Yi-Hwei Li

Malnutrition and Hyponatremia in Dialysis Patients

whichreported that lower predialysis serum sodium concentrationis associated with an increased risk of death. The authorsdeclared that adjustment for measures of dietary intakeshould lessen the likelihood of confounding on the basis ofconditions that predispose to hyponatremia via cachexia andmalnutrition. However, patients with hyponatremia in thequartile 1 group had the lowest estimated dry body weightindex and creatinine level among the groups, which re-flected a malnutrition status and was associated with ahigher death rate in a maintenance dialysis population.

Aerobic and resistance training for patients with type 2 diabetes.

to surgical biopsies, in particular for those patients without a prior tissue diagnosis. Recent reports demonstrate that EGFR mutations and EML4-ALK fusion proteins can be detected in samples obtained by endosonography. While these findings require validation in larger cohorts, the need for molecular testing is not an argument to choose surgical biopsies initially over endosonography. Finally, we agree that surgical staging allows videoassisted mediastinoscopic lymph node dissection. To date, however, there is little evidence that supports the routine use of this specific surgical technique for mediastinal staging.

Clopidogrel loading dose in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention

To the Editor We read with interest the meta-analysis by Siller-Matula et al , which reported that intensified clopidogrel loading with 600u2005mg reduces the rate of major cardiovascular events without increase in major bleeding compared with 300u2005mg in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) during 1-month follow-up.1 A large body of evidence has suggested the effectiveness and safety of the 600 mg loading dose of clopidogrel for patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing primary PCI. Besides, many experts indicated that the benefits of additional antiplatelet agents were mainly for those with high-risk profiles and advanced Killips classifications.2 Accordingly, the authors raised a critical concern …

Controversies with On-TIME 2

To the Editor We appreciate the work by Hermanides et al , which reported that routine prehospital treatment with high-dose tirofiban (HDT) significantly reduces the use of blinded bail-out study medication (20% vs 29%). The need for bail-out therapy was associated with a less favourable outcome (major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 30 days 12.2% …

A single level of plasma troponin-I predicts left ventricular remodelling after primary angioplasty

To the Editor We appreciate the work by Hallen et al ,1 which reported that a single-point measurement of cardiac troponin-I (cTnI) 24 or 48u2005h after primary angioplasty for those with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) provides substantial prognostic information on the evolution of left ventricular function and the risk of left ventricular expansion. Actually, a single level of cTnI after primary angioplasty is associated with a variety of factors including the mass of myocardial necrosis, the metabolic rates and the haemodynamic status. As we know, timing to perform coronary catheterisation is …

What else does the JUPITER trial add regarding C-reactive protein and cardiovascular disease?

cardiovascular disease? Gen-Min Lin ⁎, Yi-Hwei Li , Kai-Min Chu , Chih-Lu Han d a Department of Medicine, Hualien Armed Forces General Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan b Department of Public Health, Tzu-Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan c Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan d Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan