The management of acute venous thromboembolism in clinical practice. Results from the European PREFER in VTE Registry

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe. Data from real-world registries are necessary, as clinical trials do not represent the full spectrum of VTE patients seen in clinical practice. We aimed to document the epidemiology, management and outcomes of VTE using data from a large, observational database. PREFER in VTE was an international, non-interventional disease registry conducted between January 2013 and July 2015 in primary and secondary care across seven European countries. Consecutive patients with acute VTE were documented and followed up over 12 months. PREFER in VTE included 3,455 patients with a mean age of 60.8 ± 17.0 years. Overall, 53.0 % were male. The majority of patients were assessed in the hospital setting as inpatients or outpatients (78.5 %). The diagnosis was deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in 59.5 % and pulmonary embolism (PE) in 40.5 %. The most common comorbidities were the various types of cardiovascular disease (excluding hypertension; 45.5 %), hypertension (42.3 %) and dyslipidaemia (21.1 %). Following the index VTE, a large proportion of patients received initial therapy with heparin (73.2 %), almost half received a vitamin K antagonist (48.7 %) and nearly a quarter received a DOAC (24.5 %). Almost a quarter of all presentations were for recurrent VTE, with >80 % of previous episodes having occurred more than 12 months prior to baseline. In conclusion, PREFER in VTE has provided contemporary insights into VTE patients and their real-world management, including their baseline characteristics, risk factors, disease history, symptoms and signs, initial therapy and outcomes

Rate and duration of hospitalisation for acute pulmonary embolism in the real-world clinical practice of different countries : Analysis from the RIETE registry

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Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Methane partial oxidation over Pt-Ru catalyst: an investigation on the mechanism

The mechanism of the partial oxidation of methane has been investigated over a bimetallic Pt-Ru catalyst. Dedicated experiments aimed to separate and quantify the relative contribution of single reactions included in the so-called "combustion and reforming" mechanism using the same catalyst. The catalyst is 0.5% Ru and 0.5% Pt (w/w) supported on mixture of alumina, ceria and zirconia (75/4.4/20.6%, w/w), washcoated on a ceramic monolith. Steam reforming, dry reforming, direct and reverse water-gas shift reactions were investigated. The temperature range investigated is 300 < T < 800 degrees C, while the space velocity range is 25.000 < GHSV < 100.000 h(-1). Conditions at which single side reactions are expected to occur during the partial oxidation process, were approximated by tuning the reactant composition. The experimental results are also compared with thermodynamic equilibrium calculations. The CO and H(2) yields of partial oxidation have been quantitatively connected with steam and dry reforming, while the persistent water-gas shift reaction always rearranges the products and intermediates. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Partial oxidation of methane over Pt-Ru bimetallic catalyst for syngas production

A bimetallic catalyst (Pt-Ru 50/50) has been prepared for methane partial oxidation. Total metal load was 1 wt%. The support was alumina mixed with 25 wt% of a ceria-zirconia mixture. This because of the good performances of alumina for such applications and to exploit the oxygen buffer effect of the ceriazirconia system. The catalyst has been prepared by incipient wetness and characterized by means of XRD, BET surface area, TPR/TPO and SEM-EDS analyses. It showed good activity and high selectivity towards CO and H-2, produced in a ratio suitable for Fisher-Tropsch applications. The effect of spatial velocity (GHSV) has been investigated; ramping temperature up and down, some hysteresis has been evidenced, especially at the highest GHSV, mainly caused by thermal effects. Overall, 100% conversion of methane to H-2 and CO at the appropriate syngas ratio (2/1) can achieved easily and with stability. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Microemulsion-prepared ruthenium catalyst for syngas production via methane partial oxidation

Partial oxidation of methane (POxM) was studied over Ru catalyst supported on alumina (1%, w/w). The catalyst was prepared via microemulsion (ME) and coated onto cordierite monoliths. Samples were characterized by XRD, BET surface area, SEM-EDS and TPR and TPO analyses. The catalyst showed high methane conversion with very good selectivity towards CO and H-2 under every condition tested. The effects of GHSV and heating rate (HR) were investigated, recording composition data both during heating and cooling. This allowed to evidence hysteresis cycles and to obtain additional information on the reactions occurring within the monolith. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Catalytic combustion of methane over bimetallic Pd-Pt catalysts: the influence of support materials

he effect of support material on the catalytic performance for methane combustion has been studied for bimetallic palladium-platinum catalysts and compared with a monometallic palladium catalyst on alumina. The catalytic activities of the various catalysts were measured in a tubular reactor, in which both the activity and stability of methane conversion were monitored. In addition, all catalysts were analysed by temperature-programmed oxidation and in situ XRD operating at high temperatures in order to study the oxidation/reduction properties. The activity of the monometallic palladium catalyst decreases under steady-state conditions, even at a temperature as low as 470 degrees C. In situ XRD results showed that no decomposition of bulk PdO into metallic palladium occurred at temperatures below 800 degrees C. Hence, the reason for the drop in activity is probably not connected to the bulk PdO decomposition. All Pd-Pt catalysts, independently of the support, have considerably more stable methane conversion than the monometallic palladium catalyst. However. dissimilanties in activity and ability to reoxidise PdO were observed for the various support materials. Pd-Pt supported on Al2O3 was the most active catalyst in the low-temperature region, Pd-Pt supported on ceria-stabilised ZrO2 was the most active between 620 and 800 degrees C, whereas Pd-Pt supported on LaMnAl11O19 was superior for temperatures above 800 degrees C. The ability to reoxidise metallic Pd into PdO was observed to vary between the supports. The alumina sample showed a very slow reoxidation, whereas ceria-stabilised ZrO2 was clearly faster