Article
Acoustics
J. Gutierrez Henares, R. Gutierrez Henares, H. Perry, A. Khalil, B. Thilaganathan
Summary: Objective non-invasive assessment of maternal cardiovascular potential and kinetic energy using PKR and SMII may help distinguish pregnancies affected by specific placental disorders and those exhibiting healthy cardiovascular adaptation to pregnancy. Women with HDP and/or SGA have distinctive PKR and SMII profiles, reflecting low kinetic energy in pregnancies with SGA and high potential energy in pregnancies affected by HDP. Non-invasive assessment of potential and kinetic cardiovascular energy demonstrates high-flow and low-resistance adaptation in uncomplicated pregnancies.
ULTRASOUND IN OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Acoustics
N. Sokratous, M. Bednorz, P. Sarli, O. E. Morillo Montes, A. Syngelaki, A. Wright, K. H. Nicolaides
Summary: This study aimed to examine the performance of screening for preterm and term pre-eclampsia (PE) using maternal factors and combinations of maternal serum glycosylated fibronectin (GlyFn), mean arterial pressure (MAP), uterine artery pulsatility index (UtA-PI), and serum placental growth factor (PlGF) during early pregnancy. The findings suggest that GlyFn may be a useful biomarker for screening preterm PE in the first trimester. However, the performance of screening for term PE or gestational hypertension at 11-13 weeks' gestation using any combination of biomarkers is poor. Prospective screening studies are needed to validate the results of this case-control study.
ULTRASOUND IN OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Acoustics
E. Gibbone, I. Sapantzoglou, M. E. Nunez-Cerrato, A. Wright, K. H. Nicolaides, M. Charakida
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the association between the PSV ratio and maternal cardiovascular function in an unselected population at 19-23 weeks' gestation. It found weak associations between the PSV ratio and most cardiovascular indices in the total population, except for mean arterial pressure. However, in the subgroup that developed PE, a moderately strong association between the PSV ratio and left ventricular mass indexed for body surface area was noted.
ULTRASOUND IN OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Acoustics
N. Gana, M. Sarno, N. Vieira, A. Wright, M. Charakida, K. H. Nicolaides
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the potential value of ophthalmic artery Doppler at 11-13 weeks' gestation as a predictive marker for pre-eclampsia (PE) and compare it with other first-trimester biomarkers. The results showed that ophthalmic artery PSV ratio may be helpful in predicting the development of preterm PE. However, larger studies are still needed to validate this finding.
ULTRASOUND IN OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Acoustics
Inge Dierickx, Cecile Kremer, Liesbeth Bruckers, Chahinda Ghossein-Doha, Wilfried Gyselaers
Summary: During pregnancy, combined Doppler-electrocardiogram assessment allows measurement of venous pulse transit time and venous impedance index in the internal jugular veins. The venous pulse transit time increases with gestational age, while the venous impedance index decreases in the right internal jugular vein.
ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Himika Ohara, Akiomi Yoshihisa, Yuko Horikoshi, Shinji Ishibashi, Mitsuko Matsuda, Yukio Yamadera, Yukiko Sugawara, Yasuhiro Ichijo, Yu Hotsuki, Koichiro Watanabe, Yu Sato, Tomofumi Misaka, Takashi Kaneshiro, Masayoshi Oikawa, Atsushi Kobayashi, Yasuchika Takeishi
Summary: The renal venous stasis index (RVSI) assessed by renal Doppler ultrasonography is associated with parameters of cardiac function and right heart catheterization (RHC) in patients with heart failure (HF), and is also linked to adverse prognosis.
FRONTIERS IN CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Acoustics
I Sapantzoglou, A. Wright, M. Gallardo Arozena, R. Vallenas Campos, M. Charakida, K. H. Nicolaides
Summary: The study showed that the ophthalmic artery PSV ratio at 19-23 weeks' gestation could be used to predict the development of PE, especially preterm PE. Combining the PSV ratio with other biomarkers improved the accuracy of predicting PE, but larger studies are needed to validate these findings.
ULTRASOUND IN OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Acoustics
M. Reddy, K. Palmer, D. L. Rolnik, E. M. Wallace, B. W. Mol, F. Da Silva Costa
Summary: This study assessed the performance of placental, fetal, and maternal cardiovascular markers in predicting adverse perinatal and maternal outcomes in women with suspected or confirmed pre-eclampsia. The sFlt-1/PlGF ratio showed good performance in predicting adverse perinatal outcomes but had poor predictive ability for adverse maternal outcomes.
ULTRASOUND IN OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
E. G. Mulder, C. Ghossein-Doha, J. R. W. Crutsen, S. M. J. Van Kuijk, B. Thilaganathan, M. E. A. Spaanderman
Summary: Pregnancy prolongation in early-onset pre-eclampsia is associated with improved offspring outcome and survival, with only a limited effect on postpartum maternal cardiovascular function.
BJOG-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Peter von Dadelszen, Argyro Syngelaki, Ranjit Akolekar, Laura A. Magee, Kypros H. Nicolaides
Summary: This study aimed to compare the relative burdens of maternal and perinatal complications for preterm and term pre-eclampsia. A prospective observational cohort study was conducted in two English maternity units, including unselected women with singleton pregnancies who developed pre-eclampsia. The results showed that preterm pre-eclampsia was more likely to lead to adverse maternal and perinatal events; however, the majority of maternal complications and a significant proportion of perinatal complications still occurred in women with term pre-eclampsia. Therefore, efforts should be made to reduce the incidence of term pre-eclampsia.
BJOG-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Surgery
Yueting Huang, Jian Zhang, Haisheng Wu, Jun Zhao
Summary: The present study evaluated the correlation between incompetent perforator veins (PVs) and venous pigmentation. The results showed that pigmentation in the lower legs was significantly associated with venous insufficiency of the PVs. Incompetent PVs are a significant risk factor for venous pigmentation, suggesting that they could be suitable for surgical correction.
JOURNAL OF VASCULAR SURGERY-VENOUS AND LYMPHATIC DISORDERS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dan Zhu, Weiyu Chen, Yuchen Pan, Tingcui Li, Ming Cui, Baoxia Chen
Summary: The study found that maternal age and parity have an impact on cardiac diastolic function, with older pregnant women having a higher probability of impaired diastolic function. Additionally, impaired diastolic function is significantly correlated with the occurrence rate of pre-eclampsia in mid-gestation.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Acoustics
M. Sarno, A. Wright, N. Vieira, I Sapantzoglou, M. Charakida, K. H. Nicolaides
Summary: The study indicates that maternal ophthalmic artery Doppler combined with established biomarkers can enhance the prediction of pre-eclampsia at 35-37 weeks of gestation, especially for imminent pre-eclampsia within 3 weeks after assessment. Further validation studies are needed to confirm this finding.
ULTRASOUND IN OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Acoustics
Z. Ansbacher-Feldman, A. Syngelaki, H. Meiri, R. Cirkin, K. H. Nicolaides, Y. Louzoun
Summary: The accuracy of predicting the risk of developing pre-eclampsia using artificial-intelligence and machine-learning methods based on maternal demographic characteristics, medical history, and biomarkers is high. Race information plays an important role in prediction accuracy.
ULTRASOUND IN OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Acoustics
E. Gibbone, A. Wright, R. Vallenas Campos, A. Sanchez Sierra, K. H. Nicolaides, M. Charakida
Summary: The study examined the impact of various factors on maternal cardiovascular indices during 19-23 weeks' gestation, finding that peripheral vascular resistance was the only index significantly affected by the subsequent development of PE, while other indices showed weak correlations with PE. Although maternal cardiovascular indices provide insights into the pathophysiology of PE, they are not useful for predicting PE.
ULTRASOUND IN OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Johan Verbeeck, Christel Faes, Thomas Neyens, Niel Hens, Geert Verbeke, Patrick Deboosere, Geert Molenberghs
Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an increase in mortality worldwide. To assess the impact on mortality, researchers propose using excess mortality instead of reported COVID-19 deaths. However, estimating excess mortality requires considering non-pandemic mortality rates, and current methods have limitations. In this study, a linear mixed model is proposed, which improves excess mortality estimation by using historical mortality data, accounting for serial correlation, and reducing the influence of historical excess mortality.
Article
Mathematical & Computational Biology
Maren Vranckx, Christel Faes, Geert Molenberghs, Niel Hens, Philippe Beutels, Pierre Van Damme, Jan Aerts, Oana Petrof, Koen Pepermans, Thomas Neyens
Summary: This study presents a framework for improving estimation of the spatial distribution of COVID-19 incidence in Belgium using a joint spatial modeling approach. The results show that an online survey can provide valuable auxiliary data to optimize the estimation based on confirmed cases. Additionally, the survey is capable of identifying locations with similar clusters of cases approximately 1 week earlier.
BIOMETRICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Mathematical & Computational Biology
Vaiva Deltuvaite-Thomas, Johan Verbeeck, Tomasz Burzykowski, Marc Buyse, Christophe Tournigand, Geert Molenberghs, Olivier Thas
Summary: The method of generalized pairwise comparisons (GPC) is an extension of the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test that can handle censored data. This paper evaluates different GPC methods and provides recommendations for their use in various situations. The study finds that methods that ignore uninformative pairs are comparable to more complex methods in low censoring situations and slightly superior in high censoring situations. If estimation of net benefit is of interest, the imputation or IPCW methods provide unbiased estimators up to a certain proportion of drop-out censoring.
BIOMETRICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Biology
Florian Stijven, Johan Verbeeck, Geert Molenberghs
Summary: This study proposes a nonlinear Gaussian-Gaussian model to describe the incidence curves of COVID-19 infections in economic sectors using a small set of meaningful parameters. The model allows for analyzing and comparing incidence curves and bringing out key characteristics.
Review
Rheumatology
Lien Moreel, Albrecht Betrains, Geert Molenberghs, Steven Vanderschueren, Daniel Blockmans
Summary: The timing, prevalence, and predictors of relapse were evaluated in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA). The study found that nearly half of GCA patients experienced relapse within the first two years after diagnosis, and one in three patients had multiple relapses. Female sex and large vessel involvement were identified as predictors of relapse. Further research is needed to determine the optimal glucocorticoid tapering schedule and the potential benefits of early introduction of glucocorticoid-sparing agents in specific patient populations.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Dries De Witte, Margaux Delporte, Geert Molenberghs, Geert Verbeke, Stefaan Demarest, Vera Hoorens
Summary: Research suggests that individual self-uniqueness beliefs related to health can predict adherence to COVID-19 precautions. This study found that comparative optimism, self-superiority, and egocentric impact perception can predict intended adherence to precautions among individuals.
SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Jan Van Eijgen, Alexander Heintz, Claire Van der Pluijm, Margaux Delporte, Dries De Witte, Geert Molenberghs, Joao Barbosa-Breda, Ingeborg Stalmans
Summary: This study utilized dynamic OCTA examination to compare differences between healthy individuals and glaucoma patients, as well as to distinguish subcategories of glaucoma (NTG and POAG). The results confirmed a decrease in retinal vessel density in glaucoma patients and established the necessity to correct for gender, age, and MAP. However, replication in a larger population is needed to determine whether OCTA is suitable for dynamically evaluating the retinal microvasculature.
FRONTIERS IN MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Virology
Benedict Vanlerberghe, Casper Vrij, Kris Bogaerts, Pieter Vermeersch, Katrien Lagrou, Geert Molenberghs, Filip Rega, Laurens J. Ceulemans, Dirk van Raemdonck, Ina Jochmans, Diethard Monbaliu, Jacques Pirenne, Tim Vanuytsel, Pieter Gillard, Helene Schoemans, Johan Van Cleemput, Dirk Kuypers, Robin Vos, Frederik Nevens, Jef Verbeek
Summary: This observational study investigated the effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and breakthrough infections in transplant recipients. It found significant variations in antibody response rates and rates of severe infections among different transplant types, which were modulated by specific risk factors. These findings highlight the importance of tailored COVID-19 prevention measures for transplant recipients.
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yessika Adelwin Natalia, Christel Faes, Thomas Neyens, Pieter Chys, Naima Hammami, Geert Molenberghs
Summary: Understanding the local dynamics of COVID-19 transmission in small geographical units requires characterizing the incidence curve. This study investigates the fractal structure of time series dynamics in the Flanders and Brussels Regions of Belgium, estimating the fractal dimensions of COVID-19 incidence rates using four different estimators. Varying patterns of fractal dimensions across time and location were found, and summary statistics were used to cluster regions with different incidence rate patterns. Fractal dimension analysis offers important insight into the past, current, and future evolution of infectious disease outbreaks.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Nathalie De Beukelaer, Ines Vandekerckhove, Ester Huyghe, Geert Molenberghs, Nicky Peeters, Britta Hanssen, Els Ortibus, Anja Van Campenhout, Kaat Desloovere
Summary: This prospective longitudinal study modeled morphological muscle growth in 87 children with SCP, finding that children with moderate to severe SCP had slower muscle growth rates before the age of 2 compared to those with mild SCP, and had even worse muscle growth rates after the age of 9. These findings highlight the importance of early monitoring of SCP muscle pathology and its relationship to motor mobility.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Health Policy & Services
Margaux Delporte, David De Coninck, Leen d'Haenens, Martial Luyts, Geert Verbeke, Geert Molenberghs, Koen Matthijs
Summary: During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals relied on media sources for information, however there were differences in the type and frequency of news consumed, which were linked to their perceived vulnerability to disease. A longitudinal study in Belgium followed 1000 individuals from March to September 2020 and found that media consumption significantly impacts perceived germ aversion, with heavy consumers of commercial media reporting greater germ aversion than light consumers. The evolution of germ aversion and perceived infectability depended on factors such as gender, living environment, age, and the ability to work from home.
HEALTH PROMOTION INTERNATIONAL
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Dries De Witte, Ariel Alonso Abad, Geert Molenberghs, Geert Verbeke, Lizet Sanchez, Pedro Mas-Bermejo, Thomas Neyens
Summary: In order to monitor the spread of COVID-19 in Cuba, daily data on various epidemiological indicators have been collected for each municipality. Analyzing the spatio-temporal dynamics and correlations of these indicators can provide insights on the spread of COVID-19 in Cuba. This study developed a multivariate spatio-temporal model using Bayesian framework to examine the association between weekly COVID-19 deaths and imported cases in Cuba during 2021, considering both spatial and temporal patterns.
SPATIAL AND SPATIO-TEMPORAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Lien Moreel, Walter Coudyzer, Lennert Boeckxstaens, Albrecht Betrains, Geert Molenberghs, Steven Vanderschueren, Eveline Claus, Koen Van Laere, Daniel Blockmans
Summary: This study aimed to measure the association between vascular FDG uptake at diagnosis and the change in aortic dimensions in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA). The results showed that patients with positive FDG uptake had a greater increase in aortic dimensions and were at a higher risk for thoracic aortic aneurysms. The study suggests that performing PET imaging at diagnosis can help estimate the risk for aortic aneurysm formation.
ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Review
Immunology
Lien Moreel, Albrecht Betrains, Michael Doumen, Geert Molenberghs, Steven Vanderschueren, Daniel Blockmans
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of combined cranial and large vessel imaging by PET/CT, ultrasound, and MRI for giant cell arteritis (GCA). The results showed that combined cranial and large vessel ultrasound had a sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 96%. PET/CT of both cranial and large vessels yielded a sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 79%. Depending on the setting, expertise, and clinical presentation, either PET/CT or ultrasound may be preferred as the diagnostic method.
AUTOIMMUNITY REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Mathematical & Computational Biology
Pavlos Mamouris, Vahid Nassiri, Geert Verbeke, Arne Janssens, Bert Vaes, Geert Molenberghs
Summary: This study proposes a 3-stage approach for imputing longitudinal categorical covariates, and validates the method through simulation and empirical research. A companion R package is developed for easy application.
STATISTICS IN MEDICINE
(2023)
