Activity

8%) of patients. Adherence level assessed with the ACDS 6-months after discharge from hospital ranged from 7 to 28 points (23.34 ± 4.06). An increase in objective assessment of patient knowledge according to RHD-MIS subscale resulted in significantly higher level of adherence at the follow-up visit (p = 0.0154); R Spearman = 0.16671, p = 0.015; p for trend = 0.005. During the 6-month follow-up 3 (1.41%) patients died and 17 (7.98%) were hospitalized for a subsequent acute coronary syndrome. CONCLUSIONS This study provided preliminary evidence of a long-term association between the results of assessment of readiness for discharge from hospital and adherence to treatment in patients after MI.BACKGROUND Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) may reveal myocardial fibrosis which is associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients undergoing implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) placement. At the same time, transmural LGE in the posterolateral wall is related to nonresponse to conventional cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Herein, the aim was to assess the presence and determinants of LGE in CMR in heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction. METHODS 67 patients were included (17.9% female, aged 45 [29-60] years), who underwent LGE-CMR and had left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) as determined by echocardiography. RESULTS In HF patients with LVEF ≤ 35% (n = 29), ischemic and non-ischemic patterns of LGE were observed in 51.7% and 34.5% of patients, respectively. In controls (n = 38), these patterns were noted in 23.7% and 42.1% of patients, respectively. HF patients with LVEF ≤ 35% and transmural LGE in the posterolateral wall (31.0%) were characterized by older age, coronary artery disease (CAD) and previous myocardial infarction (MI) (61 ± 6 vs. 49 ± 16 years, p = 0.008, 100% vs. 40%, p = 0.003 and 78% vs. 25%, p = 0.014, respectively). In patients with LVEF ≤ 35%, LGE of any type, diagnosed in 86.2% of patients, was associated with CAD (68% vs. 0%, p = 0.02), while only trends were observed for its association with older age and previous MI (p = 0.08 and p = 0.12, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Among HF patients with LVEF ≤ 35%, clinical factors including older age, CAD, and previous MI are associated with transmural LGE in the posterolateral wall, while CAD is associated with LGE. This data may have potential implications for planning ICD and CRT placement procedures.BACKGROUND Global longitudinal strain (GLS) based on two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) might better reflect left ventricular (LV) contractile performance than conventional parameters. Recently, left atrial (LA) strain has been used as a more accurate alternative to assessing LA performance. The aim in this study was to assess the clinical prognostic value of left ventricular GLS (LV GLS) and peak atrial longitudinal strain (PALS) in patients after ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). this website METHODS The study enrolled 199 patients who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) for first STEMI. Conventional and 2D-STE were performed within 48 h after pPCI. LV GLS and PALS were related to LV remodeling at 6-month follow-up and to adverse events. RESULTS Diabetes mellitus, GLS and PALS independently predicted LV remodeling. With multivariable Cox proportional hazards, diabetes mellitus, GLS and PALS were predictive of adverse clinical outcomes. However, PALS did not add significant incremental value beyond LV GLS in the prediction of LV remodeling (increase in area under the receiver-operator characteristic curve [AUC] 0.05, p = 0.24) and clinical events (even a decrease in AUC 0.03, p = 0.69). CONCLUSIONS Both GLS and PALS provide independent prognostic value for adverse LV remodeling and clinical outcomes after STEMI. However, the ability of the combination of PALS and GLS to predict LV remodeling and clinical outcomes may not be superior to that of a single indicator.Anatomic variations of the brachial plexus are common. Awareness of these variations is of paramount importance in clinical practice mainly in achieving best results in minimal invasive or surgical procedures. The aim of our study was to depict a case of a trifid lateral root origin of the medial nerve. This anatomical variation in the brachial plexus was encountered after dissection in upper extremities in a 90-year-old male cadaver.Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most used polymeric materials in the health care sector mainly due to its advantages that include biocompatibility, high uniformity, mechanical strength and resistance against chemicals and/or abrasion. However, avoiding bacterial contamination on PET is still an unsolved challenge and two main strategies are being explored to overcome this drawback the anti-adhesive and biocidal modification of PET surface. While bacterial adhesion depends on several surface properties namely surface charge and energy, hydrophilicity and surface roughness, a biocidal effect can be obtained by antimicrobial compounds attached to the surface to inhibit the growth of bacteria (bacteriostatic) or kill bacteria (bactericidal). Therefore, it is well known that granting antibacterial properties to PET surface would be beneficial in the prevention of infectious diseases. Different modification methods have been reported for such purpose. This review addresses some of the strategies that have been attempted to prevent or reduce the bacterial contamination on PET surfaces, including functionalisation, grafting, topographical surface modification and coating. Those strategies, particularly the grafting method seems to be very promising for healthcare applications to prevent infectious diseases and the emergence of bacteria resistance.BACKGROUND Accumulating evidence demonstrated immune/inflammation-related implications of basophils in affecting tissue microenvironment that surrounded a tumor, and this study aimed to elucidate the clinical value of serum basophil count level. METHODS Between December 2007 and September 2013, 1029 patients diagnosed with stage I-III CRC in Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center meeting the essential criteria were identified. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to construct the survival curves. Several Cox proportional hazard models were constructed to assess the prognostic factors. A simple predictor (CB classifier) was generated by combining serum basophil count and serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level which had long been accepted as the most important and reliable prognostic factor in CRC. RESULTS The preoperative basophils count less then  0.025*109/L was strongly associated with higher T stage, higher N stage, venous invasion, perineural invasion, elevated serum CEA level, and thus poor survival (P  less then  0.