Mayo Clinic

About: Mayo Clinic is a healthcare organization based out in Rochester, Minnesota, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Transplantation. The organization has 63387 authors who have published 169578 publications receiving 8114006 citations.

Prognostic importance of defibrillator shocks in patients with heart failure.

Abstract: Background Patients with heart failure who receive an implantable cardioverter–defibrillator (ICD) for primary prevention (i.e., prevention of a first life-threatening arrhythmic event) may later receive therapeutic shocks from the ICD. Information about longterm prognosis after ICD therapy in such patients is limited. Methods Of 829 patients with heart failure who were randomly assigned to ICD therapy, we implanted the ICD in 811. ICD shocks that followed the onset of ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation were considered to be appropriate. All other ICD shocks were considered to be inappropriate. Results Over a median follow-up period of 45.5 months, 269 patients (33.2%) received at least one ICD shock, with 128 patients receiving only appropriate shocks, 87 receiving only inappropriate shocks, and 54 receiving both types of shock. In a Cox proportional-hazards model adjusted for baseline prognostic factors, an appropriate ICD shock, as compared with no appropriate shock, was associated with a significant increase in the subsequent risk of death from all causes (hazard ratio, 5.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.97 to 8.12; P<0.001). An inappropriate ICD shock, as compared with no inappropriate shock, was also associated with a significant increase in the risk of death (hazard ratio, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.29 to 3.05; P = 0.002). For patients who survived longer than 24 hours after an appropriate ICD shock, the risk of death remained elevated (hazard ratio, 2.99; 95% CI, 2.04 to 4.37; P<0.001). The most common cause of death among patients who received any ICD shock was progressive heart failure. Conclusions Among patients with heart failure in whom an ICD is implanted for primary prevention, those who receive shocks for any arrhythmia have a substantially higher risk of death than similar patients who do not receive such shocks.

Adoptive T cell therapy using antigen-specific CD8+ T cell clones for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma: In vivo persistence, migration, and antitumor effect of transferred T cells

Abstract: Adoptive T cell therapy, involving the ex vivo selection and expansion of antigen-specific T cell clones, provides a means of augmenting antigen-specific immunity without the in vivo constraints that can accompany vaccine-based strategies. A phase I study was performed to evaluate the safety, in vivo persistence, and efficacy of adoptively transferred CD8+ T cell clones targeting the tumor-associated antigens, MART1/MelanA and gp100 for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma. Four infusions of autologous T cell clones were administered, the first without IL-2 and subsequent infusions with low-dose IL-2 (at 0.25, 0.50, and 1.0 × 106 units/m2 twice daily for the second, third, and fourth infusions, respectively). Forty-three infusions of MART1/MelanA-specific or gp100-specific CD8+ T cell clones were administered to 10 patients. No serious toxicity was observed. We demonstrate that the adoptively transferred T cell clones persist in vivo in response to low-dose IL-2, preferentially localize to tumor sites and mediate an antigen-specific immune response characterized by the elimination of antigen-positive tumor cells, regression of individual metastases, and minor, mixed or stable responses in 8 of 10 patients with refractory, metastatic disease for up to 21 mo.

Perspective : how many women have osteoporosis ?

Abstract: Osteoporosis is widely viewed as a major public health concern, but the exact magnitude of the problem is uncertain and likely to depend on how the condition is defined. Noninvasive bone mineral measurements can be used to define a state of heightened fracture risk (osteopenia), or the ultimate clinical manifestation of fracture can be assessed (established osteoporosis). If bone mineral measurements more than 2 standard deviations below the mean of young normal women represent osteopenia, then 45% of white women aged 50 years and over have the condition at one or more sites in the hip, spine, or forearm on the basis of population-based data from Rochester, Minnesota. A smaller proportion is affected at each specific skeletal site: 32% have bone mineral values this low in the lumbar spine, 29% in either of two regions in the proximal femur, and 26% in the midradius. Although this overall estimate is substantial, some other serious chronic diseases are almost as common. More importantly, low bone mass is associated with adverse health outcomes, especially fractures. The lifetime risk of any fracture of the hip, spine, or distal forearm is almost 40% in white women and 13% in white men from age 50 years onward. If the enormous costs associated with these fractures are to be reduced, increased attention must be given to the design and implementation of control programs directed at this major health problem.