scholarly journals Catestatin as a New Prognostic Marker in Stable Patients with Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction in Two-Year Follow-Up

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Łukasz Wołowiec ◽  
Daniel Rogowicz ◽  
Joanna Banach ◽  
Wojciech Gilewski ◽  
Władysław Sinkiewicz ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose. The main goal of the study was to assess the usefulness of plasma concentrations of catestatin as a predictor of a composite endpoint (CE): unplanned hospitalization and death for all causes in patients with HFrEF in the midterm follow-up. Experimental Approach. The study group consisted of 52 Caucasian patients in NYHA classes II and III. The control group consisted of 24 healthy volunteers. The biomarkers, whose concentration was assessed before and after physical exertion as well as the variability of their concentration under the influence of the physical exertion, were NT-proBNP, troponin T, and catestatin. Key Results. During the 24-month follow-up period, 11 endpoints were recorded. The univariate analysis of the Cox proportional hazard model showed a statistically significant effect of all assessed CST concentrations on the occurrence of CE. In the 24-month follow-up, where the starting concentration of catestatin was compared with other recognized prognostic factors in HF, the initial concentration of catestatin showed statistical significance in CE prognosis as the only parameter tested. Conclusions. Plasma concentration of catestatin before and after physical exertion is a valuable prognostic parameter in predicting death from all causes and unplanned hospitalization in the group of patients with HFrEF in the 2-year follow-up.

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 886-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shang-Quan Wang ◽  
Ming Chen ◽  
Xu Wei ◽  
Xin-Xia Gao ◽  
Guo-Dong Zhao

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: To investigate clinical curative effects of lumbar oblique-pulling manipulation in combination with sling-exercise-therapy training on chronic nonspecific lower back pain. METHODS: A total of 60 patients with chronic nonspecific lower back pain in the Outpatient Department were included in this study. These patients were randomly divided into two groups: the observation group and the control group. The control group adopted a single sling-exercise-therapy training three times a week, while the observation group adopted lumbar oblique-pulling manipulation in combination with manipulation treatment once a week. The course of treatment lasted for four weeks. RESULTS: (1) Before and after treatment, the ODI score was compared within the group. A remarkable statistical significance was observed from the third day (P<0.05). At the third month of follow-up, the difference in ODI scores between these two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). (2) Before and after treatment, it was observed that differences in VAS scores from the third day were statistically significant (P<0.05). (3) The difference in muscle strength between these two groups had remarkable statistical significance in the third month of follow-up (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The effective rehabilitation function of lumbar oblique-pulling manipulation in combination with sling-exercise-therapy training in patients with CNLBP is superior to that of sling-exercise-therapy training alone.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Grabowicz ◽  
Anna Daniluk ◽  
Anna Hadamus ◽  
Dariusz Białoszewski

BACKGROUND Balance training in young adults may increase coordination, cognitive function or the symmetry of strength on both sides of the body. It is an essential tool for injury or fall prevention and a precondition for becoming a professional athlete. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to assess the effect of Xbox 360 Kinect training on postural balance in young, healthy individuals. METHODS The study enrolled 75 individuals who were randomly assigned to three equal groups. The first group (Group VR) performed exercises on an Xbox 360 Kinect console, and the second group (Group T) performed conventional all-round exercises. The third group was a control group (Group C). Each group underwent balance assessments on the Biodex Balance posturographic platform, including the Balance Error Scoring System test, before and after the training cycle. The level of statistical significance was set at P<.05. RESULTS Group VR and Group T achieved statistically significant improvements in the sway index compared with baseline. Group T gained significant decrease in the sway index on the unstable surface (P=.002). Group VR and group T demonstrated significant decreases in the mean sway index on stable and unstable surfaces (group VR — P=.035; group T — P=.001) Group C did not achieve a statistically significant improvement in the sway index. None of the groups demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in the test error count. CONCLUSIONS Virtual reality in the form of video games played on an Xbox 360 Kinect console may be an effective method of balance training in healthy individuals.


2021 ◽  
pp. 036354652110417
Author(s):  
Andrew E. Jimenez ◽  
Peter F. Monahan ◽  
David R. Maldonado ◽  
Benjamin R. Saks ◽  
Hari K. Ankem ◽  
...  

Background: High-level athletes (HLAs) have been shown to have better short-term outcomes than nonathletes (NAs) after hip arthroscopy. Purpose: (1) To report midterm outcomes of HLAs after primary hip arthroscopy and (2) to compare their results with a propensity-matched cohort of NA patients. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Data were prospectively collected and retrospectively reviewed between February 2008 and November 2015 for HLAs (professional, college, or high school) who underwent primary hip arthroscopy in the setting of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS). HLAs were included if they had preoperative, minimum 2-year, and minimum 5-year follow-up data for the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), Non-Arthritic Hip Score (NAHS), and Hip Outcome Score Sports-Specific Subscale (HOS-SSS). Radiographic and intraoperative findings, surgical procedures, patient-reported outcomes (PROs), patient acceptable symptomatic state (PASS), minimal clinically important difference (MCID), and return to sport were reported. The HLA study group was propensity-matched to a control group of NA patients for comparison. Results: A total 65 HLA patients (67 hips) were included in the final analysis with mean follow-up time of 74.6 ± 16.7 months. HLAs showed significant improvement in all PROs recorded, achieved high rates of MCID and PASS for mHHS (74.6% and 79.4%, respectively) and HOS-SSS (67.7% and 66.1%, respectively), and returned to sport at high rates (80.4%). When compared with the propensity-matched NA control group, HLAs reported higher baseline but comparable postoperative scores for the mHHS and NAHS. HLA patients achieved MCID and PASS for mHHS at similar rates as NA patients, but the HLA patients achieved PASS for HOS-SSS at higher rates that trended toward statistical significance (66.1% vs 48.4%; P = .07). NA patients underwent revision arthroscopic surgery at similar rates as HLA patients (14.9% vs 9.0%, respectively; P = .424). Conclusion: Primary hip arthroscopy results in favorable midterm outcomes in HLAs. When compared with a propensity-matched NA control group, HLAs demonstrated a tendency toward higher rates of achieving PASS for HOS-SSS but similar arthroscopic revision rates at minimum 5-year follow-up.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Bertini ◽  
Elena Isola ◽  
Giuseppe Paolone ◽  
Giuseppe Curcio

The study aims at evaluating health-generating function of humor therapy in a hospital ward hosting children suffering from respiratory pathologies. The main scope of this study is to investigate possible positive effects of the presence of a clown on both the clinical evolution of the on-going disease, and on some physiological and pain parameters. Forty-three children with respiratory pathologies participated in the study: 21 of them belonged to the experimental group (EG) and 22 children to the control group (CG). During their hospitalization, the children of the EG interacted with two clowns who were experienced in the field of pediatric intervention. All participants were evaluated with respect to clinical progress and to a series of physiological and pain measures both before and after the clown interaction. When compared with the CG, EG children showed an earlier disappearance of the pathological symptoms. Moreover, the interaction of the clown with the children led to a statistically significant lowering of diastolic blood pressure, respiratory frequency and temperature in the EG as compared with the control group. The other two parameters of systolic pressure and heart frequency yielded results in the same direction, without reaching statistical significance. A similar health-inducing effect of clown presence was observed on pain parameters, both by self evaluation and assessment by nurses. Taken together, our data indicate that the presence of clowns in the ward has a possible health-inducing effect. Thus, humor can be seen as an easy-to-use, inexpensive and natural therapeutic modality to be used within different therapeutic settings.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Zhiping Liu ◽  
Menglin Yue

 Purpose: to explore and discuss the effects of PAD Class Teaching Model on nursing students who are expected to enter undergraduate schools from junior colleges. Method: Randomly select 112 students from two classes (2016) who are expected to enter undergraduate schools from junior colleges in a medical school in Pingdingshan, and divide them into a control group and an experimental group using a method of cluster randomization. In the teaching process of “Nursing Psychology”, the control group and the experimental group respectively adopted the traditional teaching mode and the PAD class teaching mode. After the implementation of one semester, compare the nursing students’ learning attitudes change before and after the implementation. Results: The scores of the nursing students in the experimental group at the three latitudes of learning interests, learning habits, and professional cognition were significantly higher than those of the control group, and the differences have statistical significance (P<0.05). Conclusions: PAD class teaching mode helps improve nursing students’ learning attitudes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiuhong Li ◽  
Beijie Huang ◽  
Hongyan Gu ◽  
Ying Zhou ◽  
Xizheng Shan ◽  
...  

Background: The exacerbation of non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) may lead to poor prognosis. The objective of this study was to retrospectively analyze the clinical efficacy and safety of endobronchial therapy with gentamicin and dexamethasone after airway clearance by bronchoscopy in the exacerbation of NCFB.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 2,156 patients with NCFB between January 2015 and June 2016 and 367 consecutive patients with exacerbation of bronchiectasis who had complete data and underwent airway clearance (AC) by bronchoscopy. The final cohort included 181 cases of intratracheal instillation with gentamicin and dexamethasone after AC (a group with airway drugs named the drug group) and 186 cases of AC only (a group without airway drugs named the control group). The last follow-up was on June 30, 2017.Results: The total cough score and the total symptom score in the drug group were improved compared to those in the control group during 3 months after discharge (p &lt; 0.001). Re-examination of chest HRCT within 4–6 months after discharge revealed that the improvements of peribronchial thickening, the extent of mucous plugging, and the Bhalla score were all significantly improved in the drug group. Moreover, the re-exacerbations in the drug group were significantly decreased within 1 year after discharge. Univariate analysis showed a highly significant prolongation of the time to first re-exacerbation in bronchiectasis due to treatment with airway drugs compared with that of the control group. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the risk of first re-exacerbation in the drug group decreased by 29.7% compared with that of the control group.Conclusion: Endobronchial therapy with gentamicin and dexamethasone after AC by bronchoscopy is a safe and effective method for treating NCFB.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-107
Author(s):  
Reny Sulistyowati ◽  
Syam�ani Syam�ani

Stress is an individual's adaptive response to various external pressures or demands and produces a variety of disorders including physical, emotional and behavioral disorders. Final year students often experience feelings of stress so that it can interfere with concentration to attend lectures and can even hamper completing education in a timely manner. There are several ways of managing stress, one of which is using aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is a non-pharmacological therapy, which is a type of therapy that applies direct body contact and has a therapeutic effect that combines physiological effects, caused by massage on the body, with psychological effects, which are derived from essential oils. The general purpose of the study is to analyze the effect of aromatherapy on blood pressure and stress levels by using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale in final semester students. The research method used a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest control group design approach, in 28 intervention groups, namely respondents who were given lavender aromatherapy massage and 28 respondents in the control group. The univariate analysis was conducted to show frequency distribution and bivariate analysis was conducted by independent sample T-test and dependent sample T-test. The results showed that there were significant differences in systolic blood pressure before and after the intervention in the intervention and the control group with a p-value of 0.01 < 0.05. Whereas the stress level variable found that there is no difference in stress levels in the intervention and the control group before and after the intervention with p-value 0.169> 0.05.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manjunatha R ◽  
Praveen Pankajakshan ◽  
Alphonsa Joseph ◽  
Gyan Kashyap ◽  
Usha Manjunath ◽  
...  

Abstract In this article, we evaluate the hypothesis that a multimodal cognitive training (MCT) program, the Brighter Minds, can enhance certain inherent traits of a child and thus bring changes in the external behavior. For the study, 186 children (randomized to 93 each in intervention and control group) aged 10-15 years were enrolled from three different locations. Psychometric tests, parental/caregiver interviews and EEG (electroencephalography) tests were conducted before and after the program. Intervention group showed strong statistical significance for improvements in Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) (P<0.01) but no significance for Raven’s Standard Progrssive Matrices (SPM) or Susan Harter’s test. The parental/caregiver reported satistically significant improvements in focus (P<0.05), empathy (P<0.05), intuition (P<0.05), comprehension (P<0.05) and understanding of abstract concepts (P<0.05) for the intervention group. For the control, Power Spectral Density (PSD) of the baseline eyes-closed (EC) EEG recording, the spectrum below 20Hz exhibited the characteristic “1/f” spectral scaling of the power-law. This signature matches prior reported evidence in literature of those in wakeful state with EC. The intervention group EC PSD, however, exhibited a signature similar to those in a slow sleep state; reflective of the possible transfer effect of the training on other skills like relaxation. We used unsupervised learning methods with dice distance, on the psychometric and interview data, to show the effect of location and the exposure of a few control children to the program.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
E Karataş ◽  
B E Temiz ◽  
S Mumusoglu ◽  
H Yarali ◽  
G Bozdag

Abstract Study question Does utilization of dienogest make any impact on the size of cyst and Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) concentration in patients with endometrioma throughout 12-months? Summary answer Although dienogest makes a gradual reduction in the size of endometrioma cyst throughout 12-months, a significant drop in AMH serum concentration was also noticed. What is known already According to recent studies, pre-operative serum AMH levels might be illusively increased with parallel to the size of endometrioma which will be a misleading factor while deciding to operate the patient via cystectomy. Although dienogest is one of the medical options that might be commenced in patients with endometrioma cyst, there is limited data about its effect on the size of the endometrioma and hence serum AMH concentration throughout 12 months of follow up. Study design, size, duration The current observational cohort study was conducted among patients with endometrioma those treated with dienogest from January 2017 to January 2020. The primary outcome was alteration in diameter of endometrioma cyst at 6th and 12th months of treatment. Secondary outcome was alteration in serum AMH concentration in the same period. Of 104 patients treated with dienogest, 44 patients were excluded due to being treated with any type of surgical intervention during follow up period. Participants/materials, setting, methods A total of 60 patients were recruited for the final analysis. Of them, primary symptom was dysmenorrhea, chronic pelvic pain and menstrual irregularity in 16 (26.7%), 25 (41.7%) and 8 (13.3%) patients, respectively. Eighteen patients (30%) were asymptomatic. As 21 patients had bi-lateral endometrioma, size of the leading cyst was considered to be analyzed for the primary outcome measure. Paired-t test was used for comparison of numerical values and p ≤ 0.05 was taken as statistical significance. Main results and the role of chance The mean age was 31.5±8.0 years. In the time point when dienogest was started, the mean size of the endometrioma was 46.3±17.4 mm. The mean serum AMH concentration was 3.6±2.4 ng/ml. After 6 months of treatment, the mean size of the endometrioma decreased to 38.6±14.0 mm which corresponds to a mean difference of 7.8 mm (95% CI: 3.0 to 12.6; p: 0.003). The respective figure for AMH was 3.3±2.7 ng/ml which corresponds to a mean difference of 0.3 ng/ml (95% CI: –0.2 to 0.8; p: 0.23) at 6 months. After 12 months of treatment, the mean size of the endometrioma was 37.5±15.7 mm which corresponds to a mean difference of 8.9 mm (95% CI: 2.9 to 14.9; p: 0.005) at the end of 12 months. The respective figure for AMH was 2.7±1.9 ng/ml which corresponds to a mean difference of 0.9 ng/ml (95% CI: 0.1 to 1.7; p: 0.045) at the end of 12 months. The mean diameter of endometrioma and AMH concentration did not differ throughout the time period between 6th and 12th months of the treatment. Limitations, reasons for caution Although herein we present the largest data that depicts the alteration of endometrioma cyst and AMH concentration with the application of dienogest, the lack of control group is a limitation that avoids to perform any comparison. Wider implications of the findings: A shrinkage after commencement of treatment suggest that dienogest might present improvement in patients with endometrioma with respect to radiological findings, but further studies are required whether a decline in AMH concentration after 12 months refers to a genuine decrease in ovarian reserve or resolution of misleading high pre-treatment levels. Trial registration number not available


Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael N Sattin ◽  
Zhe Li ◽  
Marko Mrkobrada ◽  
Erin I Spicer

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major risk factor for cerebral ischemia in North America. Atrial ectopy has been associated with incident AF and increased stroke risk on short-duration ECG monitoring. The objective of this study was to characterize the relationship between the burden of atrial ectopy with future AF, stroke, and cardiovascular events on prolonged ECG monitoring. Methods: A retrospective, observational study was conducted at a single centre enrolling patients >18 years old referred from TIA clinic. Data was collected from 7- and 14-day Holter monitor reports, patient charts, and cardiac investigations. The final sample included 1124 patients; a subgroup of 759 patients had echocardiograms. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression determined the odds ratio (OR) of developing the composite outcome (AF, TIA/stroke, ACS, death) or secondary outcomes (AF or TIA/stroke). Results: The population was high-risk with a mean CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc of 4.0 (±1.8); during 1-year of follow-up, the primary outcome occurred amongst 116 (10.3%) patients. Univariate analysis ORs are displayed in Table 1. There was a statistically significant relationship (p<0.001) between percentage of PACs and the composite outcome (OR 4.066), and AF (11.886) for patients with 2-5% PACs. PAC runs/day was significant if >5/day for AF (OR 5.989, p<0.01) and for the composite (OR 2.231, p<0.05). Long PAC runs (>30 beats) also had significant ORs for AF (2.849, p<0.01) and the composite (5.320, p<0.01). In the subgroup analysis, reduced ejection fraction had an OR of 2.172 (1.407-5.771) for the composite outcome, and atrial dilatation had an OR of 2.778 (1.390-5.551) for AF. Conclusions: Increased burden of atrial ectopy is associated with increased odds of developing AF and a composite of cardiovascular events. Patients with increased ectopy should be considered for further, future ECG monitoring and risk stratification with echocardiogram.


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