January 2016
32 ArticlesNo Section
Adverse drug reactions and organ damage: The liver
Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is among the most challenging acute or chronic liver conditions to be handled by physicians. Despite its low incidence in the general population, DILI is a frequent... more
Developments in Internal Medicine
A case of familial partial lipodystrophy caused by a novel lamin A/C () mutation in exon 1 (D47N)
Familial partial lipodystrophy (FPL) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by selective lack of subcutaneous fat which is associated with insulin resistant diabetes. The Dunnigan variety (FPL2) is... more
Letter to the Editor
Profile of serum biomarkers in eosinophilic disorders
The term hypereosinophilia (HE) refers to persistent and marked blood eosinophilia which is documented on two occasions, with or without an additional tissue eosinophilia. The persistence of HE... more
Efficacy and effectiveness of sublingual immunotherapy for grass pollen allergy: Reply to the letter of Marcucci F
I have read the letter of Marcucci [1] with great attention. First of all, It could be useful to underline that the criticized paper is an editorial, not surprisingly written by an editor, and, in... more
Direct new oral anticoagulants in the emergency department: Experience in everyday clinical practice at a Swiss university hospital
Since 2009, an increasing number of patients presenting to emergency departments (ED) are on anticoagulant medication with the newer direct oral anticoagulants (NOAC), such as rivaroxaban (Xarelto),... more
Disease severity scoring system for non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia
The recent report on “disease severity scoring system for non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia (NTDT)” is very interesting [1]. Cappellini et al. proposed for a new system and concluded that “this... more
Letters to the Editor
Therapeutic behavior of primary care physicians in patients with atrial fibrillation taking vitamin K antagonists not adequately controlled
In the majority of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), long-term oral anticoagulation is necessary to reduce the risk of stroke. Although effective, vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) exhibit many... more
Carbon monoxide poisoning and risk for ischemic stroke
As specialists in carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, we noted with interest the paper in European Journal of Internal Medicine this year by Kao and co-workers examining the diagnosis of other diseases... more
V/Q scan or CTPA for the detection of pulmonary embolism?
Competing interests: None.
Utility of NT-proBNP in predicting infarct scar and left ventricular dysfunction at a chronic stage after myocardial infarction
Infarct healing is a dynamic process, characterized by a marked reduction of infarct size within the first months, followed by a more gradual reduction through the first year after STEMI [1]. CMR... more
Association of troponin levels below the 99th percentile with outcomes in patients with acute chest pain
We thank Drs. Lippi and Cervellin for their interest in our report [1] and for their thoughtful comments [2]. We agree that patients with suspected acute coronary syndromes and serial cardiac... more
Training programs throughout Europe in Internal Medicine: Are there critical differences between northern and southern countries? An international survey
There is a lack of current data about training programs in Internal Medicine as well as disparity in their approaches. A 69 item survey was carried out and given to 39 residents of Internal Medicine... more
The new task for medical scientists
Not just solid knowledge and pronounced attitude to research: currently, the ability to communicate regarding health and disease problems seems to be a required quality in the scientific community.... more
Original Article
Cognitive ability in Swedish conscripts and future risk of venous thromboembolism: A co-relative prospective national study
Cognitive ability measured via an IQ-test (intelligence quotient) has been associated with cardiovascular (CVD) incidence. Whether cognitive ability is associated with risk of venous thromboembolism... more
Systemic mastocytosis: A cohort study on clinical characteristics of 136 patients in a large tertiary centre
Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is a rare heterogeneous disease which is characterized by the aberrant proliferation of mast cells. It can be divided into various subtypes with different phenotypes and... more
Acute pancreatitis in elderly patients: A retrospective evaluation at hospital admission
Acute pancreatitis (AP) in elderly may have an aggressive course due to co-morbidity high rate and severe presentation. We retrospectively evaluated AP severity and its underlying factors in a group... more
New Atlanta Classification of acute pancreatitis in intensive care unit: Complications and prognosis
The updated Atlanta Classification of acute pancreatitis (AP) in adults defined three levels of severity according to the presence of local and/or systemic complications and presence and length of... more
Chronic kidney disease referral practices among non-nephrology specialists: A single-centre experience
Early referral of CKD patients to nephrology teams (NT) is vital to identify patients most likely to progress, delay decline of excretory function, and provide planned RRT. Unfortunately, many are... more
Renal insufficiency and mortality in coronary artery disease with reduced ejection fraction
Despite strong evidence linking decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) to worse cardiovascular outcome, the impact of eGFR on mortality in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with... more
Impact of left ventricular remodeling and renal function on 24h-ECG recordings and cardiovascular outcome in elderly hypertensive patients
The prognostic role of left ventricular remodeling and renal function in elderly hypertensive patients has been so far scarcely investigated.
Changes in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism under mTOR- and calcineurin-based immunosuppressive regimen in adult patients after liver transplantation
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of long-term mortality after liver transplantation (LT). Life long immunosuppression harbors the risk of metabolic alterations. We aimed to analyze the... more
Exploring the preventable causes of unplanned readmissions using root cause analysis: Coordination of care is the weakest link
Unplanned readmissions within 30days are a common phenomenon in everyday practice and lead to increasing costs. Although many studies aiming to analyze the probable causes leading to unplanned... more
Temporal trends in the outcomes of patients with acute myocardial infarction associated with renal dysfunction over the past decade
Patients with renal dysfunction (RD) who present with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are at a high risk for subsequent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We sought to evaluate changes in the... more
Clinical, biochemical and genetic spectrum of low alkaline phosphatase levels in adults
Low serum levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) are a hallmark of hypophosphatasia. However, the clinical significance and the underlying genetics of low ALP in unselected populations are unclear.
Ankle brachial index most important to identify polyvascular disease in patients with non-ST elevation or ST-elevation myocardial infarction
Atherosclerosis is a systemic disease. In patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) the extent of polyvascular disease (PvD) is largely unknown. In this study we investigate the prevalence and... more
Renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system inhibitors lower hemoglobin and hematocrit only in renal transplant recipients with initially higher levels
We have analyzed the effects of renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors on evolution of hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Htc) levels as well as on the evaluation of kidney graft... more
A risk score for prediction of recurrence in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism (DAMOVES)
In patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism (VTE), the optimal duration of anticoagulation is anchored on estimating the risk of disease recurrence. We aimed to develop a simple risk... more
Therapy modifications during hospitalization in patients with chronic heart failure
Background: Guidelines on suggested pharmacological treatments for heart failure (HF) are not optimally implemented in clinical practice and whether pharmacotherapy adjustment actually happens in... more
The alertness, gait and mortality of severely ill patients at two months after admission to a resource poor sub-Saharan hospital—Why is post-discharge surveillance not routine everywhere?
Mortality, the first level of the first tier of the Outcomes Measures Hierarchy used to assess the value of health care, is the only hospital outcome usually measured. Gait and alertness after... more
The association between mean platelet volume and cardiovascular risk factors
Mean platelet volume (MPV) correlates with platelet activation and has recently emerged as a potential marker of cardiovascular diseases. Previous publications also suggest possible association... more
High on-aspirin platelet reactivity predicts cardiac death in acute coronary syndrome patients undergoing PCI
To evaluate the possible role of high on-aspirin platelet reactivity (HaPR) in a prospective cohort of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
Review Article
Kounis syndrome: A concise review with focus on management
Kounis syndrome is defined as the co-incidental occurrence of an acute coronary syndrome with hypersensitivity reactions following an allergenic event and was first described by Kounis and Zavras in... more