Plos One
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Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is known to cause VZV vasculopathy, which may be associated with stroke. A recent study found an increased risk of stroke within one year of herpes zoster. We aimed to investigate the short and long-term effects of herpes zoster on the risk of stroke. ⋯ This large nationwide cohort study found an increased risk of stroke after treatment for herpes zoster. Although the short-term risk was particularly high, we cannot rule out the possibility of a small but important long-term risk.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Factors associated with serological cure and the serofast state of HIV-negative patients with primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary syphilis.
Some syphilis patients remain in a serologically active state after the recommended therapy. We currently know too little about the characteristics of this serological response. ⋯ The serofast state is common in clinical work. After one year of the recommended therapy, quite a few syphilis patients remained RPR positive. The primary endpoint of the study indicated that disease phase, gender, age and baseline RPR titre were crucial factors associated with a serological cure.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Dopamine transporter genotype dependent effects of apomorphine on cold pain tolerance in healthy volunteers.
The aims of this study were to assess the effects of the dopamine agonist apomorphine on experimental pain models in healthy subjects and to explore the possible association between these effects and a common polymorphism within the dopamine transporter gene. Healthy volunteers (n = 105) participated in this randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Heat pain threshold and intensity, cold pain threshold, and the response to tonic cold pain (latency, intensity, and tolerance) were evaluated before and for up to 120 min after the administration of 1.5 mg apomorphine/placebo. ⋯ An association was found between the enhancing effect of apomorphine on pain tolerance (120 min after its administration) and the DAT-1 polymorphism. Subjects with two copies of the 10-allele demonstrated significantly greater tolerance prolongation than the 9-allele homozygote carriers and the heterozygote carriers (p = 0.007 and p = 0.003 in comparison to the placebo, respectively). In conclusion, apomorphine administration produced a decrease followed by a genetically associated increase in cold pain tolerance.
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Lung-protective ventilation aims at using low tidal volumes (VT) at optimum positive end-expiratory pressures (PEEP). Optimum PEEP should recruit atelectatic lung regions and avoid tidal recruitment and end-inspiratory overinflation. We examined the effect of VT and PEEP on ventilation distribution, regional respiratory system compliance (C(RS)), and end-expiratory lung volume (EELV) in an animal model of acute lung injury (ALI) and patients with ARDS by using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) with the aim to assess tidal recruitment and overinflation. ⋯ Tidal recruitment and end-inspiratory overinflation can be assessed by EIT-based analysis of regional C(RS).
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It is known that the risk of dementia in patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is higher. However, the relationship between mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and dementia has never been established. ⋯ TBI is an independent significant risk factor of developing dementia even in the mild type.