28 research outputs found
Prediction of hyperaldosteronism subtypes when adrenal vein sampling is unilaterally successful
Objective: Adrenal venous sampling (AVS) is the gold standard to discriminate patients with unilateral primary aldosteronism (UPA) from bilateral disease (BPA). AVS is technically demanding and in cases of unsuccessful cannulation of adrenal veins, the results may not always be interpreted. The aim of our study was to develop diagnostic models to distinguish UPA from BPA, in cases of unilateral successful AVS and the presence of contralateral suppression of aldosterone secretion.Design: Retrospective evaluation of 158 patients referred to a tertiary hypertension unit who underwent AVS. We randomly assigned 110 patients to a training cohort and 48 patients to a validation cohort to develop and test the diagnostic models.Methods: Supervised machine learning algorithms and regression models were used to develop and validate two prediction models and a simple 19-point score system to stratify patients according to their subtype diagnosis.Results: Aldosterone levels at screening and after confirmatory testing, lowest potassium, ipsilateral and contralateral imaging findings at CT scanning, and contralateral ratio at AVS, were associated with a diagnosis of UPA and were included in the diagnostic models. Machine learning algorithms correctly classified the majority of patients both at training and validation (accuracy: 82.9-95.7%). The score system displayed a sensitivity/specificity of 95.2/96.9%, with an AUC of 0.971. A flow-chart integrating our score correctly managed all patients except 3 (98.1% accuracy), avoiding the potential repetition of 77.2% of AVS procedures.Conclusions: Our score could be integrated in clinical practice and guide surgical decision-making in patients with unilateral successful AVS and contralateral suppression
Fatigue in adult coeliac disease.
Background: Fatigue is reported by many adults at the
moment of diagnosis of coeliac disease and during
follow-up.
Aim: To evaluate the prevalence, characteristics and
associations of fatigue in adult coeliac disease patients.
Methods: The investigated sample comprised adults from
Campania, Italy. A total of 130 coeliac disease patients
were consecutively recruited in both treated (59 on
gluten-free diet) and untreated conditions (71 on
normal diet). The control group was made up of 80
healthy controls. Coeliac disease patients and healthy
controls underwent laboratory tests, a set of questionnaires
for studying fatigue: visual analogue scale for
fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome questionnaire, fatigue
severity scale and a modified version of the Zung selfrating
depression scale.
Results: Coeliac disease patients showed a significantly
lower body mass index than controls (P ¼ 0.0001),
lower serum iron (P ¼ 0.04). The entire cohort of
coeliac disease patients reported greater modified version
of the Zung self-rating depression scale score (P ¼
0.001), greater visual analogue scale for fatigue score
(P ¼ 0.0001) and greater chronic fatigue syndrome
questionnaire score (P ¼ 0.0001) compared with
healthy controls. Coeliac disease patients on a glutenfree
diet had a significantly higher modified version of
the Zung self-rating depression scale score than coeliacs
on a normal diet (P ¼ 0.001). The prevalence of
pathological modified version of the Zung self-rating
depression scale score was 17% in all coeliac disease
patients and 0% in healthy controls. A significant
correlation was found between modified version of the
Zung self-rating depression scale score and fatigue scale
scores in coeliacs on a normal diet. Presence/absence of
gastrointestinal symptoms did not show any significant
correlation with modified version of the Zung self-rating
depression scale score and fatigue scale scores. In
coeliacs on a gluten-free diet, modified version of the
Zung self-rating depression scale and fatigue scales
scores did not significantly differ from coeliacs on a
normal diet and were not related to dietetic compliance.
Conclusion: In coeliacs, fatigue is a common finding,
which ameliorates with the gluten-free diet and is
strictly correlated to depression although coeliacs on a
gluten-free diet showed more frequent and more severe
depression symptoms than coeliacs on a normal diet