1,720,985 research outputs found
Effects of training on cardiovascular system in spinal cord injured patients: a 10 years longitudinal study
No full textOsteopathic Manipulative Treatment Improves Heart Surgery Outcomes: A Randomized Controlled Trial
No full textBackground. Controlling sternal pain after heart surgery is important to reduce the risk of postoperative complications, but pain is often undertreated because of contraindications and side effects of analgesic drugs. Recently, osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) was demonstrated to reduce pain in different clinical contexts, suggesting its potential utility after cardiac surgery. The aim of this open-label, controlled study is to assess whether OMT contributes to sternal pain relief and improves postoperative outcomes. Methods. Eighty post-sternotomy adult inpatients were randomly allocated one to one to receive a standardized cardiorespiratory rehabilitation program alone (control group) or combined with OMT. Pain intensity and respiratory functional capacity were quantified by the Visual Analogue Scale score and by a standardized breathing test, at the start and end of rehabilitation. Results. At the start of rehabilitation, the control group and the OMT group had similar Visual Analogue Scale median scores (controls 4, interquartile range [IQR]: 2 to 5; OMT 4, IQR: 3 to 5; p = not significant) and mean inspiratory volumes (controls 825 +/- 381 mL; OMT 744 +/- 291 mL; p [not significant). At the end of rehabilitation, the OMT group had a lower Visual Analogue Scale median score (controls 3, IQR: 2 to 4; OMT 1, IQR: 1 to 2; p < 0.01) and higher mean inspiratory volume (controls 1,400 +/- 588 mL; OMT 1,781 +/- 633 mL; p < 0.01). The analgesic drug intake was similar in the two groups. The hospitalization was shorter in the OMT group than in the control group (19.1 +/- 4.8 versus 21.7 +/- 6.3 days; p < 0.05). Conclusions. The combination of standard care with OMT is effective in inducing pain relief and functional recovery, and significantly improves the management of patients after heart surgery with sternotomy. (C) 2017 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeon
Gender Differences in Illness Behavior After Cardiac Surgery
No full textPURPOSE: Differences in the ways male and female patients confront their illness after cardiac surgery may contribute to previously observed gender differences in the outcomes of cardiac rehabilitation. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to verify whether there are gender-related differences in illness behavior (IB) soon after cardiac surgery and before entering cardiac rehabilitation. METHODS: Patients (N = 1323) completed the IB Questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) 9 +/- 5 (mean +/- SD) days after cardiac surgery. The scores were tested for gender differences in score distributions (Mann-Whitney U test) and in prevalence of clinically relevant scores (the Pearson chi(2) test). Multivariate regression analyses were made with IB Questionnaire and HADS scores as independent variables, and gender, age, education, marital status, and type of surgery as predictors. RESULTS: Denial was significantly (P < .01) prevalent among the men (3.6 +/- 1.4) versus women (3.2 +/- 1.6), whereas disease conviction (men = 2.1 +/- 1.5, women = 2.5 +/- 1.6), dysphoria (men = 1.5 +/- 1.5, women = 2.0 +/- 1.6), anxiety (men = 6.0 +/- 3.6, women = 6.9 +/- 3.9), and depression (men = 5.3 +/- 3.8, women = 6.5 +/- 4.0) were significantly more prevalent among women. The prevalences of clinically relevant scores for disease conviction, anxiety, and depression were also significantly higher in women. Multivariate analysis showed that gender predicted these scores even after the removal of confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Gender differences exist in denial, disease conviction, and dysphoria, probably depending on the culturally assigned roles of men and women. As these aspects of IB may compromise treatment compliance and the quality of life, the efficacy of cardiac rehabilitation programs might be improved taking into account the different prevalences in men and women
MagIC System: a New Textile-Based Wearable Device for Biological Signal Monitoring. Applicability in Daily Life and Clinical Setting
No full textThe paper presents a new textile-based wearable system for the unobtrusive recording of cardiorespiratory and motion signals during spontaneous behavior along with the first results concerning the application of this device in daily life and in a clinical environment. The system, called MagIC (Maglietta Interattiva Computerizzata), is composed of a vest, including textile sensors for detecting ECG and respiratory activity, and a portable electronic board for motion detection, signal preprocessing and wireless data transmission to a remote monitoring station. The MagIC system has been tested in freely moving subjects at work, at home, while driving and cycling and in microgravity condition during a parabolic flight. Applicability of the system in cardiac in-patients is now under evaluation. Preliminary data derived from recordings performed on patients in bed and during physical exercise showed 1) good signal quality over most of the monitoring periods, 2) a correct identification of arrhythmic events, and 3) a correct estimation of the average beat-by-beat heart rate. These positive results supports further developments of the MagIC system, aimed at tuning this approach for a routine use in clinical practice and in daily lif
Textile Technology for the Vital Signs Monitoring in Telemedicine and Extreme Environments
No full textThis paper illustrates two extensive applications of a smart garment we previously developed for the monitoring of ECG, respiration, and movement. In the first application, the device, named Maglietta Interattiva Computerizzata (MagIC), was used for the home monitoring of cardiac patients. The used platform included MagIC for signals collection, a touchscreen computer with a dedicated software for data handling, and a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) dongle for data transmission, via email, to three cardiologists. Three patients daily-performed 3-min telemonitoring sessions for 30 days by using the platform. The whole system behaved correctly in 85 out of 90 sessions. In five instances, a second session was required due to UMTS traffic congestion. Only in three sessions, cardiologists asked the patient to repeat the acquisition because of poor signal quality. In the second application, MagIC was used to evaluate the effects of high-altitude hypoxia on sleep and 24 h daily life in 30 healthy subjects at 3500 and 5400 m above sea level on Mount Everest slopes. The use of MagIC garment was reported to be simple and requiring short instrumentation time even in the demanding expedition environment. The signal quality was adequate in 111 out of 115 recordings and 90% of the subjects found the vest comfortable
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Applications of a Textile-Based Wearable System for Vital Signs Monitoring
No full textA new textile-based wearable system, named MagIC (Maglietta Interattiva Computerizzata) has been recently developed for getting unobtrusive recordings of cardiorespiratory and motion signals during spontaneous behavior. The system is composed of a vest, including textile sensors for ECG and breathing frequency detection, and a portable electronic board for motion assessment, signal preprocessing and wireless data transmission to a remote computer. In this study the MagIC System has been used to monitor vital signs 1) in cardiac inpatients in bed and during physical exercise and 2) in healthy subjects during exercise and under gravitational stress. All recordings showed a correct identification of arrhythmic events and a correct estimation of RR Interval. The positive results obtained in this study support the routine use of the system in a clinical setting, experimental environments, daily life conditions and spor
Nutrition Markers in Patients After Heart Surgery
No full textBackground: Nutrition support is an important aspect of multi-disciplinary approaches in cardiology rehabilitation. However, little is known about the impact of a patient's nutrition status on recovery after elective heart surgery. The authors assessed changes in nutrition markers in patients undergoing postsurgical rehabilitation, and tested their correlation with systemic inflammatory responses and clinical outcomes to determine the adequacy of the prescribed dietary regimen. Methods: Plasma concentrations of nutrition biomarkers were measured in 50 nondiabetic patients upon admission to a cardiology rehabilitation unit after coronary artery bypass grafting or mitral and/or aortic valve replacement (DO), and again I 6 days later (D16). Results: On D16, low plasma albumin increased, anemia improved, and high levels of inflammation markers declined. Vitamins remained stable within normal values, with the exception of vitamin B(12), which decreased significantly from 516 +/- 341 to 445 +/- 212 ng/mL. (P = .007). Blood glucose was >110 mg/dL in 51% of the patients at baseline; this proportion did not decline after rehabilitation. Overweight patients (body mass index >25 kg/m(2)) were prevalent (58%). They showed a slightly but not significantly greater inflammatory response and had a higher incidence of infective complications than the normal-weight group, but similar levels of nutrition markers. Conclusions: The standard dietary regimen followed during cardiological rehabilitation after major cardiovascular surgery aids recovery from surgical insult, but fails to normalize high glucose levels. Vitamin B(12) supplementation should be encouraged because of its substantial reduction during the rehabilitation period. (JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2010;34:143-150
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