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Calcium and magnesium are minerals with important functions throughout the body. The deficiency has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and prostate cancer, and affects the skin and teeth. Some studies have associated it with osteoarthritis. Knee osteoarthritis is a degenerative pathology with a high prevalence that affects the knee joint, and prevention is necessary in the context of the lack of understanding of pathophysiology. The role of serum calcium and magnesium levels was considered in this regard. The study included a group of 371 hospitalized patients for unilateral or bilateral knee pain, of whom 326 patients had knee osteoarthritis and were the subject of the research. The risk factors such as age, gender, body mass index, weight status, and certain anatomical changes were analyzed, including the varus and valgus alignment. The results show the inverse relationship of Ca values with the radiological classification of knee osteoarthritis and the importance of risk factors such as age, gender, and obesity for the onset and progression of the pathology. Serum Mg values were not statistically significant in this study group.

Objective: The objective of our study was to evaluate a possible relation between the volume of atypical meningiomas (AMs) and the risk of tumour recurrence, as well as progression-free survival (PFS). Material and methods: We evaluated 81 patients diagnosed with AMs (WHO grade II meningioma) who have undergone surgery at the "Prof. Dr. N. Oblu" Emergency Clinical Hospital Iasi between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2019. The recorded data were demographic and imagistic (MRI, contrast-enhanced T1WI). We calculated the tumour volume prior to the surgery and evaluated the tumour recurrence using MRI at 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months after the surgery. Results: 50.6% of patients had meningioma volume < 26.4 cm3. Women had larger tumour volumes than men (52.6%). Patients of age ? 60 years old, had tumour volumes ? 26.4 cm3 in 58.5% of cases and meningiomas with volumes ? 26.4 cm3 recurred earlier (p=0.010). Also, patients who had tumour volumes ? 26.4 cm3, had a shorter PFS (40.976 months), compared to patients with tumour volumes < 26.4 cm3, who had better PFS (53.4 months). Conclusions: the tumour volume of AMs ? 26.4 cm3 represents a negative prognostic factor for both early tumour recurrence and reduced PFS.

Objective Parasagittal and falcine meningiomas are still a challenge in terms of surgical resection. Although maximal safe resection is the main therapeutic approach, numerous postoperative complications can still occur depending on the locations of these tumors. Moreover, previous studies have reported that parasagittal meningiomas have a higher recurrence rate than meningiomas with other locations. Patients, materials and methods We retrospectively reviewed 21 patients with parasagittal and falcine atypical meningiomas [World Health Organization (WHO) grade II], nine of whom had their superior sagittal sinus (SSS) invaded by the tumor. We reviewed the demographic information, operative notes, pathological reports, and clinical and imagistic follow-up reports of each patient over a 5-year time span. Results All the patients were surgically treated, and the tumor removal was grade II according to Simpson's grading system in 47.6% and grade III in 19% of the cases. The SSS was invaded in 42.9% of the patients. No immediate mortality or morbidity was revealed by our study. Tumor recurrence/progression documented on postoperative imaging amounted to 14.3% and 19%, 12 and 24 months after surgery, respectively. Furthermore, 36, 48 and 60 months after the surgery, the recurrence rate remained the same, namely in 9.5% of the cases. The recurrence was higher in patients with SSS invasion than in patients with no SSS invasion. The tumor recurrence was slightly more predominant in women, i.e., 6% higher than in the male group. Conclusions In our group of patients with parasagittal and falcine meningiomas, we report a 47.6% Simpson II resection rate and 19% Simpson III resection rate associated with a very low complication rate and no immediately postoperative morbidity and mortality, compared to more aggressive techniques. The recurrence of parasagittal meningiomas predominated after grade III and IV Simpson resection and dural sinus invasion was a negative predictive factor for recurrence. Therefore, the surgery of parasagittal and falcine meningiomas is beneficial, both for tumor control, but also for improving neurological outcome. Aggressive meningioma resection should be balanced with the increased neurosurgical risk.

Over recent years, studies have shown that in patients with left-sided heart failure, arterial hypertension, and acute coronary syndrome, hyponatremia is a negative prognostic factor. In this context, there is raising interest in the association between hyponatremia and pulmonary embolism (PE). This retrospective cohort study includes 404 consecutive patients with confirmed acute nonfatal pulmonary embolism divided into four groups according to their sodium fluctuation pattern. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality and determining the recurrence rate among patients with nonfatal PE using serum sodium levels as a continuous variable. Patients with acquired and persistent hyponatremia had a significantly higher rate of mortality rate than those in the normonatremia group (12.8% and 40.4%, OR- 7.206, CI: 2.383–21.791, p = 0.000 and OR-33.250, CI: 11.521–95.960, p = 0.000 vs. 2%, p &lt, 0.001, respectively). Mean survival time decreases from 23.624 months (95% CI: (23.295–23.953)) in the normonatremia group to 16.426 months (95% CI: (13.17–19.134)) in the persistent hyponatremia group, statistically significant (p = 0.000). The mean survival time for all patients was 22.441 months (95% CI: (21.930–22.951)). The highest recurrence rate was recorded at 12 and 24 months in the acquired hyponatremia group (16.7% and 14.1%, respectively). Serum sodium determination is a simple and cost-effective approach in evaluating the short and long-term prognosis in patients with acute PE.

Plasma NT-proBNP levels are elevated in heart disease, especially in the presence of ascites-edema syndrome and left ventricular overload. Previous studies have reported cardiovascular dysfunction correlated with the severity of liver damage. This prospective study enrolled 65 subjects with the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis, 82 with chronic hepatitis and 65 healthy subjects in the control group. In chronic hepatitis, NT-proBNP has been shown to be an early marker of diastolic dysfunction and left ventricular remodeling, while in liver cirrhosis it also correlated with portopulmonary hypertension.

The various thyroid axis dysfunctions have cardiovascular consequences both in hyperthyroidism and in hypothyroidism. This cross-sectional study included hyperthyroid and hypothyroid female patients in whom uric acid and NT-proBNP were determined in relation to changes in clinical findings and some echocardiographic parameters. The results of our study suggest that NT-proBNP is a better predictor than uric acid, correlating with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and systolic blood pressure variations.

People on maintenance haemodialysis (MHD) are at risk of developing malnutrition, which is defined as the consequence of insufficient food intake or a suboptimal quality diet. The kidney and the liver play a central role in protein metabolism. The major aim of the study was to evaluate, for the first time in Romania, the impact of intensive dietary counseling and personalised diets on serum albumin (SA) and others nutritional parameters, but also the relationship between albumin level, inflammation and nutritional status in a cohort of haemodialysis patients which associate or not chronic liver disease (CLD). We prospectively analysed the inflammatory status and malnutrition in 162 HD patients, mean age 56�13 years, from a single dialysis centre. At baseline we evaluated: a. calorie-protein intake using patient�s diet history with the help of 72 hrs recall method;b. nutritional status by anthropometric measures- post dialysis body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), TSF (tricipital skinfold), MAC (mid-arm circumference), MAMC (mid-arm muscle circumference);c. modified subjective global assessment score (mSGA);d. biochemical tests: pre-dialysis serum albumin, serum creatinine, alkaline reserve, Kt/V and Protein C Reactive (CRP). The patients were followed-up for 6 months.

The General Linear Modeling is a statistical method which combines the regression and the variance analysis for a dependent variable in the presence of an independent variable and one or more factors, whose effects can be analyzed separately or combined. We used the GLM univariate models on a database made from 6384 patients, recorded in the Oro-Maxillo-Facial Clinic, "Sf. Spiridon" Hospital Iasi, between 2004 – 2015, in order to investigate the influence of patients’ age over the hospitalization length, modulated by gender, domicile, season, etiology and main diagnostics. We found as significant factors the domicile, the season and the diagnostics: the patients from rural areas are expected to stay in hospital with 0.396 days less than those from urban areas, those hospitalized during spring stay in hospital with 0.320 days less than those hospitalized during other seasons, and the patients with maxillary fractures have an hospitalization length longer with 0.877 days than the other patients; the patients with mandible fractures have an hospitalization length longer with 0.755 days than the other patients and the patients with dental fracture and dislocations have an hospitalization length shorter with 0.840 days than the other patients. No significant interactions between these factors were identified.

The aims of the study was to compare the marks obtained at the final assessment, using MCQ tests and at the oral evaluation, for a preclinical and a clinical discipline, on a sample of 285 undergraduate students at dental medicine divided into two groups according to their year of study, in order to evaluate the advantages and the drawbacks of these performances. The statistical results showed that the grades’ distribution at MCQ tests follow the normal law, but their averages were significantly lower than the average marks obtained at the oral evaluation, regardless the year of study or gender.

Cholesterol gallstone disease is often associated with the metabolic syndrome. Female gender is an unmodifiable risk factor for cholelithiasis and, in its turn, the metabolic syndrome features a sexual dimorphism which warns that a global approach might overlook important discrimination. We carried out a retrospective analytical case-control study in order to perform a comparative analysis between two groups of female patients with metabolic syndrome and gallstones (n=60) or without gallstones (n=65). All the patients were investigated by abdominal ultrasound and met at least three criteria for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome. Cases and controls were compared regarding anthropometric measurements, a complex lipid profile, and liver function tests. The risks associated with the likelihood of gallstones were estimated by means of cross-tabulation. In order to rank the significant variables we developed a binary logistic regression model which identified lean body weight ≤ 46.44 kg (OR 0.165; 95% CI 0.045–0.611; P = 0.007), total cholesterol ≥ 4.9 mmol/L (OR 15.948; 95% CI 2.700–94.205; P = 0.002), and direct bilirubin > 5.1 µmol/L (OR 0.056; 95% CI 0.013–0.235; P < 0.001), as variables with significant probability of association with the risk of gallstones in women with metabolic syndrome.