Impact of a high-density grid catheter on long-term outcomes for structural heart disease ventricular tachycardia ablation

Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology - Substrate mapping has highlighted the importance of targeting diastolic conduction channels and late potentials during ventricular tachycardia...     

Subjective cognitive impairment in patients with transformed migraine and the associated psychological and sleep disturbances

Sleep and Breathing - Migraines are associated with multiple comorbidities like depression, anxiety, poor sleep quality, and subjective cognitive impairment (SCI). This study aimed to evaluate the...     

Short-term orlistat therapy improves fatty infiltration indices and liver fibrosis scores in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome

Background and study aimsPatients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) exhibit features of metabolic syndrome, including a high body mass index, central obesity, high blood pressure, and abnormal lipid profile values. Orlistat, an intestinal lipase enzyme inhibitor, improves insulin resistance. We aimed to investigate the effects of short-term therapy with orlistat on the components of metabolic syndrome associated with NAFLD and explore its effect on liver fibrosis scores.Patients and methodsAn open-label placebo-controlled clinical study using orlistat for 12 weeks was carried out on 50 patients with NAFLD. They were divided into a placebo group (Group I) and an orlistat treatment group (120 mg per day, Group II). The diagnosis of NAFLD was made by ultrasonography and laboratory investigations. Anthropometric and blood pressure measurements and hepatic liver enzymes, fasting lipids, and blood glucose levels were determined before and after treatment. Lipid indices including cholesterol (Chol-I), triglyceride (TG-I), triglyceride-glucose (TYG-I), and the scores for lipid fibrosis using the NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) and Fibrosis-4 score (Fib-4) were also determined.ResultsOrlistat significantly improved the anthropometric and metabolic indices (TG-I, TYG-I) and liver enzymes. Orlistat demonstrated a favorable impact on the NAS and Fib-4 scores for liver fibrosis.ConclusionOrlistat improves the components of metabolic syndrome, leading to the improvement of insulin resistance and thereby improves fatty infiltration of the liver. To a lesser extent, orlistat improved the liver fibrosis scores.