Dementias have been recognized for more than 2 millennia and attributed to many causes, but by the mid-20th century, dementia had become nearly synonymous with cerebrovascular insufficiency. By the end of the century, Alzheimer disease (AD) took the center stage, relegating vascular causes to the sidelines even though they might involve up to 70% of dementia cases. 1 Despite more than 2000 studies, all AD-specific treatment options have failed. Meanwhile, growing evidence suggests that some dementia cases could be prevented by enhancing healthy lifestyles and controlling vascular risk factors. Vascular cognitive impairment, which ranges from the brain-at-risk stage to dementia, represents an important, potentially preventable part of the growing dementia challenge in the aging worldwide population. Now that evidence for vascular contributions to dementia has become incontestable, the dementia field is slowly moving back toward vascular causes; however, many answers likely lie in their interaction with neurodegeneration. It is important to ensure that the pendulum does not swing too far back.
Spontaneous cervico-cerebral artery dissection (CCAD) is a common condition found among young patients with ischemic stroke. We examined the possible association between the polymorphism of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR)-C677T and the gene mutation in transforming growth factor beta receptor II (TGFBR2) in a cohort of CCAD patients. One-hundred CCAD cases (65 males; mean age: 38.08 ± 10.68 years) and 100 matching controls were included. Ancestry informative markers (AIMs) were used to increase internal validity of the genetic analysis. Genotypes of the C677T polymorphism in the MTHFR gene were determined by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism; direct sequencing was used for a mutation analysis of the TGFBR2 gene. Associations were evaluated using a multivariate statistics, and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was analyzed. We also incorporated our data into a meta-analysis of the MTHFR-C677T. Sixty-three patients presented with vertebral and 37 with carotid artery dissection. Ancestry markers found a call rate on each over 95 %. All AIMs did not deviate from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p > 0.05). The homozygous TT genotype was more frequent in cases (OR 2.04, CI 95 % 1.53-2.72, p = 0.005), whereas no significant difference was found on heterozygous CT genotype. TGFBR2 mutation was not present in our samples. In the meta-analysis of MTHFR/C677T variant, a total 613 cases and 1547 controls were analyzed; we found a moderate association for the recessive model genotype (OR 2.04, CI 95 % 1.53-2.72; p = 0.342; Z = 4.83; I (2) = 11.3). This study supports a positive association between the MTHFR-C677T polymorphism and genetically confirmed Mexican mestizo CCAD patients.
Objectives: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have higher rates of mortality. Previous research indicates that treatment with statin therapy may play a role in reducing the mortality rate of patients with RA but literature is scarce and limited.
Objetivos: establecer si en Colombia en pacientes con fibrilación auricular no valvular (FA) el uso de los nuevos anticoagulantes orales (NACO) son costo útiles cuando se comparan con los antagonistas de la vitamina K (AVK), para el desenlace de ataque cerebrovascular (ACV)
Métodos: estudio de costo utilidad, mediante un proceso de Markov, cuyo desenlace se estimó en términos de años de vida ajustados por calidad (AVAC), comparando NACO como grupo contra AVK. Se realizó revisión sistemática para obtener estudios de la literatura. Se evaluaron 4 estados que fueron: ACV, independiente, dependiente y muerte; adicionalmente se evaluaron complicaciones no cerebrales. Se simuló una cohorte, iniciando a los 60 años con un horizonte temporal de 24 años. Se realizaron análisis de sensibilidad.
Resultados: se hallaron 3 estudios que cumplían criterios de inclusión. En el análisis de costo utilidad encontramos un incremento de AVAC de 0,28 años con un costo incremental de $10.559.367 de los NACO respecto a AVK con una razón de costo efectividad incremental (RCEI) de $38.394.817, lo cual está dentro del umbral de disponibilidad a pagar. Los análisis de sensibilidad mostraron que los NACO solo se hacen costo efectiva con tasas de descuento bajas o con horizontes temporales de 19 años o más. La principal fuente de variabilidad fue el costo de los NACO
Conclusiones: los NACO son una alternativa costo útil a los AVK para pacientes con FA bajo los supuestos de nuestro modelo.
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