Anemia, Aplastic ; therapy ; Humans ; Treatment Outcome

Cyclosporine ; pharmacokinetics ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Treatment Outcome

Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polycythemia ; etiology ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; complications

Anemia, Hypochromic ; etiology ; Humans ; Iron ; metabolism ; Protein Deficiency ; complications ; congenital ; Transferrin ; deficiency

Anemia, Aplastic ; diagnosis ; Consensus ; Humans

Atrial Fibrillation/surgery* ; Cardiac Tamponade/surgery* ; Catheter Ablation/adverse effects* ; Humans ; Radiofrequency Ablation ; Treatment Outcome ; Vena Cava, Superior/surgery*

Erythrocyte Count ; Erythrocytes ; Longevity

OBJECTIVETo identify the risk factors of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in hospitalized patients with acute stroke, under a perspective case-control study.

METHODS488 cases with stroke, identified by CT or MRI and admitted to the department of neurology and neurosurgery in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital between December 2001 and December 2002 were consecutively studied. There were 328 male and 160 female patients (95.5% Hans) with a mean age of 65 +/- 11 years, ranging 22 - 93 years. The procedure of study would include: (1) General condition, possible risk factors, symptoms of DVT physical check-up to every eligible patient on first day of admission but the plasma concentrations of D-dimer (ELISA), thrombomodulin, antithrombin-III and blood routine examination were measured on the next morning. (2) The ultrasonography (US) was used for detecting both lower extremities at 7 - 10 days after the onset of stroke, and D-dimer and AT-III tests were repeated on the same or next day that the US was taken. (3) The ultrasound examination was repeated after a week in patients with high suspicion of DVT. (4) The therapy of stroke was recorded before the end of the study. Data of stoke patients with DVT was compared with those without DVT to identify the DVT risk factors. The effect of each variable on DVT was assessed by logistic regression analysis.

RESULTSThe prevalence of DVT was 21.7% among the patients. In multivariate analysis, age >/= 65 years old (OR = 1.655, 95% CI: 1.005 - 2.725), being male (OR = 1.993, 95% CI: 1.221 - 3.253), bedridden (OR = 3.275, 95% CI: 1.653 - 6.486) and DVT assessment scores >/= 2 (OR = 5.019, 95% CI: 2.685 - 9.381) were independently associated with DVT in all the stroke patients. Being male (OR = 2.828, 95% CI: 1.242 - 6.438), white blood cell count > 10.0 x 10(9)/L (OR = 2.032, 95% CI: 0.897 - 4.602) and DVT assessment scores >/= 2 (OR = 8.809, 95% CI: 3.081 - 25.188) were the independent risk factors of DVT in hemorrhagic stroke group. Age >/= 65 years old (OR = 2.167, 95% CI: 1.072 - 4.381), bedridden (OR = 3.008, 95% CI: 1.435 - 6.307) and DVT assessment scores >/= 2 (OR = 2.600, 95% CI: 1.077 - 6.278) were the independent risk factors of DVT in ischemic stroke group.

CONCLUSIONPatients hospitalized with acute stroke were under high risk of DVT. Data suggested that old age, female, bedridden and high DVT assessment scores >/= 2 were independent risk factors for DVT in acute stroke patients that called for supervision and prophylaxis on DVT.

Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Leg ; blood supply ; Male ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stroke ; complications ; Venous Thrombosis ; epidemiology ; etiology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the initial clinical characteristics, the response to treatment, and the outcome in adult patients with Evans syndrome.

METHODSThe clinical data of 84 adult patients (20 males, 64 females) with Evans syndrome diagnosed at our center between 1984 and 2007 were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTSThe patients were followed up for a median duration of 17.5 (0.03 - 140) months. All the patients initially received intravenous steroids with or without intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Forty-seven patients were treated with corticosteroids alone initially. Complete remission (CR) and partial remission (PR) were achieved in 38 of the patients, but 92.1% of them relapsed during a median follow-up of 12 months. Twenty-eight patients who were resistant to corticosteroids therapy or with severe bleeding were subsequently administered immunosupressive agents. CR and PR were obtained in 89.3% of them. Within a median follow-up of 8 months, 84% of these patients relapsed.

CONCLUSIONSEvans syndrome is a chronic and easy to recurrent disease, which is often refractory to conventional therapy. Treatment with combination agents might be a useful therapeutic approach to the patients.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Adult ; Anemia, Hemolytic, Autoimmune ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Remission Induction ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome