Executive summary of the joint position paper on renal denervation of the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE) and the European Society of Hypertension (ESH)

No abstract available

Coronary side-effect potential of current and prospective antimigraine drugs

BACKGROUND: The antimigraine drugs ergotamine and sumatriptan may cause angina-like symptoms, possibly resulting from coronary artery constriction. We compared the coronary vasoconstrictor potential of a number of current and prospective antimigraine drugs (ergotamine, dihydroergotamine, methysergide and its metabolite methylergometrine, sumatriptan, naratriptan, zolmitriptan, rizatriptan, avitriptan). METHODS AND RESULTS: Concentration-response curves to the antimigraine drugs were constructed in human isolated coronary artery segments to obtain the maximum contractile response (Emax) and the concentration eliciting 50% of Emax (EC50). The EC50 values were related to maximum plasma concentrations (Cmax) reported in patients, obtaining Cmax/EC50 ratios as an index of coronary vasoconstriction occurring in the clinical setting. Furthermore, we studied the duration of contractile responses after washout of the acutely acting antimigraine drugs to assess their disappearance from the recept

Persistent Organic Pollutant in the Venetian coastal environment

The Venetian coastal area is characterized by a strong anthropogenic impact and its quality is very important because of local economical activities, such as tourism or fishing. In the context of the Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC), the aim of the project Q-ALiVe (Qualità dell’Ambiente Litoraneo Veneto) is to check the environmental quality of the Venetian coastal area and whether rivers contamination could influence it. We studied an area going from the mouth of the Adige river to the Malamocco inlet of the Venice lagoon (including the mouth of the Brenta river and the Chioggia lagoon inlet), to distance from the coast of up to about a kilometer. In this work we presented the data relative to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) as PCBs, PBDEs and PAHs, in samples of seawater. Samples were collected during four different sampling campaigns, in different seasons (June 2011, August 2011, September 2011, November 2011); in each sampling campaign we collected 10 samples of surface water. Analytical samples procedures for POPs include liquid-liquid continuous extraction, followed by an automated purification step, with neutral silica columns. Analysis were made by HRGC-HRMS (PCBs) or HRGC-LRMS (PAHs and PBDEs). Quantification was made by isotope dilution. Results suggest a negligible influence of rivers contamination to the quality of the sea facing the city of Chioggia and the Venice lagoon. Funds for this work were provided, in the framework of Q-ALiVe Project, by the Regione del Veneto - L.R. 15/07

Recirculatory modeling in man using Indocyanine green

Titration to effect is the most important action anesthesiologists use to assure adequacy of anesthesia and safeguard their patients from serious side effects. For a proper titration to effect the anesthesiologist takes into consideration the historical response to a given dose to estimate the response to a future dose. During induction of anesthesia the anesthesiologist is still unaware of the dose-response relationship of the patient. Because for many agents the knowledge of the covariates of influence on the induction dose-response relationship is lacking, many patients experience serious side effects during induction of anesthesia, often in the form of hemodynamic depression. In this thesis light is shed on the pharmacology of induction of anesthesia. The front-end kinetics are complex and often flow dependent. The observations in this thesis teach us that the modeling of the dose-concentration-effect relation is insufficiently described by compartmental modeling and improves by applying recirculatory PK-PD modeling. The anesthetic propofol and neuromuscular blocking agent rocuronium are described, using recirculatory modeling. (Non)invasive ICG measurement is used extensively in recirculatory modeling but is less well suited for hemodynamic monitoring. Noninvasive measurement of the ICG plasma disappearance rate proved adequate.Department of Anesthesiology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, the NetherlandsUBL - phd migration 201