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- Ahmadi, Amir, et al.
(författare)
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Prognostic Determinants of Coronary Atherosclerosis in Stable Ischemic Heart Disease : Anatomy, Physiology, or Morphology?
- 2016
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Ingår i: Circulation Research. - 0009-7330. ; 119:2, s. 317-329
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Risk stratification in patients with stable ischemic heart disease is essential to guide treatment decisions. In this regard, whether coronary anatomy, physiology, or plaque morphology is the best determinant of prognosis (and driver an effective therapeutic risk reduction) remains one of the greatest ongoing debates in cardiology. In the present report, we review the evidence for each of these characteristics and explore potential algorithms that may enable a practical diagnostic and therapeutic strategy for the management of patients with stable ischemic heart disease.
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| 2. |
- Alexander, Karen P., et al.
(författare)
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Effects of Ranolazine on Angina and Quality of Life After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Incomplete Revascularization Results From the Ranolazine for Incomplete Vessel Revascularization (RIVER-PCI) Trial
- 2016
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Ingår i: Circulation. - 0009-7322 .- 1524-4539. ; 133:1, s. 39-47
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Angina often persists or returns in populations following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We hypothesized that ranolazine would be effective in reducing angina and improving quality of life (QOL) in incomplete revascularization (ICR) post-PCI patients. Methods and Results In RIVER-PCI, 2604 patients with a history of chronic angina who had ICR post-PCI were randomized 1:1 to oral ranolazine versus placebo; QOL analyses included 2389 randomized subjects. Angina and QOL questionnaires were collected at baseline and months 1, 6, and 12. Ranolazine patients were more likely than placebo to discontinue study drug by month 6 (20.4% versus 14.1%, P<0.001) and 12 (27.2% versus 21.3%, P<0.001). Following qualifying index PCI, the primary QOL outcome (Seattle Angina Questionnaire [SAQ] angina frequency score) improved markedly, but similarly, in the ranolazine and placebo groups, respectively, from baseline (67.324.5 versus 69.724.0, P=0.01) to month 1 (86.6 +/- 18.1 versus 85.8 +/- 18.5, P=0.27) and month 12 (88.4 +/- 17.8 versus 88.5 +/- 17.8, P=0.94). SAQ angina frequency repeated measures did not differ in adjusted analysis between groups post baseline (mean difference 1.0; 95% CI -0.2, 2.2; P=0.11). Improvement in SAQ angina frequency was observed with ranolazine at month 6 among diabetics (mean difference 3.3; 95% CI 0.6, 6.1; P=0.02) and those with more angina (baseline SAQ angina frequency 60; mean difference 3.4; 95% CI 0.6, 6.2; P=0.02), but was not maintained at month 12. Conclusions Despite ICR following PCI, there was no incremental benefit in angina or QOL measures by adding ranolazine in this angiographically-identified population. These measures markedly improved within 1 month of PCI and persisted up to 1 year in both treatment arms. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01442038.
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| 3. |
- Balasubramaniam, S., et al.
(författare)
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A review of experimental opportunities for molecular communication
- 2013
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Ingår i: Nano Communication Networks. - : Elsevier BV. - 1878-7789. ; 4:2, s. 43-52
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The growth of nanotechnology has led to miniature devices that are able to perform limited functionalities in hard to access areas. Example nanodevice applications in the healthcare domain include early detection of harmful diseases. The current field of molecular communication is aiming to increase the functionalities of nanodevices, by enabling communication to be performed. Since its first introduction, communication researchers have been proposing various solutions that could possibly realize molecular communications (e.g., molecular diffusion and bacteria nanonetworks). These solutions have largely been limited to theoretical simulation modeling. However, to fully realize a future for real deployments and developments of molecular communication, a strong synergy will be required with molecular biologists. The aim of this paper is to create this link, and at the same time provide guidance for current molecular communication researchers of possible real developments of molecular communication based on the current state-of-the-art experimental work. In particular, we present a review on bacteria communication and membrane nanotubes, as well as neuronal networks. We also discuss possible applications in the future focusing in particular on Body Area NanoNetworks (BAN2). © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.
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| 7. |
- Daitch, Vered, et al.
(författare)
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Excluded versus included patients in a randomized controlled trial of infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria : relevance to external validity
- 2021
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Ingår i: BMC Infectious Diseases. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1471-2334. ; 21
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Population external validity is the extent to which an experimental study results can be generalized from a specific sample to a defined population. In order to apply the results of a study, we should be able to assess its population external validity. We performed an investigator-initiated randomized controlled trial (RCT) (AIDA study), which compared colistin-meropenem combination therapy to colistin monotherapy in the treatment of patients infected with carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. In order to examine the study's population external validity and to substantiate the use of AIDA study results in clinical practice, we performed a concomitant observational trial.Methods: The study was conducted between October 1st, 2013 and January 31st, 2017 (during the RCTs recruitment period) in Greece, Israel and Italy. Patients included in the observational arm of the study have fulfilled clinical and microbiological inclusion criteria but were excluded from the RCT due to receipt of colistin for > 96 h, refusal to participate, or prior inclusion in the RCT. Non-randomized cases were compared to randomized patients. The primary outcome was clinical failure at 14 days of infection onset.Results: Analysis included 701 patients. Patients were infected mainly with Acinetobacter baumannii [78.2% (548/701)]. The most common reason for exclusion was refusal to participate [62% (183/295)]. Non-randomized and randomized patients were similar in most of the demographic and background parameters, though randomized patients showed minor differences towards a more severe infection. Combination therapy was less common in non-randomized patients [31.9% (53/166) vs. 51.2% (208/406), p = 0.000]. Randomized patients received longer treatment of colistin [13 days (IQR 10-16) vs. 8.5 days (IQR 0-15), p = 0.000]. Univariate analysis showed that non-randomized patients were more inclined to clinical failure on day 14 from infection onset [82% (242/295) vs. 75.5% (307/406), p = 0.042]. After adjusting for other variables, non-inclusion was not an independent risk factor for clinical failure at day 14.Conclusion: The similarity between the observational arm and RCT patients has strengthened our confidence in the population external validity of the AIDA trial. Adding an observational arm to intervention studies can help increase the population external validity and improve implementation of study results in clinical practice.
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| 8. |
- Dickstein, Yaakov, et al.
(författare)
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Treatment Outcomes of Colistin- and Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Infections : An Exploratory Subgroup Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial
- 2019
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Ingår i: Clinical Infectious Diseases. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC. - 1058-4838 .- 1537-6591. ; 69:5, s. 769-776
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background We evaluated the association between mortality and colistin resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii infections and the interaction with antibiotic therapy. Methods This is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial of patients with carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacterial infections treated with colistin or colistin-meropenem combination. We evaluated patients with infection caused by carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) identified as colistin susceptible (CoS) at the time of treatment and compared patients in which the isolate was confirmed as CoS with those whose isolates were retrospectively identified as colistin resistant (CoR) when tested by broth microdilution (BMD). The primary outcome was 28-day mortality. Results Data were available for 266 patients (214 CoS and 52 CoR isolates). Patients with CoR isolates had higher baseline functional capacity and lower rates of mechanical ventilation than patients with CoS isolates. All-cause 28-day mortality was 42.3% (22/52) among patients with CoR strains and 52.8% (113/214) among patients with CoS isolates (P = .174). After adjusting for variables associated with mortality, the mortality rate was lower among patients with CoR isolates (odds ratio [OR], 0.285 [95% confidence interval {CI}, .118-.686]). This difference was associated with treatment arm: Mortality rates among patients with CoR isolates were higher in those randomized to colistin-meropenem combination therapy compared to colistin monotherapy (OR, 3.065 [95% CI, 1.021-9.202]). Conclusions Colistin resistance determined by BMD was associated with lower mortality among patients with severe CRAB infections. Among patients with CoR isolates, colistin monotherapy was associated with a better outcome compared to colistin-meropenem combination therapy.
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