Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “CONVALESCENCE”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 523 records · Page 29Linked to original sources

Serial changes in fibrinolysis and coagulation activation markers in acute and convalescent phase of ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND: The changes in the activity of a number of plasma markers of coagulation and fibrinolysis have previously been studied in patients with ischemic stroke, with conflicting results. We aimed to find out the changes in the activities of a wide array of markers of the coagulation and the fibrinolytic system of mildly or moderately affected first-ever ischemic stroke patients. METHODS: In a prospective, longitudinal, case-control study, we studied plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) activity, tissue-type plasminogen activator antigen (t-PA:Ag), d-dimer, prothrombin fragment 1+2 (F 1+2), and thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT) levels in 55 consecutive patients on admission, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after an ischemic stroke. Sex- and age-matched controls were studied once. All patients underwent blood sampling at each study time point; comprehensive stroke risk factors were recorded, and the etiology of the ischemic stroke was determined. All patients were contacted 3 years later for possible recurrent ischemic events. RESULTS: PAI-1 activity was increased in the acute phase and at 3 months, D-dimer levels were significantly higher at 1 week and 1 month after stroke, whereas t-PA:Ag, TAT and F 1+2 levels remained stable during the whole study period. CONCLUSIONS: The changes of the fibrinolytic and coagulation system activity in the patients with mild or moderate ischemic stroke appeared minor compared with the results of previous studies, which included more severely ill patients.

Acute-Phase Reaction↗

Persistent ICT malaria P.f/P.v panmalarial and HRP2 antigen reactivity after treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria is associated with gametocytemia and results in false-positive diagnoses of Plasmodium vivax in convalescence.

A problem with rapid Plasmodium falciparum-specific antigen histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2) detection tests for malaria is the persistence of antigen in blood after the disappearance of asexual-stage parasitemia and clinical symptoms, resulting in false-positive (FP) test results following treatment. The ICT P.f/P.v immunochromatographic test detects both HRP2 and a panmalarial antigen (PMA) found in both P. falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. To examine posttreatment antigen persistence with this test and whether persistent sexual-stage forms (gametocytes) are a cause of FP tests after treatment, we compared serial antigen test results with microscopy results from patients symptomatic with P. falciparum malaria in Indonesia for 28 days following treatment with chloroquine (CQ; n = 66), sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP; n = 36), and artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (ART + SP; n = 15). Persistent FP antigenemia following SP treatment occurred in 29% (HRP2) and 42% (PMA) of the patients on day 7 and in 10% (HRP2) and 23% (PMA) on day 14. The high rates of persistent HRP2 and PMA antigenemia following CQ and SP treatment were strongly associated with the presence of gametocytemia, with the proportion with gametocytes on day 7 posttreatment being significantly greater in those with FP results than in those with true-negative PMA and HRP2 results. Gametocyte frequency on day 14 post-SP treatment was also greater in those with FP PMA results. Following SP treatment, PMA persisted longer than HRP2, giving an FP diagnosis of P. vivax in up to 16% of patients on day 14, with all FP P. vivax diagnoses having gametocytemia. In contrast, PMA was rapidly cleared following ART + SP treatment in association with rapid clearance of gametocytemia. Gametocytes appear to be an important cause of persistent posttreatment panmalarial antigenemia in areas of endemicity and may also contribute in part to persistent HRP2 antigenemia following treatment.

Adult↗

Total body water, total exchangeable sodium and potassium in patients with convalescent acute myocardial infarction one to two months after onset.

Total exchangeable sodium (Nae), potassium (Ke), and total body water (TBW) were measured by the multiple isotope dilution method, in 10 healthy subjects (normal), 10 patients with congestive heart failure (CHF), and 47 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 1-2 months after onset. According to Killip's classification, 29 patients with AMI were classified as class I, and 18 patients were classified as class II and III (referred to as class II & III). No differences were found in plasma and urine sodium and potassium concentrations. By the multiple isotope dilution method, significant elevations in Nae/BSA (body surface area) were observed in the following order: normal, class I, class II & III and patients with CHF. Compared with normal subjects, Nae/BSA and Nae/Ke were elevated in class I patients. Elevations of Nae/Ke and TBW/BSA in both class II & III patients with AMI and patients with CHF indicated severe cardiac impairment. Both Nae/BSA (p = -0.60) and Ke/BSA (p = 0.71) had negative and positive correlations with the left ventricular ejection fractions (EF) measured by catheterization in 20 patients with AMI. This indicates a major sodium and water retention mechanism due to impaired cardiac function in AMI. It is worth noting that conspicuous abnormalities in body fluid compositions, particularly in class I patients with AMI as well as class II & III, remained despite no evidence of cardiac failure.

Adolescent↗

Mechanism of sleep-induced periodic breathing in convalescing stroke patients and healthy elderly subjects.

Cerebral vascular ischemic strokes are known to precipitate Cheyne-Stokes periodic breathing. Interestingly, Cheyne-Stokes-like breathing during sleep may be associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in some individuals. Therefore, it was reasoned that stroke patients with periodic breathing in sleep would be susceptible to OSA. Because oscillations in upper airway resistance can occur as a component of sleep-induced periodic breathing, we hypothesized that stroke patients with sleep-induced periodic breathing would have oscillations in upper airway resistance. These oscillations in resistance would be expected to contribute to OSA. We studied stroke patients with sleep-induced periodic breathing and control subjects to evaluate the relationship between upper airway resistance and ventilation in periodic breathing in sleep. Ventilation and upper airway resistance were measured in presleep wakefulness and in stage 2 NREM sleep. Mean tidal volume, minute ventilation, respiratory cycle timing variables, and upper airway resistance were not different between stroke and control subjects, either awake or asleep. Upper airway resistance increased and ventilation volume decreased from wakefulness to sleep in both groups. In an equivalent number of subjects from each group, reciprocal patterned oscillations in tidal volume and upper airway resistance were present at a 5 to 12.5 breath frequency during sleep. As upper airway resistance increased, tidal volume decreased. Stroke patients had wider fluctuations in upper airway resistance than control subjects, likely contributing to the higher number of sleep-disordered breathing events observed in the stroke patients.

Aged↗