December 2017
17 ArticlesNo Section
Resistant hypertension: Renal denervation or intensified medical treatment?
Resistant hypertension (RH) can be diagnosed if blood pressure (BP) is not controlled with the combination of three antihypertensive drugs, including a diuretic, all at effective doses. Patients... more
Comparison of survival between hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients with end-stage renal disease in the era of icodextrin treatment
Icodextrin could reduce the risk of technique failure and improve patient survival in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. This study compared the survival between incident hemodialysis (HD) and PD... more
Letter to the Editor
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and community acquired pneumonia: Much more to clarify
Recently, De Miguel Diez et al. [1] have published an interesting study concluding that the incidence of hospitalizations for community acquired pneumonia (CAP) increased over time in patients with... more
What is the significance, if any, of the increased incidence of stent thrombosis with dual therapy of dabigatran 110mg twice daily and clopidogrel in the RE-DUAL PCI trial?
In the recent RE-DUAL PCI trial [1] where dual therapy of dabigatran, at the dose of both 110 and 150mg twice daily, and clopidogrel was compared with conventional triple therapy of warfarin, aspirin... more
Etiology of discharge hyponatremia in decompensated heart failure and normal admission Na+: Effect of diuretics
Hyponatremia is the commonest electrolyte abnormality in hospitalized patients [1]. Patients with decompensated heart failure (HF) commonly have electrolyte abnormalities, due to the activation of... more
Thyroid replacement therapy might undermine hypothyroidism-related longevity
The observation that thyroid replacement therapy increases mortality in elderly subjects with subclinical hypothyroidism [1] has, as its converse, the documentation of an association between... more
Renal function evaluation in liver cirrhosis: Preliminary report on the effect of the Royal Free Hospital Cirrhosis Glomerular Filtration Rate on the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD)
Serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), determined using the Modification of Diet Renal Disease (MDRD)-4, the MDRD-6 or the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration... more
The Kampala declaration on sepsis – The recognition and treatment of severe illness starts at the bedside by recording vital signs
“Improving prevention and management of sepsis involves providing basic health care services such as recording vital signs and other necessary measures for all patients in order to identify and... more
Risk scores for outpatient management of febrile neutropenia: Is the MASCC slipping?
In response to our recent narrative review [1], Carmona-Bayonas et al. question whether the Clinical Index of Stable Febrile Neutropenia (CISNE) or Multinational Association of Supportive Care in... more
External validation of mortality prognostic indices after hospital discharge in older adults
Prognostic indices of mortality in the elderly population may be useful to the clinician: they provide a mortality objective estimation that complements clinical judgment when giving information to... more
Pope Francis and the end-of-life: Time for serious reflection
On November 16, 2017 Pope Francis intervened at the European regional meeting of World Medical Association by sending a message about the complex subject of “end of life” [1]. Already in 1957, Pope... more
Immunohistochemistry as confirmatory test for current Helicobacter pylori infection in patients treated with proton pump inhibitors
We would like to thank Dr. Davide Giuseppe Ribaldone and colleagues for their interest in our article “The contribution of clinical and pathological predisposing factors to severe gastro-duodenal... more
Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in patients treated with rituximab for systemic diseases: Report of 11 cases and review of the literature
During the last decades, the number of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) has grown in HIV-negative patients due to the increasing use of organ transplantation, immunosuppressive drugs and... more
Original Article
Multifaceted intervention to curb in-hospital over-prescription of proton pump inhibitors: A longitudinal multicenter quasi-experimental before-and-after study
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are indicated for a restricted number of clinical conditions, and their misuse can lead to several adverse effects. Despite that, the proportion of overuse is alarmingly... more
Comparison of the effect of allopurinol and febuxostat on urinary 2,8-dihydroxyadenine excretion in patients with APRT deficiency: A clinical trial
Adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) deficiency is a rare, but significant, cause of kidney stones and progressive chronic kidney disease. The optimal treatment has not been established. The... more
Pretransplant coronary artery disease is a predictor for myocardial infarction and cardiac death after liver transplantation
Cardiovascular disease is a serious problem of liver transplant (LT) recipients because of increased cardiovascular risk due to immunosuppressive therapy, higher age, intraoperative risk and... more
Endocrine and metabolic assessment in adults with Langerhans cell histiocytosis
Diabetes insipidus (DI) is one of most common complications of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) but prevalence of anterior pituitary deficiencies and metabolic alterations have not been clearly... more