Table of contentsP001 - Sepsis impairs the capillary response within hypoxic capillaries and decreases erythrocyte oxygen-dependent ATP effluxR. M. Bateman, M. D. Sharpe, J. E. Jagger, C. G. EllisP002 - Lower serum immunoglobulin G2 level does not predispose to severe flu.J. Solé-Violán, M. López-Rodríguez, E. Herrera-Ramos, J. Ruíz-Hernández, L. Borderías, J. Horcajada, N. González-Quevedo, O. Rajas, M. Briones, F. Rodríguez de Castro, C. Rodríguez GallegoP003 - Brain protective effects of intravenous immunoglobulin through inhibition of complement activation and apoptosis in a rat model of sepsisF. Esen, G. Orhun, P. Ergin Ozcan, E. Senturk, C. Ugur Yilmaz, N. Orhan, N. Arican, M. Kaya, M. Kucukerden, M. Giris, U. Akcan, S. Bilgic Gazioglu, E. TuzunP004 - Adenosine a1 receptor dysfunction is associated with leukopenia: A possible mechanism for sepsis-induced leukopeniaR. Riff, O. Naamani, A. DouvdevaniP005 - Analysis of neutrophil by hyper spectral imaging - A preliminary reportR. Takegawa, H. Yoshida, T. Hirose, N. Yamamoto, H. Hagiya, M. Ojima, Y. Akeda, O. Tasaki, K. Tomono, T. ShimazuP006 - Chemiluminescent intensity assessed by eaa predicts the incidence of postoperative infectious complications following gastrointestinal surgeryS. Ono, T. Kubo, S. Suda, T. Ueno, T. IkedaP007 - Serial change of c1 inhibitor in patients with sepsis – A prospective observational studyT. Hirose, H. Ogura, H. Takahashi, M. Ojima, J. Kang, Y. Nakamura, T. Kojima, T. ShimazuP008 - Comparison of bacteremia and sepsis on sepsis related biomarkersT. Ikeda, S. Suda, Y. Izutani, T. Ueno, S. OnoP009 - The changes of procalcitonin levels in critical patients with abdominal septic shock during blood purificationT. Taniguchi, M. OP010 - Validation of a new sensitive point of care device for rapid measurement of procalcitoninC. Dinter, J. Lotz, B. Eilers, C. Wissmann, R. LottP011 - Infection biomarkers in primary care patients with acute respiratory tract infections – Comparison of procalcitonin and C-reactive proteinM. M. Meili, P. S. SchuetzP012 - Do we need a lower procalcitonin cut off?H. Hawa, M. Sharshir, M. Aburageila, N. SalahuddinP013 - The predictive role of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin biomarkers in central nervous system infections with extensively drug resistant bacteriaV. Chantziara, S. Georgiou, A. Tsimogianni, P. Alexandropoulos, A. Vassi, F. Lagiou, M. Valta, G. Micha, E. Chinou, G. MichaloudisP014 - Changes in endotoxin activity assay and procalcitonin levels after direct hemoperfusion with polymyxin-b immobilized fiberA. Kodaira, T. Ikeda, S. Ono, T. Ueno, S. Suda, Y. Izutani, H. ImaizumiP015 - Diagnostic usefullness of combination biomarkers on ICU admissionM. V. De la Torre-Prados, A. Garcia-De la Torre, A. Enguix-Armada, A. Puerto-Morlan, V. Perez-Valero, A. Garcia-AlcantaraP016 - Platelet function analysis utilising the PFA-100 does not predict infection, bacteraemia, sepsis or outcome in critically ill patientsN. Bolton, J. Dudziak, S. Bonney, A. Tridente, P. NeeP017 - Extracellular histone H3 levels are in...

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S UBCLINICAL HYPOTHYROIDISM (SH) is a commondisorder characterized by increased serum TSH and its response to TRH, whereas serum free T 4 (FT 4 ) and free T 3 (FT 3 ) concentrations are within the normal range for the general population (1, 2). In view of the minor thyroid hormone secretion impairment, it is predictable that metabolic and organ function indexes of SH will show only marginal alterations. Nevertheless, such changes may be clinically relevant when they affect target organs over a period of several years (3). In particular, heart and vessels are very sensitive to thyroid hormones, as cardiovascular disorders are often associated with both overt hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism (4 -8). Several noninvasive techniques (9 -16) have been used to assess cardiac involvement in SH, but all of them provide information about left ventricular (LV) global chamber function without exploring changes occurring at the level of the regional myocardial walls.Pulsed tissue Doppler (TD) is a new noninvasive ultrasound tool that allows measurement of myocardial regional wall motion. Although standard echocardiography collects data about cardiac function either from parameters measured from the blood-myocardial boundaries or from Doppler flow, TD has the peculiarity of directly measuring velocities and time intervals of myocardium by placing a sample volume within the chosen myocardial walls. It is noteworthy that TD evaluation is performed on line during a simple echocardiographic examination by modifying filter settings and reducing velocity ranges of the standard Doppler signal (17)(18)(19).On these grounds the present study was designed to investigate myocardial regional function in SH by using pulsed TD to identify possible LV myocardial systolic and diastolic involvement in relation to a reference population of euthyroid healthy subjects. Subjects and Methods Study protocolTwenty female patients (mean age Ϯ sd, 38.5 Ϯ 12.4 yr) with newly diagnosed, untreated, autoimmune primary SH and no previous history of thyrotoxicosis were included in the study. SH was diagnosed in those cases where TSH values were above normal and associated with a supranormal response to TRH (change in TSH, Ͼ30 mU/liter) and FT 3 and FT 4 levels in the lower limit of the normal range. Only patients with TSH and thyroid hormone levels stable for at least 6 months before enrolment were included. TSH and thyroid hormones were considered stable if their variations were lower than 20% in 3 consecutive evaluations performed in the 6 months preceding the current study. Twenty female healthy subjects, recruited among the staff and relatives of medical doctors attending the present study, were included in the control group. All subjects gave informed consent, and the study was approved by the institutional ethical committee. Exclusion criteria were history of any acquired and/or congenital cardiac disease; arterial systemic hypertension; diabetes mellitus; respiratory, hematological, liver, and/or kidney diseases; pregnancy; administration of cardia...

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The interrater and intrarater reliability for rating triage acuity and for accuracy in patient admission prediction was good with both models. Performance with the new model was similar to that of I-4L despite the nurses' short experience. The new TEM model has the advantage of predicting utilization of emergency department resources.