Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0034186 (pyelonephritis)
 6,144 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on dialysis have poor overall survival, and cardiovascular (CV) is the main cause of mortality among these patients. Coronary calcification is an independent predictor of mortality and CV events in dialysis patients and can be accessed by using a computerized tomography scanning. The high cost of this procedure, however, precludes routine implementation of this method for the purposes of risk stratification. Aortic arch calcification has been associated with CV mortality in the general population. Also, vascular calcification beyond the thoracic aorta has been shown to be associated with mortality in ESRD patients. We presented here a case of a young patient with ESRD in which the coronary calcification could be cleared seen through simple chest radiography. This is a 35-year-old man with a history of ESRD secondary to pyelonephritis, who was receiving conventional hemodialysis thrice a week for the last 5 years. He was submitted to chest radiography as part of routine annual cardiac screening. His blood pressure was within the target limits, although much higher in lower limbs, generating a high ankle brachial index of 1.3. He also had secondary hyperparathyroidism. His physical examination was unremarkable, except for the presence of non-functioning arteriovenous fistulas in both arms and a central venous catheter. The last routine blood test showed calcium 9.0 mg/dL, phosphate 5.7 mg/dL, potassium 4.7 mEq/L, creatinine 7.4 mg/dL, alkaline phosphatase 175 U/L, and parathyroid hormone 1,745 pg/mL. Surprisingly, the chest radiography revealed a calcified aortic valve and a calcified coronary artery. This patient had sudden cardiac death few months after this radiography had been taken. We present here a case of coronary calcification that can be seen through simple chest radiography. Such images are not usually seen, although the risk of vascular calcification is high in this population, and is closely related to CV risk. Chest radiographs, nearly universally available provide a method for assessing coronary artery calcification. Such a finding is intriguing and should alert nephrologists and cardiologists for the high risk of CV death in these patients.
...
PMID:Coronary Artery Calcification Seen Through Chest Radiography. 2625 90

This review of the original autopsy report of Beethoven's remains indicates Paget's disease within the skull, which was dense and twice normal thickness, with dilated vessels at the petrous bone. The facial nerves were enlarged and the eighth nerves atrophied despite their sharing a common meatus at the internal auditory canal. Nephrolithiasis and pyelonephritis with cortical and perinephric abscesses were also reported. The hypercalcaemia was probably caused by hyperparathyroidism, which may be associated with Paget's disease, and both may have played a role in his psychiatric symptoms as well as in his abdominal pain and gastrointestinal complaints. Since Paget's disease may also be associated with gout, some of the joint pains could be attributable to this as well. Hypovitaminosis A from chronic pancreatitis is suggested as a cause of painful eyes and either quinine abuse or severe hypercalcaemia as a cause of arrhythmias. Beethoven died of terminal cirrhosis with chronic pancreatitis, most likely related to chronic excessive intake of alcohol. Thus, Paget's disease, complicated by hyperparathyroidism, gout, and attempts to find relief of symptoms through the use of alcohol, quinine, and possibly salicylates can explain virtually all of Beethoven's medical problems, some of which appear to have influenced his musical compositions.
 ...
PMID:Beethoven's autopsy revisited: A pathologist sounds a final note. 2650 24


<< Previous 1 2