Digital Commons Network^™

Loss-Of-Function Variants In Endothelial Lipase Are A Cause Of Elevated Hdl Cholesterol In Humans, Andrew Edmondson, Robert Brown, Sekar Kathiresan, L. Cupples, Serkalem Demissie, Alisa Manning, Majken Jensen, Eric Rimm, Jian Wang, Amrith Rodrigues, Vaneeta Bamba, Sumeet Khetarpal, Megan Wolfe, Stephanie Derohannessian, Mingyao Li, Muredach Reilly, Jens Aberle, David Evans, Robert Hegele, Daniel Rader

Dr Robert Brown

Elevated plasma concentrations of HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) are associated with protection from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Animal models indicate that decreased expression of endothelial lipase (LIPG) is inversely associated with HDL-C levels, and genome-wide association studies have identified LIPG variants as being associated with HDL-C levels in humans. We hypothesized that loss-of-function mutations in LIPG may result in elevated HDL-C and therefore performed deep resequencing of LIPG exons in cases with elevated HDL-C levels and controls with decreased HDL-C levels. We identified a significant excess of nonsynonymous LIPG variants unique to cases with elevated HDL-C. In vitro lipase activity assays demonstrated …

Thirty-Year (1975 To 2005) Trends In The Incidence Rates, Clinical Features, Treatment Practices, And Short-Term Outcomes Of Patients [Less Than] 55 Years Of Age Hospitalized With An Initial Acute Myocardial Infarction, David Mcmanus, Stephen Piacentine, Darleen Lessard, Joel Gore, Jorge Yarzebski, Frederick Spencer, Robert Goldberg

Jorge L. Yarzebski

Sparse data are available describing recent trends in the magnitude, clinical features, treatment practices, and outcomes of comparatively young adults hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The objectives of this population-based study were to describe 3 decade-long trends (1975 to 2005) in these end points in adults 1,703 residents of the Worcester (Massachusetts) metropolitan area 25 to 54 years of age who were hospitalized with initial AMIs at all central Massachusetts medical centers during 15 annual periods from 1975 through 2005. Overall hospital incidence rate (per 100,000 residents) of initial AMI in our study population was 66 (95% confidence interval …

Milwaukee Police Department Retirees: Cardiovascular Disease Risk And Morbidity Among Aging Law Enforcement Officers, Sandra Ramey, Nancy Downing, W. Franke

Nancy R Downing

This study explored the self-reported prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and accompanying risk factors among 165 male retirees 43 years and older (M = 56.2, SD = 7.1) from the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) compared to 671 individuals of similar age and income who responded to the 2005 Wisconsin Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). CVD and other risk factors were more prevalent in the MPD retirees than the general population (CVD 15.2% vs. 9.5%, p = .036; hypertension 51.5% vs. 36.2%, p = .001; hypercholesterolemia 62.4% vs. 44.4%, p = .001; overweight and obesity 85.1% vs. 74.7%, p = …

Exploring Differences Between Community-Based Women And Men With A History Of Mental Illness, Cheryl Forchuk, Elsabeth Jensen, Rick Csiernik, Catherine Ward-Griffin, Susan Ray, Phyllis Montgomery, Linda Wan

Rick Csiernik

Relatively little is understood concerning the role of gender in persons with a history of mental illness residing in the community. This paper aims to explore gender's effect using data from the Community Research University Alliance project entitled, Mental Health and Housing. The primary five-year longitudinal study examined housing situations for psychiatric consumer/survivors in a mid-size, central Canadian region in an effort to improve the number and quality of appropriate housing situations. Data from 887 subjects in the original research underwent secondary analysis with particular relevance to differences between gender and indicators of health status including psychiatric history, levels of …

Tubercular Pancreatic Abscess Presenting As Fever And Cystic Pancreatic Lesion With Endoscopic Management., Jonathan Fenkel, Maya Spodik, Bheema Singu, Anthony Infantolino, Sandeep Deshmukh, David Loren

Sandeep Deshmukh

Isolated pancreatic tuberculosis is a rare presentation of tubercular infection. There are few reported cases of pancreatic tuberculosis diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound with fine-needle aspiration (EUS FNA), though EUS is often used in the evaluation of pancreatic cystic lesions. We present a case of a tubercular pancreatic abscess presenting as a cystic lesion in a patient with undiagnosed immunodeficiency. The abscess was aspirated by EUS FNA and treated with endoscopic drainage and anti-mycobacterial medications.

Violent Attacks On Middle Easterners In The United States During The Month Following The September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, Monica Swahn, R Mahendra, L Paulozzi, R Winston, G Shelley, J Taliano, L Frazier, J Saul

Monica H. Swahn

Objectives: To document and describe hate related violent attacks on Middle Easterners or those perceived to be Middle Easterners during the month following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC. Methods: The LexisNexis database of newspaper reports were used to identify incidents of hate related violent acts against Middle Easterners or those perceived to be Middle Easterners in the US between September 1 and October 11, 2001. A total of 100 incidents of hate related violence were identified in the 2659 news articles that were reviewed. Results: Of the 100 incidents of violent victimization …

Differences In Frequency Of Violence And Reported Injury Between Relationships With Reciprocal And Nonreciprocal Intimate Partner Violence, Daniel Whitaker, Tadesse Haileyesus, Monica Swahn, Linda Saltzman

Monica H. Swahn

Objectives: We sought to examine the prevalence of reciprocal (i.e., perpetrated by both partners) and nonreciprocal intimate partner violence and to determine whether reciprocity is related to violence frequency and injury. Methods: We analyzed data on young US adults aged 18 to 28 years from the 2001 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which contained information about partner violence and injury reported by 11 370 respondents on 18761 heterosexual relationships. Results: Almost 24% of all relationships had some violence, and half (49.7%) of those were reciprocally violent. In nonreciprocally violent relationships, women were the perpetrators in more than 70% of …

Insurance Status And Length Of Stay For Involuntarily Hospitalized Patients, William Fisher, Paul Barreira, Alisa Lincoln, Lorna Simon, Andrew White, Kristen Roy-Bujnowski, Marylou Sudders

Alisa Lincoln

General and private psychiatric hospitals are becoming increasingly common as sites for involuntary hospitalization. Unlike the public facilities that these settings are supplanting, these hospitals must pay strict attention to issues associated with reimbursement, insurance status, and managed care. This article examines the effects of insurance status on length of stay for involuntarily hospitalized patients in general and private hospitals in Massachusetts. Using a two-stage sampling procedure, data on episodes of involuntary hospitalization were gathered and assessed using multiple regression. The primary effect was found between patients with Medicare, who had the longest stays, and individuals who were uninsured, who …

Predicting Streptococcal Pharyngitis In Adults In Primary Care: A Systematic Review Of The Diagnostic Accuracy Of Symptoms And Signs And Validation Of The Centor Score., Jolien Aalbers, Kirsty O'Brien, Wai-Sun Chan, Gavin Falk, Conor Teljeur, Borislav Dimitrov, Tom Fahey

Borislav D Dimitrov

BACKGROUND: Stratifying patients with a sore throat into the probability of having an underlying bacterial or viral cause may be helpful in targeting antibiotic treatment. We sought to assess the diagnostic accuracy of signs and symptoms and validate a clinical prediction rule (CPR), the Centor score, for predicting group A β-haemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) pharyngitis in adults (> 14 years of age) presenting with sore throat symptoms. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed up to July 2010. Studies that assessed the diagnostic accuracy of signs and symptoms and/or validated the Centor score were included. For the analysis of the diagnostic …

Disparities And Survival Among Breast Cancer Patients, Terry Field, Diana Buist, Chyke Doubeni, Shelley Enger, Hassan Fouayzi, Gene Hart, Eli Korner, Lois Lamerato, Donald Bachman, Jennifer Ellis, Lisa Herrinton, Mark Hornbrook, Richard Krajenta, Liyan Liu, Janice Yao

Chyke A. Doubeni

BACKGROUND: Although rates of survival for women with breast cancer have improved, the survival disparity between African American and white women in the United States has increased.

PURPOSE: To determine whether this survival disparity persists in an insured population with access to medical care.

METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we extracted data from the tumor registries of six nonprofit, integrated health care delivery systems affiliated with the Cancer Research Network and assessed the survival of African American (n = 2276) and white (n = 18 879) female enrollees who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from January 1, 1993, …

A 25-Year Perspective Into The Changing Landscape Of Patients Hospitalized With Acute Myocardial Infarction (The Worcester Heart Attack Study), Robert Goldberg, Frederick Spencer, Jorge Yarzebski, Darleen Lessard, Joel Gore, Joseph Alpert, James Dalen

Jorge L. Yarzebski

Over the past several decades, significant advances have been made in the primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease. However, effects of changing lifestyle and treatment practices on demographic and clinical profiles and on hospital outcomes of patients who present with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have not been well characterized. We carried out a prospective population-based investigation of >25-year trends (1975 to 2001) in demographic and clinical characteristics, treatment practices, and hospital outcomes of patients who had been hospitalized with AMI. Residents of a metropolitan area (Worcester, Massachusetts) who had been hospitalized with validated AMI (n = 10,440) in …