Aortic root dimensions as a correlate for aortic regurgitation’s severity

The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging - To evaluate the prevalence of aortic regurgitation (AR) and associations between the individual aortic root components and AR severity in the...     

The association between coffee consumption and periodontitis: a cross-sectional study of a northern German population

Clinical Oral Investigations - Positive and negative influences on oral health are attributed to coffee consumption. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the association between coffee...     

Incidence of testicular malignancies and correlation to risk factors in a TESE population of subfertile men

Introduction  

In recent years, researchers have postulated a decreasing fertility potential of males and a rising incidence of testicular malignancies.     

Frequency of hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer among unselected patients with colorectal cancer in Germany

INTRODUCTION: Hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is a major form of familial colorectal cancer (CRC). It is diagnosed when either the Amsterdam criteria (AC) are fulfilled or mutations in one of the mismatch repair (MMR) genes have been identified. This project aims at estimating the proportion of HNPCC among unselected patients with CRC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: During a period of 2 years, a total of 351 non-selected patients with CRC were registered prospectively. 92 patients met the Bethesda criteria (9 of them fulfilled the AC) and 259 did not. 348 tumours were examined for microsatellite instability (MSI) and expression of MMR proteins. RESULTS: MSI-H and MSI-L were identified in 17 and 6%, respectively. Loss of MSH2 or MLH1 was found in 1.5 and 8.8%, respectively. Based on the results of tumour tissue analyses, 80 patients with MSI and/or loss of MSH2 or MLH1 expression were identified as candidates for germline mutation screening. DNA of 40/80 patients was available. These patients were screened for MSH2 and MLH1 mutations; 19/40 patients with MSI and normal MSH2 or MLH1 expression were screened for mutations in MSH6. Three patients had relevant MMR gene mutations and six variants of unknown functional relevance were detected. CONCLUSIONS: After adjusting for the cases not evaluable for germline mutations, 1.7% of the CRC patients had HNPCC proven by molecular genetics.     

Transthoracic echocardiographic reference values of the aortic root: results from the Hamburg City Health Study

The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging - Here we generate up-to-date reference values of transthoracic echocardiographic aortic root dimensions matched by sex, age, and body surface...