Relationship of body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio with fibrinolytic activity measured as D-dimer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Increased coagulability or impaired fibrinolysis may partly explain how obesity increases cardiovascular disease risk. However, there has been some controversy regarding the relationship of anthropometric measures, like body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and D-dimers. We aimed to determine the relationship of general and visceral obesity to D-dimer in a group of outpatients with different BMI and WHR ranges. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study with adult patients from an outpatient primary health service. BMI, WHR and triceps skin fold were measured. Blood samples were collected from all patients and D-dimer levels were obtained. RESULTS: A total of 66 patients were included in the analysis. The patients had a mean age of 54.6 ± 15.3 years. Fifty-three (80.3%) patients were female and 13 (19.7%) were male. The mean BMI, WHR and triceps skin fold were 30.1 ± 6.9 kg/m(2), 0.88 ± 0.08, 20.9 ± 7.6 mm, respectively. For all the study group, D-dimers were positively correlated only with WHR (r = 0.27, p = 0.038). D-Dimers values were not related to BMI and to triceps skin fold. D-Dimers were moderately correlated with WHR in women (r = 0.40, p = 0.021), but not in male patients (r = 0.18, p = 0.601). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that abdominal obesity may lead to disturbances in hemostasis, at least in female patients.

Sildenafil no tratamento da hipertensão arterial pulmonar / Sildenafil in the treatment of arterial pulmonary hypertension

É abordado, de forma concisa, o papel do sildenafil, um inibidor das isoenzimas fosfodiesterases (PDE) tipos 5/6, para o tratamento da hipertensão arterial pulmonar. São apresentados alguns ensaios clínicos que têm justificado a indicação deste fármaco no manejo da HPP.

Lung clearance of 99mTc-DTPA in systemic lupus erythematosus.

The early demonstration of lung involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients is a difficult but important task. In the present study we attempted to identify abnormalities in pulmonary clearance of 99mTc-DTPA in SLE, correlating their clearance data with clinical findings and disease activity. Forty-six consecutive SLE patients with and without active disease (LACC score) and 30 normal volunteers were studied. All subjects were submitted to pulmonary scintigraphy with 99mTc-DTPA to evaluate the pulmonary clearance, and to a chest X-ray, and SLE patients were submitted to tests of disease activity, spirometry, arterial blood gases and tests to assess acute-phase proteins. Pulmonary clearance was faster in SLE patients with active disease when compared to normal controls [half-life of 67.04 min (51.52-82.55 min) in active SLE versus 85.87 min (78.85-92.87 min) in controls, P<0.05] and there was a higher frequency of abnormal clearance rates in patients with active disease (11 of 26 patients, 42.3%) when compared with SLE patients without disease activity (2 of 20 patients, 10%) (P = 0.04). A significant correlation was observed between the clearance rates and cough (P<0.05), but not between the clearance rates and dyspnea symptoms or radiological findings, duration of SLE disease, antinuclear antibody titers and patterns, C-reactive protein or anti-double stranded DNA antibodies. We conclude that the pulmonary clearance of 99mTc-DTPA is increased in SLE patients with active disease.

Lung clearance of 99mTc-DTPA in systemic lupus erythematosus

The early demonstration of lung involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients is a difficult but important task. In the present study we attempted to identify abnormalities in pulmonary clearance of 99mTc-DTPA in SLE, correlating their clearance data with clinical findings and disease activity. Forty-six consecutive SLE patients with and without active disease (LACC score) and 30 normal volunteers were studied. All subjects were submitted to pulmonary scintigraphy with 99mTc-DTPA to evaluate the pulmonary clearance, and to a chest X-ray, and SLE patients were submitted to tests of disease activity, spirometry, arterial blood gases and tests to assess acute-phase proteins. Pulmonary clearance was faster in SLE patients with active disease when compared to normal controls [half-life of 67.04 min (51.52-82.55 min) in active SLE versus 85.87 min (78.85-92.87 min) in controls, P<0.05] and there was a higher frequency of abnormal clearance rates in patients with active disease (11 of 26 patients, 42.3 percent) when compared with SLE patients without disease activity (2 of 20 patients, 10 percent) (P = 0.04). A significant correlation was observed between the clearance rates and cough (P<0.05), but not between the clearance rates and dyspnea symptoms or radiological findings, duration of SLE disease, antinuclear antibody titers and patterns, C-reactive protein or anti-double stranded DNA antibodies. We conclude that the pulmonary clearance of 99mTc-DTPA is increased in SLE patients with active disease