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La intensificación de las actividades antrópicas produce cambios en los paisajes que pueden producir modificaciones en la distribución de las especies. En la provincia de Buenos Aires se registraron plantas y animales que extendieron su hábitat hacia el sur. Aquí se analizan los casos de Glinus radiatus, Guilleminea densa y Thalia multiflora, halladas actualmente a más de 250 km del límite sur de su localización conocida. Se recolectaron ejemplares en los partidos de Azul, Las Flores y Rojas, y se revisó la bibliografía existente para ubicar registros previos y discutir las causas de su expansión. Entre las hipótesis que explican el avance de estas especies se destaca los cambios registrados en las precipitaciones y temperaturas de la región. También es posible que la restringida localización previamente publicada se deba a la insuficiencia de relevamiento, o bien los ejemplares hallados podrían constituir poblaciones relictuales, o haberse expandido favorecidos por corredores antrópicos.

The narrow complex tachycardias (NCTs) are defined by the presence in a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) of a QRS complex duration less than 120ms and a heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute; those are typically of supraventricular origin, although rarely narrow complex ventricular tachycardias have been reported in the literature. As some studies document, to diagnose correctly the NCTs is an arduous exercise because sometimes those have similar presentation on the ECG. In this paper, we have reviewed the physiopathological, clinical, and ECG findings of all known supraventricular tachycardias and, in order to reduce the possible diagnostic errors on the ECG, we have proposed a quick and accurate diagnostic algorithm for the differential diagnosis of NCTs., (Copyright © 2013 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aim: Walking is a very acceptable form of aerobic exercise. Several trials have demonstrated significant benefits of fast walking on the risk factors of cardiovascular disease, particularly for hypertension. Aim of our study was to assess whether physical activity obtained through fast walking might lead to a different reduction of blood pressure levels in hypertensive patients in relation to different circadian profile of blood pressure., Methods: We have enrolled 84 hypertensive patients, with evidence of stage I hypertension and non-dipper nocturnal profile. All subjects underwent a six weeks physical intervention based on fast walking, three sessions a week. Main outcome measurements were diurnal, nocturnal and 24-h blood pressure levels., Results: After the sixth week of physical exercise there was not any significant change in 24-hour mean systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure ABPM values when compared to baseline (respectively 143.2±5.2 vs. 141±4.4 and 91.4±4.8 vs. 90.1±2.5); also no differences in heart rate have been found., Conclusion: In non-dipper hypertensives a light aerobic program of physical activity based on fast walking seems to be less effective to reduce blood pressure values, contrary to what has been observed in dipper ones.

It is well established that physically fit individuals have a reduced risk of developing CVD (cardiovascular disease) and other age-related chronic disorders. Regular exercise is an established therapeutic intervention with an enormous range of benefits. Chronic low-grade systemic inflammation may be involved in atherosclerosis, diabetes and in pathogenesis of several chronic pathological conditions; recent findings confirm that physical activity induces an increase in the systemic levels of a number of cytokines and chemokines with anti-inflammatory properties. The possibility that regular physical exercise exerts anti-inflammation activity, being the interaction between contracting muscle and the other tissues and the circulating cells mediated through signals transmitted by "myokines" produced with muscle contractions. To date the list of myokines includes IL-6, IL-8, and IL-15. During muscle contractions are also released IL-1 receptor antagonis and sTNF-R, molecules that contribute to provide anti-inflammatory actions. Nevertheless discrepancies, analysis of available researches seem to confirm the efficacy of regular physical training as a nonpharmacological therapy having target chronic low-grade inflammation. Given this, physical exercise could be considerate a useful weapon against local vascular and systemic inflammation in atherosclerosis. Several mechanisms explain the positive effect of chronic exercise, nevertheless, these mechanisms do not fully enlighten all pathways by which exercise can decrease inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, and hence modulate the progression of the underlying disease progress.

Calciphylaxis is a severe "vascular ossification-calcification," associated with a very high mortality rate that involves arterial wall, venular wall, and nerves resulting in ischemia and necrosis of skin, subcutaneous fat, visceral organs, and skeletal muscles. Sodium thiosulfate has recently been used as a novel treatment option for calciphylaxis because of its dual role as an antioxidant and a chelator. Multiple case reports demonstrated that such therapy has resulted in pain relief and healing of skin ulceration. We report a case of calciphylaxis of large severity that had an ambiguous response to sodium thiosulfate treatment (improvement of symptomatology and skin lesions, improvement of blood parameters, worsening of general conditions, and consciousness until death).

Congenital anomalies of the inferior vena cava is an extremely rare vascular anomaly with controversial pathogenesis. Anomalies of the inferior vena cava (IVC) are present in 0.3% to 0.5% of otherwise healthy individual and in 0.6% to 2% of patients with other cardiovascular defects. The phenomenon of absence of the IVC has been described in a variety of ways such as absence, agenesis, anomalous, and interruption of a particular segment ([infra] hepatic, prerenal, renal, or infrarenal) of the IVC. We describe a 42-year-old man with chronic venous insufficiency, without DVT, caused by congenital absence of renal segment of the IVC.

Purpose: To evaluate the therapeutic effects of L-propionyl-carnitine (LPC) in patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI), as defined by the TASC guidelines., Methods: The study, double-blinded, randomised, assessed intravenous infusion of LPC 1.2 g/day in combination with PGE-1, 60 mg/day (LPC group: 37 patients), or PGE-1 only (control group: 38 patients) in a total of 75 patients suffering from CLI. Treatment duration was 20 days. We evaluated rest pain, maximum walking distance (MWD) and skin ulcer size., Results: In both groups we observed a significant reduction in pain score and ulcer size and an increase in MWD. In the patients treated with the combination, the improvement was greater: median value for pain score decreased from 2.75 to 0.85 in the LPC group and from 2.51 to 1.71 in the control group; MWD increased from 55 M to 130 M in the LPC group, and from 55 M to 102 M in the control group; median decrease of ulcer size was significantly greater in patients treated with LPC + PGE1., Conclusions: Our study shows that LPC, whose effectiveness on claudication is already known, has favourable effects in patients with CLI, since it reinforces the effects produced by PGE-1.

Aim: Superficial venous thrombosis (SVT) has been considered for a long time a limited clinical condition of low importance, but this approach has changed in recent years, when several studies demonstrated that extension to deep veins occurs in 7.3 to 44% of patients, with high prevalence of pulmonary embolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of inherited deficiency of natural coagulation inhibitors in patients suffering from SVT in both normal and varicose veins, and to understand their role in extension to deep veins., Methods: The study included 83 patients with SVT, without clinically obvious risk factors. Ultrasound examination was performed, and deficiencies of Protein C, Protein S and Antithrombin (AT) were investigated., Results: In the patients where SVT occurred in normal veins, coagulation inhibitor deficiencies were 6.45% in the absence of extension and 62.5% in patients with extension to deep veins. In the patients with varicose vein SVT, the presence of these factors was less evident, but their prevalence was considerably higher in those with extension to deep veins (36.3%) than in non-extension (6.06%)., Conclusions: Present data confirm the role of inherited thrombophilic states related to inhibitor deficiency, considering them as risk factors for SVT in normal veins. Furthermore, an association has been found between their presence and the progression of SVT to deep veins.

Antiplatelets represent a diverse group of agents that share the ability to reduce platelet activity through a variety of mechanisms. Antithrombotic agents are effective in the secondary prevention of ischemic strokes. Most strokes are caused by a sudden blockage of an artery in the brain (called an ischaemic stroke) that is usually due to a blood clot. Immediate treatment with antiplatelet drugs such as aspirin may prevent new clots from forming and hence improve recovery after stroke. Several studies have evaluated the role of one antiplatelet agent, aspirin, in reducing stroke severity. The International Stroke Trial (IST) of 20,000 patients with acute stroke from other countries. In this study there was a significant 14% proportional reduction in mortality during the scheduled treatment period (343 [3.3%] deaths among aspirin-allocated patients vs 398 [3.9%] deaths among placebo-allocated patients; 2p = 0.04). There were significantly fewer recurrent ischaemic strokes in the aspirin-allocated than in the placebo-allocated group (167 [1.6%] vs 215 [2.1%]; 2p = 0.01) but slightly more haemorrhagic strokes (115 [1.1%] vs 93 [0.9%]. Few studies examined the role of ticlopidin in acute stroke setting the results showed treatment with ticlopidine improved the neurologic outcome. In the Examining the Safety of Loading of Aspirin and Clopidogrel in Acute Ischemic Stroke and TIA (LOAD) study, 40 consecutive ischemic stroke patients were treated with 325 mg of aspirin and 375 mg of clopidogrel within 36 hours of symptom onset. Overall, 37.5% (n = 15) of the patients had an improvement of 2 or more points on the NIHSS 24 hours after antiplatelet administration. The antiplatelet efficacy of aspirin in preventing secondary stroke was established by three studies conducted in the late 1980s and early 1990s: the Swedish Aspirin Low-dose Trial (SALT) trials have demonstrated that aspirin-even in doses as low as 30 mg/day-reduces secondary stroke, MI, or vascular death in patients with. Clopidogrel and aspirin have been used in combination in patients with diverse arterial vascular diseases However, combinations of antithrombotic agents do not necessarily improve clinical efficacy and are typically associated with increased toxicity.

Residual vein thrombosis (RVT) indicates a prothrombotic state and is useful for evaluating the optimal duration of oral anticoagulant treatment (OAT). Patients with a first episode of deep vein thrombosis, treated with OAT for 3 months, were managed according to RVT findings. Those with RVT were randomized to either stop or continue anticoagulants for 9 additional months, whereas in those without RVT, OAT was stopped. Outcomes were recurrent venous thromboembolism and/or major bleeding. Residual thrombosis was detected in 180 (69.8%) of 258 patients; recurrent events occurred in 27.2% of those who discontinued (25/92; 15.2% person-years) and 19.3% of those who continued OAT (17/88; 10.1% person-years). The relative adjusted hazard ratio (HR) was 1.58 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85-2.93; P = .145). Of the 78 (30.2%) patients without RVT, only 1 (1.3%; 0.63% person-years) had a recurrence. The adjusted HR of patients with RVT versus those without was 24.9 (95% CI, 3.4-183.6; P = .002). One major bleeding event (1.1%; 0.53% person-years) occurred in patients who stopped and 2 occurred (2.3%; 1.1% person-years) in those who continued OAT. Absence of RVT identifies a group of patients at very low risk for recurrent thrombosis who can safely stop OAT. This trial was registered at http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov as no. NCT00438230.