Vascular iInflammatory markers as predictors of peripheral arterial disease patients’ quality-of-life changes after endovascular treatment

The association between chronic inflammation and depression, anxiety, anhedonia, and quality of life (QoL) has been recently emphasized. However, the pathophysiology of this relationship remains unsolved. This study aims to assess the dependence between vascular inflammation represented by eicosanoid concentration and quality of life in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). A total of 175 patients undergoing endovascular treatment due to lower limbs ischemia were covered with eight years of observation after the endovascular procedure, including ankle-brachial index (ABI), color Doppler ultrasound examination, urinary leukotriene E4 (LTE4), thromboxane B2 (TXB2) and 5-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5-HETE) measurement and quality-of-life assessment with VascuQol-6. The baseline concentrations of LTE4 and TXB2 reversely correlated with preoperative VascuQol-6 and were predictive of the postoperative values of VascuQol-6 at each follow-up. At every follow-up timepoint, the results of VascuQol-6 reflected the LTE4 and TXB2 concentrations. Higher concentrations of LTE4 and TXB2 were correlated with lower life quality during the next follow-up meeting. Changes in VascuQol-6 at eight years vs. preoperative values were reversely related to the preoperative concentrations of LTE4 and TXB2. This is the first study to confirm that changes in life quality in PAD patients undergoing endovascular treatment are highly dependent on eicosanoid-based vascular inflammation

Pacjent z chorobą nowotworową i ostrym zespołem wieńcowym

Cancers and cardio-vascular diseases occur concomitantly in 1.9–4.2% of patients with these diseases. Due to a rising number of these cases, insight into cardiooncology seems to be obligatory nowadays. In this paper we sought to describe selected issues concerning this topic including mechanisms of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) primarily caused by cancer as well as toxic influence of chemotherapy and radiotherapy on cardio-vascular system, especially on coronary arteries and their correlation with ACS. Also bleeding complications and anemia secondary to cancer disease in patients using anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs as a treatment after ACS have been discussed. Finally, management in case of bleeding complications and anemia in patients with ACS and cancer has been presented.Współwystępowanie chorób nowotworowych i chorób sercowo-naczyniowych dotyczy około 1,9–4,2% pacjentów z tymi schorzeniami. Ze względu na stały wzrost występowania obu tych chorób, aktualna wiedza z zakresu kardioonkologii jest powszechnie oczekiwana. W niniejszym opracowaniu zostały przedstawione wybrane zagadnienia dotyczące tego tematu, w tym mechanizmy ostrych zespołów wieńcowych (OZW) spowodowanych chorobą nowotworową, a także mechanizmy toksycznego wpływu chemioterapii i radioterapii na układ sercowo-naczyniowy, zwłaszcza na tętnice wieńcowe i ich związek z OZW u pacjentów poddawanych takiemu leczeniu. Przedstawiono również problem powikłań krwotocznych lub niedokrwistości indukowanej lekami przeciwpłytkowymi lub przeciwzakrzepowymi po OZW związanych z chorobą nowotworową. Na końcu zostały zamieszczone wskazówki dotyczące postępowania z pacjentem z powikłaniem krwotocznym lub niedokrwistością z powodu choroby nowotworowej i OZW

Neurological symptoms in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 and their association with in-hospital mortality

Objectives. To evaluate the spectrum of neurological symptoms in patients with COVID-19 during the first 14 days of hospitalisation and its association with in-hospital mortality. Material and methods. We included 200 patients with RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 admitted to University Hospital in Krakow, Poland. In 164 patients, a detailed questionnaire concerning neurological symptoms and signs was performed prospectively within 14 days of hospitalisation. In the remaining 36 patients, such questionnaires were completed retrospectively based on daily observations in the Department of Neurology. Results. During hospitalisation, 169 patients (84.5%) experienced neurological symptoms; the most common were: fatigue (62.5%), decreased mood (45.5%), myalgia (43.5%), and muscle weakness (42.5%). Patients who died during hospitalisation compared to the remainder were older (79 [70.5–88.5] vs. 63.5 [51–77] years, p = 0.001), and more often had decreased level of consciousness (50.0% vs. 9.3%, p < 0.001), delirium (33.3% vs. 4.4%, p < 0.001), arterial hypotension (50.0% vs. 19.6%, p = 0.005) or stroke during (18.8% vs. 3.3%, p = 0.026) or before hospitalisation (50.0% vs. 7.1, p < 0.001), whereas those who survived more often suffered from headache (42.1% vs. 0%, p = 0.012) or decreased mood (51.7% vs. 0%, p = 0.003). Conclusions. Most hospitalised patients with COVID-19 experience neurological symptoms. Decreased level of consciousness, delirium, arterial hypotension, and stroke during or before hospitalisation increase the risk of in-hospital mortality

Carcass Characteristics, Digestive System Traits of Spent Broiler Breeder and Dual-Purpose Hens

Raising dual-purpose hens for meat is believed to bring more economic benefits to farmers selling products directly to consumers. The aim of the study was to determine the differences between the carcass features and the digestive system of multipurpose hens and spent broiler breeders. In the experiment, 20 carcasses of 70-week-old Rosa 1 dual-purpose hens and 20 carcasses of 62-week-old Ross 308 broiler breeders were used. Measurements of the length of various sections of the intestine and the diameter of individual intestinal segments were made. During the gutting, proventriculus, gizzard, liver, heart, and spleen were separated and then weighed. Dual-purpose hens differed significantly (p p p > 0.05) total intestinal length, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and terminal intestine. Significant differences were confirmed in terms of the diameter of some segments of the intestine. Broiler breeder hens also had a greater mass of internal organs compared to the dual-purpose layer hens

Additional file 2 of Clustering reveals limits of parameter identifiability in multi-parameter models of biochemical dynamics

Open source R implementation of the clustering algorithm is available at http://sysbiosig.org/start/resources/ . (PDF 2.88 kb