Cardiovascular biomarkers in body fluids: progress and prospects in optical sensors.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the major causative factors for high mortality and morbidity in developing and developed nations. The biomarker detection plays a crucial role in the early diagnosis of several non-infectious and life-threatening diseases like CVD and many cancers, which in turn will help in more successful therapy, reducing the mortality rate. Biomarkers have diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic significances. The search for novel biomarkers using proteomics, bio-sensing, micro-fluidics, and spectroscopic techniques with good sensitivity and specificity for CVD is progressing rapidly at present, in addition to the use of gold standard biomarkers like troponin. This review is dealing with the current progress and prospects in biomarker research for the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. Expert opinion. Fast diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) can help to provide rapid medical intervention, which can affect the patient's short and long-term health. Identification and detection of proper biomarkers for early diagnosis are crucial for successful therapy and prognosis of CVDs. The present review discusses the analysis of clinical samples such as whole blood, blood serum, and other body fluids using techniques like high-performance liquid chromatography-LASER/LED-induced fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy, mainly, optical methods, combined with nanotechnology and micro-fluidic technologies, to probe patterns of multiple markers (marker signatures) as compared to conventional techniques.

All That Glitters is Not Gold: All Unilateral Oedema is Not DVT.

Innominate vein stenosis or thrombotic occlusion can occur in dialysis patients. Central vein stenosis is a common problem in patients on dialysis. Placement of a central vein catheter for dialysis access increases the risk of central vein stenosis. Central vein stenosis sometimes can jeopardize the arteriovenous fistula and arteriovenous graft in the ipsilateral extremity unless recognized early and treated. We describe three patients with left innominate vein stenosis who were known case of chronic kidney disease on haemodialysis and had a left brachio-cephalic fistula and presented with unilateral facial and upper limb oedema.