Scandinavian journal of clinical and laboratory investigation
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Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Invest. · Jan 2008
Lack of association of coeliac disease with idiopathic and ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathies.
A prevalence of coeliac disease higher than in the general population has been reported not only in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, a presumable autoimmune disease, but also in patients with ischaemic or valvular cardiomyopathy. The evidence is controversial, however, and the concept itself of an association unrelated to aetiology is intriguing and warrants further testing. The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of coeliac disease in a cohort of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy screened for the presence of serum anti-transglutaminase antibodies. We provisionally assessed the sensitivity and specificity of two commercially available kits for tissue transglutaminase antibodies detection. ⋯ Our results indicate that the prevalence of coeliac disease in patients with dilated cardiomyopathies is similar to that reported for the Italian general population. The confounding factor of conditions associated with both coeliac disease and dilated cardiomyopathies may explain the association unrelated to aetiology reported in previous studies mostly based on small sample size.
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Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Invest. · Jan 2008
Expression of Toll-like receptors 2 and 4 on innate immunity cells modulated by cardiac surgical operation.
This study aimed to follow-up on the changes in the expression of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) on monocytes and granulocytes in venous blood of patients undergoing cardiac surgical operation. ⋯ We found characteristic patterns in the expression of TLR2 and TLR4 on monocytes and granulocytes in venous blood of patients undergoing cardiac surgery with or without CPB.
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Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Invest. · Jan 2008
Accuracy of N-terminal-pro-atrial natriuretic peptide in patients admitted to emergency department.
B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal-pro-BNP (Nt-proBNP) are commonly used for the triage of patients in the emergency department (ED) with dyspnoea and/or chest pain. The aim of our study was to determine the accuracy of N-terminal-pro-ANP (Nt-proANP) in such patients. ⋯ The diagnostic accuracy of Nt-proANP was equivalent to BNP and Nt-proBNP in the present cohort of patients admitted to ED with dyspnoea and/or chest pain.
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Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Invest. · Jan 2008
Cytokine patterns after tourniquet-induced skeletal muscle ischaemia reperfusion in total knee replacement.
Extremity surgery performed under tourniquet control causes one of the most common forms of skeletal muscle ischaemia-reperfusion injury in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to investigate the systemic and local inflammatory response after tourniquet-induced skeletal muscle ischaemia-reperfusion injury in patients undergoing total knee replacement. It was our hypothesis that local inflammatory responses in a surgical wound under tourniquet-induced ischaemia cause an excessive overflow of cytokines to the systemic circulation in the reperfusion phase. ⋯ Knee replacement trauma performed under ischaemia, is associated with modest systemic inflammatory reactions with no spillover of increased IL-6 from the traumatized area in the reperfusion phase.