Normal pregnancy is associated with a systemic inflammatory response. The response is exacerbated in preeclampsia and can account for its clinical features. Many of the physiologic changes of normal pregnancy are part of an acute-phase reaction, which is generated by an inflammatory response. The placenta is the proximal cause of these problems. There are several possible placental factors that...

A 56-year-old woman was referred to the cardiology department of the Shahid Modarres hospital. The patient had a history of pulmonary thromboembolism 20 years ago which had been managed by the inferior vena cava filter and since then the patient has been on warfarin. Her chief complaint was chronic dyspnea on exertion (NYHA class II) from several years ago. Right and left heart catheterization ...

Hypertension increases the pressure load on the heart and is associated with a poorly understood chronic systemic inflammatory state. Interleukin 33 (IL-33) binds to membrane-bound ST2 (ST2L) and has antihypertrophic and antifibrotic effects in the myocardium. In contrast, soluble ST2 appears to act as a decoy receptor for IL-33, blocking myocardial and vascular benefits, and is a prognostic bi...

Hypoxic Pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) describes the physiological adaptive process of lungs to preserves systemic oxygenation. It has clinical implications in the development of pulmonary hypertension which impacts on outcomes of patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery. This review examines both acute and chronic hypoxic vasoconstriction focusing on the distinct clinical implications and ...

Cirrhotic or hepatic myelopathy is a rare neurological complication of chronic liver disease usually seen in adults and presents as a progressive pure motor spastic paraparesis which is usually associated with overt liver failure and a surgical or spontaneous systemic portocaval shunt. We describe the development of progressive spastic paraparesis, in a patient with alcoholic cirrhosis with por...

Psoriasis is a common, chronic and systemic inflammatory disease associated with several comorbidities, such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia and metabolic syndrome, but also with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, like myocardial infarction or stroke. The chronic inflammatory nature of psoriasis has been suggested to be a contributing and potentially independent risk...

Sarcoidosis is a systemic inflammatory granulomatous disease affecting multiple organs, including liver, spleen, heart, eyes, and skin. Liver involvement is reported in 11.5% of cases and many studies have reported on the association between hepatitis C virus infection and sarcoidosis. However, the role of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection as a trigger for sarcoidosis has never been reported. W...

A woman (70-years) with a history of iron deficiency anemia and chronic kidney disease presented with two weeks of abdominal pain. Upper endoscopy demonstrated the gastric and duodenal mucosa was black and speckled consistent with diagnosis of pseudomelanosis. Biopsies showed pigment-laden macrophages in the lamina propria, which stained positive for iron and Masson-Fontana trichrome stain cons...