The American journal of medicine
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We aimed to describe the initial treatment that was used in a common hospital-based practice in patients with giant-cell arteritis with and without large-vessel involvement at diagnosis as well as the outcomes in both groups. ⋯ In the setting of tertiary hospital recruitment, large-vessel involvement at giant-cell arteritis diagnosis using a PET/CT study had no influence on the choice of initial GC dose and had no impact on outcomes. Prospective studies are required to confirm these findings.
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We aimed to evaluate health-related quality of life (QOL), dyspnea, and functional exercise capacity during the year following the diagnosis of a first episode of pulmonary embolism. ⋯ On average, QOL, dyspnea, and walking distance improve during the year after pulmonary embolism. However, a number of clinical and physiological predictors of reduced improvement over time were identified, most notably female sex, higher body mass index, and exercise limitation on 1-month cardiopulmonary exercise test. Our results provide new information on patient-relevant prognosis after pulmonary embolism.
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Upper body subcutaneous fat is a distinct fat depot that may confer increased cardiometabolic risk. We examined the cross-sectional associations between upper body subcutaneous fat volume and cardiometabolic risk factors. ⋯ Higher upper body subcutaneous fat is cross-sectionally associated with adverse cardiometabolic risk factors. Our findings underscore the importance of subcutaneous adiposity in the upper body region that may provide a better understanding of the pathogenic properties of obesity in the development of cardiometabolic sequelae.
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Cardiovascular disease and malignancy are leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Increased risk of malignancy was identified in patients with cardiovascular disease, including patients with heart failure, heart failure after myocardial infarction, patients undergoing cardiac intervention, and patients after a thrombotic event. Common risk factors and biological pathways can explain this association and are explored in this review. Further research is needed to establish the causes of malignancy in this population and direct possible intervention.