[Rescue treatment in acute thrombosis of intracranial stents].

Introduction: Acute intrastent thrombosis is a potentially serious complication in intracranial stenting. It is essential to determine which therapy is the most suitable in intrastent thromboses.

Case Report: Female aged 58, the first case of acute thrombosis of an intracranial stent to be treated successfully by fibrinolysis after the implantation of a flow diverter device (Silk) in a fusiform basilar aneurysm.

[Cervical lymphatic metastasis of an intracranial meningioma].

Introduction: Meningioma is the most common primary intracranial tumor, accounting for around a third of all primary brain tumor. In most cases, they are benign neoplasms that start in the cells of the arachnoid mater. Meningiomas are typically slow growing; however they can metastasize in 0.

Health-related quality of life in different clinical subgroups with typical AFL who have undergone cavo-tricuspid isthmus ablation.

Background: To evaluate changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in different sub-groups of a cohort of patients with typical atrial flutter (AFL) treated with cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) radiofrequency catheter ablation.

Methods: 95 consecutive patients due to undergo CTI ablation were enrolled in a study involving their completion of two SF-36 HRQOL questionnaires, before ablation and at one-year follow-up.

Results: 88 of the initial 95 patients finished the study.

Structural and functional inverse cardiac remodeling after cavotricuspid isthmus ablation in patients with typical atrial flutter.

Introduction And Objectives: The purpose of the present study is to determine the structural and functional cardiac changes that occur in patients at 1-year follow-up after ablation of typical atrial flutter.

Methods: We enrolled 95 consecutive patients referred for cavotricuspid isthmus ablation. Echocardiography was performed at ≤6h post-procedure and 1-year follow-up.

Comparison of the reliability and validity of four contemporary risk stratification schemes to predict thromboembolism in non-anticoagulated patients with atrial fibrillation.

Background: The risk of thromboembolic (TE) complications in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients is not homogeneous. Risk schemes can help target anticoagulant therapy for patients at highest risk of TE complications.

Objectives: To test the predictive ability of 4 risk schemes: The Framingham, the 8th ACCP, the ACC/AHA/ESC 2006, and the CHA₂DS₂-VASc.

[Clopidogrel and stroke].

Despite the significant reduction in mortality, ischemic stroke is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in adults in industrialized countries. Antiplatelet therapy has reduced the risk of stroke and other vascular events. Although most commonly used treatment is aspirin, other antiplatelet drugs with different mechanisms of action have been developed.

[Clinical features and prognosis of patients with chronic cerebrovascular disease (ICBAR study)].

Introduction: Patients with cerebrovascular disease (CVD) are a group with a very high cardiovascular risk, in addition to that arising from their own vascular pathology, probably due to an inadequate control of risk factors and owing to the presence of comorbidities.

Patients And Methods: This research consisted in a multi-centre study involving the collaboration of 34 primary care physicians and recording of the features of 473 patients with a previous history of a CVD event that required hospitalisation. After a clinical follow-up of the cohort, hospital readmissions, mortality and causes were analysed.

[Brachial arterial flow mediated dilation: utility in clinical and experimental practice].

Brachial artery flow mediated dilation (FMD) is a validated, noninvasive physiological measure widely used as a research tool to quantify endothelial function. FMD is diminished in patients with several coronary risk factors, coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease, stroke, and is an independent predictor of cardiovascular events. FMD represents a useful method for identify asymptomatic atherosclerotic subjects with raised risk of developing atherothrombotic complications and improves with risk-reduction therapy such as antihypertensive or antidiabetic drugs, antiplatelet agents and statins.

[Comparison of the lesion produced by permanent focal cerebral ischaemia in three animal models using magnetic resonance imaging].

Introduction: Animal models of brain ischemia are essential to reveal the full aspects of cerebrovascular pathologies. The perfect animal model that reflects every aspect of stroke pathophysiology does not exist, hence there is a need for a proper selection of the animal model in order to interpret properly the results from experimental research.

Aim: To characterize and compare the temporal evolution of three common models of focal brain ischemia using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques.

[Imaging techniques for studying functional recovery following a stroke: I. Methodological aspects].

Many patients that survive stroke have to face serious functional disabilities for the rest of their lives, which is a personal drama for themselves and their relatives, and an elevated charge for society. Thus functional recovery following stroke should be a key objective for the development of new therapeutic approaches. In this series of two works we review the strategies and tools available nowadays for the evaluation of multiple aspects related to brain function (both in humans and research animals), and how they are helping neuroscientist to better understand the processes of restoration and reorganization of brain function that are triggered following stroke.

Relation of soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products to predict mortality in patients with chronic heart failure independently of Seattle Heart Failure Score.

Knowledge of the role of the soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGEs) in chronic heart failure (CHF) is very limited. In the present study, we measured plasma sRAGE levels in patients with CHF and examined whether plasma sRAGE predicts prognosis in patients with HF independently of validated scores as the Seattle Heart Failure Score (SHFS). We measured plasma sRAGE in 106 outpatients with CHF.

[Reorganisation of the cerebral vasculature following ischaemia].

Introduction And Development: Cerebral function needs a constant oxygen and glucose supply. This is why the regulation of cerebral blood flow is critical for the maintenance of neuronal function. Therefore, vascular system in adult brain is extremely stable and does not withstand big changes under physiological conditions.

[Association between endolymphatic hydrops and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: coincidence or causality?].

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) in patients diagnosed with endolymphatic hydrops (EH) and to analyze whether this association is a factor for poor prognosis in these patients.

Material And Methods: A retrospective study was carried out in our department among the patients definitively diagnosed as having Ménière's disease according to the criteria of the American Academy of Otolaryngology and BPPV by the usual triggering manoeuvres.

Results: The prevalence of BPPV in our patients with EH was 5.

[Comparative assessment of the Vitek 2 and Phoenix systems for detection of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases].

Introduction And Purpose: Detection of beta-lactam resistance in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains is clinically relevant. Moreover, it is important to differentiate between extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production and other mechanisms of resistance to avoid inadequate treatment of infection caused by these strains. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the Vitek 2 and BD Phoenix automated systems for confirmatory testing of ESBL production.

[Analises of the mortality in aged in an Internal Medicine Department].

Background: To establish the characteristics of the deceased and the death causes.

Methodology: Transversal study descriptive, with intake patients elder than 65 years old in an Internal Medicine Department. The variables analized were: age, sex, intake date, discharge date, days of hospital stay, chronic disease previous, admission cause, deceased, diagnoses.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors prescription is associated with longer survival among patients hospitalized for congestive heart failure who have preserved systolic function: a long-term follow-up study.

Background: The use of inhibitors of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) is strongly indicated by a diagnosis of congestive heart failure (CHF) with deteriorated systolic function (SF), but their effects on patients with CHF but no systolic deterioration have not been clarified. We focused this study on the evaluation of the influence of ACE inhibitors on survival among CHF patients with preserved SF, but also determined the effect of these drugs on the prognosis of our patients with deteriorated SF.

Method And Results: We studied 416 patients, aged 72.

[Anemia as a new predictor of mortality in patients hospitalized with congestive heart failure].

Background And Objective: The search for novel and modifiable risk factors in heart failure (HF), a condition with still high mortality and morbidity rates, can open new strategies for treatment of a growing number of patients. We decided to evaluate the prevalence of anemia and determine its influence on the prognosis of hospitalized HF patients.

Patients And Method: 557 consecutive patients hospitalized for HF between 31st January 2000 and 31st December 2002 in a Cardiology Department of a tertiary hospital were studied.

[Ethics and mechanical ventilation].

Clinical ethics is a practical discipline that proposes a structured approach for identifying, analyzing and resolving ethical problems in health care. Mechanical ventilation is usually administered in clinical situations that can provoke ethical conflicts. To resolve these conflicts, in each case four aspects should be analyzed: Medical indications, patient and family preferences, quality of life, and contextual features (social, economic, legal, and administrative).