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Background: To analyze the in-hospital complication rate in women suffering from non-ST elevation myocardial infarction treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) compared to men., Methods: The files of 479 consecutive patients (133 women and 346 men) suffering from a Non STEMI (Non ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction) between the January 1st 2006 and March 21st 2009 were retrospectively analyzed with special attention to every single complication occurring during hospital stay. Data were analyzed using nonparametric tests and are reported as median unless otherwise specified. A p value < .05 was considered significant., Results: As compared to men, women were significantly older (75.8 vs. 65.2 years; p < .005). All cardiovascular risk factors but tobacco and hypertension were similar between the groups: men were noticeably more often smoker (p < .0001) and women more hypertensive (p < .005). No difference was noticed for pre-hospital cardiovascular drug treatment. However women were slightly more severe at entry (more Killip class IV; p = .0023; higher GRACE score for in-hospital death - p = .008 and CRUSADE score for bleeding - p < .0001). All the patients underwent PCI of the infarct-related artery after 24 or 48 hrs post admission without sex-related difference either for timing of PCI or primary success rate. During hospitalization, 130 complications were recorded. Though the event rate was slightly higher in women (30% vs. 26% - p = NS), no single event was significantly gender related. The logistic regression identified age and CRP concentration as the only predictive variables in the whole group. After splitting for genders, these parameters were still predictive of events in men. In women however, CRP was the only one with a borderline p value., Conclusions: Our study does not support any gender difference for in-hospital adverse events in patients treated invasively for an acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation and elevated troponin.

IGL-1 solution is characterized by inversion of K+ and Na+ concentrations in the University Wisconsin (UW) solution and polyethylene glycol 35 (PEG 35) substitution for hydroxy ethyl starch. In this prospective study, 121 patients transplanted with kidneys preserved in IGL-1 solution were compared to 102 patients grafted with kidneys preserved in UW solution. Serum creatinine and creatinine clearance, delayed graft function (DGF) and rejection episodes, patient and graft survival were evaluated in the first post-transplant year. Groups were comparable regarding to donor and recipient characteristics. Median creatinine levels were significantly lower in IGL-1 group from day 6 to day 14 and it decreased more rapidly in the IGL-1 group (from day 4 to day 15: p < 0.05). Creatinine clearance values were usually higher in the IGL-1 group for the first 15 d. During the follow-up period serum creatinine concentrations were lower in IGL-1 group at one, three, six and 12 months after transplantation (p = 0.04; p = 0.06, p = 0.01 and p = 0.08, respectively) while creatinine clearance values were similar during the follow-up. No significant difference in DGF and rejection rates as well as in patient and graft survival was shown between the two groups. Kidneys preserved in IGL-1 solution showed to have the same function as kidneys preserved in UW solution.

The impact of portal or systemic venous pancreas graft drainage on patient and graft outcome remains controversial. In the present study, the impact of venous drainage type on long-term patient and graft survival is assessed. From July 1996 to December 2002 80 simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplants were enrolled into a prospective study: 44 received a pancreas allograft with portal (P-SPK group) and 36 with systemic venous drainage (S-SPK group). Enteric exocrine drainage was performed in all recipients receiving the same immunosuppressive treatment. At one yr, the patient survival rates were 91.7% and 95.5% both for S-SPK and P-SPK groups, respectively; no significant difference in survival was shown at any time point of the follow-up. The one-, three-, five-, and eight-yr pancreas survival rates were 75%, 60.6%, 56.7%, and 44%, respectively in the S-SPK group compared to 88.6%, 84.1%, 78.4%, and 31.3% in the P-SPK group. The one-, three-, five-, and eight-yr kidney survival rates were 91.7%, 78.15%, 74.1%, and 57.9%, respectively in the S-SPK group compared to 93.2%, 88.6%, 78.4%, and 38.9% in the P-SPK group. Comparing the two groups, no significant difference was shown in the total number of surgical complications as well as in the number of each complication. No significant difference in long-term outcomes between the two groups was shown, even if in S-SPK group a higher incidence of pancreas graft loss has been reported and it was in part correlated to a higher number of graft thromboses.