Sleep apnea-COPD overlap syndrome is associated with larger left carotid atherosclerotic plaques.

Background: Little is known about whether the overlap syndrome (OS) combining features of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome increases the risk of stroke associated with COPD itself.

Methods: We prospectively studied 74 COPD patients and 32 subjects without lung disease. Spirometry and cardiorespiratory polygraphy were used to assess the pulmonary function of the study population and ultrasound measurements of intima media thickness (IMT) as well as the volume of plaques in both carotid arteries were also evaluated.

In-hospital cardiac arrest: Incidence, prognostic factors and results.

Background And Aims: In-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) is a clinical entity with high morbidity and mortality that occurs in up to 2% of hospitalized patients. It is a public health problem with important economic, social, and medical repercussions, and as such its incidence needs to be reviewed and improved. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of in-hospital CA, return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), and survival rates at Hospital de la Princesa, and to define the clinical and demographic characteristics of patients with in-hospital CA.

Mitochondrial dysfunction in chromaffin cells from the R6/1 mouse model of Huntington's disease: Impact on exocytosis and calcium current regulation.

From a pathogenic perspective, Huntington's disease (HD) is being considered as a synaptopathy. As such, alterations in brain neurotransmitter release occur. As the activity of the sympathoadrenal axis is centrally controlled, deficits in the exocytotic release of catecholamine release may also occur.

Frailty and prognosis of older patients with chronic heart failure.

Introduction And Objectives: Heart failure (HF) is prevalent in advanced ages. Our objective was to assess the impact of frailty on 1-year mortality in older patients with ambulatory HF.

Methods: Our data come from the FRAGIC study (Spanish acronym for "Study of the impact of frailty and other geriatric syndromes on the clinical management and prognosis of elderly outpatients with heart failure"), a multicenter prospective registry conducted in 16 Spanish hospitals including outpatients ≥ 75 years with HF followed up by cardiology services in Spain.

Contemporary comparison of infective endocarditis caused by Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis: a cohort study.

Among 1655 consecutive patients with infective endocarditis treated from 1998 to 2020 in three tertiary care centres, 16 were caused by Candida albicans (CAIE, n = 8) and Candida parapsilosis (CPIE, n = 8). Compared to CAIE, CPIE were more frequently community-acquired. Prosthetic valve involvement was remarkably more common among patients with CPIE.

Increased Oxygen Desaturation Time During Sleep Is a Risk Factor for NASH in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Introduction: Given that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is commonly associated with metabolic disorders, in this prospective study, we sought to determine the prevalence and risk factors for hepatosteatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and advanced liver fibrosis in patients with clinical and polygraphic criteria of OSA ( = 153) and in subjects with normal lung function parameters (NLP, = 43).

Methods: Hepatosteatosis, NASH, and advanced liver fibrosis were determined by blood-based non-invasive tools, such as the fatty liver index and the hepatic steatosis index, a serum lipidomic (OWLiver™) test, and three distinct fibrosis algorithms, respectively. Logistic regression models adjusted by potential confounders were performed to evaluate risk factors.

Filamentous fungi in the airway of patients with cystic fibrosis: Just spectators?

Background: There are important advances in the management of bacterial infection in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), but there are many gaps in the field of fungal infections.

Aims: The aim of this study was to analyse whether chronic respiratory filamentous fungal colonization had clinical impact and whether antifungal treatment can change the disease.

Methods: The prospective, bicentric and descriptive study was carried out within a 3-year follow-up period, with four-month periodicity medical controls.

Postlaunch evidence-generation studies for medical devices in Spain: the RedETS approach to integrate real-world evidence into decision making.

The Monitoring Studies (MS) program, the approach developed by RedETS to generate postlaunch real-world evidence (RWE), is intended to complement and enhance the conventional health technology assessment process to support health policy decision making in Spain, besides informing other interested stakeholders, including clinicians and patients. The MS program is focused on specific uncertainties about the real effect, safety, costs, and routine use of new and insufficiently assessed relevant medical devices carefully selected to ensure the value of the additional research needed, by means of structured, controlled, participative, and transparent procedures. However, despite a clear political commitment and economic support from national and regional health authorities, several difficulties were identified along the development and implementation of the first wave of MS, delaying its execution and final reporting.

Infective endocarditis in patients with aortic grafts.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) in patients with a valve-tube ascending aortic graft (AAG) is a rare entity with a challenging diagnosis and treatment. This study describes the clinical features, diagnosis and outcome of these patients.

Methods: Between 1996 and 2019, 1654 episodes of IE were recruited in 3 centres, of which 37 patients (2.

Short-course antibiotic regimen compared to conventional antibiotic treatment for gram-positive cocci infective endocarditis: randomized clinical trial (SATIE).

Background: Most serious complications of infective endocarditis (IE) appear in the so-called "critical phase" of the disease, which represents the first days after diagnosis. The majority of patients overcoming the acute phase has a favorable outcome, yet they remain hospitalized for a long period of time mainly to complete antibiotic therapy. The major hypothesis of this trial is that in patients with clinically stable IE and adequate response to antibiotic treatment, without signs of persistent infection, periannular complications or metastatic foci, a shorter antibiotic time period would be as efficient and safe as the classic 4 to 6 weeks antibiotic regimen.

Contemporary epidemiology and outcomes in recurrent infective endocarditis.

Objective: Recurrent infective endocarditis (IE) is a major complication of patients surviving a first episode of IE. This study sought to analyse the current state of recurrent IE in a large contemporary cohort.

Methods: 1335 consecutive episodes of IE were recruited prospectively in three tertiary care centres in Spain between 1996 and 2015.

Neutrophil Count Percentage and Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio as Prognostic Markers in Patients Hospitalized for Community-Acquired Pneumonia.

Introduction: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common serious infection. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic utility of neutrophil count percentage (NCP) and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with CAP.

Methods: Retrospective study of hospitalized patients with CAP.

Evaluation of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients with 64-slice multidetector computed tomography versus FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography in initial staging and restaging after treatment.

Background And Objectives: To prospectively compare the accuracy in initial staging and end-of-treatment restaging of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) between 64-slice multidetector computed tomography (64MDCT) and 18FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18FGD PET/CT) with intravenous contrast injection.

Material And Methods: Randomised and blind controlled clinical multicentric trial that included biopsy-proven DLBCL patients. Seventy-two patients from five different hospitals in the region of Madrid, Spain, were enrolled in the study between January 2012 and June 2015.

Large-scale external validation and comparison of prognostic models: an application to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: External validations and comparisons of prognostic models or scores are a prerequisite for their use in routine clinical care but are lacking in most medical fields including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Our aim was to externally validate and concurrently compare prognostic scores for 3-year all-cause mortality in mostly multimorbid patients with COPD.

Methods: We relied on 24 cohort studies of the COPD Cohorts Collaborative International Assessment consortium, corresponding to primary, secondary, and tertiary care in Europe, the Americas, and Japan.

Correction to: Multiple Score Comparison: a network meta-analysis approach to comparison and external validation of prognostic scores.

Following publication of the original article [1], a member of the writing group reported that his name is misspelt. The paper should appear in Pubmed under "Ter Riet G", bot as "Riet GT".

Multiple Score Comparison: a network meta-analysis approach to comparison and external validation of prognostic scores.

Background: Prediction models and prognostic scores have been increasingly popular in both clinical practice and clinical research settings, for example to aid in risk-based decision making or control for confounding. In many medical fields, a large number of prognostic scores are available, but practitioners may find it difficult to choose between them due to lack of external validation as well as lack of comparisons between them.

Methods: Borrowing methodology from network meta-analysis, we describe an approach to Multiple Score Comparison meta-analysis (MSC) which permits concurrent external validation and comparisons of prognostic scores using individual patient data (IPD) arising from a large-scale international collaboration.

Effects of Adolescent Intermittent Alcohol Exposure on the Expression of Endocannabinoid Signaling-Related Proteins in the Spleen of Young Adult Rats.

Intermittent alcohol exposure is a common pattern of alcohol consumption among adolescents and alcohol is known to modulate the expression of the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which is involved in metabolism and inflammation. However, it is unknown whether this pattern may have short-term consequences on the ECS in the spleen. To address this question, we examined the plasma concentrations of metabolic and inflammatory signals and the splenic ECS in early adult rats exposed to alcohol during adolescence.

Chronic myeloid leukaemia in Spain: Its presentation characteristics have changed. Spanish section of the EUTOS population-based registry.

Objectives: To provide more reliable data on the epidemiology of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) in Spain than are currently available.

Material And Methods: The EUTOS population-based project of European LeukemiaNet is a population registry of new CML cases in patients 18 years of age or older from 22 European areas. The Spanish section included the autonomous communities of Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha and Aragon, from 1-2-2010 to 31-12-2012.

Streptococcus bovis endocarditis: Update from a multicenter registry.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) due to Streptococcus bovis has been classically associated with elderly patients, frequently involving >1 valve, with large vegetations and high embolic risk, which make it a high-risk group. Our aim is to analyze the current clinical profile and prognosis of S bovis IE episodes, in comparison to those episodes caused by viridans group streptococci and enterococci.

Methods: We analyzed 1242 consecutive episodes of IE prospectively recruited on an ongoing multipurpose database, of which 294 were streptococcal left-sided IE and comprised our study group.

The diagnostic ability of echocardiography for infective endocarditis and its associated complications.

Echocardiography, transthoracic and transoesophageal, plays a key role in the diagnosis and prognosis assessment of patients with infective endocarditis. It constitutes a major Duke criterion and is pivotal in treatment guiding. Seven echocardiographic findings are major criteria in the diagnosis of infective endocarditis (IE) (vegetation, abscess, pseudoaneurysm, fistulae, new dehiscence of a prosthetic valve, perforation and valve aneurysm).