Chest
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Solitary fibrous tumors of the pleura (SFTPs) are infrequent neoplasms with no standardized criteria to predict risk of recurrence after curative surgery. The aim of the present study is to validate a recently proposed recurrence score in a large European cohort of patients with SFTP. ⋯ The proposed scoring system, which combines common clinical and histologic features of resected SFTPs, remains predictive of recurrence in a separate patient population. The simple score may guide the postoperative surveillance of this uncommon tumor.
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Combined simvastatin and sirolimus therapy reduces tuberous sclerosis complex 2-null lesions and alveolar destruction in a mouse model of lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), suggesting that therapy with both drugs may benefit patients with LAM. ⋯ Therapy with sirolimus and simvastatin does not increase the prevalence of drug adverse events or alter the therapeutic effects of sirolimus.
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Direct thrombin inhibitor (anti-factor IIa) anticoagulants, now established for treatment and prevention of cardiac thromboembolism and VTE, have been repeatedly associated with a significantly increased frequency of thrombosis on abnormal cardiac endothelium when compared head-to-head with indirectly acting therapeutic anticoagulants in studies of sufficient patient number and duration. Although there is uncertainty as to the mechanism, the weight of evidence as a class effect warrants prescribing effective anticoagulants other than direct thrombin inhibitors.
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Much of the epidemiology of atrial fibrillation (AF) is based on data from Western populations. Despite the huge population of Asia, data on the clinical epidemiology of AF in Asian countries are limited. The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence and incidence of newly diagnosed (ie, incident) AF, as well as lifetime risk, in China and to determine the clinical risk factors contributing to its development. ⋯ The AF burden, as well as the risk of AF-related stroke, has increased significantly over the past 11 years in the southwest of China. The public health burden of AF and its complications are greatest in the very elderly, with major implications for health-care systems given the global burden of this common arrhythmia.
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Comparative Study
Endothelial Function in Children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and the Effects of Adenotonsillectomy.
The association between childhood OSA and endothelial function as measured by flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and its response to OSA treatment are uncertain. The objective of this study was to compare FMD in children with OSA with nonsnoring control subjects and to examine its response to treatment. ⋯ Children with OSA had reduced FMD, which was reversible with treatment.