Serum NGAL, a marker of acute renal injury, is an independent predictor of worse short term prognosis in patients with acute HF. This suggests a role of renal damage, apart from renal function, in the prognosis of these patients.

Introduction: Calcium has several physiological functions and when it registers abnormal serum levels those functions may be impacted with potentially severe consequences. There is much research on hypercalcemia in cancer patients, but there are no recent studies on the prevalence of hypocalcemia in those patients. However, there has been an evolution in oncology, namely, new drugs that may directly or indirectly result in hypocalcemia. The primary aim was to explore the association of hypocalcemia with the diverse types of cancer. The secondary aim was to study the influence that hypocalcemia might have on survival. Methods: Review of the records of patients ≥18 years old, with total calcium <2.0 mmol/L measured in 2013 in a cancer center. Results: Eight hundred twenty-nine patients were included. Four hundred thirty-nine (53%) were male. The median age was 63 years. The most frequent cancer diagnoses were hematological 196 (24%) and colorectal 111 (13%). Six hundred thirty-eight patients had measured serum albumin, with a median of 25.5 g/L (14-47). When corrected for albumin level, calcium was in the normal range in 210 (33%) cases. The median survival of patients with corrected calcium lower than normal was 479 days (95% confidence interval [CI]: 309-649) and that of patients with normal corrected calcium was 62 days (95% CI: 33-91), P < .001. In a multivariate analysis, age, primary cancer, and albumin were significantly associated with survival. Conclusion: Hypocalcemia is associated with several types of cancer. A low calcium level is not by itself a factor of a poor prognosis since other factors seem to be more important.

IntroductionSarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease. Renal involvement is a rare initial presentation of this disease. Few articles on renal involvement as an initial presentation of sarcoidosis have been published in the literature.Case presentationA 26-year-old Caucasian woman presented with acute renal failure as an initial manifestation of sarcoidosis.ConclusionsRenal involvement is an uncommon feature of sarcoidosis and it is essential to establish a fast and correct diagnosis because early therapy avoids progression to terminal renal failure.

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Background Cardioembolism induced by atrial fibrillation (AF) is responsible for up to 33% of all ischemic strokes. 24-hour Holter monitoring in stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients is used as a routine investigation to search for occult paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF), which may have crucial prognostic impact. Excessive supraventricular ectopic activity (ESVEA) is also a stroke risk factor, probably related to the risk of developing AF. Purpose To observe the incidence of AF at a long-term follow-up and to evaluate the clinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic predictors of new onset AF in stroke patients. Methods Patients in sinus rhythm who performed Holter between October 2009 and October 2011 in the setting of post stroke or TIA were included; patients with previous AF were excluded. These patients were followed for 8 to 10 years. Clinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic data were collected. ESVEA was defined by ≥500 premature atrial contractions per 24 hours or any sustained supraventricular tachycardia episode. Results 104 patients were included, 54% were male, with a mean age of 63.8±14.7 years at the time of the event. In relation to cardiovascular risk factors, 59% had hypertension, 47% dyslipidemia, 14% diabetes, 44% were smokers or previous smokers; 67% of patients were high consumers of alcohol. 79.8% had a stroke and 21.2% a TIA. 24-hour Holter monitoring revealed ESVEA in 13.5% of patients and PAF in 1.9%. All patients with PAF had a previous stroke and were older than 55. At a follow-up of 8–10 years, new onset AF was detected in 11.5%; these patients had similar mortality comparing to those in sustained sinus rhythm (21.2% vs 16.7%, p=0.724). Alcohol intake, an established risk factor for development of AF, was associated with a non-significant increase of AF (17.3% vs 11.5%) while the presence of cardiovascular risk factors was not associated with AF development. We found a statistically significant difference between patients with and without ESVEA concerning to new onset of AF (35.7% vs 8.0%, p=0.010). ESVEA seems to be related with a higher mortality at a long follow-up, although this difference wasn't statistically significant (35.7% vs 18.2%, p=0.132). Concerning to echocardiographic parameters, patients whit left atrium enlargement showed a higher incidence of AF at follow-up (14.7% vs 7.9%), and the presence of mitral regurgitation were not related with new onset of AF. Patients' age was also not related with new onset of AF during follow-up. Conclusion Atrial fibrillation is considered the main cause of stroke. Our study showed that ESVEA is a strong predictor of new onset AF and highlights that Holter monitoring could be an important tool not only to diagnose AF but also to identify patients in risk of develop AF. Diagnostic of new AF during long-term follow up didn't correlate with higher mortality. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None