European journal of clinical investigation
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · Jun 2014
Altered plasma fibrin clot properties and fibrinolysis in patients with multiple myeloma.
Multiple myeloma (MM) is associated with increased risk of venous and arterial thromboembolism. Formation of denser and poorly lysable fibrin clots is observed in patients with arterial and venous thromboembolism. We investigated fibrin clot properties and their determinants in MM patients. ⋯ Our study demonstrates prothrombotic fibrin clot phenotype in patients with MM, with a significant impact of increased thrombin formation and TAFI activity.
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · May 2014
Diagnostic accuracy of nitric oxide measurements to detect primary ciliary dyskinesia.
Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD) is an orphan disease characterized by recurrent respiratory infections and an increased prevalence of situs inversus and male infertility. Low nasal Nitric Oxide (nNO) is used as a new test to diagnose PCD. The test sensitivity is good, but specificity has not been studied widely. Therefore, we evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of low nNO to diagnose PCD in a large cohort, including healthy patients and different disease controls. ⋯ nNOplat, nNOtid and FENO measurements overlap between PCD and disease controls. Sensitivity is comparable for the three tests. Applying composite scores slightly improves diagnostic accuracy. Given the less than 90% test sensitivity, PCD should be considered in patients with intermediate results.
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · May 2014
ReviewMalfunctioning of the autonomic nervous system in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic literature review.
It is hypothesised that the autonomic nervous system responds differently to various stressors in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) compared with healthy controls. The goal is to systematically review the scientific literature addressing the functioning of the autonomic nervous system in patients with CFS. ⋯ Although comparison between the included case-control studies was difficult, we can conclude that there are differences in autonomous response between patients with CFS and healthy controls. The heart rate dynamic response during the head-up tilt test differs between patients with CFS and healthy controls, supporting the increased prevalence of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. The autonomic response can be useful for the diagnosis of CFS.
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · May 2014
Insomnia symptoms, objective sleep duration and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity in children.
Insomnia symptoms are the most common parent-reported sleep complaints in children; however, little is known about the pathophysiology of childhood insomnia symptoms, including their association with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation. The objective of this study is to examine the association between parent-reported insomnia symptoms, objective short sleep duration and cortisol levels in a population-based sample of school-aged children. ⋯ Our findings suggest that insomnia symptoms with short sleep duration in children may be related to 24-h basal or responsive physiological hyperarousal. Future studies should explore the association of insomnia symptoms with short sleep duration with physical and mental health morbidity.
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · Apr 2014
Review Meta Analysis Comparative StudyElectrical stimulation vs. standard care for chronic ulcer healing: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
We conducted a systematic review to investigate the effect of electrical stimulation on ulcer healing compared to usual treatment and/or sham stimulation. This systematic review also aimed to investigate the effect of different types of electrical stimulation on ulcer size reduction. ⋯ Electrical stimulation appears to increase the rate of ulcer healing and may be superior to standard care for ulcer treatment.