Post-Cardiac Arrest: Mechanisms, Management, and Future Perspectives.

Cardiac arrest is an important public health issue, with a survival rate of approximately 15 to 22%. A great proportion of these deaths occur after resuscitation due to post-cardiac arrest syndrome, which is characterized by the ischemia-reperfusion injury that affects the role body. Understanding physiopathology is mandatory to discover new treatment strategies and obtain better results. Besides improvements in cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers, the great increase in survival rates observed in recent decades is due to new approaches to post-cardiac arrest care. In this review, we will discuss physiopathology, etiologies, and post-resuscitation care, emphasizing targeted temperature management, early coronary angiography, and rehabilitation.

Urea to albumin ratio is a predictor of mortality in patients with septic shock.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate urea to albumin ratio (UAR) as predictor of mortality in patients with septic shock. METHODS: We included all individuals aged ≥ 18 years, with the diagnosis of septic shock at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission. Laboratorial and clinical data was recorded within the first 24 h of the patient's admission. Serum urea and albumin concentration were used for UAR calculation. All patients were followed during their ICU stay and the mortality rate was recorded. RESULTS: 222 patients were included in the analysis; the mean age was 62.3 ± 15.1 years and 66% were male. Mortality rate during the ICU stay was 59.9% and the median UAR was 40.7 (24.5-66.1). The UAR was also higher in patients who died in the ICU and was positively correlated with APACHE II, SOFA score and CRP. The ROC ICU mortality development (AUC: 0.617; CI 95%: 0.541-0.693; p: 0.003) at the cutoff of ≥47.25. Furthermore, UAR values were associated with ICU mortality when adjusted by age, sex and APACHE II (OR: 1.011; CI95%:1.000-1.022; p = 0.043) and when adjusted by lactate (OR: 1.014; CI95%:1.003-1.024; p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that UAR could play a role as predictor of ICU mortality in patients with septic shock.

The relationship between Vitamin D status and exacerbation in COPD patients- a literature review.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between Vitamin D and exacerbation in COPD patients. METHODS: The PubMed database was searched for articles published from 2012 onwards using search terms related to Vitamin D and exacerbation in COPD patients. Meta-analysis, clinical trials, observational studies, and human studies were included. Non-English articles or articles with full text unavailable were excluded; a total of 15 articles were selected. RESULTS: The association between exacerbation frequency and Vitamin D levels in observational studies remains controversial, however, meta-analysis revealed a negative association between serum Vitamin D and exacerbation. Also, two clinical trials showed that Vitamin D3 supplementation in COPD patients reduced the risk of moderate and severe exacerbation. Vitamin D binding protein (VDBP) polymorphisms seem to affect patient exacerbation susceptibility. CONCLUSIONS: Few studies in literature have data related to diet, 25-hydroxyVitamin D [25(OH)D] and polymorphism in COPD exacerbation. One clinical trial indicates Vitamin D supplementation plays a role in COPD patients with hypovitaminosis D in preventing exacerbations. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of Vitamin D in this population and to establish the best marker for Vitamin D, which patient subgroups will benefit, and the best supplement dosage without leading to toxicity.

Rosemary supplementation (Rosmarinus oficinallis L.) attenuates cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction in rats.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Dietary intervention on adverse cardiac remodeling after MI has significant clinical relevance. Rosemary leaves are a natural product with antioxidant/anti-inflammatory properties, but its effect on morphology and ventricular function after MI is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: To determine the effect of the dietary supplementation of rosemary leaves on cardiac remodeling after MI, male Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups after sham procedure or experimental induced MI: 1) Sham group fed standard chow (SR0, n = 23); 2) Sham group fed standard chow supplemented with 0.02% rosemary (R002) (SR002, n = 23); 3) Sham group fed standard chow supplemented with 0.2% rosemary (R02) (SR02, n = 22); 4) group submitted to MI and fed standard chow (IR0, n = 13); 5) group submitted to MI and fed standard chow supplemented with R002 (IR002, n = 8); and 6) group submitted to MI and fed standard chow supplemented with R02 (IR02, n = 9). After 3 months of the treatment, systolic pressure evaluation, echocardiography and euthanasia were performed. Left ventricular samples were evaluated for: fibrosis, cytokine levels, apoptosis, energy metabolism enzymes, and oxidative stress. Rosemary dietary supplementation attenuated cardiac remodeling by improving energy metabolism and decreasing oxidative stress. Rosemary supplementation of 0.02% improved diastolic function and reduced hypertrophy after MI. Regarding rosemary dose, 0.02% and 0.2% for rats are equivalent to 11 mg and 110 mg for humans, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings support further investigations of the rosemary use as adjuvant therapy in adverse cardiac remodeling.

Relationship between diet and anticoagulant response to warfarin: a factor analysis.

BACKGROUND: Diet composition is one of the factors that may contribute to intraindividual variability in the anticoagulant response to warfarin. AIM OF THE STUDY: To determine the associations between food pattern and anticoagulant response to warfarin in a group of Brazilian patients with vascular disease. METHODS: Recent and usual food intakes were assessed in 115 patients receiving warfarin; and corresponding plasma phylloquinone (vitamin K(1)), serum triglyceride concentrations, prothrombin time (PT), and International Normalized Ratio (INR) were determined. A factor analysis was used to examine the association of specific foods and biochemical variables with anticoagulant data. RESULTS: Mean age was 59 +/- 15 years. Inadequate anticoagulation, defined as values of INR 2 or 3, was found in 48% of the patients. Soybean oil and kidney beans were the primary food sources of phylloquinone intake. Factor analysis yielded four separate factors, explaining 56.4% of the total variance in the data set. The factor analysis revealed that intakes of kidney beans and soybean oil, 24-h recall of phylloquinone intake, PT and INR loaded significantly on factor 1. Triglycerides, PT, INR, plasma phylloquinone, and duration of anticoagulation therapy loaded on factor 3. CONCLUSIONS: Fluctuations in phylloquinone intake, particularly from kidney beans, and plasma phylloquinone concentrations were associated with variation in measures of anticoagulation (PT and INR) in a Brazilian group of patients with vascular disease.

[Comparative analysis of body composition assessment methods in healthy men and in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients: anthropometry, bioelectrical impedance and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry]. / Análise comparativa de métodos de avaliação da composição corporal em homens sadios e em pacientes com doença pulmonar obstrutiva crônica: antropometria, impedância bioelétrica e absortiometria de raios-X de dupla energia.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to examine the agreement between the results of body fat (BF and BF%), fat-free mass (FFM) and FFM index (FFMI= FFM/height2) as estimated by skinfold anthropometry (ANT), bioelectrical impedance (BIA) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in two groups of men (> or = 50 y), one comprising healthy individuals (n=23) and the other, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (n=24). Comparisons between body composition techniques were done by repeated measures ANOVA; the Bland & Altman procedure was used to analyse agreement. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: 1) comparison between healthy and COPD groups showed significant differences between all studied variables; 2) in the healthy group, values for BF, BF%, FFM and FFMI were not significantly different when BIA or ANT was compared to DXA; however, in COPD, values for BF and BF% were significantly higher and for FFM and FFMI significantly lower when BIA was compared to DXA; in contrast, no differences were shown between values for these variables when ANT was compared with DXA; 3) Bland & Altman test, in both groups, showed no agreement between BIA and DXA and between ANT and DXA; it was also shown that body fat was overestimated and fat free mass underestimated by BIA in relation to DXA.

Análise comparativa de métodos de avaliação da composição corporal em homens sadios e em pacientes com doença pulmonar obstrutiva crônica: antropometria, impedância bioelétrica e absortiometria de raios-X de dupla energia / Comparative analysis of body composition assessment methods in healthy men and in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients: anthropometry, bioelectrical impedance and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

O trabalho teve, como objetivo principal, verificar se a antropometria (ANT) e a impedância bioelétrica (BIA) fornecem resultados concordantes com os obtidos pela absortiometria de raios-X de dupla energia (DXA), quanto à massa (MG) e à porcentagem de gordura (por centaGC), à massa livre de gordura corporal (MLG) e ao índice de MLG (IMLG= MLG/estatura2), em indivíduos adultos (³ 50 anos), do sexo masculino, sadios (n=23) e em pacientes com doença pulmonar obstrutiva crônica (DPOC) (n=24). As comparações entre as técnicas de composição do corpo foram feitas utilizando ANOVA por medidas repetidas; para análise de concordância, utilizou-se o procedimento de Bland & Altman. Resultados e Conclusões: 1) valores obtidos no grupo sadio foram significantemente diferentes dos observados no grupo com DPOC; 2) não foram observadas diferenças significantes, nos indivíduos sadios, entre DXA ´BIA e entre DXA ´ANT; em DPOC, a comparação entre DXA ´BIA revelou, para BIA, valores estatisticamente maiores para MG e por cente GC e menores para MLG e IMLG; na comparação DXA ´ANT, não houve diferenças significantes entre as variáveis; 3) a aplicação do teste de Bland & Altman, em ambos os grupos, mostrou falta de concordância na comparação da BIA com DXA e, também, da ANT com DXA; verificou-se, também, superestimação da gordura corporal e subestimação da MLG pela BIA, em relação à DXA