It has been reported that elevated serum uric acid (UA) levels is an independent factor of poor prognosis in patients with chronic heart failure and chronic kidney disease (CKD). In our study, we assessed the potential impact of hyperuricemia on left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction (DD) in patient with CKD. The study group consisted of 50 patients with CKD, stages 2-5. Standard echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) were performed. The levels of UA and N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) were determined. Patients were divided into two groups according to the results of peak mitral annular early diastolic velocity (EmLV): group with LV diastolic dysfunction (EmLV < 8 cm/s) DD (+) and group with normal LV diastolic function DD (-), when EmLV ≥ 8 cm/s. Patients DD (+) group, as compared to DD (-) patients were characterized by significantly higher serum UA levels [6.7 (4.4-14.3) mg/dL vs 5.8 (1.9-8.9) mg/dL, p = 0.004] respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was of serum UA levels for the detection of LV diastolic dysfunction was 0.734, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.590-0.849, p = 0.001, whereas ROC derived UA value of > 6.0 mg/dL was characterized by a sensitivity of 76.9% and specificity of 62.5% for diagnosing LV diastolic dysfunction. The independent variable predicting LV diastolic dysfunction as measured by a multivariate logistic regression analysis was UA level > 6.0 mg/dL with odds ratio (OR) = 14.3 (95% CI 2.0-103.2), p = 0.006. Hyperuricemia is an independent predictive factor for LV diastolic dysfunction in patients with CKD.

Homelessness is a form of social pathology, which is for various reasons undesirable and as far as possible limited by efforts such as programmes that assist in transitioning out of homelessness. Because, as time passes, the homeless population undergoes both quantitative and qualitative changes, the process of developing these programmes requires up-to-date information on the extent and profile of this phenomenon that takes into account the characteristics of a given country. A 12-month study of homeless individuals (ETHOS categories 1.1, 2.1 and 3.1) was conducted between December 2013 and November 2014 in Olsztyn, Poland. Demographic, sociological, psychological, and medical data were collected. The study population comprised 98 homeless individuals. The average homeless individual in our study population was a single (93.88%), most commonly divorced (59.18%), alcohol-dependent (78.57%), smoking (84.69%), middle-aged (54.33 years, SD 9.70) male (92.86%) with a low level of education (10.19 years of completed education, SD 3.09). The individual was most commonly an unemployed person suffering profound privation, living off various types of benefits, and spending a significant proportion of his income on alcohol and cigarettes. The person often resigned from social welfare due to his alcohol dependence. Almost a third of the study population (32.65%) declared that they occasionally went hungry. The principal source of food were meals provided by welfare services (89.80%). Our results indicate that the design of the social welfare system for homeless people should always take into account issues related to alcohol dependence, and each homeless person should be evaluated for possible alcohol dependence. Institutionalised material support provided to homeless individuals should be organised in such a way as to minimise the risk of promoting alcohol and nicotine dependence.

The increased value of the red cell distribution width (RDW) was reported to indicate poor prognosis in patients with chronic heart failure. We evaluated the value of the RDW in the diagnosis of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) in patients without diastolic heart failure among the chronic kidney disease (CKD) population.