Longitudinal changes of angiogenic factors as a potential predictive tool in women with suspected preeclampsia.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether longitudinal changes of angiogenic factors (AF) sFlt-1, PlGF, and the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio, measured following identification of symptoms of preeclampsia (PE), could provide complementary information to the isolated measurements used in current clinical practice. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective observational study. Sixty women with suspected PE and two AF results measured before gestational week (GW) 34 were included. Daily variation (DV) of AF was calculated from delta values and days elapsed between measurements. Through ROC analysis, the predictive performance of DV for PE-related events was estimated. Kaplan-Meier survival curves resulting from applying cutoff values were assessed. RESULTS: The sFlt-1, PlGF, and sFlt-1/PlGF ratio baseline levels showed significant differences between women without PE and women who developed early-onset PE (P < 0.001). DV of sFlt-1 and sFlt-1/PlGF ratio increased according to the severity of PE, showing significant differences in both pairs of groups compared (p < 0.001), so they were selected as potential predictors. Higher AUC values resulting from ROC analysis were 0.78 for early-onset PE, 0.88 for early-onset severe PE, 0.79 for occurrence of adverse maternal outcomes, and 0.89 for delivery before 37 GW, with sensitivity and specificity values higher than 0.71 and 0.80, respectively. The Kaplan-Meier analysis yielded significantly different curves (log-rank < 0.05), with shorter time-to-delivery as DV increased. CONCLUSION: Our results support the existence of a correlation between a progressive PlGF and sFlt-1 imbalance and a more aggressive clinical course of PE, detectable from the finding of PE symptoms. Its monitoring could be a useful predictive tool in women with suspected PE.

Main applications of point-of-care ultrasound in palliative care.

Combined with a physical examination, clinical ultrasound offers a valuable complement that can help guide clinical decision-making. In various medical and surgical specialties, it is increasingly used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Due to recent technological advances, smaller and more affordable ultrasound machines are now being developed for use in home hospice care. The purpose of this paper is to describe how clinical ultrasound may be applied in Palliative Care, where it can be a valuable tool to assist the clinician in making better clinical decisions and to assist in accurately guiding palliative procedures. Furthermore, it can be used to identify unnecessary hospitalizations and prevent them from occurring. Training programs with specific objectives are necessary to implement clinical ultrasound in Palliative Care, as well as defining learning curves and promoting alliances with scientific societies that recognize the teaching, care and research trajectory for accreditation of competencies.

Basal insulin analogues in people with diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic kidney disease is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) worldwide. ESKD has a high prevalence in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). CKD increases the chances of hypoglycaemia by different mechanisms, causes insulin resistance and a decrease in insulin metabolism. Both the "Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes" (KDIGO) and "American Diabetes Association" (ADA) guidelines recommend the use of insulin as part of treatment, but the type of basal insulin is not specified. METHODS: We reviewed the literature to determine whether first- and second-generation basal insulins are effective and safe in CKD patients. We reviewed specific pivotal studies conducted by pharmaceutical laboratories, as well as independent studies. CONCLUSIONS: Basal insulins are safe and effective in patients with CKD and diabetes mellitus but we do not have specific studies. Given that CKD is one of the main complications of type 2 DM, and insulin specific treatment in the final stages, the absence of studies is striking. Real-life data are also important since trials such as pivotal studies do not fully represent actual patients. Treatment should be individualized until we have specific trials in this type of population.

Cerebrovascular Disease and Statins.

Elevated low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) is a causal factor for the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD); accordingly, LDL-C lowering is associated with a decreased risk of progression of atherosclerotic plaques and development of complications. Currently, statins play a central role in any ASCVD management and prevention strategies, in relation to their lipid-lowering action and potentially to pleiotropic effects. After coronary artery disease, stroke is the most frequent cause of ASCVD mortality and the leading cause of acquired disability, a major public health problem. There is often a tendency to aggregate all types of stroke (atherothrombotic, cardioembolic, and haemorrhagic), which have, however, different causes and pathophysiology, what may lead to bias when interpreting the results of the studies. Survivors of a first atherothrombotic ischemic stroke are at high risk for coronary events, recurrent stroke, and vascular death. Although epidemiological studies show a weak relationship between cholesterol levels and cerebrovascular disease as a whole compared with other ASCVD types, statin intervention studies have demonstrated a decrease in the risk of stroke in patients with atherosclerosis of other territories and a decrease in all cardiovascular events in patients who have had a stroke. The Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) trial demonstrated the benefit of high doses of atorvastatin in the secondary prevention of ischemic stroke. In this review, we discuss the evidence, use and recommendations of statins in the primary and secondary prevention of stroke, and their role in other scenarios such as the acute phase of ischemic stroke, cerebral hemorrhage, cardioembolic stroke, small vessel disease, and cognitive impairment.