The purpose of this study was to investigate the 5-year outcome following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).
Little is known about long-term outcomes following TAVI.
The 5-year outcomes following successful TAVI with a balloon-expandable valve were evaluated in 88 patients. Patients who died within 30 days after TAVI were excluded.
Mean aortic valve gradient decreased from 46 ± 18 mm Hg to 10 ± 4.5 mm Hg after TAVI and 11.8 ± 5.7 mm Hg at 5 years (p for post-TAVI trend = 0.06). Mean aortic valve area increased from 0.62 ± 0.17 cm(2) to 1.67 ± 0.41 cm(2) after TAVI and 1.40 ± 0.25 cm(2) at 5 years (p for post-TAVI trend
Both influenza and meningococcal disease (MD) show seasonal variation with peak incidence rates during the winter. We examined whether fluctuations in occurrence of influenza were associated with changes in the incidence rate of MD, either simultaneously or with a delay of one or 2 weeks, and whether age had an impact on these associations. This ecological study was based on weekly surveillance data on influenza and a complete registration of MD cases (n = 413) in North Jutland County, Denmark, during 1980-1999. A total of 379 MD cases occurred during weeks with influenza registration. The analysis was done using a Poisson regression model taking into account the seasonal variation and trend over time in incidence rate of MD, and stratified by age: or = 14 years (n = 152). An increase of 100 registered cases of influenza per 100,000 inhabitants was associated with a 7% (95% CI: -1 to 15%) increase in the number of MD cases during the same week. The association was most marked for
A retrospective study was undertaken of all surgical patients in Malmö, Sweden, during the period 1951-1980, in whom pulmonary emboli were found at autopsy. The autopsy rate was high throughout the period, ranging from 73 to 100 per cent. Of 5477 patients who died during the period, 1274 had pulmonary emboli (23.6 per cent), 349 of which were considered fatal, 353 contributory to death and 572 incidental. Fifty-one per cent of the patients were not operated upon. The number of contributory and incidental emboli increased over the period, to some extent probably reflecting greater thoroughness in postmortems. The frequency of fatal pulmonary emboli decreased in the last 5 year period. Pulmonary embolism was more rare in patients under 50 years of age. The proportion of females increased. In 24 cases major embolism emanated from thrombi around central venous catheters. This retrospective analysis of a large number of patients shows that pulmonary embolism continues to be a major cause of death in surgical patients, and in Malmö as common a cause of death in operated as in nonoperated patients.
Concentrations of worldwide fallout 137Cs were measured in the lichen-caribou-Eskimo food chain of northern Alaska during the period 1962-79. Pronounced inputs of fallout occurred after major nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere and 137Cs was transmitted through the food chain to Eskimos with about a 2-yr delay due to environmental parameters. Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) meat sampled during spring harvest contained 4 times the 137Cs concentration of lichens obtained from their winter range. Calculated caribou meat ingestion rates of Anaktuvuk Pass Eskimos during winter ranged from approximately 1 kg/day in 1964 to 0.16 kg/day in 1977. Several environmental factors affected seasonal patterns and amounts of 137Cs transferred through the food chain. Maximum 137Cs concentrations of approximately 20 nCi/kg body weight in ESkimos occurred in 1964 and have now decreased to approximately 0.5 nCi/kg, largely because of cultural and political factors. Radiation doses from 137Cs body burdens during the study period ranged from 60 mrad/yr in 1962 to approximately 140 mrad/yr during the 1962-64 maxima and decreased to 8 mrad/yr in 1979.
Notes
From: Fortuine, Robert et al. 1993. The Health of the Inuit of North America: A Bibliography from the Earliest Times through 1990. University of Alaska Anchorage. Citation number 832.
A birth with fatal outcome for both the mother and the foetus was reported in the Danish medical journal, Bibliothek for Læger in 1868. Here, the article with its two illustrations is summarised because of the vivid description of the course together with the therapeutic considerations expressed by the obstetrician. Due to an earlier osteomyelitis the pregnant woman's spine was deformed and her pelvis was narrowed. The birth came to a standstill, and it became necessary to reduce the circumference of the foetus' cranium by perforation, after which the dead foetus could be delivered. The woman died of infection some days later. Afterwards her deformed lumbar spine and pelvis was removed, preserved and depicted in two lithographs. The preserved pelvis is still extant in the Saxtorphian obstetric collection in Medical Museion, Copenhagen.
Abnormally invasive placenta-prevalence, risk factors and antenatal suspicion: results from a large population-based pregnancy cohort study in the Nordic countries.
The objective was to investigate prevalence, estimate risk factors, and antenatal suspicion of abnormally invasive placenta (AIP) associated with laparotomy in women in the Nordic countries.
Population-based cohort study.
A 3-year Nordic collaboration among obstetricians to identify and report on uterine rupture, peripartum hysterectomy, excessive blood loss, and AIP from 2009 to 2012 The Nordic Obstetric Surveillance Study (NOSS).
In the NOSS study, clinicians reported AIP cases from maternity wards and the data were validated against National health registries.
Prevalence, risk factors, antenatal suspicion, birth complications, and risk estimations using aggregated national data.
A total of 205 cases of AIP in association with laparotomy were identified, representing 3.4 per 10 000 deliveries. The single most important risk factor, which was reported in 49% of all cases of AIP, was placenta praevia. The risk of AIP increased seven-fold after one prior caesarean section (CS) to 56-fold after three or more CS. Prior postpartum haemorrhage was associated with six-fold increased risk of AIP (95% confidence interval 3.7-10.9). Approximately 70% of all cases were not diagnosed antepartum. Of these, 39% had prior CS and 33% had placenta praevia.
Our findings indicate that a lower CS rate in the population may be the most effective way to lower the incidence of AIP. Focused ultrasound assessment of women at high risk will likely strengthen antenatal suspicion. Prior PPH is a novel risk factor associated with an increased prevalence of AIP.
An ultrasound assessment in women with placenta praevia or prior CS may double the awareness for AIP.
OBJECTIVES: To examine possible associations of ABO blood types with the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in pregnancy and the puerperium. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a nested case-control study within a cohort of 71,729 women who gave birth to 126,783 children in the North Jutland County, Denmark, from 1980 to 2001. We identified 129 cases with VTE in pregnancy (n = 61) or the puerperium (n = 68), and 258 controls with no VTE. We collected information on ABO blood groups and possible maternal confounding factors and estimated the relative risk [odds ratio (OR)]. RESULTS: Women with an A or AB blood group had elevated risk estimates of VTE in pregnancy or the puerperium compared with women with a O blood group [adjusted ORs 2.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3, 4.3, and 2.0, 95% CI 0.7, 5.8, respectively]. No increased risk estimate was found for group B (adjusted OR 1.2, 95% CI 0.5, 3.0). The increased risk estimates of VTE for blood groups A and AB appeared present in both pregnancy (adjusted ORs of 3.9, 95% CI 1.5, 9.7, and 2.2, 95% CI 0.4, 12.5) and in the puerperium (adjusted ORs of 2.4, 95% CI 1.0, 4.9 and 2.7, 95% CI 0.8, 9.3). Furthermore, blood groups A and AB appeared to be associated with increased risk estimates for both DVT and pulmonary embolism. CONCLUSION: Keeping the modest statistical precision of our study in mind, blood groups A and AB may be associated with increased risk estimates for VTE in pregnancy and the puerperium.
