Risk models for lower extremity injuries among short- and long distance runners: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Running injuries are very common. Risk factors for running injuries are not consistently described across studies and do not differentiate between runners of long- and short distances within one cohort.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine risk factors for running injuries in recreational long- and short distance runners separately.

Treatment Satisfaction of Patients With Advanced Non-Small-cell Lung Cancer Receiving Platinum-based Chemotherapy: Results From a Prospective Cohort Study (PERSONAL).

Introduction: In patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, the treatment benefits and risks need to be constantly weighed. We explored patient-reported satisfaction with therapy (SWT) and assessed its value in addition to quality of life (QoL) and adverse events (AEs).

Patients And Methods: In a prospective multicenter cohort study, patients with stage IIIB/IV non-small-cell lung cancer received platinum-pemetrexed chemotherapy.

Incremental prognostic value of coronary computed tomography angiography over coronary calcium scoring for major adverse cardiac events in elderly asymptomatic individuals.

Aims: Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and coronary artery calcium score (CACS) have prognostic value for coronary artery disease (CAD) events beyond traditional risk assessment. Age is a risk factor with very high weight and little is known regarding the incremental value of CCTA over CAC for predicting cardiac events in older adults.

Methods And Results: Of 27 125 individuals undergoing CCTA, a total of 3145 asymptomatic adults were identified.

Autism spectrum disorder: an early and frequent feature in cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis.

Background: Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) is an autosomal recessively inherited inborn error of metabolism (IEM) due to mutations in the CYP27A1 gene. The clinical picture ranges from being nearly asymptomatic in early childhood, up to severe disability at adult age. Infantile-onset diarrhea and juvenile-onset cataract are the earliest symptoms in childhood.

Myocardial blood flow quantification for evaluation of coronary artery disease by computed tomography.

During the last decade coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) has become the preeminent non-invasive imaging modality to detect coronary artery disease (CAD) with high accuracy. However, CTA has a limited value in assessing the hemodynamic significance of a given stenosis due to a modest specificity and positive predictive value. In recent years, different CT techniques for detecting myocardial ischemia have emerged, such as CT-derived fractional flow reserve (FFR-CT), transluminal attenuation gradient (TAG), and myocardial CT perfusion (CTP) imaging.

Diabetes and male sex are key risk factor correlates of the extent of coronary artery calcification: A Euro-CCAD study.

Background And Aims: Although much has been written about the conventional cardiovascular risk factor correlates of the extent of coronary artery calcification (CAC), few studies have been carried out on symptomatic patients. This paper assesses the potential ability of risk factors to associate with an increasing CAC score.

Methods: From the European Calcific Coronary Artery Disease (Euro-CCAD) cohort, we retrospectively investigated 6309 symptomatic patients, 62% male, from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the USA.

Change in Carotid Plaque Components: A 4-Year Follow-Up Study With Serial MR Imaging.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to determine how carotid plaque components (e.g., intraplaque hemorrhage [IPH], calcification, lipid core) change over time and which cardiovascular risk factors are associated with the development of each component.

The release of microRNA-122 during liver preservation is associated with early allograft dysfunction and graft survival after transplantation.

Early allograft dysfunction (EAD) after liver transplantation (LT) is associated with inferior graft survival. EAD is more prevalent in grafts from donation after circulatory death (DCD). However, accurate prediction of liver function remains difficult because of the lack of specific biomarkers.

Left Anterior Descending Artery Myocardial Bridging: A Clinical Approach.

A myocardial bridge (MB) is the term for the muscle overlying the intramyocardial segment of the epicardial coronary artery (referred to as a tunneled artery). Although MBs can be found in any epicardial artery, most of them involve the left anterior descending artery. These congenital coronary anomalies have long been recognized anatomically, and are traditionally considered a benign condition; however, the association between myocardial ischemia and MBs has increased their clinical relevance.

Genetic Obesity and the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation: Causal Estimates from Mendelian Randomization.

Background: Observational studies have identified an association between body mass index (BMI) and incident atrial fibrillation (AF). Inferring causality from observational studies, however, is subject to residual confounding, reverse causation, and bias. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the causal association between BMI and AF by using genetic predictors of BMI.

Pigmentation-Independent Susceptibility Loci for Actinic Keratosis Highlighted by Compound Heterozygosity Analysis.

Actinic keratosis (AK) is a skin disease frequently found in European elderly, and it represents the precursor of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Our recent genome-wide association study highlighted DNA variants in two pigmentation genes, IRF4 and MC1R, that confer AK risk in Europeans. Here, we performed a genome-wide search for relaxed forms of compound heterozygosity in association with AK using our recently developed software CollapsABEL.

Prevalence and risk factors for viral blipping in chronic hepatitis B patients treated with nucleos (t) ide analogues.

The clinical relevance of viral blipping during nucleos (t) ide analogue (NA) treatment is unclear in chronic hepatitis B (CHB). We investigated the prevalence, risk factors and clinical outcomes for those with viral blipping during NA treatment. A retrospective cohort study investigated consecutively treated CHB patients from May 2008 to February 2015 on the NAs such as entecavir (ETV), tenofovir (TDF) and lamivudine (LAM).

Gender and age effects on risk factor-based prediction of coronary artery calcium in symptomatic patients: A Euro-CCAD study.

Background And Aims: The influence of gender and age on risk factor prediction of coronary artery calcification (CAC) in symptomatic patients is unclear.

Methods: From the European Calcific Coronary Artery Disease (EURO-CCAD) cohort, we retrospectively investigated 6309 symptomatic patients, 62% male, from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and USA. All of them underwent risk factor assessment and CT scanning for CAC scoring.

Role of Cardiac Computed Tomography in the Evaluation of Coronary Artery Stenosis in Patients With Ascending Aorta Aneurysm Detected at Transthoracic Echocardiography.

Objective: The aim of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of cardiac computed tomography (CCT) in the evaluation of coronary artery stenosis in patients with ascending aorta aneurysm detected at transthoracic echocardiography.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients with an aneurysm 45 mm or greater at transthoracic echocardiography who underwent CCT from 2012 to 2014 in our hospital. We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of CCT for the assessment of coronary artery stenosis (<50% or ≥50% stenosis) in patients who underwent conventional coronary angiography.

The presence of remodeled and mixed atherosclerotic plaques at coronary ct angiography predicts major cardiac adverse events - The CAFÉ-PIE Study.

Background: It is still unclear how to exploit information made available by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) on coronary artery disease (CAD) features in order to better predicting major adverse cardiac events (MACEs). Aim of this study was to validate the prognostic role of a comprehensive and simplified CT-derived score in patients evaluated for suspected CAD.

Methods: A prospective registry included 477 consecutive symptomatic patients without known CAD who underwent clinically-indicated CCTA.

Intravenous Fluids in AKI: A Mechanistically Guided Approach.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) has been associated with an increased risk of death and morbidity in many clinical scenarios. The prevention and treatment of AKI therefore has been advocated as a high-priority research focus. However, nearly all strategies tested in this setting have failed to prevent or cure AKI and fluid loading remains a cornerstone of preventive and curative treatment of AKI.

Association of Lipid-Related Genetic Variants with the Incidence of Atrial Fibrillation: The AFGen Consortium.

Background: Several studies have shown associations between blood lipid levels and the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). To test the potential effect of blood lipids with AF risk, we assessed whether previously developed lipid gene scores, used as instrumental variables, are associated with the incidence of AF in 7 large cohorts.

Methods: We analyzed 64,901 individuals of European ancestry without previous AF at baseline and with lipid gene scores.

Quantification of epicardial adipose tissue in coronary calcium score and CT coronary angiography image data sets: comparison of attenuation values, thickness and volumes.

Objective: The aim of the study was to compare epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) characteristics assessed with coronary calcium score (CS) and CT coronary angiography (CTCA) image data sets.

Methods: In 76 patients (mean age 59 ± 13 years) who underwent CS and CTCA owing to suspected coronary artery disease (CAD), EAT was quantified in terms of density (Hounsfield units), thickness and volume. The EAT volume was extracted with a semi-automatic software.

Chest pain: coronary CT in the ER.

Cardiac CT has developed into a robust clinical tool during the past 15 years. Of the fields in which the potential of cardiac CT has raised more interest is chest pain in acute settings. In fact, the possibility to exclude with high reliability obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients at low-to-intermediate risk is of great interest both from the clinical standpoint and from the management standpoint.

New therapeutic agents for chronic hepatitis B.

The treatment goal for chronic hepatitis B is true eradication of the hepatitis B virus, but this is rarely achieved with first-line treatment regimens because of an inability to disrupt covalently closed circular DNA and an inadequate host immune response. Therefore, new antiviral agents are needed to target various stages of the hepatitis B virus lifecycle and modulation of the immune system. This Review provides a summary of available regimens with their strengths and limitations, and highlights future therapeutic strategies to target the virus and host immune response.