BACKGROUND The optimal duration of clopidogrel treatment, particularly following drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation, remains contentious. Previous studies have observed a clustering of adverse events following clopidogrel cessation 1 year after DES, the aetiology of which is poorly understood. OBJECTIVE To investigate, in the prospective CESSATION study, the effect of clopidogrel withdrawa...

BACKGROUND Thrombosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in polycythemia vera. Hypercoagulability is principally due to hyperviscosity of the whole blood, an exponential function of the hematocrit. PV is also associated with endothelial dysfunction that can predispose to arterial disease. Reduction of the red cell mass to a safe level by phlebotomy is the first principle of therapy in ...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether elevated blood cobalt (Co) concentrations are associated with early failure of metal-on-metal (MoM) hip resurfacings secondary to adverse reaction to metal debris (ARMD). DESIGN Cohort study. SETTING Single centre orthopaedic unit. PARTICIPANTS Following the identification of complications potentially related to metal wear debris, a blood metal ion screening...

The patient with acute pulmonary edema presents a picture of impending disaster. An agent with an effective antifoaming action might prove a valuable adjunct to accepted therapeutic measures. Survival during the initial critical period would be enhanced by permitting a more effective oxygen exchange in the alveolar tissues since a large amount of fluid in the respiratory passages can be tolerat...

Introduction. Ever since John Abernethy' protested 125 years ago against the "propriety and necessity of trephining the cranium under various circumstances consequent upon injuries of the head," as then advocated by "the members of the Academy of Surgery in France and Mr. Pott in England," the treatment of cranio-cerebral injuries has been under dispute. At that time the pathological background...

BACKGROUND Circulating RNA in plasma/serum is an emerging field for noninvasive molecular diagnosis. Because RNA is widely thought to be labile in the circulation, we investigated the stability and various preanalytical factors that may affect RNA concentrations in blood specimens. METHODS Blood samples were collected from 65 healthy volunteers. The effects of two preanalytical variables were...

coronary artery was occluded for 15-min periods in closed-chest conscious dogs by inflating a balloon cuff previously implanted around the artery. The degree of myocardial ischemia was estimated by summating the S-T elevation recorded from 12 myocardial electrodes. Heart rate was increased by atropine or pacing and decreased by electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve. Hypotension was produced...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE It has been suggested that the determination of serum erythropoietin (sEpo) may be useful in distinguishing between polycythemia vera (PV), relative polycythemia and secondary polycythemia (SP), but no conclusive evidence has yet been provided for this. In the present work, we evaluated the role of sEpo in the differential diagnosis of polycythemia vera and its usefulne...

Erythropoietin (Epo) induces erythrocytosis by suppressing erythroid progenitor cell apoptosis through the Janus-activated kinase-signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway. Since apoptosis contributes to cisplatin (CP)-induced nephrotoxicity and Epo receptors (EpoR) are expressed in the kidney, we examined the role of antiapoptosis in recombinant human erythropoietin...

IF we read through both the basic papers which William Bright wrote some 136 and 127 years ago, and which laid the foundations of clinical nephrology, we can recognize in the detailed clinical description the nephrotic syndrome, the effects of severe hypertension and the signs of chronic renal or cardiac insufficiency. These are the endstages which follow almost all types of chronic renal disea...