Romanian Journal of Internal Medicine最新文献

Background: The risk for worse outcomes of COVID-19 (Coronavirus 2019 disease) is higher in patients with cardiac conditions. In this study, we aim to investigate the risks of COVID-19-induced conditions in cases with underlying heart failure. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Scopus, Ovid, ProQuest, Web of Science, and the Cochrane library, to collect the English language articles that investigated patients with underlying heart failure who get infected by COVID-19. The second version of comprehensive meta-analysis (CMA.2) software was used to conduct the meta-analysis. Results: From 5997 publications, our eligibility criteria were met by 27 studies. Overall, outcomes investigated in all studies include but are not limited to mortality rate, length of hospitalization, need for Intensive care unit (ICU) admission, need for mechanical ventilation, and major cardiovascular conditions. Regarding mortality heart failure patients were more susceptible to death (OR:2.570, 95%CI: 2.085 to 3.169; p-value:<0.001). Also in heart failure patients, the risk of mechanical ventilation was higher (OR:1.707, 95%CI: 1.113 to 2.617; p-value: 0.014). Conclusion: Pre-existing heart failure is associated with the increased risk of mortality and the need for mechanical ventilation while getting infected with COVID-19. Finding an answer to determine the risk of hospitalization, length of stay, readmission rate, and multiorgan failure is necessary for further development of preventive care and making a plan for providing optimal healthcare facilities for these patients.

Transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis is a progressive disease known to cause heart failure, conduction anomalies, and arrythmias. Due to poor outcomes and mortality from severe cardiomyopathy, prevalence and incident rates are often underreported. As global longevity is increasing and rates of amyloidosis are also increasing, there is a need to improve diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Previously, symptom management and transplantation were the mainstay of treatment for heart failure symptoms, but studies using RNAi and siRNA technologies have shifted the paradigm of therapeutic strategy in amyloid cardiomyopathy management. Additionally, early detection and clinical monitoring with numerous imaging and non-imaging techniques are being increasingly investigated. Here, we review the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy.

Introduction: Today, recommendations about initial Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumor (RECIST) and its frequency still vary, while early diagnosis of progression affects patient's prognosis and subsequent treatment options. Methods: This study aims to examine Progression Free Survival (PFS) of positive EGFR mutations advanced lung adenocarcinoma receiving Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI) and factors that influence it. This was an observational study with retrospective cohort design conducted at Prof IGNG Ngoerah Hospital from January to December 2021. Sample was data from Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) positive mutation advanced lung adenocarcinoma patient who were treated with EGFR-TKI at Prof IGNG Ngoerah Hospital, Denpasar, Bali from January 2017 to February 2021. Total sample was 63. Results: Median PFS was 12 months (95% CI 10.28-13.71) and minimum PFS was 3 months. In univariate analysis, Hazard Ration (HR) of older age, smoker, distant metastasis, brain metastasis, increased Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ration (NLR), and exon 21 mutation to shorter PFS was 0.99 (95% CI 0.95-1.02); 1.03 (95% CI 0.57-1.85); 1.45 (95% CI 0.85-2.49); 2.14 (95% CI 1.02-4.49); 1.08 (95% CI 1.03-1.13); and 1.21 (95% CI 0.67-2.18). Multivariate analysis showed only increased NLR affected PFS significantly with HR 1.06 (95% CI 1.007-1.13). Conclusion: Median PFS of EGFR positive mutation advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients who received TKI was 12 months and minimum value was 3 months. Increased age, smoking, distant metastases, brain metastases, and exon 21 mutations were not associated with PFS. NLR significantly affected PFS.

Background: Prognostic scores can be used to facilitate better management of patients suffering from life-threatening diseases, provided that they have been tested in the population of interest. Aim: To perform external validation of the 4C Mortality Score and PRIEST COVID-19 Clinical Severity Score. Study Design: Prospective observational Study. Methods: Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia in a tertiary hospital in Greece were enrolled in the study. The prognostic scores were calculated based on hospital admission data and ROC curve analysis was performed. We assessed a composite outcome of either in-hospital death or need for invasive ventilation. Results: Both 4C and PRIEST scores showed good discriminative ability with an AUC value of 0.826 (CI 95%: 0.765-0.887) and 0.852 (CI 95%: 0.793-0.910) respectively. Based on the Youden Index the optimal cut-off for the 4C score was 11 (Sensitivity 75%, Specificity 75.5%) and 10 for the PRIEST score (Sensitivity 83% and Specificity 69.4%). Calibration was adequate for both scores, except for the low and very high risk groups in the PRIEST score. Conclusion: The 4C Mortality Score and PRIEST COVID-19 Clinical Severity Score can be used for early identification of patients with poor prognosis in a Greek population cohort hospitalized with COVID-19.

Introduction: This study aims to compare the predictive capacity of ABCD, DiaRem2, Ad-DiaRem, and DiaBetter scoring systems for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remission in Turkish adult morbidly obese patients who underwent SG. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 80 patients who underwent sleeve gastrectomy (SG) operation who were diagnosed with T2DM preoperatively, and had at least one-year follow-up after surgery. Because bariatric surgery is performed on patients with class III obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2) or class II obesity (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2) with obesity releated comorbid conditions in our hospital, our study cohort consisted of these patients. Results: The diagnostic performance of the DiaBetter, DiaRem2, Ad-DiaRem and ABCD for identifying diabetes remission, assessed by the AUC was 0.882 (95% CI, 0.807-0.958, p < 0.001), 0.862 (95% CI, 0.779-0.945, p < 0.001), 0.849 (95% CI, 0.766-0.932, p < 0.001) and 0.726 (95% CI, 0.601-0.851, p = 0.002), respectively. The AUCs of the Ad-Diarem, DiaBetter and DiaRem2 were statistically higher than AUC of the ABCD (all p-value < 0.001). Besides, there was no statistically significant difference in AUCs of the Ad-Diarem, DiaBetter and DiaRem scores (all p-value > 0.05). Conclusion: Ad-Dairem, DiaBetter and DaiRem scoring systems were found to provide a successful prediction for diabetes remission in sleeve gastrectomy patients. It was observed that the predictive power of the ABCD scoring system was lower than the other systems. We think that the use of scoring systems for diabetes remission, which have a simple use, will become widespread.

Objective: Obesity is a worldwide concern that may lead to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, etc. Several serum biomarkers have been identified in the saliva of obese individuals, including inflammatory cytokines, adipokines, insulin, and cortisol. The present study aimed to compare salivary interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and total antioxidants capacity (TAC) of obese individuals with normal-weighted ones. Methods: In this case-control study, 92 participants matched in terms of age and gender were placed into two groups according to the body mass index (BMI); case group: BMI>30 and control group: 18.5Results: Mean salivary levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in the normal individuals were 53.36 and 421.25ng/mL, with 86.09 ng/mL and 510.19 ng/mL in obese individuals, respectively. There were significant differences in the mean salivary levels of IL-6 and IL-8 between two experimental groups. The mean salivary levels of CRP of control and case group was 2.84 and 2.63 ng/mL and the total salivary antioxidant levels in the normal and obese individuals were 0.29 and 0.36, respectively which had no significant different. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, salivary levels IL-8 and IL-6 was significantly higher in obese individuals than in those with normal weight. However, the mean salivary CRP and TAC were not significantly different between the obese individuals and normal-weighted ones.

Background: The incidence of liver cancer is increased worldwide with 75%-85% diagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Current practice has low sensitivity limitations to diagnose the early stages of HCC, thus urging the need for a biomarker with higher sensitivity to detect HCC, specifically in the early stage. This study aimed to determine the association between midkine levels and progressiveness of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), according to tumor size, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC), and presence of portal venous thrombosis. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 100 patients in Adam Malik General Hospital diagnosed with HCC, collected with a consecutive sampling method, whose diagnoses were confirmed by findings of hypervascular on arterial phase imaging and portal vein or delayed phase washout triple-phase CT Scan. Samples are later categorized according to Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages, tumor size, and presence of portal venous thrombosis. Blood samples were drawn to measure serum midkine using ELISA. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were conducted to determine the difference of midkine levels based on tumor size, BCLC staging, and presence of portal venous thrombosis. Results: Serum midkine level shows a significant difference over tumor size (p=0.014), no significant difference found compared to BCLC stages and presence of portal venous thrombosis. Conclusion: Serum midkine levels are associated with the tumor size of HCC, thus helping physicians determine treatment plans.

Introduction: The Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score is widely recommended for risk assessment in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Variable degrees of impairment in left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function might be found after AMI. Tei index is an echocardiography parameter that represents both systolic and diastolic LV performance. Previous studies demonstrate Tei index as an independent predictor of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events (MACE) after AMI. This study investigates whether the addition of Tei index could improve the GRACE risk score performance to predict inhospital MACE after AMI. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted on 75 patients who presented with AMI. Total GRACE score was calculated on patient admission and echocardiography was conducted within 72 hours of hospitalization for measurement of MPI. All patients were observed for the incidence of MACE during hospitalization. The incremental predictive value of the GRACE risk score alone and combined with Tei index was assessed by the change in area under the curve (AUC) by DeLong's method, likelihood ratio test (LRT), and continuous net reclassification improvement (cNRI). Results: The addition of Tei index to the GRACE risk score significantly improves the predictive value of the GRACE risk score (increase in AUC from 0.753 for the GRACE risk score to 0.801 for the GRACE score combine with Tei index, p=0.354; LRT=4.65, p=0.030; cNRI=0.515, p=0.046). Conclusions: Adjustment of Tei index to GRACE risk score might improve risk prediction of in-hospital MACE after AMI.

Background. We studied by means of echocardiography and cardiac MRI (CMR) the occurrence of an accessory papillary muscle that unites mostly the left ventricle (LV) apex with the basal antero-septum in the immediate vicinity of left ventricle outflow tract (LVOT) in patients with and without hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HOCM). Methods. We included all good quality echocardiography and CMR studies as reviewed by two cardiologists and assessed the occurrence of a contractile papillary muscle situated between the LV apex and antero-septum. Results. A contractile accessory papillary muscle situated between the LV apex and the anteroseptum was seen in 100% of HOCM patients and 62% of control patients (p=0.05) in the CMR images acquired from a total of 9 HOCM and 13 control patients. The same structure was observed in 241 patients representing 69.5% of all-comers echocardiography studies. The age was 69 ± 17 years on average in the echocardiography arm, patients harboring the antero-septal accessory muscle being older (71.6 + 15.7 years old vs 63.5 ± 18.1 for those without, p=0.0005). We exemplify this structure by parasternal long axis still echocardiography images and clips from 24 patients and CMR SSFP still images and a clip from two HOCM patients and one control. Conclusion. A contractile accessory papillary muscle was observed in more than half of the all-comer echocardiography studies, and in all HOCM patients in the CMR arm. Further research is needed to fully characterize the anatomical and physiological significance as well as the possible structural interventional consequences of this structure attaching in the immediate vicinity of the LVOT in HOCM and control patients.