September 2020
35 ArticlesNo Section
Effects of Anti-vitamin k oral anticoagulants on bone and cardiovascular health
Vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (VKAs) have been proven over 50 years to be highly effective and acceptably safe in many settings and are still used by millions of people worldwide.The main... more
Direct oral anticoagulants versus vitamin K antagonists in antiphospholipid syndrome: A meta-analysis.
Anticoagulant treatment is recommended in patients with thrombosis and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Conflicting results have been reported on the role of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in... more
Commentary
Is aspirin safer than a direct oral anticoagulant for patients with atrial fibrillation at high risk of bleeding?
Alexander P. Benz reports a personal research grant from the German Heart Foundation (Deutsche Herzstiftung e.V.). John W. Eikelboom received grants and/or research support from AstraZeneca, Bayer,... more
Relevance and diagnosis of disseminated intravascular coagulation associated with cardiovascular disease
Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a complication of a myriad of disorders that are all associated with a systemic inflammatory response. DIC is considered as an important pathogenetic... more
Oral anticoagulants in thrombotic antiphospholipid syndrome: Leave the old road for a new trail?
I read with interest the meta-analysis by Pau Cerdà et al. on direct oral anticoagulants compared to vitamin K antagonists in antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) [1]. Overall, I agree with the Authors’... more
The expanding potential of functional liver imaging: From research tools to clinical practice in oncology and internal medicine
In this issue of the European Journal of Internal Medicine, M.N. Cruz and colleagues present a review of current liver imaging techniques [1], the potential of which has expanded from mere imaging,... more
Internal Medicine Flashcard
McGinn-White pattern
A 52-year-old man presented to the emergency department with a 2-month history of worsening dyspnea which intensified during the last 3 days. On physical examination, his blood pressure was 119/68 mm... more
Beware of the air when diabetes is there
A 73-year-old woman with past history of dementia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) was admitted to the emergency department because of drowsiness and hyperglycaemia. The capillary blood glucose was... more
A spontaneous hematoma in a healthy young woman
A 40-year-old woman presented herself with a large hematoma of her left lower limb which appeared spontaneously three weeks prior to her visit. The hematoma was responsible for a symptomatic anemia,... more
Letter to the Editor
Published evidence on COVID-19 in top-ranked journals: A descriptive study
The COVID-19 pandemic has generated an unprecedented global scientific effort to provide swift answers to pressing health needs. While many hospitals turned into almost exclusive COVID-19 centres... more
Does lowering p value threshold to 0.005 impact on evidence-based medicine? An analysis of current European Society of Cardiology guidelines on STEMI
When dealing with scientific evidence, the issue of reproducibility and replicability of scientific conclusions has been largely debated. In particular, several authors raised concerns about the... more
Is natriuretic peptide lowering strategy superior to symptomatically based management of chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction?
Despite significant furtherance in the medical management of heart failure (HF), readmission and mortality following HF hospitalization are significantly high. Traditionally, optimization of medical... more
Left ventricular ejection fraction and global longitudinal strain in patients with acute myocardial infarction after percutaneous revascularization: standard 2D vs triplane and 3D imaging
Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is one of the main determinants in the prognostic of patients with myocardial infarction (MI) [1]. Three-dimensional (3D) measurement of the LV volumes and... more
A surveillance study of the prevalence of Hepatitis B, C, and D markers among hospitalized patients at an Internal Medicine Department of a Greek Hospital
Viral hepatitis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide [1]. Vaccination programs, demographic and socioeconomic changes, safer medical and nursing practices, screening of blood... more
Prevention of infective endocarditis and clinical practice guidelines: From theory to real clinical practice.
In spite of current diagnostic techniques and therapeutic approaches, infective endocarditis (IE) is still associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality [1].
Protective role of statins during anticoagulation for venous thromboembolism: beyond their lipid lowering effect?
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality [1]. VTE represents a major health problem for high prevalence, incidence, and costs [2]. The number of people affected by... more
Long-term proton-pump inhibitor use in older adults with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease: Are there cognitive consequences?
Proton-Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) are commonly prescribed medications indicated for the treatment of various acid-related disorders including duodenal/gastric ulcers, erosive oesophagitis and... more
Prognostic value of adiponectin in patients with stable coronary artery disease in the era of statins
Adiponectin is a circulating cytokine produced by the adipose tissue. Experimental data suggest that adiponectin exerts beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity, chronic low-grade inflammation,... more
Validation of hemolytic anemia discharge diagnosis codes in the French hospital database
Hemolytic anemia (HA) is a group of rare diseases that can be congenital such as thalassemia, sickle-cell anemia, enzyme-deficiency hemolytic anemia and spherocytosis, or acquired such as autoimmune... more
HIV Testing In Patients Diagnosed With Community Acquired Pneumonia Or Primary Lung Cancer From 2014 To 2018 In A Teaching Hospital In Spain
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is one of the most frequent causes of acquired immunodepression. The World Health Organization intends to diagnose 90% of HIV infected patients until 2020 (1),... more
Guideline directed low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goal achievement: A real-world study from a cardiology ward
This manuscript has been thoroughly edited by a native English speaker from an editing company. Editing Certificate will be provided upon request.
Clinical trials: generalizability is much more than representativeness
Recently, Anderson et al [1] reported on the generalizability of trials supporting the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association blood pressure guideline. They are correct when... more
Letter to the Editor (European Journal of Internal Medicine).
Strengthening the continuity of medical care through the hospital discharge multimedia report
Dear Sir,
Original Article
Impact of point of care ultrasound on the number of diagnostic examinations in elderly patients admitted to an internal medicine ward
In recent year the miniaturization of devices has allowed a broadly spread of the use of ultrasound (US) technology at patients’ bedside.
The ISTH DIC score predicts outcome in non-septic patients admitted to a cardiovascular intensive care unit
The International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) score is widely used to predict mortality in critically ill - typically septic - patients.... more
Pre-transplant diabetes predicts atherosclerotic vascular events and cardiovascular mortality in liver transplant recipients: a long-term follow-up study
Liver transplantation (LT) is an effective treatment for patients with acute liver failure, end-stage liver disease, and non-resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) [1]. Early after surgery, LT... more
Hospital admissions for community-acquired, ventilator-associated and nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia in COPD patients in Spain (2016-2017).
Pneumonia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality around the world [1]. The setting in which pneumonia is acquired, i.e., in the community or in the hospital, heavily influences diagnostic and... more
Intermountain chronic disease risk score (ICHRON) validation for prediction of incident chronic disease diagnoses in an australian primary prevention population
Chronic diseases (ChrD) are lifelong conditions that have long-term effects. They account for 41 million deaths annually (71% of all deaths world-wide) [1]. The rising prevalence of ChrD is... more
Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) and 20-year risk of cardiovascular mortality and cancer
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death in developed countries[1]. For the prevention of CVD, accurate identification of individuals at increased CVD risk is essential, in... more
Impact of acute kidney injury on in-hospital outcomes among patients hospitalized with acute heart failure – A propensity-score matched analysis
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is frequently present in patients admitted for acute heart failure (AHF). Several studies have evaluated the mortality risk attributed to AKI in patients admitted for AHF [1... more
Hyperhomocysteinemia in patients with acute porphyrias: A potentially dangerous metabolic crossroad?
Acute porphyrias (AP) are a group of metabolic disorders resulting from deficiency of four different enzymes of the heme biosynthetic pathway (Fig. 1) [1,2]. Carriers of these enzymatic defects are... more
Differences in clinical features between small fiber and sensitive large fiber neuropathies in Sjögren's syndrome
To distinguish large (LFN) and small fiber neuropathies (SFN) in Sjögren's syndrome (SS) requires electroneuromyography (EMG) first, but this is time-consuming and has sometimes a limited... more
Early procalcitonin determination in the emergency department and clinical outcome of community-acquired pneumonia in old and oldest old patients
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a frequent cause of morbidity in the adult population, with a mortality rate reaching 20% of hospitalized patients [1]. A diagnosis of CAP is given to 5-12% of... more
Bleeding risk comparison between direct oral anticoagulants at doses approved for atrial fibrillation and aspirin: systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression
Aspirin was recommended in the past as an alternative to oral anticoagulation for the prevention of thromboembolism in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 1 [1]. The... more
Review Article
New boundaries of liver imaging: from morphology to function
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound (US) are the cornerstone for noninvasive imaging evaluation of the liver and are routinely used to evaluate focal and diffuse... more