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- Walfridsson, Håkan, et al.
(författare)
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Radiofrequency ablation as initial therapy in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: results on health-related quality of life and symptom burden. The MANTRA-PAF trial
- 2015
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Ingår i: Europace. - : Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy B - Oxford Open Option B - CC-BY. - 1099-5129 .- 1532-2092. ; 17:2, s. 215-221
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims The Medical ANtiarrhythmic Treatment or Radiofrequency Ablation in Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (MANTRA-PAF) trial assessed the long-term efficacy of an initial strategy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) vs. antiarrhythmic drug therapy (AAD) as first-line treatment for patients with PAF. In this substudy, we evaluated the effect of these treatment modalities on the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and symptom burden of patients at 12 and 24 months. Methods and results During the study period, 294 patients were enrolled in the MANTRA-PAF trial and randomized to receive AAD (N = 148) or RFA (N = 146). Two generic questionnaires were used to assess the HRQoL [Short Form-36 (SF-36) and EuroQol-five dimensions (EQ-5D)], and the Arrhythmia-Specific questionnaire in Tachycardia and Arrhythmia (ASTA) was used to evaluate the symptoms appearing during the trial. All comparisons were made on an intention-to-treat basis. Both randomization groups showed significant improvements in assessments with both SF-36 and EQ-5D, at 24 months. Patients randomized to RFA showed significantly greater improvement in four physically related scales of the SF-36. The three most frequently reported symptoms were breathlessness during activity, pronounced tiredness, and worry/anxiety. In both groups, there was a significant reduction in ASTA symptom index and in the severity of seven of the eight symptoms over time. Conclusion Both AAD and RFA as first-line treatment resulted in substantial improvement of HRQoL and symptom burden in patients with PAF. Patients randomized to RFA showed greater improvement in physical scales (SF-36) and the EQ-visual analogue scale.
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- Davidsson, P, et al.
(författare)
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DESIGN AND OPERATION OF A LOW-TEMPERATURE SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE SUITABLE FOR OPERATION BELOW 1-K
- 1992
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Ingår i: Ultramicroscopy. - 0304-3991 .- 1879-2723. ; 42-44, s. 1470-1475
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A scanning tunneling microscope suitable for very low temperatures has been designed, and preliminary testing has been carried out. In order to improve cooling and temperature uniformity the instrument is arranged for operation immersed in the 3He-4He mixture inside the mixing chamber of a small dilution refrigerator. A discussion of the specific problems present in the design of this kind of an instrument is given as well as a description of our design. Special attention is given to the vacuum sealing and vibration-damping solutions required.
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- Minja, Daniel T. R., et al.
(författare)
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Reliability of rapid diagnostic tests in diagnosing pregnancy associated malaria in North Eastern Tanzania
- 2012
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Ingår i: Malaria Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1475-2875 .- 1475-2875. ; 11, s. 211-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment of pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM) are key aspects in averting adverse pregnancy outcomes. Microscopy is the gold standard in malaria diagnosis, but it has limited detection and availability. When used appropriately, rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) could be an ideal diagnostic complement to microscopy, due to their ease of use and adequate sensitivity in detecting even sub-microscopic infections. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is even more sensitive, but it is mainly used for research purposes. The accuracy and reliability of RDTs in diagnosing PAM was evaluated using microscopy and PCR. Methods: A cohort of pregnant women in north-eastern Tanzania was followed throughout pregnancy for detection of plasmodial infection using venous and placental blood samples evaluated by histidine rich protein 2 (HRP-2) and parasite lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) based RDTs (Parascreen (TM)) or HRP-2 only (Paracheck Pf (R) and ParaHIT (R) f), microscopy and nested Plasmodium species diagnostic PCR. Results: From a cohort of 924 pregnant women who completed the follow up, complete RDT and microscopy data was available for 5,555 blood samples and of these 442 samples were analysed by PCR. Of the 5,555 blood samples, 49 ((proportion and 95% confidence interval) 0.9% [0.7 - 1.1]) samples were positive by microscopy and 91 (1.6% [1.3-2.0]) by RDT. Forty-six (50.5% [40.5 - 60.6]) and 45 (49.5% [39.4 - 59.5]) of the RDT positive samples were positive and negative by microscopy, respectively, whereas nineteen (42.2% [29.0 - 56.7]) of the microscopy negative, but RDT positive, samples were positive by PCR. Three (0.05% [0.02 - 0.2]) samples were positive by microscopy but negative by RDT. 351 of the 5,461 samples negative by both RDT and microscopy were tested by PCR and found negative. There was no statistically significant difference between the performances of the different RDTs. Conclusions: Microscopy underestimated the real burden of malaria during pregnancy and RDTs performed better than microscopy in diagnosing PAM. In areas where intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy may be abandoned due to low and decreasing malaria risk and instead replaced with active case management, screening with RDT is likely to identify most infections in pregnant women and out-performs microscopy as a diagnostic tool.
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