Atherosclerotic Risk Factors and Premature Atherosclerosis in Acromegaly Before and After 48 Months of Octreotide-LAR Treatment

We studied premature atherosclerosis with carotid Doppler ultrasonography in active acromegaly before and after treatment. Patients (n = 27) with active acromegaly and 12 age-, gender-, and body mass index-matched healthy individuals were included in the study. Carotid intima-media thickness was decreased significantly in the inactive group after treatment (median: 0.6 mm, interquartile range [IQR]: 0.55-0.80]) when compared with the active group (median: 0.9 mm [IQR: 0.75-1.15], P < .0001), but there was no significant difference between the inactive and control groups. There was a correlation between homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance (P = .01, r = .41) and growth hormone (GH; P < .0001, r = .46). In conclusion, premature atherosclerosis was demonstrated in active acromegaly patients probably as a consequence of insulin resistance and direct vascular effects of GH and/or insulin-like growth factor 1

Strain wave elastography for evaluation of renal parenchyma in chronic kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important and costly health problem in developed countries and has a tendency to progress to end-stage renal disease regardless of the aetiology. This progress ends in interstitial fibrosis, which decreases the elasticity of tissue. Elastography is a developing technique to assess tissue elasticity. The aim of this study was to determine the difference of strain index (SI) value of renal parenchyma between patients with CKD and healthy individuals. In addition, SI differences of inter-stages were studied

Strain wave elastography for evaluation of renal parenchyma in chronic kidney disease

Objective: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important and costly health problem in developed countries and has a tendency to progress to end-stage renal disease regardless of the aetiology. This progress ends in interstitial fibrosis, which decreases the elasticity of tissue. Elastography is a developing technique to assess tissue elasticity. The aim of this study was to determine the difference of strain index (SI) value of renal parenchyma between patients with CKD and healthy individuals. In addition, SI differences of inter-stages were studied. Methods: Toshiba (Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, Otawara, Japan) Aplio (TM) 500 ultrasound device and 3.5-to 5.0-MHz convex probe were used for the elastography examinations. Results: A total of 58 patients with CKD from nephrology and endocrinology clinics (30 males and 28 females; mean age, 56.14 +/- 11.60 years) and 40 normal healthy individuals (19 males and 21 females; mean age, 51.70 +/- 11.71 years) were included in this prospective study. The mean SI of normal healthy individuals and patients with CKD (regardless of stages) was 0.42 +/- 0.30 and 1.81 +/- 0.88, respectively (p<0.001). SI values were not statistically significant among the CKD stages (except CKD Stages 1 and 3). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.956 for SI. The optimal cut-off value for the prediction of CKD was 0.935 (sensitivity, 88\% and specificity, 95\%). Conclusion: SI value of sonoelastography can be used to differentiate patients with CKD and healthy individuals. Sonoelastography is an acceptable technique to approach patients with CKD, but we have not shown that it can reliably differentiate different stages. Advances in knowledge: Determining a cut-off SI value between normal and diseased renal parenchyma can help in the diagnosis of CKD