High-sensitivity cardiac troponin I for cardiovascular risk stratification in apparently healthy individuals.

Troponin I and T as cardiac-specific biomarkers are highly useful tools not only in the diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes but also as independent predictors of several other clinical conditions. High-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) assays allow the detection of considerably low concentrations of cardiac troponin in apparently healthy and asymptomatic individuals, being a candidate tool for cardiovascular risk stratification in the general population. A group of Greek experts summarized the bulk of evidence regarding the use of hs-cTnI as a predictor of cardiovascular events and mortality in apparently healthy individuals and its additive value on top of existing risk stratification methods.

European Headache Federation recommendations for placebo and nocebo terminology.

Background And Aim: Despite recent publications, practitioners remain unfamiliar with the current terminology related to the placebo and nocebo phenomena observed in clinical trials and practice, nor with the factors that modulate them. To cover the gap, the European Headache Federation appointed a panel of experts to clarify the terms associated with the use of placebo in clinical trials.

Methods: The working group identified relevant questions and agreed upon recommendations.

Characterization of functionally significant coronary artery disease by a coronary computed tomography angiography-based index: a comparison with positron emission tomography.

Aims: To test the hypothesis that virtual functional assessment index (vFAI) is related with regional flow parameters derived by quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) and can be used to assess abnormal vasodilating capability in coronary vessels with stenotic lesions at coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA).

Methods And Results: vFAI, stress myocardial blood flow (MBF), and myocardial flow reserve (MFR) were assessed in 78 patients (mean age 62.2 ± 7.

An update on the management and outcomes of cancer patients with severe aortic stenosis.

Objectives: We compared the outcomes of aortic valve replacement (AVR) by transcatheter (TAVR) and surgical (SAVR) routes with those of optimal medical management in patients with cancer and severe aortic stenosis (AS).

Background: Cancer therapy requires optimal cardiac output; however, the treatment of AS in cancer patients is not established.

Methods: Cancer patients with severe AS during January 2009 through February 2018 at a large cancer center were identified.

Bcl-2 and caspase-9 serum levels in children and adolescents with idiopathic epilepsy and active seizures.

Background: In the present study we investigated the levels of proapoptotic caspase-9 and antiapoptotic Bcl-2 proteins in the sera of children and adolescents with idiopathic epilepsy and tried to relate the findings to the patients' clinical parameters.

Methods: This retrospective study consisted of 118 children and adolescents with idiopathic epilepsy, categorized according to type and number of seizures, duration of the disease and the control of seizures and 30 age- and sex-matched controls. The relapse of seizures was taken into consideration.

Stress as a risk factor for multiple sclerosis onset or relapse: a systematic review.

Background: Stress has been considered a triggering factor for multiple sclerosis (MS) since the description of the disease by Jean-Martin Charcot. Until our times, many published studies have supported that both MS onset and relapse could be predisposed by psychological stress. This review aims to synthesize existing knowledge of the relationship between psychological stress and MS onset and relapse, focusing mainly on the quality of observational studies.