25. Multiple Imputation for Nonresponse in Surveys. By D. B. Rubin. ISBN 0 471 08705 X. Wiley, Chichester, 1987. 258 pp. £30.25.

Multiple Imputation for Nonresponse in Surveys

ACC
: American College of Cardiology
ACE
: angiotensin-converting enzyme
ACS
: acute coronary syndrome
AF
: atrial fibrillation
AGNES
: Arrhythmia Genetics in the Netherlands
AHA
: American Heart Association
AMIOVIRT
: AMIOdarone Versus Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator:

/pdf/2015-esc-guidelines-for-the-management-of-patients-with-3hzn8vw0c4.pdf

2015 ESC Guidelines for the management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death: The Task Force for the Management of Patients with Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Endorsed by: Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology (AEPC)

It is important that the medical profession plays a significant role in critically evaluating the use of diagnostic procedures and therapies as they are introduced and tested in the detection, management, or prevention of disease states. Rigorous and expert analysis of the available data documenting absolute and relative benefits and risks of those procedures and therapies can produce helpful guidelines that improve the effectiveness of care, optimize patient outcomes, and favorably affect the overall cost of care by focusing resources on the most effective strategies.

The American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have jointly engaged in the production of such guidelines in the area of cardiovascular disease since 1980. The ACC/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines, whose charge is to develop, update, or revise practice guidelines for important cardiovascular diseases and procedures, directs this effort. The Task Force is pleased to have this guideline developed in conjunction with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Writing committees are charged with the task of performing an assessment of the evidence and acting as an independent group of authors to develop or update written recommendations for clinical practice.

Experts in the subject under consideration have been selected from all 3 organizations to examine subject-specific data and write guidelines. The process includes additional representatives from other medical practitioner and specialty groups when appropriate. Writing committees are specifically charged to perform a formal literature review, weigh the strength of evidence for or against a particular treatment or procedure, and include estimates of expected health outcomes where data exist. Patient-specific modifiers, comorbidities, and issues of patient preference that might influence the choice of particular tests or therapies are considered as well as frequency of follow-up and cost effectiveness. When available, information from studies on cost will be considered; however, review …

/pdf/acc-aha-esc-2006-guidelines-for-management-of-patients-with-5a3f1emfzy.pdf

ACC/AHA/ESC 2006 guidelines for management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable plasma cell dyscrasia that remains fatal. Despite efforts over the past 3 to 4 decades, the median survival of patients with MM does not exceed 3 to 4 years. Although patients receiving combination chemotherapy have higher response rates compared with those receiving oral melphalan and prednisolone, they have no survival advantage. High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation has documented benefit over conventional treatment and is currently the accepted mode of treatment for symptomatic MM. Allogeneic transplantation is associated with high complete remission rates, but at the cost of high therapy-related mortality. Maintenance treatment with interferon-a shows benefit, albeit in a small fraction of MM patients. The use of bisphosphonates in patients with MM has clearly demonstrated benefit and reduced morbidity associated with bone disease. All of these measures have improved remission rates and survival, but all patients with MM ultimately relapse and succumb to their disease. Novel therapeutic strategies are therefore required to improve outcome of MM patients. The responses noted to thalidomide in MM are encouraging. Immune-based strategies, including both adoptive immunotherapy and vaccinations, are currently being investigated in the preclinical and clinical setting, with the goal of enhancing autologous and allogeneic anti-MM immunity for therapeutic applications.

Multiple myeloma

2015 ESC Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death

/pdf/2015-esc-guidelines-for-the-management-of-patients-with-4lhfmy4xir.pdf

2015 ESC Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death.

Antigenicity and cross-reactivity of denatured fibril proteins of primary, secondary, and myeloma associated amyloids.

Amyloid and Amyloidosis

Orthotopic liver transplantation for familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy: A pathological study

We report the identification of a new transthyretin (TTR) gene mutation and variant protein, Glu61Gly, in a 55-year-old man with progressive cardiomyopathy, mild peripheral neuropathy and bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. A diagnosis of TTR-associated familial amyloidosis (ATTR) was considered after an endomyocardial biopsy revealed amyloid deposits in the heart of a patient who had no family history of amyloidosis and no evidence of a plasma cell dyscrasia. Serum screening for a TTR variant by isoelectric focusing (IEF) was positive and prompted further studies to identify the genetic abnormality and to characterize the amyloidogenic protein. Direct DNA sequence analysis of all four coding regions in the TTR gene demonstrated heterozygosity in exon 3. Near equal amounts of guanine (G) and adenine (A) were observed at the second base position of codon 61. The wild-type (GAG) and mutated (GGG) sequences found in codon 61 correspond to glutamic acid (Glu) and glycine (Gly) residues, amino acids which differ...

A new transthyretin variant (Glu61Gly) associated with cardiomyopathy

A monoclonal immunoglobulin has been isolated from the peritoneal fluid of a patient with primary amyloidosis. The immunoglobulin was reduced and alkylated and the light and heavy chains were compared to the major protein constituent of that patient's hepatic amyloid fibrils. N-terminal amino acid sequences of the light chain and amyloid fibril were identical when carried to 20 residues and were typical of a kappa I light chain. Molecular weight studies suggested that the fibril protein was composed of an intact light chain with a molecular weight of 23,000. The hypothesis that amyloid fibril protein in primary amyloid is derived from circulating monoclonal immunoglobulin is discussed.

Martha Skinner

Papers

Antigenicity and cross-reactivity of denatured fibril proteins of primary, secondary, and myeloma associated amyloids.

Amyloid and Amyloidosis

Orthotopic liver transplantation for familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy: A pathological study

A new transthyretin variant (Glu61Gly) associated with cardiomyopathy

Indentity of a peritoneal fluid immunoglobulin light chain and the amyloid fibril i primary amyloidosis