Background: Relapse of disease is frequent in anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). It is unclear whether persistent ANCA when starting maintenance therapy increases the risk of relapse. We examined the association between ANCA status and relapse in two randomised controlled trials. Methods: ANCA-positive patients in two trials, CYCLOPS and IMPROVE, were switched f

Background: The pathophysiology of neurodegeneration is complex. Its diagnosis requires an early identification of sequential changes in several hallmarks in the brains of affected subjects. The presence of brain pathology can be visualized in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by protein profiling. It is clear that the field of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) will benefit from an integration of algorithms in

OBJECTIVES: The 22 countries of the East Mediterranean Region (EMR) have large populations of adolescents aged 10-24 years. These adolescents are central to assuring the health, development, and peace of this region. We described their health needs.METHODS: Using data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 (GBD 2015), we report the leading causes of mortality and morbidity for adolescents in

OBJECTIVES: Assessing the burden of maternal mortality is important for tracking progress and identifying public health gaps. This paper provides an overview of the burden of maternal mortality in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) by underlying cause and age from 1990 to 2015.METHODS: We used the results of the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study to explore maternal mortality in the EMR count

BACKGROUND: The Global burden of disease and injuries study (GBD 2015) reports expected measures for years of life lost (YLL) based on socio-demographic index (SDI) of countries, as well as the observed measures. In this extended GBD 2015 report, we reviewed total and cause-specific deaths and YLL for Iran and all its neighboring countries between 1990 and 2015.METHODS: We extracted data from the

Plasma concentrations of adrenaline, noradrenaline, aldosterone and plasma renin activity were determined in a selected group of 80-year-old men (N = 41) in good health without clinical signs of cardiovascular disease, and were compared to levels in young healthy males (N = 20, 24-28 years). Plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations were higher (0.24 median; 25th-75th percentiles 0.16-0.3

BACKGROUND Sentinel-lymph-node biopsy is associated with increased melanoma-specific survival (i.e., survival until death from melanoma) among patients with node-positive intermediatethickness melanomas (1.2 to 3.5 mm). The value of completion lymph-node dissection for patients with sentinel-node metastases is not clear. METHODS In an international trial, we randomly assigned patients with sentine

OBJECTIVES: Although substantial reductions in under-5 mortality have been observed during the past 35 years, progress in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) has been uneven. This paper provides an overview of child mortality and morbidity in the EMR based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study.METHODS: We used GBD 2015 study results to explore under-5 mortality and morbidity in EMR countr

OBJECTIVES: The Eastern Mediterranean Region faces several health challenges at a difficult time with wars, unrest, and economic change.METHODS: We used the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study to present the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors in the Eastern Mediterranean Region from 1990 to 2015.RESULTS: Ischemic heart disease was the leading cause of death in the region in 2015, follo

As a result of advances in healthcare and rehabilitation, many people with spinal cord injury (SCI) have lived several decades with their injury. Knowledge of living with long-term SCI into older age is limited, despite an increased focus on aging with SCI in research and clinical practice.The overarching aim of this thesis was to describe and understand the life situation of older adults with lon

This report aims to introduce, test and discuss a new method of measuring episodic memory in participants with highly restricted verbal abilities. Although an elicited/deferred imitation paradigm has already proposed a successful method of measuring this capacity in infants as young as 6 months old [Bauer, Patricia J. 2006. “Constructing a Past in Infancy: A Neuro-Developmental Account.” Trends in

PURPOSE: To identify the questionnaires used to assess refractive surgery outcomes, assess the available questionnaires in regard to their psychometric properties, validity, and reliability, and evaluate the performance of the available questionnaires in measuring refractive surgery outcomes. METHODS: An extensive literature search was done on PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL, Cochrane, and Web of

OBJECTIVES: To report the burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) during 1990-2015.METHODS: We used the 2015 Global Burden of Disease study for estimates of mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of different CVD in 22 countries of EMR.RESULTS: A total of 1.4 million CVD deaths (95% UI: 1.3-1.5) occurred in 2015 in the EMR, with the highest n