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For patients with stage 4 or 5 chronic kidney disease and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, 12 weeks of treatment with glecaprevir and pibrentasvir results in a high rate of sustained virologic response, according to a study published online Oct. 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Edward Gane, M.D., from Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand, and colleagues conducted a multicenter trial to examine the efficacy and safety of combination treatment with the NS3/4A protease inhibitor glecaprevir and the NS5A inhibitor pibrentasvir for 12 weeks in adults with HCV infection and compensated liver disease with severe renal impairment, dependence on dialysis, or both. Participants had stage 4 or 5 chronic kidney disease. One hundred four patients were enrolled in the trial. The researchers found that the sustained virologic response rate was 98 percent. During treatment, none of the patients had virologic failure, and none had a virologic relapse after the end of treatment. Pruritus, fatigue, and nausea were reported in at least 10 percent of the patients. Twenty-four percent of the patients reported serious adverse events. Because of adverse events, four patients discontinued the trial treatment prematurely; three of these had sustained virologic response

Dual-graft (DG) adult living donor liver transplantation (ALDLT) with ABO-incompatible (ABOi) and ABO-compatible (ABOc) graft combination is associated with high rates of graft survival, with no significant difference for ABOi and ABOc grafts, according to research published online July 31 in the American Journal of Transplantation. Jae Hyun Kwon, M.D., from the University of Ulsan College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues conducted a retrospective review of medical records of patients who underwent ABOi DG ALDLT between 2008 and 2014. The authors also assessed the graft regeneration rate using computed tomography volumetric analysis. During a mean follow-up of 57.0 ± 22.4 months, the researchers found that the one-, three-, and five-year patient survival rate was 96.4 percent. The rate of graft survival at one-, three-, and five-years was 96.4, 94.2, and 92.0 percent, respectively; ABOc and ABOi grafts did not differ significantly (P = 0.145). No significant differences were seen between ABOc and ABOi grafts in the biliary complication rate (P = 0.195). There was no significant difference in regeneration rates for ABOi and ABOc grafts. "DG ALDLT with ABOi and ABOc graft combination seems to be a feasible option for expanding the donor pool without additional donor risks," the authors write.

Vascular Interventional Advances Annual Conference (VIVA) is organized by Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) and would be held during Nov 11 - 15, 2017 at Wynn Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America. TARGET AUDIENCE : The target audience for this CME activity is physicians who specialize in, among other areas, interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, vascular medicine, vascular surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery, podiatry and neuroradiology, as well as fellows, and allied health professionals (including nurses, vascular clinic staff, endovascular operating room staff, catheterization laboratory and angiography suite staff, nurse practitioners, vascular technologists, and physicians assistants). LEARNING OBJECTIVES : At the conclusion of the course, the targeted learners should be able: * Understand the current indications, risks, complications, and outcome of medical, interventional, and surgical therapies for the treatment of peripheral arterial and venous diseases. * Incorporate advanced medical, endovascular, and surgical techniques and approaches into their own practices to improve the care and outcomes of patients. * Implement high quality guidelines based programs to improve the early identification and care of patients with non- cardiac vascular conditions. * Increase knowledge in critical decision-making and the comprehensive spectrum of care for patients with stroke and intracranial and extracranial carotid artery disease. * Improve the delivery of balanced and scientifically valid vascular care in accordance with expert opinion and practice. * Utilize strategies learned from the meeting including endovascular technologies, open surgical techniques, and hybrid approaches, for the treatment of patients with aortic diseases. * To gain and employ decision making and procedural strategies and techniques in patients with aortic and visceral aneurysms, dissections, deep venous thrombosis, venous insuff

Too many carbs, not fats, may be the culprit in raising risk of premature death, according to a study published online Aug. 29 in the The Lancet to coincide with the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2017, held from Aug. 26 to 30 in Barcelona, Spain. Mahshid Dehghan, Ph.D., an investigator with the Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and colleagues tracked the diet and health of 135,335 people, aged 35 to 70, from 18 countries around the world, to gain a global perspective on the health effects of diet. Participants provided detailed information on their social and economic status, lifestyle, medical history, and current health. They also completed a questionnaire on their regular diet, which researchers used to calculate their average daily calories from fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. The research team then tracked the participants' health for about seven years on average, with follow-up visits at least every three years. The investigators found that high-carbohydrate diets are common, with more than half of the people deriving 70 percent of their daily calories from carbs. People with a high fat intake -- about 35 percent of their daily diet -- had a 23 percent lower risk of early death and 18 percent lower risk of stroke compared to people who ate less fat. The researchers also noted that a very low intake of saturated fats (below 3 percent of daily diet) was associated with a higher risk of death in the study, compared to diets containing up to 13 percent daily. At the same time, high-carb diets -- containing an average 77 percent carbohydrates -- were associated with a 28 percent increased risk of death versus low-carb diets. "The study showed that contrary to popular belief, increased consumption of dietary fats is associated with a lower risk of death," Dehghan told HealthDay. "We found no evidence that below 10 percent of energy by saturated fat is beneficial, and going below 7 percent may even be har

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) supplementation is associated with an increase in serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration, according to a review and meta-analysis published online May 29 in Cardiovascular Therapeutics. Mohsen Mazidi, Ph.D., from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the impact of CLA supplementation on serum CRP. Data were included from 14 studies. The researchers found that following supplementation with CLAs there was a significant increase in serum CRP concentrations (weighted mean difference, 0.63 mg/dL; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.13 to 1.13; heterogeneity P = 0.026); these findings were robust in sensitivity analyses. The changes in serum CRP levels were found to be independent of CLA supplementation dosage (slope, −0.02; 95 percent confidence interval, −0.10 to 0.12; P = 0.889) or follow-up duration (slope, 0.271; 95 percent confidence interval, −0.05 to 0.59; P = 0.098). "This meta-analysis suggests that CLA supplementation is associated with an increase in plasma CRP concentrations and a reduction in serum adiponectin concentrations, which indicates that CLA supplements have a pro-inflammatory effect," the authors write.