricular failure and pulmonary hypertension, cardiac surgery, critical care and emergency medicine.

A Novel Nonsense Variant Associated With Marked Intrafamilial Variability in a Turkish Family With Myoclonus-Dystonia.

Background: Myoclonus-Dystonia syndrome (M-D) is an autosomal-dominant movement disorder related to gene pathogenic variants. Although there can be observed variability in clinical findings, here we describe intrafamilial variability in a Turkish family with a novel nonsense pathogenic variant.

Methods: A family with variable clinical symptoms resembling M-D were referred to our clinic.

Impact of Resveratrol on Glucose Control, Hippocampal Structure and Connectivity, and Memory Performance in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

In healthy older adults, resveratrol supplementation has been shown to improve long-term glucose control, resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) of the hippocampus, and memory function. Here, we aimed to investigate if these beneficial effects extend to individuals at high-risk for dementia, i.e.

Comparison of bedside assessed arm and leg fluid filtration determined by venous congestion plethysmography in perioperative cancer patients: An observational study investigating agreement.

In recent years, pathophysiology and clinical impact of microvascular fluid filtration has regained interest. As the latest data in surgical patients have been published almost 20 years ago, there is need for further research to better understand fluid filtration during the perioperative period. Venous congestion plethysmography (VCP) provides a rapid and noninvasive method, which has been shown suitable for the assessment of fluid filtration in limbs.

Terminal complement activation is increased and associated with disease severity in CIDP.

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is the most common chronic autoimmune neuropathy. While both cell-mediated and humoral mechanisms contribute to its pathogenesis, the rapid clinical response to plasmapheresis implicates a circulating factor responsible for peripheral nerve injury. We report that treatment-naïve patients with CIDP show increased serum and CSF levels of the anaphylatoxin C5a and the soluble terminal complement complex (sTCC).

Effects of Ncl. Basalis Meynert volume on the Trail-Making-Test are restricted to the left hemisphere.

Background: Cortical acetylcholine released from cells in the basal forebrain facilitates cue detection and improves attentional performance. Cholinergic fibres to the cortex originate from the CH4 cell group, sometimes referred to as the Nucleus basalis of Meynert and the Nucleus subputaminalis of Ayala. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of volumes of cholinergic nuclei on attention and executive function.