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BACKGROUND Rectal cancer treatment is associated with substantial short- and longer-term morbidity that may affect patients' ability to work. OBJECTIVE We evaluated patient-reported work ability during the first 2 years after rectal cancer diagnosis, relative to the Dutch general population. Also, we assessed the association between clinical factors and work ability. DESIGN This is a prospective cohort study. SETTINGS This study was conducted at the Radiation-Oncology Department of a tertiary center. PATIENTS Patients with rectal cancer

Objectives More detailed evaluation of atherosclerosis and its key determinants in young individuals is warranted to improve knowledge on the pathophysiology of its development and progression. This study evaluated associations of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-derived aortic wall area, wall thickness, and pulse wave velocity (PWV) with cardiovascular risk factors in asymptomatic, young adults. Materials and methods In 124 adults (age: 25–35 years) from the general population-based Atherosclerosis Monitoring and Biomarker Measurements in the Young study, demography, anthropometry, and blood samples were collected. The studied MRI-parameters were measured using a 3.0T MRI system. Relations between cardiovascular risk factors and aortic characteristics were assessed using multivariable linear regression analyses. Results Mean age was 31.8 years, 47.6% was male. Aortic wall area was positively associated with age [β = 0.01, (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.00 × 10−3, 0.02), p = 0.01] and BMI [β = 0.01, (0.01, 0.02), p = 0.003] and negatively associated with sex (reference: men) [β = −0.06, (−0.11, −0.01), p = 0.02]. Natural logarithm transformed (ln) aortic wall thickness was positively associated with BMI [β = 0.01, (1.00 × 10−3, 0.02), p = 0.02]. Ln aortic PWV was positively associated with 10 mmHg increment of SBP [β = 0.06, (0.03, 0.09), p

Background Pre-clinical detection of atherosclerosis enables personalized preventive strategies in asymptomatic individuals. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has evolved as an attractive imaging modality for studying atherosclerosis in vivo. Yet, the majority of aortic CMR studies and proposed sequences to date have been performed at 1.5 tesla using 2D BB techniques and a slice thickness of 4–5 mm. Here, we evaluate for the first time the reproducibility of an isotropic, T1-weighted, three-dimensional, black-blood, CMR VISTA sequence (3D-T1-BB-VISTA) for quantification of aortic wall characteristics in healthy, young adults. Methods In 20 healthy, young adults (10 males, mean age 31.3 years) of the AMBITYON cohort study the descending thoracic aorta was imaged with a 3.0 T MR system using the 3D-T1-BB-VISTA sequence. The inter-scan, inter-rater and intra-rater reproducibility of aortic lumen, total vessel and wall area and mean and maximum wall thickness was evaluated using Bland-Altman analyses and Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC). Based on these findings, sample sizes for detecting differences in aortic wall characteristics between groups were calculated. Results For each studied parameter, the inter-scan, inter-rater and intra-rater reproducibility was excellent as indicated by narrow limits of agreement and high ICCs (ranging from 0.76 to 0.99). Sample sizes required to detect a 5 % difference in aortic wall characteristics between two groups were 203, 126, 136, 68 and 153 per group for lumen area, total vessel area and vessel wall area and for mean and maximum vessel wall thickness, respectively. Conclusion The 3D-T1-BB-VISTA sequence provides excellent reproducibility for quantification of aortic wall characteristics and can detect small differences between groups with reasonable sample sizes. Hence, it may be a valuable tool for assessment of the subtle vascular wall changes of early atherosclerosis in asymptomatic populations. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12968-016-0237-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BACKGROUND: Reference values for morphological and functional parameters of the cardiovascular system in early life are relevant since they may help to identify young adults who fall outside the physiological range of arterial and cardiac ageing. This study provides age and sex specific reference values for aortic wall characteristics, cardiac function parameters and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) in a population-based sample of healthy, young adults using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 131 randomly selected healthy, young adults aged between 25 and 35 years (mean age 31.8 years, 63 men) of the general-population based Atherosclerosis-Monitoring-and-Biomarker-measurements-In-The-YOuNg (AMBITYON) study, descending thoracic aortic dimensions and wall thickness, thoracic aortic PWV and cardiac function parameters were measured using a 3.0T MR-system. Age and sex specific reference values were generated using dedicated software. Differences in reference values between two age groups (25-30 and 30-35 years) and both sexes were tested. RESULTS: Aortic diameters and areas were higher in the older age group (all p

To assess the accuracy of intraarterial measurement of transstenotic pressure gradients for the detection of hemodynamically suboptimal iliac angioplasty.In 14 patients, referred for diagnostic angiography, mean pressure gradients in the aorta and iliac artery were obtained twice, using a double-sensor pressure catheter. Additional iliac measurements were performed during pharmacologically induced flow augmentation. Repeatability was assessed by calculation of the mean difference plus standard deviation (MD +/- SD) and repeatability coefficient (2 x SD). These results were extrapolated to 137 iliac angioplasty procedures with secondary stenting where there was a residual pressure gradient10 mmHg.MD +/- SD for repeated measurements at rest and during flow augmentation were 0 +/- 2 mmHg and 1 +/- 3 mmHg, respectively. Repeatability coefficients were 3 and 6 mmHg. Mean pressure gradients after hemodynamically insufficient angioplasty were 8 +/- 7 mmHg at rest and 17 +/- 5 mmHg following vasodilatation. Inaccurate pressure recordings may have led to inappropriate stent placement in less than 2.5%, and inappropriate denial of stent placement in less than 5% of the lesions.Variability of intraarterial pressure measurements has little consequence in the detection of hemodynamically significant stenosis after angioplasty.

BACKGROUND: Several studies reported increased adverse outcomes after cardiac surgery in patients with low body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)). Little is known yet, however, about the effect of preoperative unintended weight loss (UWL) in cardiac surgery patients. OBJECTIVE: We explored the prevalence and effect of UWL in view of low BMI and vice versa adjusted for a validated set of preoperative risks, inflammatory activity, and duration of extracorporeal circulation on postoperative adverse outcome. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study was performed. Nutritional data of cardiac surgery patients were collected within 24 h of admission and linked to the standard postoperative complication registration database. RESULTS: The cohort consisted of 331 cases. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that preoperative UWL of >or=10% in the past 6 mo (>or=10%UWLin6m) was associated with a prolonged length of stay in the hospital independent from low BMI [odds ratio (OR): 7.06; 95% CI: 1.78, 28.04]. Preoperative BMI or=10%UWLin6m (OR: 4.62; 95% CI: 1.20, 17.82; and OR: 5.27; 95% CI: 1.28, 21.76, respectively). Preoperative undernutrition in cardiac surgery patients (>or=10%UWLin6m or BMI or=10%UWLin6m or BMI