The Controversial Role of Vitamin D in Thyroid Cancer Prevention.

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy and exhibits rising incidence. Annual incidence varies by sex, age, and geographical location. It has been reported that impairment of vitamin D signalling promotes thyroid cancer progression.

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on diabetes management and follow-up in a broad population in Spain.

Background: To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on glycaemic control and diabetes follow-up in a Spanish metropolitan area with a total general population of 340,000.

Methods: A retrospective real-world study comparing HbA1c testing, an indicator of diabetes control, and mean HbA1c during different COVID-19 restriction periods in 2020 (full lockdown, post-lockdown, partial lockdown) with the same periods in 2019. HbA1c testing was analysed per study period and according to gender, age and clinical setting.

Decision support system through automatic algorithms and electronic request in diagnosis of anaemia for primary care patients.

Introduction: An appropriate management of anaemia laboratory tests is crucial for a correct diagnosis and treatment. A non-sequential "shotgun" approach (where every anaemia related test is ordered) causes workload and cost increases and could be potentially harmful. We have implemented a Decision Support System through our laboratory information system (LIMS) based on reflexive algorithms and automatic generation of interpretative reports specifically in diagnosis of anaemia for primary care patients.

Purtscher's retinopathy case report: short posterior ciliary arteries contribution to radial peripapillary capillary system observed with optical coherence tomography angiography.

Purpose: The authors report a case of Purtscher's retinopathy whose optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) analysis allows us to better understand the vascular network of the optic disk.

Methods: Case report.

Results: A 75-year-old man presented with vision loss in his left eye (LE) after chest compression.

Quantifying memory deficits in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Introduction: In the present study, we use the item-specific deficit approach (ISDA), a method for characterizing memory deficits in list-learning, to portray the memory deficits in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI).

Methods: We applied the ISDA to compare memory performance of patients with aMCI and healthy controls in encoding, consolidation, and retrieval using the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test.

Results: The results revealed clear differences in recall performance between patients with aMCI and controls.

Computer physician order entry (CPOE) as a strategy to estimate laboratory activity and costs associated with cancer clinical trials.

Introduction: Most of clinical laboratories are not properly reimbursed for their activity related to clinical trials (CTs) conducted in their institutions due to a lack of measurement strategies. We implemented a specific computer physician order entry (CPOE) environment for CTs in order to facilitate ordering to providers and estimate the associated costs to be compared with the standard of care (SOC).

Materials And Methods: Four specific electronic formularies, restricted to two new virtual CTs clinical services (onco - CT and haemo - CT), were implemented in January 2015.

Effects of the Inhibition of Late Sodium Current by GS967 on Stretch-Induced Changes in Cardiac Electrophysiology.

Purpose: Mechanical stretch increases sodium and calcium entry into myocytes and activates the late sodium current. GS967, a triazolopyridine derivative, is a sodium channel blocker with preferential effects on the late sodium current. The present study evaluates whether GS967 inhibits or modulates the arrhythmogenic electrophysiological effects of myocardial stretch.

Effects of S-Nitrosoglutathione on Electrophysiological Manifestations of Mechanoelectric Feedback.

Electromechanical coupling studies have described the intervention of nitric oxide and S-nitrosylation processes in Ca release induced by stretch, with heterogeneous findings. On the other hand, ion channel function activated by stretch is influenced by nitric oxide, and concentration-dependent biphasic effects upon several cellular functions have been described. The present study uses isolated and perfused rabbit hearts to investigate the changes in mechanoelectric feedback produced by two different concentrations of the nitric oxide carrier S-nitrosoglutathione.

"Send & hold" clinical decision support rules improvement to reduce unnecessary testing of vitamins A, E, K, B1, B2, B3, B6 and C.

Background: We assessed the impact of several "send & hold" clinical decision support rules (CDSRs) within the electronical request system for vitamins A, E, K, B1, B2, B3, B6 and C for all outpatients at a large health department.

Methods: When ordered through electronical request, providers (except for all our primary care physicians who worked as a non-intervention control group) were always asked to answer several compulsory questions regarding main indication, symptomatology, suspected diagnosis, vitamin active treatments, etc., for each vitamin test using a drop-down list format.

ACUTE VISION LOSS AS THE ONLY SIGN OF LEUKEMIA RELAPSE.

Purpose: To report a case of unilateral exudative retinal detachment as the sole presentation of relapsing B-type lymphoblastic leukemia in a 35-year-old man after 3 years of remission.

Methods: Case report.

Results: A 35-year-old man in complete remission of high-risk type B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL-B) presented with acute vision loss in his left eye.

An open access database for the evaluation of heart sound algorithms.

In the past few decades, analysis of heart sound signals (i.e. the phonocardiogram or PCG), especially for automated heart sound segmentation and classification, has been widely studied and has been reported to have the potential value to detect pathology accurately in clinical applications.

Effects of JTV-519 on stretch-induced manifestations of mechanoelectric feedback.

JTV-519 is a 1,4-benzothiazepine derivative with multichannel effects that inhibits Ca release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and stabilizes the closed state of the ryanodine receptor, preventing myocardial damage and the induction of arrhythmias during Ca overload. Mechanical stretch increases cellular Na inflow, activates the reverse mode of the Na /Ca exchanger, and modifies Ca handling and myocardial electrophysiology, favoring arrhythmogenesis. This study aims to determine whether JTV-519 modifies the stretch-induced manifestations of mechanoelectric feedback.

Ranolazine Attenuates the Electrophysiological Effects of Myocardial Stretch in Langendorff-Perfused Rabbit Hearts.

Purpose: Mechanical stretch is an arrhythmogenic factor found in situations of cardiac overload or dyssynchronic contraction. Ranolazine is an antianginal agent that inhibits the late Na (+) current and has been shown to exert a protective effect against arrhythmias. The present study aims to determine whether ranolazine modifies the electrophysiological responses induced by acute mechanical stretch.

Antioxidants and gabapentin prevent heat hypersensitivity in a neuropathic pain model.

Background: The involvement of voltage-dependent calcium channels and reactive oxygen species in the pathophysiology of neuropathic pain might justify the preventative administration of antioxidant enzymes, at low doses, in combination with gabapentin (GaP) to maximize its analgesic effect in an experimental model of neuropathic pain in rats.

Methods: This work investigated the analgesic effects of these drugs, alone or in combination, by intraperitoneal administration for three consecutive days before (Series I) or after (Series II) a peripheral neuropathy induced by left sciatic nerve ligation. A prospective randomized study was conducted using 96 Wistar rats (50 males and 46 females).

Ventricular fibrillation conduction through an isthmus of preserved myocardium between radiofrequency lesions.

Background: Selective local acceleration of myocardial activation during ventricular fibrillation (VF) contributes information on the interactions between neighboring zones during the arrhythmia. This study analyzes these interactions, centering the observations on an isthmus of myocardium between two radiofrequency (RF) lesions.

Methods: In nine isolated rabbit hearts, a gap of preserved myocardium was established between two RF lesions in the anterolateral left ventricle (LV) wall.

Myelodysplastic syndromes: an update on molecular pathology.

The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of myeloid disorders characterised by impaired peripheral blood cell production due to bone marrow dysplasia affecting one or more of the major myeloid cell lines. MDS are one of five major categories of myeloid neoplasms according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification system for haematological cancers. Given their cytological and cytogenetic heterogeneity, these diseases probably constitute a group of molecularly distinct entities with variable degrees of ineffective haematopoiesis and susceptibility to leukaemic transformation.

Effects of eprosartan on mitochondrial membrane potential and H2O2 levels in leucocytes in hypertension.

We investigated whether circulating leucocytes from hypertensive patients exhibit more spontaneous, stimulated hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production and greater mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsi) than those from normotensive individuals. We also investigated the effects of oral treatment with the angiotensin II (AT II) type 1 receptor blocker eprosartan (600 mg day(-1)) on these markers of oxidative stress. In 25 hypertensive patients and 28 healthy volunteers, spontaneous H2O2 formation was measured by flow cytometry after preincubation of buffy coat-leucocytes from fresh peripheral venous blood at 37 degrees C with 2',7' dichlorofluorescein.

Selective myocardial isolation and ventricular fibrillation.

Background: Few experimental studies have analyzed the effects of selective radiofrequency (RF) lesions upon ventricular fibrillation (VF). The RF-induced isolation of selected zones would make it possible to determine whether these zones are essential for existence of the arrhythmia.

Methods: In 31 Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts, the characteristics and inducibility of VF were analyzed before and after the induction of RF lesions comprising: (1) the posterior zone of the septum and of the walls of both ventricles (n = 10); (2) the anterior zone of the septum and of the walls of both ventricles (n = 11); and (3) the midseptal zone (n = 10).

Solitary fibrous tumor of the orbit: morphological, cytogenetic and molecular features.

Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT), a benign neoplasm arising in mesenchymal structures, was initially described in the pleura but subsequently has also been documented in other locations. It is uncommon in the orbit, where it closely resembles other benign spindle-shaped mesenchymal tumors of this area such as schwannoma, meningioma or hemangiopericytoma. We present a case of orbital SFT in a 34-year-old woman.

Modification of ventricular fibrillation activation patterns induced by local stretching.

Introduction: We hypothesize that local modifications in electrophysiological properties, when confined to zones of limited extent, induce few changes in the global activation process during ventricular fibrillation (VF). To test this hypothesis, we produced local electrophysiological modifications by stretching a circumscribed zone of the left ventricular wall in an experimental model of VF.

Methods And Results: In 23 Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts frequency, time-frequency and time-domain techniques were used to analyze the VF recordings obtained with two epicardial multiple electrodes before, during, and after local stretching produced with a left intraventricular device.

Valsalva sinus pseudoaneurysm causes acute myocardial infarction and stroke simultaneously.

Spontaneous Valsalva sinus pseudoaneurysm is a rare and highly lethal condition. Below we present a clinical case of a young woman with spontaneous Valsalva sinus pseudoaneurysm diagnosed presenting with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and ischemic stroke.

Effect of eprosartan on cytoplasmic free calcium mobilization, platelet activation, and microparticle formation in hypertension.

Background: Hypertensive patients show greater platelet activation than do normotensive individuals. Platelet activation is characterized by increased phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure in the external hemilayer of the membrane, a larger number of platelet microparticles (PMP), and changes in intraplatelet-free calcium kinetics. This study evaluated whether eprosartan can protect against undesirable platelet activation.

Dofetilide effects on the inhibition by trains of subthreshold conditioning stimuli.

We investigated the electrophysiological actions of dofetilide upon the ventricular myocardium to determine whether the drug modifies the inhibitory effects of subthreshold stimuli trains upon ventricular refractoriness. In nine Langendorff perfused rabbit hearts, ventricular epicardial electrodes were used to determine the following parameters at baseline and during dofetilide perfusion (0.5 micromolar): effective (ERP) and functional (FRP) refractory periods, conduction velocity (CV), wavelength (WL), and ERP prolongation (inhibitory effect) induced by subthreshold stimuli trains (STr) at pulse frequencies of 100, 300, and 600 Hz.