Evaluation of gastric emptying in familial and sporadic Parkinson disease.

Objective: To assess for the presence of gastric dysmotility in familial and sporadic Parkinson disease (PD).

Methods: 10 subjects with familial Parkinson disease (fPD), 35 subjects with sporadic Parkinson disease (sPD), and 15 controls, all from academic tertiary care movement disorders centers, were studied. fPD was defined as the presence of at least 2 affected individuals within 2-3 consecutive generations in a family.

Individually Fitted Hearing Aid Device Manufactured Using Rapid Prototyping Based on Ear CT. A Case Report.

Rapid prototyping is the technology of automatic freeform fabrication of physical objects from virtual CAD (computer aided design) models. For medical objects the models may be created using data from CT, MR or rotational angiography. We descriobe the case of a 83-year-old woman with essential bilateral hearing impairment as the effect of chronic otitis media.

Functional characteristics of small proteins (70 amino acid residues) forming protein-nucleic acid complexes.

The proteins composed of short polypeptides (about 70 amino acid residues) participating in large complexes (ribosome) and proteins interacting with DNA/RNA were taken for analysis and classified according to the hydrophobicity excess/deficiency distribution as a measure of structural and functional specificity and similarity. The characterization of this group of proteins is the introductory part to the analysis of the so called "Never Born Proteins" (NBP) in search for protein compounds exhibiting biological activity that may be valuable in pharmacological research. The entropy scale (classification between random and deterministic limits) organized in ranking list allows the comparative analysis of the proteins under consideration.

Diplopia in Green Tobacco Sickness.

This paper examines the first reported case of Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS) in Poland. A 25-year-old man who worked in a tobacco field for 14 hours with no protective measures experienced symptoms of GTS, and additionally, diplopia, after leaving the field. Upon hospital admission, diplopia was no longer observed.

Effect of aortic valve stenosis on haemostasis is independent from vascular atherosclerotic burden.

Objective: The aim of study was to assess whether activation of blood coagulation and platelets is enhanced in aortic stenosis (AS) and if so, to determine factors that might modulate these processes.

Patients/methods: Seventy-five patients with AS (48 males, 27 females, aged 65+/-10 years) were enrolled in the study. A control group comprised 75 age- and sex-matched subjects.

Pathology of renal tumors in adults. Molecular biology, histopathological diagnosis and prognosis.

Malignant renal tumors constitute 3% of human cancers, although their frequency differs greatly in various areas. Since the fifties, the incidence of renal cancers has been increasing, but at the some time the prognosis has been improving. In particular, in the last years, several new treatment modalities have been introduced, relying on the understanding of renal cancer biology.

Selenium status, sex hormones, and thyroid function in young women.

The aim of the study was to identify those parameters characterising selenium status and sex hormones secretion, which are responsible for the changes in indicators of thyroid function, and to reveal the correlation structure of parameters expressing selenium status, sex hormones secretion and thyroid function, if any exist. The general approach in this work was essentially the same as in our previous report (cf. [Zagrodzki P, Ratajczak R, Wietecha-Posłuszny R.

Problems in differential diagnosis of diabetes types.

Diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases characterized by chronic increase of glucose level. The last years brought progress in understanding the multiplicity of its forms, as well as, its complex pathogenesis. In 1999, a classification of diabetes based on the etiology of individual types, was proposed by the Experts Committee of the World Health Organization, and is now commonly accepted.

Selenium supplementation in autoimmune thyroiditis female patient--effects on thyroid and ovarian functions (case study).

Recently published biochemical data suggest the significant role of selenium compounds as the adjuvants combined with L: -thyroxine therapy, which can reduce antithyroid peroxidase antibodies' (TPOAb) levels in patients with Hashimoto disease. The study was undertaken to document in a more detailed way the changes in parameters expressing the thyroid and ovarian function brought about by selenium supplementation (50-100 microg/day) in a woman undergoing autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) therapy. This prospective observational case study lasted for 14 months plus additional 5 months as a follow-up period.

Myocardial infarction and angina pectoris in the history of Polish medicine. Part 2. Diagnosis and early attempts at treatment: the 19th and 20th centuries.

In the second part of the article, developments following the "discovery" of ischemic heart disease and gaining understanding of its nature have been presented starting from the first intravital diagnoses of myocardial infarction in the history of the world medicine established by Adam Hammer in Austria (1878) and Edward Korczyński in Krakow (1887). The contribution of Polish clinicians at the turn of the XX century to the first modern attempts at elucidating the nature of myocardial infarction based on the knowledge of anatomopathology and physiology prevalent at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century has been described. A special role in understanding pathological mechanisms of myocardial infarction was played by such Polish researchers as Władysław Biegański, Józef Pawiński, Zdzisław Dmochowski, Władysław Antoni Gluziński and Marian Franke.

Myocardial infarction and angina pectoris in the history of Polish medicine. Part 1. Discovery and understanding of the disease.

This review presents the most important achievements associated with the understanding of angina pectoris and myocardial infarction in Poland. The author describes the contribution of physicians living on Polish soil to scientific knowledge in this field. The beginning of Polish interest in cardiac diseases are associated with an eminent medieval physician, Thomas of Wrocław.

Pulsatile but not steady component of blood pressure predicts cardiovascular events in coronary patients.

Although the differences between central and peripheral blood pressure (BP) values have been known for decades, the consequences of decision making based on peripheral rather than central BP have only recently been recognized. There are only a few studies assessing the relationship between intraaortic BP and cardiovascular risk. In addition, the relationship between central BP and the risk of cardiovascular events in a large group of coronary patients has not yet been evaluated.

Conservative secondary structure motifs already present in early-stage folding (in silico) as found in serpines family.

The well-known procedure implemented in ClustalW oriented on the sequence comparison was applied to structure comparison. The consensus sequence as well as consensus structure has been defined for proteins belonging to serpine family. The structure of early stage intermediate was the object for similarity search.

Obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is associated with enhanced thrombin generation and platelet activation.

Objectives: To investigate the association of left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction with blood coagulation, platelet activity and inflammatory response in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and sinus rhythm.

Patients And Main Outcome Measures: In 42 patients with HCM with sinus rhythm, including 16 patients with resting LVOT obstruction (gradient > or = 30 mm Hg) and 29 age- and sex-matched controls, markers of thrombin generation (thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT), prothrombin fragment 1+2 (F1+2)), platelet activation (soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L), beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG), P-selectin) and inflammation (C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)6, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha)) were determined.

Results: Thrombin, platelet and inflammatory markers were higher in the entire HCM group than in controls (p<0.

The pulsatile component of blood pressure: its role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

Pulse pressure (PP) is traditionally believed to increase cardiovascular risk because of an increase in afterload leading to left ventricular hypertrophy. It has also been emphasized that low diastolic blood pressure, being in part responsible for high PP, leads to an impairment of myocardial perfusion with all its adverse consequences. More recently, however, a direct role of pulsatile blood pressure changes in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and its complications has become better known.

Ascending aortic blood pressure waveform is related to coronary atherosclerosis in hypertensive as well as in normotensive subjects.

Ascending aortic blood pressure-derived indices were shown to be related to coronary atherosclerosis. However, no study so far has analyzed the relation between ascending aortic pulsatility and the extent of coronary atherosclerosis in normotensives. Therefore, the aim of the present analysis was to assess the relation between central blood pressure-derived indices and the presence and extent of coronary artery disease in patients with and without hypertension.

Effect of moderate hypercholesterolemia on recognition of hypernatremia using indirect measurements of serum sodium and potassium concentrations.

Background: Na+ and K+ concentration measurements by ion-selective electrodes and flame photometry are affected by lipids influencing plasma water content.

Methods: In 166 sera with total cholesterol ranging from 1.19 to 23.

Late hyperenhancement in gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging: comparison of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients with and without nonsustained ventricular tachycardia.

Aim: To assess the extent of hyperenhancement in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients with nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) in comparison to patients without NSVT.

Design: In HCM patients, NSVT in Holter monitoring is a risk factor for sudden cardiac death; however, its positive predictive value is low. Varying risk of sudden death related to NSVT may be dependent on the heterogeneous extent of the arrhythmogenic substrate, which seems to be visible as hyperenhancement in gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Ligation site in proteins recognized in silico.

Unlabelled: Recognition of a ligation site in a protein molecule is important for identifying its biological activity. The model for in silico recognition of ligation sites in proteins is presented. The idealized hydrophobic core stabilizing protein structure is represented by a three-dimensional Gaussian function.

Gender does not influence event-free survival in patients with ischaemic heart disease undergoing non-emergency coronary angiography. A single centre analysis.

Background: Although gender-related differences in cardiovascular risk in patients with acute coronary syndromes have been investigated several times in Poland, there are few data on the effects of gender on management of patients with stable ischaemic heart disease (IHD). In addition, available data on the prognosis in this condition in men and women are also scarce.

Aim: To assess gender-related differences in treatment and event-free survival in patients with IHD undergoing non-emergency coronary angiography.

Sequence-structure-function relation characterized in silico.

Methods for biological function recognition in silico appeared to be useful also for identifying characteristics of structure-to-function relations. The introduction of a three-dimensional Gauss function was assumed to represent the hydrophobic core in a protein molecule. The discrepancy between idealized "fuzzy oil-drop" and the observed one in real proteins appeared to be localized in the ligation site or in the area of biological function related part of protein molecule.

Doppler ultrasonography in suspected subclavian artery obstruction and in patient monitoring after subclavian stenting.

Purpose: Subclavian or innominate artery (SIA) stenosis affects up to 5% of patients referred to coronary bypass grafting; it is symptomatic in less than half of these. This study aimed to assess the Doppler ultrasonography (DU) findings in SIA obstruction and patients' follow-up after percutaneous angioplasty (PTA).

Methods: The study enrolled 118 patients (68 men, 50 women), aged 61.

Intraoperative ultrasonography in detecting and assessment of colorectal liver metastases.

Objective: to assess the clinical value of intraoperative ultrasonography (IOUS) in detecting and assessment of liver metastatic tumours in colorectal cancer patients.

Methods: a study is a retrospective analysis of 388 patients operated on for colorectal carcinoma between 1997 and 2004. In all the patients intraoperative ultrasound was performed.

Coagulation abnormalities and liver function after hemi-Fontan and Fontan procedures - the importance of hemodynamics in the early postoperative period.

Introduction: The causes of coagulation abnormalities and thromboembolic complications during staged Fontan approach in patients with single ventricle remain unclear. This study was designed to evaluate the coagulation profile in the early postoperative period after hemi-Fontan and Fontan procedures with relationship to liver function and hemodynamic variables.

Materials And Methods: The prospective study on 43 patients after hemi-Fontan (group 1) and 37 patients after Fontan procedure (group 2) was carried out.