1,720,968 research outputs found
Type of anticoagulation therapy in oldest old, frail people with atrial fibrillation: Prescription modification over time. Authors' Reply
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Dabigatran-induced acute liver injury in older patients: Case report and literature review
No full textObjective. Dabigatran, a direct inhibitor of thrombin, represents an effective alternative to warfarin. Despite the good tolerance and predictable pharmacokinetic profile, dabigatran may be associated to adverse reactions, including gastrointestinal disorders. Here we report on a case of hepatotoxicity along with an extensive revision of the available literature on dabigatran induced liver injury Methods & results. An 84 years old man attended the Emergency Department after experiencing fatigue for a few days. He suffered from atrial fibrillation and had been initiated on dabigatran (110 mg bid) in the last four weeks. Clinical examination revealed tachycardia, scleral icterus in the absence of signs of chronic hepatic disease. Blood chemistry showed altered liver function tests: AST 809 IU/L, ALT 1629 IU/L, total bilirubin 2.42 mg/dL, gGT 381 IU/L, ALP 388 IU/L, LDH 552 IU/L. Screening laboratory investigations for infectious, autoimmune or metabolic hepatotoxic pathology were unremarkable. The abdominal ultrasound examination excluded vascular causes, revealing non-homogeneous echo-structure consistent with mild hepatic steatosis. At admission to our Geriatric ward dabigatran was discontinued and fondaparinux was introduced. Resolution of the hepatitis and normalization of blood chemistry was observed within two weeks. Few cases are described regarding hepatotoxicity likely caused by the recent onset of treatment with dabigatran. Conclusions. DOACs associated hepatotoxicity is rare but potentially harmful and should be kept in mind, especially in comorbid patients with unexplained liver injury. The mechanism of liver injury during dabigatran therapy is unknown and, not related to cytochrome P450 enzymes since the drug does not affect CYP450 activity
Spontaneous muscle hematoma in older patients with COVID-19: two case reports and literature review
Full text linkBackground: In late December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia cases due to a novel betacoronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 was reported in China. The so-called COVID 19 is responsible not only for respiratory symptoms, from mild up to pneumonia and even acute respiratory distress syndrome, but also for extrapulmonary involvement. Cases presentation: Here we present two cases of spontaneous muscle hematoma in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, both on therapeutic LMWH for atrial fibrillation: the first one was an 86-year-old Caucasian female with a history of hypertensive cardiomyopathy and the second one was an 81-year-old Caucasian male with a history of hypertension, diabetes and ischemic heart disease. Blood tests revealed a considerable drop of hemoglobin and alterations of coagulation system. In both cases, embolization of femoral artery was performed. A few other cases of bleeding manifestations are reported in literature, while a lot has been published about the hypercoagulability related to COVID-19. Conclusions: Our reports and literature review highlight the need of active surveillance for possible hemorrhagic complications in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection
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
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Different glomerular filtration rate estimating formula for prescribing DOACs in oldest patients: appropriate dosage and bleeding risk. Post hoc analysis of a prospective cohort
No full textBackground: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) pharmacokinetics depends on estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), whose estimation is crucial for optimal risk/benefit balance. Aims: To assess the concordance among different eGFR formulas and the potential impact on DOACs prescription appropriateness and bleeding risk in oldest hospitalized patients. Methods: Post hoc analysis of a single-centre prospective cohort study. eGFR was calculated by creatinine-based (MDRD, CKD-EPICr, BIS1) and creatinine–cystatin-C-based (CKD-EPIComb and BIS2) formulas. Patients were stratified according to eGFR [severely depressed (SD) 15–29; moderately depressed (MD) 30–49; preserved/mildly depressed (PMD): ≥ 50 ml/min/1.73 m2]. Concordance between the different equations was assessed by Cohen’s kappa coefficient. Results: Among AF patients, 841 (59.2% women, mean age 85.9 ± 6.5 years) received DOACs. By CKD-EPICr equation, 135 patients were allocated in the SD, 255 in the MD and 451 in the PMD group. The concordance was excellent only between BIS 2 and CKD-EPIComb and MDRD and CKD-EPICr, while was worse (from good to poor) between the other formulas. Indeed, by adding cystatin-C almost over 1/3 of the patients were reallocated to a worse eGFR class. Bleeding prevalence increased by 2–3% in patients with discordant eGFR between formulas, reallocated to a worse chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage, although without reaching statistical significance. CKD-EPIComb resulted the best predictor of bleeding events (AUROC 0.71, p = 0.03). Discussion: This study highlights the variability in CKD staging according to different eGFR formulas, potentially determining inappropriate DOACs dosing. Although the cystatin-C derived CKDEPIComb equation is the most accurate for stratifying patients, BIS1 may represent a reliable alternative
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