Scandinavian journal of clinical and laboratory investigation
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Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Invest. · Jan 2009
Prognostic impact of hs-CRP and IL-6 in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation treated with electrical cardioversion.
The aim of this study was to assess the role of inflammatory processes in the development of atrial fibrillation (AF) and the prognostic impact of inflammatory markers in predicting long-term risk of AF recurrence after electrical cardioversion (CV). ⋯ Patients with AF had elevated levels of inflammatory markers. Low hs-CRP and IL-6 prior to CV are associated with a lower risk of AF recurrence after CV.
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Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Invest. · Jan 2009
Determination of salivary cortisol by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
Late evening salivary cortisol concentrations are increasingly used as a screening test in suspected Cushing's syndrome partly because of easy sample collection. The cortisol immunoassays are prone to interference by cross-reacting steroids and therefore there is a need for improvement. The high specificity of an LC-MS assay provides a solution to the problem. ⋯ Our method is rapid, sensitive and simple to perform with a routine LC-MS/MS spectrometer.
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Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Invest. · Jan 2009
Editorial Historical ArticleSixty years in the service of clinical chemistry.
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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.