Articles: disease.
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Secundum-type atrial septal defects (ASDII) account for approximately 10% of all congenital heart defects (CHD) and are associated with a familial risk. Mutations in transcription factors represent a genetic source for ASDII. Yet, little is known about the role of mutations in sarcomeric genes in ASDII etiology. ⋯ No mutations were found in the 11 other sarcomeric genes analyzed. The study indicates that sarcomeric gene mutations may represent a so far underestimated genetic source for familial recurrence of ASDII. In particular, perturbations in the MYH6 head domain seem to play a major role in the genetic origin of familial ASDII.
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The United States is about to make a major nationwide transition from ICD-9-CM coding of hospital discharges to ICD-10-CM, a country-specific modification of the World Health Organization's ICD-10. As this transition occurs, the WHO is already in the midst of developing ICD-11. Given this context, we undertook this review to discuss: (1) the history of the International Classification of Diseases (a core information "building block" for health systems everywhere) from its introduction to the current era of ICD-11 development; (2) differences across country-specific ICD-10 clinical modifications and the challenges that these differences pose to the international comparability of morbidity data; (3) potential strategic approaches to achieving better international ICD-11 comparability. ⋯ The threat to the comparability of international clinical morbidity is growing with the development of many country-specific ICD-10 versions. One solution to this threat is to develop a meta-database including all country-specific modifications to ensure more efficient use of people and resources, decrease omissions and errors but most importantly provide a platform for future ICD updates.
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Objectives-This report presents preliminary U. S. data on deaths, death rates, life expectancy, leading causes of death, and infant mortality for 2008 by selected characteristics such as age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Methods-Data in this report are based on death records comprising more than 99 percent of the demographic and medical files for all deaths in the United States in 2008. ⋯ From 2007 to 2008, age-adjusted death rates decreased significantly for 6 of the 15 leading causes of death: Diseases of heart, Malignant neoplasms, Cerebrovascular diseases, Accidents (unintentional injuries), Diabetes mellitus, andAssault (homicide). From 2007 to 2008, age-adjusted death rates increased significantly for 6 of the 15 leading causes of death: Chronic lower respiratory diseases; Alzheimer's disease; Influenza and pneumonia; Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis; Intentional self-harm (suicide); and Essential hypertension and hypertensive renal disease. Life expectancy decreased by 0.1 year from 77.9 years in 2007 to 77.8 in 2008.