Cardiotoxicity of BRAF/MEK Inhibitors Mimicking Apical Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Cardio-oncology is a new and fast-evolving collaborative subdiscipline of cardiology whose goal is to increase the quality and length of the lives of oncological patients with precise prophylactic and therapeutical interventions. Novel targeted therapies present a challenge to recognize and treat rare adverse cardiovascular effects, usually without any evidence-based guidance. Therefore, scrupulous descriptions of clinical cases and drafting trials for real-world safety are paramount.

The real-world comparison of non-small cell lung cancer survival outcomes depending on immunotherapy treatment and PD-L1 expression level.

The incidence and mortality trends of lung cancer in Slovakia are not favorable. In our single-center, non-interventional retrospective cohort study, we provide comprehensive information about Slovakia's non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient population. We evaluated how the introduction of immunotherapy agents affected the survival of NSCLC patients and tried to identify whether the PD-L1 expression level was associated with a negative patient survival effect.

Adiponectin Gene Polymorphisms: A Case-Control Study on Their Role in Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Risk.

Adiponectin, a hormone secreted by adipose tissue, plays a complex role in regulating metabolic homeostasis and has also garnered attention for its potential involvement in the pathogenesis of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD). The objective of this study was to investigate the association of variants with plasma adiponectin levels and LOAD risk in subjects from the Slovak Caucasian population. For this purpose, 385 LOAD patients and 533 controls without cognitive impairment were recruited and genotyped for a total of eighteen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

Understanding Loss to Follow-Up in AMD Patients Receiving VEGF Inhibitor Therapy: Associated Factors and Underlying Reasons.

Background: In patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), loss to follow-up (LTFU) leads to unplanned interruptions in therapy and the risk of visual loss.

Methods: This retrospective and prospective case-control cohort study compared AMD patients with (LTFU YES) and without (LTFU NO) LTFU during anti-VEGF treatment over 12 years. LTFU was defined as missing any treatment or monitoring visits, or not scheduling follow-ups for six months.

Changes in vascular density in the macula after pars plana vitrectomy for idiopathic macular hole with macular peeling and one type of flap.

Background And Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in vascular density in the macula after pars plana vitrectomy for idiopathic macular hole (IMD) with macular peeling and flap.

Methods: A prospective study of 35 eyes in 34 patients who had undergone standard surgery. Evaluated parameters were best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure (IOP), central macular thickness (CRT), macular volume (TMV) and vascular density of the superficial and deep capillary plexus.

Pars plana vitrectomy for vitreoretinal interface disorders coincident with intermediate stage age-related macular degeneration.

Background And Aims: Currently around 67 million people in Europe are affected by some form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). As most known types of vitreoretinal (VR) interface disorders can coexist with AMD and as we can favourably affect the former with vitreoretinal surgery, our goal was to evaluate the results of vitreoretinal interface disorder surgery with macular peeling in relation to coincident intermediate stage AMD.

Methodology: This was a retrospective evaluation of eyes operated with 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomy (PPV).

Association Between Apelin and Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With High Risk of Ischemic Stroke.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with high risk of stroke preventable by timely initiation of anticoagulation. Currently available screening tools based on ECG are not optimal due to inconvenience and high costs. Aim of this study was to study the diagnostic value of apelin for AF in patients with high risk of stroke.

Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma (CAP) as a New Tool for the Management of Vulva Cancer and Vulvar Premalignant Lesions in Gynaecological Oncology.

Vulvar cancer (VC) is a specific form of malignancy accounting for 5-6% of all gynaecologic malignancies. Although VC occurs most commonly in women after 60 years of age, disease incidence has risen progressively in premenopausal women in recent decades. VC demonstrates particular features requiring well-adapted therapeutic approaches to avoid potential treatment-related complications.

Morphological and functional alterations of the prostate tissue during clinical progression in hormonally-naïve, hormonally-treated and castration-resistant patients with metastatic prostate cancer.

Since commony used tools in oncological practice for the diagnosis of castration-resistent prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma are based on clinical criteria, such as castrate testosterone level, continuous rise in serum prostate-specific antigen, progression of preexisting disease or appearance of new metastases, it is important to identify reliable histopathological markers for the identification of this disease. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the association between results from histological analysis, ultrastructural analysis and apoptosis in the prostate of patients with metastatic acinar prostatic adenocarcinoma (mPC). Patients were treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), abiraterone acetate (Abi) therapy or received no treatment.

Quality of life in endometrial cancer survivors: single institution experience in Slovakia.

Background: To evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI) and quality of life among endometrial cancer survivors.

Methods: Women diagnosed with endometrioid endometrial cancer at the Slovakian university hospital between January 2010 and December 2018 were identified. Three hundred ninety women diagnosed with endometrial cancer were invited to participate.

Rho GTPases in Gynecologic Cancers: In-Depth Analysis toward the Paradigm Change from Reactive to Predictive, Preventive, and Personalized Medical Approach Benefiting the Patient and Healthcare.

Rho guanosine triphospatases (GTPases) resemble a conserved family of GTP-binding proteins regulating actin cytoskeleton dynamics and several signaling pathways central for the cell. Rho GTPases create a so-called Ras-superfamily of GTPases subdivided into subgroups comprising at least 20 members. Rho GTPases play a key regulatory role in gene expression, cell cycle control and proliferation, epithelial cell polarity, cell migration, survival, and apoptosis, among others.

Has the time come for de-escalation in the management of oropharyngeal carcinoma?

Over the course of the last two decades, there has been a decrease in the incidence of head and neck cancers thanks to a decreasing prevalence of smoking. However, a new risk factor has been coming to the fore: human papillomavirus infection (HPV). HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPV+OPC) is more sensitive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which translates to a much better prognosis with conventional treatment protocols than tumours that are HPV-negative.

Colonisation of Staphylococcus aureus in patients with Nasal Polyposis.

Background: Nasal polyps (NPs) are one of the most common inflammatory mass lesions of the nose, affecting up to 0.5-4% of the population. The pathogenesis of NPs has been studied widely, but it is not clearly understood.

The involvement of the phosphorylatable and nonphosphorylatable transcription factor CREB-1 in the control of human ovarian cell functions.

The objective of our study was to elucidate the role of the transcription factor CREB-1 in controlling ovarian cell proliferation, apoptosis, and hormone release and the significance of CREB-1 phosphorylation in these processes. Human ovarian granulosa cells were transfected with a gene construct encoding wild-type CREB-1 (CREB-1 WT) or CREB-1 nonphosphorylatable mutant (CREB-1 M1). The expression of total and phosphorylated CREB-1, markers of proliferation (PCNA) and apoptosis (bax), as well as the release of progesterone, oxytocin, prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) were compared by immunocytochemistry, enzyme immunoassay (EIA), and immunoradiometric assay (IRMA).

Safety and Outcome of Intravenous Thrombolysis in Stroke Patients on Prophylactic Doses of Low Molecular Weight Heparins at Stroke Onset.

Background and Purpose- There are limited data on intravenous thrombolysis treatment in patients with ischemic stroke who have received prophylactic doses of low molecular weight heparins (LMWHs). We aimed to evaluate the safety and outcomes of intravenous thrombolysis treatment in stroke patients taking thromboprophylactic doses of LMWH. Methods- We analyzed 109 291patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis, recorded in the Safe Implementation of Treatments in Stroke International Thrombolysis Register between 2003 and 2017 not taking oral anticoagulants or therapeutic doses of heparin at stroke onset.

Dietary Phytochemicals Targeting Cancer Stem Cells.

There is an increasing awareness of the importance of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables for human health. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are characterized as a subpopulation of cancer cells with aberrant regulation of self-renewal, proliferation or apoptosis leading to cancer progression, invasiveness, metastasis formation, and therapy resistance. Anticancer effects of phytochemicals are also directed to target CSCs.

Sonolysis in risk reduction of symptomatic and silent brain infarctions during coronary stenting (SONOREDUCE): Randomized, controlled trial.

Background: Silent brain infarcts can be detected on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in ~22% of patients after coronary angioplasty and stenting (CS). The effect of periprocedural sonolysis on the risk of new brain infarcts during CS was examined.

Methods: Patients undergoing elective CS were allocated randomly to a bilateral sonolysis group (70 patients, 58 men; mean age, 59.

Intravenous thrombolysis for patients with in-hospital stroke onset: propensity-matched analysis from the Safe Implementation of Treatments in Stroke-East registry.

Background And Purpose: Recent cross-sectional study data suggest that intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) in patients with in-hospital stroke (IHS) onset is associated with unfavorable functional outcomes at hospital discharge and in-hospital mortality compared to patients with out-of-hospital stroke (OHS) onset treated with IVT. We sought to compare outcomes between IVT-treated patients with IHS and OHS by analysing propensity-score-matched data from the Safe Implementation of Treatments in Stroke-East registry.

Methods: We compared the following outcomes for all propensity-score-matched patients: (i) symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage defined with the safe implementation of thrombolysis in stroke-monitoring study criteria, (ii) favorable functional outcome defined as a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 0-1 at 3 months, (iii) functional independence defined as an mRS score of 0-2 at 3 months and (iv) 3-month mortality.

SONOlysis in prevention of Brain InfaRctions During Internal carotid Endarterectomy (SONOBIRDIE) trial - study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is a beneficial procedure for selected patients with an internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis. Surgical risk of CEA varies from between 2 and 15%. The aim of the study is to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of sonolysis (continual transcranial Doppler monitoring, TCD) using a 2-MHz diagnostic probe with maximal diagnostic energy on the reduction of the incidence of stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA) and brain infarction detected using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by the activation of the endogenous fibrinolytic system during CEA.

Plasmin (Human) Administration in Acute Middle Cerebral Artery Ischemic Stroke: Phase 1/2a, Open-Label, Dose-Escalation, Safety Study.

Background: This phase 1/2a, open-label, multicenter, dose-escalation, safety study describes the first evaluation of plasmin as an intracranial thrombolytic treatment for acute ischemic stroke in the middle cerebral artery. The rationale for intrathrombus administration is that plasmin would bind fibrin inside the targeted clot, protecting it from circulating inhibitors.

Methods: Plasmin was given in escalating doses within 9 hours of stroke onset, and treatment efficacy was determined in 5 patient cohorts (N = 40): cohort 1 (20 mg, .

RNF213 Rare Variants in Slovakian and Czech Moyamoya Disease Patients.

RNF213/Mysterin has been identified as a susceptibility gene for moyamoya disease, a cerebrovascular disease characterized by occlusive lesions in the circle of Willis. The p.R4810K (rs112735431) variant is a founder polymorphism that is strongly associated with moyamoya disease in East Asia.

The contribution of white matter lesions to Parkinson's disease motor and gait symptoms: a critical review of the literature.

White matter lesions (WML) associated with cerebrovascular disease (CVD) may be observed on magnetic resonance imaging in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. WML are an important factor contributing to postural, gait, and cognitive impairment in the elderly without PD and worsening the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Numerous articles are available on this topic.

Hyperdense cerebral artery computed tomography sign is associated with stroke severity rather than stroke subtype.

Background: The hyperdense cerebral artery sign (HCAS) on unenhanced computed tomography (CT) in acute ischemic stroke is a valuable clinical marker, but it remains unclear if HCAS reflects clot composition or stroke etiology. Therefore, variables independently associated with HCAS were identified from a large international data set of patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis.

Methods: All stroke patients undergoing intravenous thrombolysis from the Safe Implementation of Treatments in Stroke-EAST (SITS-EAST) database between February 2003 and December 2011 were analyzed.

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in patients with acute ischemic stroke: results of the AX200 for Ischemic Stroke trial.

Background And Purpose: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF; AX200; Filgrastim) is a stroke drug candidate with excellent preclinical evidence for efficacy. A previous phase IIa dose-escalation study suggested potential efficacy in humans. The present large phase IIb trial was powered to detect clinical efficacy in acute ischemic stroke patients.