ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION@#In patients undergoing haemodialysis, cardiovascular mortality and morbidity, characterised by accelerated atherosclerosis and increased inflammation, are elevated. Salusins are newly defined molecules in the atherosclerotic processes, and while salusin-alpha (Sal-α) acts as an antiatherogenic factor, salusin-beta (Sal-β) has a proatherogenic role. Their roles are as yet undefined in patients undergoing haemodialysis.@*METHODS@#In this cross-sectional study, salusin levels, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) from the common carotid artery and pulse wave velocity (PWV) were measured for 180 patients undergoing haemodialysis and 90 healthy controls.@*RESULTS@#Mean Sal-α and Sal-β levels in patients undergoing haemodialysis (Sal-α: 726.4 ± 578.7 pg/mL; Sal-β: 1,080.4 ± 757.1 pg/mL) and healthy controls (Sal-α: 325.8 ± 303.7 pg/mL; Sal-β: 268.1 ± 409.0 pg/mL) were determined. Negative correlation was observed between Sal-α levels and CIMT (patients undergoing haemodialysis: r = -0.330, p < 0.0001; healthy controls: r = -0.223, p = 0.035) and PWV (patients undergoing haemodialysis: r = -0.210, p = 0.005; healthy controls: r = -0.378, p < 0.0001) in both groups. In patients undergoing haemodialysis, positive correlation was observed between Sal-β/Sal-α ratio and CIMT (r = 0.190, p = 0.012) and PWV (r = 0.155, p = 0.041). On subgroup analysis, Sal-α levels were found to be low in patients with diabetes mellitus.@*CONCLUSION@#Patients undergoing haemodialysis have higher Sal-β and Sal-α levels, and their higher Sal-β/Sal-α ratio, in comparison with healthy controls, might have cardiovascular risk implications.
ABSTRACT
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the left [LV] and right [RV] ventricular function in euthyroid Hashimoto's thyroiditis [eHT] patients
Subjects and Methods:Forty-five patients diagnosed with eHT and 45 age- and gendermatched control subjects were enrolled in this study. Echocardiographic parameters reflecting RV and LV functions such as chamber dimensions, ejection fraction, fractional shortening, conventional and tissue Doppler-derived early and late filling velocities [E, A, E', A'], isovolumic relaxation [IVRT] and contraction [IVCT] times, ejection time [ET], deceleration time [DT], Tei index, pulmonary acceleration time [PAcT] and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion [TAPSE] of patients with eHT were compared to those of control subjects using the paired-samples t test or Wilcoxon signedrank test
Results:Regarding the LV function, compared to the controls patients with eHT had a higher LV-Tei index [0.6 +/- 0.2 vs. 0.4 +/- 0.1, p < 0.001], higher DT [p < 0.001] and IVRT [p < 0.001] values, and higher E/E' ratios [p = 0.04]. In contrast, the peak E wave velocity [p = 0.02], E/A ratio [p = 0.01] and ET [p = 0.02] were significantly lower in the eHT group than amongst the controls. The RV, Tei index [0.40 +/- 0.11 vs. 0.28 +/- 0.07, p < 0.001], TAPSE [2.0 +/- 0.3 vs. 2.2 +/- 0.2 mm, p < 0.001], PAcT [124.3 +/- 22.6 vs. 149.4 +/- 18.3 ms, p < 0.001], A' [p = 0.007] and IVCT [p = 0.001] were significantly higher in patients with eHT than the controls. However, the tricuspid E/A ratio [p = 0.01], E' [p = 0.03] and E'/A' ratio [p = 0.001] were significantly lower in the eHT patients than the control group
Conclusions:This study demonstrated that both RV and LV functions were impaired in patients with eHT
ABSTRACT
The incidence of multivessel coronary artery ectasias (CAEs) among patients undergoing coronary artery angiography is very rare. All three coronary vessels can be affected by CAE, but most patients have an isolated arterial ectasia, commonly the right coronary artery. In this report we present two cases with inferior myocardial infarction that was likely caused by thrombotic occlusion of CAEs.