Medicina
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Aortic dissection is an acute lesion of the aortic wall accompanied by separation of the media due to rupture or intramural hematoma. The incidence rate of aortic dissection is 5 to 30 cases per million people a year. Acute aortic dissection is a highly lethal cardiovascular emergency with an incidence of 2000 new cases per year in the United States and 3000 in Europe. ⋯ An alternative mean for diagnosis of aortic dissection might be the determination of concentration of smooth muscle myosin heavy chain protein in blood serum, the peak of which is found after 3 hours after the onset of pain. Normal value of smooth muscle myosin heavy chain protein concentration is 2.5 microg/L, while in case of aortic dissection it exceeds 22.4 microg/L. This diagnostic method has not been introduced in Lithuania yet.
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The aim of this study was to assess nutritional status of aged surgical patients, to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and factors associated with it. ⋯ Malnutrition was diagnosed more frequently in elderly surgical patients than in middle-aged patients. Obesity was more common in women than in men. The prevalence of obesity was not associated with age. Malnutrition in elderly surgical patients was associated with poor functional status, impaired cognitive function, and urgent operation.
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Comparative Study
Matrix metalloproteinase-3 gene polymorphism and dilatative pathology of ascending thoracic aorta.
Matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) degrades extracellular matrix and may lead to development of dilatative pathology of ascending thoracic aorta. Expression of MMP-3 depends upon the 5A/6A polymorphism in the promoter region. An increased number of 5A alleles leads to high expression of MMP-3. ⋯ The frequency of 5A allele did not differ significantly between both groups and was 0.506 and 0.514, respectively. Male carriers of 5A/5A genotype were significantly younger compared with those with the 6A/6A genotype. In conclusion, the frequency of MMP-3 promoter 5A/6A genotypes did not differ between the group of patients with dilatative pathology of ascending thoracic aorta and the random sample of population, but the males with dilatative pathology of ascending thoracic aorta and 5A/5A genotype required aortic reconstruction surgery at the younger age than the males carrying 6A/6A genotype in the MMP-3 promoter region.
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Comparative Study
[A prospective comparison of double- and single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions].
A nonrandomized clinical study was performed to compare the clinical and radiological outcome between double-bundle and single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions with semitendinosus tendon in athletes. ⋯ This trial showed no significant difference between the double and single-bundle ACL repairs.
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The aim of this work was to compare the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and smoking habits during a 10-year period and to evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome and smoking habits, and ischemic heart disease among Kaunas men aged 45-64 years. ⋯ Combination of metabolic syndrome and smoking is significantly associated with ischemic heart disease among men aged 45-64 years.