Polskie Archiwum Medycyny Wewnętrznej
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Pol. Arch. Med. Wewn. · Jan 2007
Review[Parapneumonic pleural effusion: difficulties in making therapeutic decisions].
Pneumonia is the second most common cause of pleural effusion. The presence of pleural fluid makes the prognosis in patients with pneumonia worse and causes a higher mortality rate. This is why it is very important to undertake suitable treatment as soon as possible. ⋯ For many years determining biochemical fluid characteristics has been used for this purpose. Presentlythe usefullness of new parameters is being evaluated. Their application in diagnostics was possible thanks to better knowledge of mechanisms that participate in the development of parapneumonic pleural effusion.
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We presented two cases with symptoms of diffuse swelling of subcutaneous tissue, stiffness and tenderness of involved areas, fever, eosinophilia and hypergammaglobulinemia. The inflammatory infiltrates consisting of lymphocytes, plasma cells and eosinophils were yielded in fascia. The difficulties in differentition of the symptoms between eosinophilic fasciitis and "eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome" are discussed.
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Pol. Arch. Med. Wewn. · Jul 2006
[N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and ischemia modified albumin (IMA) in exercise induced ischemia in patients with stable coronary artery disease].
Preliminary data indicate that B type natriuretic peptides' levels may rise in exercise induced myocardial ischemia in patients with stable coronary artery disease. Such findings hint at a potential broader application of these markers reaching beyond its present use in chronic heart failure and acute coronary syndromes. Ischemia modified albumin (IMA) is a novel diagnostic marker in acute coronary syndromes as its value increases in states of myocardial ischemia and necrosis. The role of this marker in the assessment of exercise induced myocardial ischemia in stable coronary artery disease has not been extensively investigated and remains unknown. ⋯ Exercise induced myocardial ischemia has little influence on NT-proBNP increase. The test measuring it has therefore insufficient ability to detect exercise induced ischemia in stable coronary artery disease. In patients with stable coronary artery disease without severe impairment of left ventricular function the history of myocardial infarction is the main factor determining NT-proBNP increase during exercise. Changes in serum albumin concentration during exercise seem to exclude the use of IMA in the assessment of exercise induced myocardial ischemia.