Medicina clinica
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Evaluate clinical and subclinical arteriosclerotic disease in older patients with hip fracture compared with patients without fracture in order to increase knowledge about the relation between both diseases in older individuals. ⋯ Older patients with hip fracture had significantly higher presence of subclinical alterations but not increase on rate of cardiovascular arteriosclerotic disease compared with those without hip fracture.
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Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease, yet it is often overlooked in routine clinical assessments. As a primarily genetically determined risk factor, the traditional recommendation is to assess its level once in a lifetime, as the variability of Lp(a) over time is considered to be minimal. This study aims to evaluate the potential variability of Lp(a) in clinically stable patients and investigate factors contributing to the lack of stable levels. ⋯ Our study suggests reconsidering the reliance on a single Lp(a) measurement for assessing cardiovascular risk. Repeat measurements, particularly in borderline cases, may be beneficial.
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The main genetic cause of iron overload is haemochromatosis (HC). In recent years, the study of non-HFE genes (HFE2, HJV, HAMP, TRF2, SLC40A1, and BMP6) has become relevant thanks to next-generation sequencing (NGS) and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) techniques. Our objectives were to estimate the prevalence of both HFE (C282Y/HY63D variants) and non-HFE variants attending a tertiary hospital in Aragón, to predict the effect of the variants on the protein, and to establish a genotype-phenotype correlation evaluating with the clinical context. ⋯ Our prevalence results are as expected, and similar to those obtained by other studies. Although some of the genetic findings explain the clinical symptoms of some of our patients, we remain have a high number of patients without a clear molecular diagnosis.
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An ideal test to evaluate the inflammatory burden in ulcerative colitis is still an unmet need. Fecal calprotectin (FCP) and C-reactive protein (CRP) have significant limitations. Plasma calprotectin (PC) seems to be promising in inflammatory diseases, but its value in IBD is still to be determined. Our aim was to assess whether PC correlates with inflammatory activity in UC. ⋯ PC has low value in distinguishing patients in remission from patients with endoscopic or histologic activity in UC. This essential role must continue be played by FCP.