Background
There is little evidence on the use of sodium−glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in older patients with heart failure. This work analyzed the clinical efficacy and safety of ...empagliflozin continuation in very old patients with type 2 diabetes hospitalized for acute decompensated heart failure.
Methods
We conducted a real‐world observational study between September 2015 and June 2021. Patients ≥80 years were grouped by antihyperglycemic regimen: (1) continuation of preadmission empagliflozin combined with basal insulin regimen and (2) conventional basal‐bolus insulin regimen. A propensity score matching analysis matched patients in both groups in a 1:1 manner. The primary outcome was differences in clinical efficacy measured by the visual analogue scale dyspnea score, NT‐proBNP levels, diuretic response, and cumulative urine output. Safety endpoints such as adverse events, worsening heart failure, discontinuation of empagliflozin, length of hospital stay, and in‐hospital deaths were also analyzed.
Results
After propensity score matching, 79 patients were included in each group. At discharge, the N‐terminal pro‐brain natriuretic peptide (NT‐proBNP) levels were lower in the empagliflozin continuation group than in the insulin group (1699 ± 522 vs. 2303 ± 598 pg/ml, p = 0.021). Both the diuretic response and cumulative urine output were greater in patients treated with empagliflozin than in patients with basal‐bolus insulin during the hospitalization (at discharge: −0.14 ± −0.06 vs. −0.24 ± −0.10, p = 0.044; and 16,100 ± 1510 vs. 13,900 ± 1220 ml, p = 0.037, respectively). No differences were observed in safety outcomes.
Conclusions
In very old patients with type 2 diabetes hospitalized for acute heart failure, continuing preadmission empagliflozin reduced NT‐proBNP levels and increased diuretic response and urine output compared to a basal‐bolus insulin regimen. The empagliflozin regimen also showed a good safety profile.
Background
Different bismuth quadruple therapies containing proton‐pump inhibitors, bismuth salts, metronidazole, and a tetracycline have been recommended as third‐line Helicobacter pylori ...eradication treatment after failure with clarithromycin and levofloxacin.
Aim
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of third‐line treatments with bismuth, metronidazole, and either tetracycline or doxycycline.
Methods
Sub‐study with Spanish data of the “European Registry on H pylori Management” (Hp‐EuReg), international multicenter prospective non‐interventional Registry of the routine clinical practice of gastroenterologists. After previous failure with clarithromycin‐ and levofloxacin‐containing therapies, patients receiving a third‐line regimen with 10/14‐day bismuth salts, metronidazole, and either tetracycline (BQT‐Tet) or doxycycline (BQT‐Dox), or single capsule (BQT‐three‐in‐one) were included. Data were registered at AEG‐REDCap database. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed.
Results
Four‐hundred and fifty‐four patients have been treated so far: 85 with BQT‐Tet, 94 with BQT‐Dox, and 275 with BQT‐three‐in‐one. Average age was 53 years, 68% were women. Overall modified intention‐to‐treat and per‐protocol eradication rates were 81% (BQT‐Dox: 65%, BQT‐Tet: 76%, BQT‐three‐in‐one: 88%) and 82% (BQT‐Dox: 66%, BQT‐Tet: 77%, BQT‐three‐in‐one: 88%), respectively. By logistic regression, higher eradication rates were associated with compliance (OR = 2.96; 95% CI = 1.01‐8.84) and no prior metronidazole use (OR = 1.96; 95% CI = 1.15‐3.33); BQT‐three‐in‐one was superior to BQT‐Dox (OR = 4.46; 95% CI = 2.51‐8.27), and BQT‐Tet was marginally superior to BQT‐Dox (OR = 1.67; 95% CI = 0.85‐3.29).
Conclusion
Third‐line H pylori eradication with bismuth quadruple treatment (after failure with clarithromycin and levofloxacin) offers acceptable efficacy and safety. Highest efficacy was found in compliant patients and those taking 10‐day BQT‐three‐in‐one or 14‐day BQT‐Tet. Doxycycline seems to be less effective and therefore should not be recommended.
In the literature, there is no consensus regarding the surgical management of postaxial polydactyly, and few cases of polymetatarsia with polydactyly have been reported. Treatment of the complete ...deformity will prevent further foot and gait disorders.
To identify literature relevant to the operative management of Y-shaped metatarsal with biphalangeal sixth toe and related skin and wound care to improve surgical treatment protocols from a clinical experience perspective.
The authors searched several electronic databases in December 2022 for articles related to postaxial polysyndactyly in the feet and polymetatarsia. Databases searched included PubMed, SciELO, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Google Scholar gray literature.
Two independent researchers conducted the searches and read the article titles and abstracts. Studies were included if they were narrative reviews, case studies, or observational studies; written in English or Spanish; and published between 2012 and 2022. Nonhuman studies were excluded. Studies that met the inclusion criteria were fully evaluated. Disagreements between reviewers were resolved by consensus, and when there was no consensus, a senior researcher was consulted.
The following data were extracted from the included studies using a standardized form: author and year of publication, study type, number of participants, sex, polydactyly location, polymetatarsia, type of polydactyly, participants' history of hereditary associated diseases or malformations, treatment, removal criteria, and timing of surgery.
Authors evaluated 11 studies of postaxial polydactyly that included a total of 153 participants (64 men, 89 women). They also document their clinical experience with a surgical technique used in cases of bilateral postaxial polydactyly of the foot with a Y-shaped metatarsal with biphalangeal sixth toe.
Surgical correction with lateral removal of the sixth toe is a resolutive treatment to improve the functionality of the foot, its aesthetic appearance, and the patient's quality of life. Case-specific treatment should be applied and tailored to meet the individual needs. The biomechanics of gait and shoe problems in these patients improve with surgical treatment, without presenting secondary aesthetic problems in skin care.
Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a disorder of autosomal dominant inheritance, in which aortic root dilation is the main cause of morbidity and mortality. Fibrillin-1 (FBN-1) gene mutations are found in more ...than 90% of MFS cases. The aim of our study was to summarise variants in FBN-1 and establish the genotype-phenotype correlation, with particular interest in the onset of aortic events, in a broad population of patients with an initial clinical suspicion of MFS.
This single centre prospective cohort study included all patients presenting variants in the FBN-1 gene who visited a Hereditary Aortopathy clinic between September 2010 and October 2016.
The study included 90 patients with FBN-1 variants corresponding to 58 non-interrelated families. Of the 57 FBN-1 variants found, 25 (43.9%) had previously been described, 23 of which had been identified as associated with MFS, while the the remainder are described for the first time. For 84 patients (93.3%), it was possible to give a definite diagnosis of Marfan syndrome in accordance with Ghent criteria. 44 of them had missense mutations, 6 of whom had suffered an aortic event (with either prophylactic surgery for aneurysm or dissection), whereas 20 of the 35 patients with truncating mutations had suffered an event (13.6% vs. 57.1%, p < 0.001). These events tended to occur at earlier ages in patients with truncating compared to those with missense mutations, although not significantly (41.33 ± 3.77 vs. 37.5 ± 9.62 years, p = 0.162).
Patients with MFS and truncating variants in FBN-1 presented a higher proportion of aortic events, compared to a more benign course in patients with missense mutations. Genetic findings could, therefore, have importance not only in the diagnosis, but also in risk stratification and clinical management of patients with suspected MFS.
In eukaryotes, the decapping machinery is highly conserved and plays an essential role in controlling mRNA stability, a key step in the regulation of gene expression. Yet, the role of mRNA decapping ...in shaping gene expression profiles in response to environmental cues and the operating molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we provide genetic and molecular evidence that a component of the decapping machinery, the LSM1-7 complex, plays a critical role in plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. Our results demonstrate that, depending on the stress, the complex from Arabidopsis thaliana interacts with different selected stress-inducible transcripts targeting them for decapping and subsequent degradation. This interaction ensures the correct turnover of the target transcripts and, consequently, the appropriate patterns of downstream stressresponsive gene expression that are required for plant adaptation. Remarkably, among the selected target transcripts of the LSM1-7 complex are those encoding NCED3 and NCED5, two key enzymes in abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis. We demonstrate that the complex modulates ABA levels in Arabidopsis exposed to cold and high salt by differentially controlling NCED3 and NCED5 mRNA turnover, which represents a new layer of regulation in ABA biosynthesis in response to abiotic stress. Our findings uncover an unanticipated functional plasticity of the mRNA decapping machinery to modulate the relationship between plants and their environment.
Many toxic xenobiotics that enter the aquatic environment exert their effects through redox cycling. Oxidative stress, which incorporates both oxidative damage and antioxidant defenses, is a common ...effect induced in organisms exposed to xenobiotics in their environment. The results of the present study aimed to determine the oxidative stress induced in the common carp Cyprinus carpio by contaminants metals and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) present in Madín Reservoir. Five sampling stations (SSs), considered to have the most problems due to discharges, were selected. Carp were exposed to water from each SS for 96 h, and the following biomarkers were evaluated in gill, blood, and muscle: hydroperoxide content, lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl content, and the activity of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase. Results show that contaminants (metals and NSAIDs) present in water from the different SSs induce oxidative stress. Thus, water in this reservoir is contaminated with xenobiotics that are hazardous to C. carpio, a species consumed by the local human population.
Differences in HF biomarker levels by sex may be due to hormonal, genetic, and fat distribution differences. Knowledge of these differences is scarce, and it is not well established whether they may ...affect their usefulness in the management of HF.
The different biomarker profiles in women and men have been confirmed in recent studies: in women, markers of cardiac stretch and fibrosis (NP and galectin-3) are higher, whereas in men, higher levels of markers of cardiac injury and inflammation (cTn and sST2) are found. The use of new biomarkers, together with growing evidence that a multimarker approach can provide better risk stratification, raises the question of building models that incorporate sex-specific diagnostic criteria. More and more research are being devoted to understanding sex-related differences in HF. The aim of this review is to review the dynamics of HF biomarkers according to sex and in different situations, to learn whether these sex differences may affect their use in the diagnosis and follow-up of HF patients.
The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has been a cause of significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Among the short- and long-term consequences of COVID-19, myocarditis is a disease to be ...taken into consideration. Myocarditis, in general, is related to a poor prognosis. However, the epidemiology and prognosis of myocarditis related to COVID-19 are currently unknown. While vaccination against COVID-19 is of great benefit at a public health level, the risk of myocarditis should be considered in the context of the global benefits of vaccination. In this narrative review, we will summarize the etiopathogenic bases, the epidemiology, the clinical manifestations, the course, diagnosis, prognosis, and the treatment of myocarditis related to SARS-CoV-2, as well as myocarditis secondary to mRNA vaccines.
The hallux dorsiflexion resistance test is a frequently employed clinical maneuver for assessing the initiation of the windlass mechanism This maneuver involves dorsiflexion of the phalanx of the ...hallux, thereby evaluating plantarflexion of the first metatarsal, elevation of the medial longitudinal arch, and supination of the rearfoot. The windlass mechanism plays a crucial role in gait, and orthopedic devices, such as a kinetic wedge, which aims to facilitate its activation by increasing the hallux dorsiflexion. Although it is believed that facilitating the windlass mechanism with the kinetic wedge should be directly correlated with a decrease in hallux dorsiflexion resistance, its effects have yet to be characterized. Thus, this study aimed to determine the influence of a kinetic wedge on hallux dorsiflexion resistance in asymptomatic individuals.
The sample comprised thirty participants (14 women and 16 men). A digital force gauge measured the force required to perform the hallux dorsiflexion resistance test during two conditions: barefoot and with a kinetic wedge. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the hallux dorsiflexion resistance between conditions.
A statistically significant reduction in force (10.54 ± 3.16N vs. 19.62 ± 5.18N, p < 0.001) was observed when using the kinetic wedge compared to the barefoot condition during the hallux dorsiflexion resistance test.
The use of a kinetic wedge reduces the required force for performing the passive hallux dorsiflexion resistance test in asymptomatic individuals. Future studies should determine to what extent the kinetic wedge can attenuate the required force to dorsiflex the hallux in individuals with musculoskeletal disorders such as plantar fasciopathy and functional hallux limitus.
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