scholarly journals Right atrium size in the general population

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karsten Keller ◽  
Christoph Sinning ◽  
Andreas Schulz ◽  
Claus Jünger ◽  
Volker H. Schmitt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Right Atrium ◽  
Reference Sample ◽  
Body Height ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Imaging Method ◽  
Reference Limit ◽  
Reference Limits ◽  
Few Data

AbstractEchocardiography is the most common routine cardiac imaging method. Nevertheless, only few data about sex-specific reference limits for right atrium (RA) dimensions are available. Transthoracic echocardiographic RA measurements were studied in 9511 participants of the Gutenberg-Health-Study. A reference sample of 1942 cardiovascular healthy subjects without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was defined. We assessed RA dimensions and sex-specific reference limits were defined using the 95th percentile of the reference sample. Results showed sex-specific differences with larger RA dimensions in men that were attenuated by standardization for body-height. RA-volume was 20.2 ml/m in women (5th–95th: 12.7–30.4 ml/m) and 26.1 ml/m in men (5th–95th: 16.0–40.5 ml/m). Multivariable regressions identified body-mass-index (BMI), coronary artery disease (CAD), chronic heart failure (CHF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) as independent key correlates of RA-volume in both sexes. All-cause mortality after median follow-up-period of 10.7 (9.81/11.6) years was higher in individuals who had RA volume/height outside the 95% reference limit (HR 1.70 [95%CI 1.29–2.23], P = 0.00014)). Based on a large community-based sample, we present sex-specific reference-values for RA dimensions normalized for height. RA-volume varies with BMI, CHF, CAD and AF in both sexes. Individuals with RA-volume outside the reference limit had a 1.7-fold higher mortality than those within reference limits.

scholarly journals Calculation of indirect reference intervals of plasma lipase activity of adults from existing laboratory data based on the Reference Limit Estimator integrated in the OPUS::L information system

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-134
Author(s):  
Britta Amodeo ◽  
Aline Schindler ◽  
Ulrike Schacht ◽  
Hans Günther Wahl
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Lipase Activity ◽  
Clinical Chemistry ◽  
Laboratory Data ◽  
Direct Methods ◽  
Reference Interval ◽  
Reference Intervals ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Reference Limit ◽  
Reference Limits

Abstract Objectives Most laboratories have difficulties to determine their own reference intervals for the diagnostic evaluation of patient results by direct methods. Therefore, data is often just taken from the literature or package inserts of the analytical tests. Methods The section on Reference Limits of the German Society for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (DGKL) first uploaded the Reference Limit Estimator (RLE) as an R-program with MS Excel-interface on the DGKL home page and now this tool is implemented in the commercial Laboratory Information System OPUS::L (OSM AG Essen, Germany). We used this OPUS::L “Population specific Reference Limits” tool online with our laboratory database. First calculations were done using the example of lipase. Results The manufacturer’s original reference interval for lipase 12–53 U/L (adults) was changed to age dependent upper reference limits of <41 U/L (<20 years), <60 U/L (20–80 years) and <70 U/L (>80 years). Conclusions By means of the OPUS::L “Population specific Reference Limits” tool we were able to establish our laborarotry specific reference interval for plasma lipase activity. The new reference limits helped to solve an old problem of implausible low elevated lipase values.

scholarly journals Symptomatic Patent Foramen Ovale with Hemidiaphragm Paralysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussain Ibrahim ◽  
Adnan Khan ◽  
Shawn P. Nishi ◽  
Ken Fujise ◽  
Syed Gilani
Keyword(s):  
Right Atrium ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Patent Foramen Ovale ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Clinical Suspicion ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Foramen Ovale ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Benign Condition ◽  
High Clinical Suspicion

Dyspnea accounts for more than one-fourth of the hospital admissions from Emergency Department. Chronic conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Congestive Heart Failure, and Asthma are being common etiologies. Less common etiologies include conditions such as valvular heart disease, pulmonary embolism, and right-to-left shunt (RLS) from patent foramen ovale (PFO). PFO is present in estimated 20–30% of the population, mostly a benign condition. RLS via PFO usually occurs when right atrium pressure exceeds left atrium pressure. RLS can also occur in absence of higher right atrium pressure. We report one such case that highlights the importance of high clinical suspicion, thorough evaluation, and percutaneous closure of the PFO leading to significant improvement in the symptoms.

scholarly journals Impact of age, body weight and metabolic risk factors on steroid reference intervals in men

2020 ◽  
Vol 182 (5) ◽  
pp. 459-471
Author(s):  
Marco Mezzullo ◽  
Guido Di Dalmazi ◽  
Alessia Fazzini ◽  
Margherita Baccini ◽  
Andrea Repaci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Reference Intervals ◽  
Metabolic Risk Factors ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Metabolic Risk ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Cholesterol Ratio ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Reference Limits ◽  
17 Hydroxyprogesterone

Objective To evaluate the independent impact of age, obesity and metabolic risk factors on 13 circulating steroid levels; to generate reference intervals for adult men. Design Cross-sectional study. Methods Three hundred and fifteen adults, drug-free and apparently healthy men underwent clinical and biochemical evaluation. Thirteen steroids were measured by LC-MS/MS and compared among men with increasing BMI. Moreover, the independent impact of age, BMI and metabolic parameters on steroid levels was estimated. Upper and lower reference limits were generated in steroid-specific reference sub-cohorts and compared with dysmetabolic sub-cohorts. Results We observed lower steroid precursors and testosterone and increase in estrone levels in men with higher BMI ranges. By multivariate analysis, 17-hydroxyprogesterone and dihydrotestosterone decreased with BMI, while cortisol decreased with waist circumference. Estrone increased with BMI and systolic blood pressure. Testosterone decreased with worsening insulin resistance. 17-hydroxypregnenolone and corticosterone decreased with increasing total/HDL-cholesterol ratio. Age-related reference intervals were estimated for 17-hydroxypregnenolone, DHEA, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, corticosterone, 11-deoxycortisol, cortisol and androstenedione, while age-independent reference intervals were estimated for progesterone, 11-deoxycorticosterone, testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, estrone and estradiol. Testosterone lower limit was 2.29 nmol/L lower (P = 0.007) in insulin resistant vs insulin sensitive men. Furthermore, the upper limits for dihydrotestosterone (−0.34 nmol/L, P = 0.045), cortisol (−87 nmol/L, P = 0.045–0.002) and corticosterone (−10.1 nmol/L, P = 0.048–0.016) were lower in overweight/obese, in abdominal obese and in dyslipidaemic subjects compared to reference sub-cohorts, respectively. Conclusions Obesity and mild unmedicated metabolic risk factors alter the circulating steroid profile and bias the estimation of reference limits for testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, cortisol and corticosterone. Applying age-dependent reference intervals is mandatory for steroid precursors and corticosteroids.

scholarly journals Associations of Helicobacter pylori and hepatitis A seropositivity with asthma in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL): addressing the hygiene hypothesis

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian S. Alvarez ◽  
M. Larissa Avilés-Santa ◽  
Neal D. Freedman ◽  
Krista M. Perreira ◽  
Olga Garcia-Bedoya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Helicobacter Pylori ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Sex Education ◽  
Hepatitis A ◽  
Hepatitis A Virus ◽  
Hygiene Hypothesis ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Hispanic Community ◽  
H Pylori

Abstract Background The hygiene hypothesis posits that microbial exposure reduces risk of asthma and other respiratory-related diseases. Helicobacter pylori and hepatitis A virus (HAV) are common fecal–oral infections. Our study aimed to examine associations of seropositivity to these agents with asthma in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL). Methods A total of 12,471 HCHS/SOL participants with baseline data on self-reported physician-diagnosed asthma, and antibodies anti-H. pylori and anti-HAV were included in this cross-sectional analysis. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the overall associations of seropositivity to each agent with asthma. Analyses were also stratified by Hispanic/Latino background. Effect modification by smoking status and nativity were tested. An analysis restricted to individuals with spirometry-defined chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was also considered. Results The weighted overall prevalence of asthma was 16.6%. The weighted seroprevalence of H. pylori was 56.6% and of HAV was 76.6%, and they significantly differed by Hispanic/Latino background. After accounting for age, sex, education and other key confounders, we found no associations between H. pylori or HAV seropositivity with asthma (with and without COPD), either for all individuals combined or for any of the six specific backgrounds. There were no significant interactions by smoking and nativity. Conclusion Our findings did not provide support for the role of H. pylori or HAV, as evidence of the hygiene hypothesis in asthma among the large and diverse Hispanic/Latino populations of the HCHS/SOL. Trial registration NCT02060344

Distribution of HOMA-IR in a population-based cohort and proposal for reference intervals

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bassel Matli ◽  
Andreas Schulz ◽  
Thomas Koeck ◽  
Tanja Falter ◽  
Johannes Lotz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Resistance ◽  
Fasting Glucose ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Reference Interval ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Reference Intervals ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Model Assessment ◽  
Significant Difference

Abstract Objectives Insulin resistance (IR) is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). The homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) provides an estimate for IR from fasting glucose and insulin serum concentrations. The aim of this study was to obtain a reference interval for HOMA-IR for a specific insulin immunoassay. Methods The Gutenberg Health Study (GHS) is a population-based, prospective, single-center cohort study in Germany with 15,030 participants aged 35–74 years. Fasting glucose, insulin, and C-peptide were available in 10,340 participants. HOMA-IR was calculated in this group and three reference subgroups with increasingly more stringent inclusion criteria. Age- and sex-dependent distributions of HOMA-IR and reference intervals were obtained. In a substudy three insulin assays were compared and HOMA-IR estimated for each assay. Results Among the 10,340 participants analyzed there were 6,590 non-diabetic, 2,901 prediabetic, and 849 diabetic individuals. Median (interquartile range [IQR]) HOMA-IR was 1.54 (1.13/2.19), 2.00 (1.39/2.99), and 4.00 (2.52/6.51), respectively. The most stringently selected reference group consisted of 1,065 persons. Median (IQR) HOMA-IR was 1.09 (0.85/1.42) with no significant difference between men and women. The 97.5th percentile was 2.35. There was a non-significant trend towards higher values with older age. Comparison of three immunoassays for insulin showed an unsatisfactory correlation among the assays and systematic differences in calculated HOMA-IR. Conclusions We present HOMA-IR reference intervals for adults derived by more or less stringent selection criteria for the reference cohort. In addition we show that assay specific reference intervals for HOMA-IR are required.

scholarly journals Definition of the upper reference limit of glycated albumin in blood donors from Italy

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Bellia ◽  
Martina Zaninotto ◽  
Chiara Cosma ◽  
Luisa Agnello ◽  
Bruna Lo Sasso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Donors ◽  
Glycated Albumin ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Reference Limit ◽  
Percentile Method ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Upper Reference Limit ◽  
Mean Glucose

AbstractBackground:Glycated Albumin (GA) has been proposed as a short-term indicator of glycemic homeostasis. The aim of this study is to describe the distribution of GA in a large sample of blood donors from Italy to evaluate whether demographic features, namely age and sex, could influence GA levels and define specific reference limits.Methods:The study included 1334 Italian blood donors. GA was measured using an enzymatic method (quantILab Glycated Albumin, IL Werfen, Germany). The upper reference limit (URL) was calculated using the non-parametric percentile method.Results:A modest, although significant, increase of GA was observed in relation to age (p<0.001), especially in males, where the differences were more pronounced (p<0.001 in males, p=0.003 in females). Slight differences were documented based on sex (12% [11.3–12.8] in males; 12.2% [11.4–13.1] in females; p=0.01). After excluding individuals with fasting plasma glucose ≥7 mmol/L, the calculated GA URL was 14.5% (95% CI: 14.3–14.7). Subjects with GA>14.5% presented a mean age of 48.4±12.2 years, 66.7% were males and the mean glucose was 6.88±2.5 mmol/L.Conclusions:GA in Caucasians shows a similar increasing trend at older ages documented in other ethnicities. The definition of the URL in this population could be useful for both clinical studies, which will clarify the role of GA for diagnosing and monitoring diabetes, and will encourage the introduction of GA in clinical practice.

scholarly journals Lactate Stress Testing in 155 Patients with Mitochondriopathy

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Finsterer ◽  
Erika Milvay
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity And Specificity ◽  
Oxidative Metabolism ◽  
Neurological Disorders ◽  
Stress Testing ◽  
Diagnostic Yield ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Serum Lactate ◽  
Reference Limits ◽  
Few Data

Objective:Few data are available about the diagnostic yield of the lactate stress test (LST) in a large group of patients with mitochondriopathy (MCP).Methods:Serum lactate was determined once before, three times during, and once after a 15-minute, constant 30W workload on a bicycle in 62 controls, aged 17 to 84 years, 155 patients with MCP, aged 17 to 87 years, and 31 patients with neurological disorders other than MCP.Results:Lactate's upper reference limits at rest, 5, 10, 15 minutes after starting, and 15 minutes after finishing the exercise were 2.0, 2.1, 2.1, 2.1 and 1.8 mmol/l respectively. The test was regarded abnormal if more than two of the five lactate values exceeded the cut-off levels. Among the 103 patients with abnormal LST, 64 (62 %) had normal resting lactate. The sensitivity of the test was 67% and the specificity 94%.Conclusion:The LST proved to have a high sensitivity and specificity in the detection of patients with MCP, being thus a simple but powerful tool to assess the impaired oxidative metabolism in MCP patients.

Partitioning biochemical reference data intosubgroups: comparison of existing methods

2004 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ari Lahti
Keyword(s):  
Reference Data ◽  
Reference Interval ◽  
Reference Intervals ◽  
New Method ◽  
Poor Correlation ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Common Reference ◽  
Reference Limits ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Ideal

AbstractFour existing methods for partitioning biochemical reference data into subgroups are compared. Two of these, the method of Sinton et al. and that of Ichihara and Kawai, are based on a quotient of a difference between the subgroups and the reference interval for the combined distribution. The criterion of Sinton et al. appears rather stringent and could lead to recommendations to apply a common reference interval in many cases where establishment of group-specific reference intervals would be more useful. The method of Ichihara and Kawai is similar to that of Sinton et al., but their criterion, based on a quantity derived from between-group and within-group variances, seems to lead to inconsistent results when applied to some model cases. These two methods have the common weakness of using gross differences between subgroup distributions as an indicator of differences between their reference limits, while distributions with different means can actually have equal reference limits and those with equal means can have different reference limits. The idea of Harris and Boyd to require that the proportions of the subgroup distributions outside the common reference limits be kept reasonably close to the ideal value of 2.5% as a prerequisite for using common reference limits seems to have been a major improvement. The other two methods considered, that of Harris and Boyd and the “new method” follow this idea. The partitioning criteria of Harris and Boyd have previously been shown to provide a poor correlation to those proportions, however, and the weaknesses of their method are summarized in a list of five drawbacks. Different versions of the new method offer improvements to these drawbacks.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a novel risk factor for cardiovascular disease

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don D Sin ◽  
S.F Paul Man
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Cardiovascular Events ◽  
Cardiovascular Morbidity ◽  
Morbidity And Mortality ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Copd Patients ◽  
Cardiovascular Morbidity And Mortality

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Canada and elsewhere. It affects 5% of all adult Canadians and is the fourth leading cause of death. Interestingly, the leading causes of hospitalizations and mortality among COPD patients are cardiovascular events. In the Lung Health Study, over 5 800 patients with mild to moderate COPD were studied. Forty-two to 48% of all hospitalizations that occurred over the study's 5-year follow-up period were related to cardiovascular complications. Various population-based studies suggest that independent of smoking, age, and gender, COPD increases the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality twofold. Alarmingly, some bronchodilators, which are commonly used to treat symptoms in COPD, may increase the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and even mortality among COPD patients. In this paper, we discuss the epidemiologic evidence linking COPD and cardiovascular events as well as the potential mechanism(s) which may be responsible for this association.Key words: COPD, FEV1, cardiovascular events, C-reactive protein.

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