Objective: In this article, we characterize a large definite MD cohort for sex and age of onset of disease and use molecular genetic methodologies to characterize ethnicity.

Study Design: Medical record review for sex and age of onset. Ancestry analysis compared results from the principal component analysis of whole-genome genotype data from MD patients to self-identified ancestry in control samples.

Setting:

House Clinic in Los Angeles.

Patients: Definitive MD patients.

Results: Our review of medical records for definitive MD patients reveals that women are more susceptible than men. We also find that men and women have nearly identical age of onset for disease. Lastly, interrogation of molecular genetic data with principal component analysis allowed detailed observations about the ethnic ancestry of our patients. Comparison of the ethnicity of MD patients presenting to our tertiary care clinic with the self-recollected ethnicity of all patients LDK378 concentration visiting

the clinic revealed an ethnic bias, with Caucasians Blasticidin S presenting at a higher frequency than expected and the remaining major ethnicities populating Los Angeles (Hispanics, Blacks, and Asians) presenting at a lower frequency than expected.

Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this report is the first ethnic characterization of a large MD cohort from a large metropolitan region using molecular genetic data. Our data suggest that there is a bias in sex and ethnic susceptibility to this disease.”
“Background and objective: The aim of this study was to assess the performance of N-terminal proB-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels for the diagnosis of left ventricular dysfunction in patients with severe acute exacerbations of Dinaciclib cell line chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and renal dysfunction. Methods: NT-proBNP levels at admission were measured in consecutive patients admitted to two participating intensive care units with acute exacerbations of COPD. Left ventricular dysfunction was assessed on the basis of clinical

and echocardiographic criteria. The performance of NT-proBNP levels was evaluated in patients with or without renal dysfunction. Results: Among the 120 patients included in the study, 70 had impaired renal function, defined as a glomerular filtration rate of < 90 mL/ min/ 1.73 m2. NT-proBNP levels were inversely correlated with glomerular filtration rate (Spearman’s correlation coefficient = -0.457, P < 0.001). Overall, left ventricular dysfunction was diagnosed in 58 patients (48.3%). Median NT-proBNP levels were significantly higher in these patients, irrespective of whether their renal function was normal (3313 (interquartile range (IQR) 4603) vs 337 (IQR 695) pg/ mL, P < 0.001) or impaired (5692 (IQR 10714) vs 887 (IQR 1165) pg/ mL, P < 0.001). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were 0.87 and 0.78, respectively.