Jerzy Gąsowski

Jagiellonian University | UJ · Department of Internal Medicine and Gerontology

Background: Tortuosity of intracranial arteries was proved to be associated with risk of intracranial aneurysms development. We decided to analyse which aspects of tortuosity are correlated with hemodynamics parameters promoting intracranial aneurysm development. Methods: We constructed 73 idealized models of tortuous artery (length: 25 mm, diam...

Anorexia of aging is a common problem in older adults. Depending on the setting, its prevalence varies from about 10% (among community-dwelling older adults) to over 30% in acute wards and nursing homes. The objective of this systematic review was to establish the prevalence of poor appetite in frail persons ≥60 years of age. We performed a literat...

Objectives: To prospectively assess the concordance of examination under anesthesia (EUA)-based clinical T stage with pathological T stage and diagnostic accuracy of EUA in patients with bladder cancer undergoing cystectomy. Methods: Consecutive patients with bladder cancer undergoing cystectomy between June 2017 and October 2020 in a single aca...

B a c k g r o u n d: Due to current increased life expectancy, the quality of life (QoL) of senior patients is gaining in importance. The aims of this study were: to estimate QoL in a group of patients, aged above 64 years, that is cared for by general practitioners (GPs) in Krakow, Poland, and to find relation- ships between elements of QoL and th...

Background: A reliable reference of population-based parameters for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and overactive bladder (OAB) is lacking for the elderly. Thus, the objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence, bother, effect on quality of life, and treatment-related behavior for LUTS and OAB in a large population-level cohort of P...

Background The prevalence of frailty and its components may be affected by age, diseases and geriatric deficits. However, the current operational definition of frailty assigns equal weight to the five components of frailty. Aims To perform a population-based assessment of physical frailty, its prevalence, and distribution of its components across...

Background COVID-19 has affected older persons the most. The propensity to have severe COVID-19 or die of the infection was especially prevalent among older subjects with multimorbidity, frailty and sarcopenia. The aim of our study was to check which of the simple clinical biomarkers, including the assessment of muscle and frailty, would associate...

Background Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022, more than 6 million Ukrainians, including hundreds of thousands of older people, have sought safety abroad. Older people generally have a higher burden of disease than younger people and the aim of our study was to estimate this burden in older Ukrainian refugees, given the potential...

Background Ankle-brachial index (ABI) is a screening tool for peripheral arterial disease (PAD). However, persons with normal ABI may still exhibit abnormalities in the physical examination of arterial system (PHEA). Objective In older persons from the PolSenior study, we aimed to assess the risk of total mortality associated with abnormalities in...

Background It seems that caregivers (CGs) may be a reliable source of information for determining health condition of seniors. This might be important for general practitioners (GPs) and facilitate them conducting comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA). The objectives of our study were to: compare populations of older patients with and without CG...

Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome that indicates homeostenosis and increased risk of disability and mortality. It is amenable to intervention when detected. Hence, screening frailty is of utmost importance to preserve quality-of-life and function in older age. Simpler Modified Fried Frailty Scale is a very practical frailty screening tool that...

Objective Many researchers have found correlation between tortuous arteries and development of aneurysms in cerebral arteries. We decided to determine, whether tortuosity of internal carotid artery can be related to its aneurysm rupture. Methods We retrospectively analysed the internal carotid artery anatomy of 149 patients with internal carotid a...

Znaczący odsetek osób z populacji powyżej 75 roku życia doświadcza epizodu dużej depresji. Objawy depresji, demonstrowane przez pacjentów w wieku podeszłym, są często traktowane jako naturalny element procesu starzenia się, przez co wielu pacjentów w wieku podeszłym pozostaje niezdiagnozowanych, bądź jest zdiagnozowana nietrafnie. Postuluje się, że...

P u r p o s e: Oral health and diseases are significant components of general health. However, oral health-care remains at the lowest of older patients' priorities. The inability to obtain dental care can result in progression of dental disease, leading to a diminished quality of life and overall health. Teledentistry (TD) provides an opportunity t...

To assess the relationship between ankle-brachial index (ABI) and up to 10-year mortality in older individuals below and above the age of 80 years. In a multicenter survey of health status in the community dwelling subjects aged 55-59 and 65 + years in Poland, we assessed baseline medical history including risk-factors. We measured ABI, and serum c...

To assess the relationship between ankle-brachial index (ABI) and up to 10-year mortality in older individuals below and above the age of 80 years. In a multicenter survey of health status in the community dwelling subjects aged 55-59 and 65 + years in Poland, we assessed baseline medical history including risk-factors. We measured ABI, and serum c...

Introduction: Multimorbidity has been recognized as an important factor in the geriatric medicine. However, its importance for other specialists is still to be fully appreciated. Objectives: To assess the prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity in older subjects drawn from general population. Patients and methods: PolSenior was a nationwide,...

Introduction Hospitalization is associated with acute changes in sarcopenia status in older people, but the influencing factors are not fully understood. Pre-admission care dependency level as a risk factor has not yet been investigated. Objective Evaluate if pre-admission care dependency level is an independent predictor of sarcopenia changes fol...

In this review, we discuss the pathophysiologic and management aspects of acute sarcopenia in relation to SARS-CoV-2 infection. COVID-19 is as a multi-organ infectious disease characterized by a severe inflammatory and highly catabolic status, influencing the deep changes in the body build, especially the amount, structure, and function of skeletal...

Background Sarcopenia is a potentially reversible condition, which requires proper screening and diagnosis. Aims To validate a Polish version of sarcopenia screening questionnaire (SARC-F), and assess its clinical performance. Methods Cross-sectional validation study in community-dwelling subjects ≥ 65 years of age. Diagnosis of sarcopenia was ba...

Frailty and cardiovascular disease share some of the pathophysiologic features. Our objective was to review and metaanalyse the available published evidence on the topic. We performed a comprehensive literature search for studies where pulse wave velocity (PWV) or carotid-ankle vascular index (CAVI) has been linked with frailty in older persons. Of...

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-021-00476-6

PurposeIn 2018, the SARCUS working group published a first article on the standardization of the use of ultrasound to assess muscle. Recommendations were made for patient positioning, system settings and components to be measured. Also, shortcomings in knowledge were mentioned. An important issue that still required standardization was the definiti...

Major adverse cardiovascular events are closely associated with 24-hour blood pressure (BP). We determined outcome-driven thresholds for 24-hour mean arterial pressure (MAP), a BP index estimated by oscillometric devices. We assessed the association of major adverse cardiovascular events with 24-hour MAP, systolic BP (SBP), and diastolic BP (DBP) i...

PurposeThe United Nations (UN) has published a Policy Brief on the impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) that identifies policies and responses to protect older adults. Our objective was to summarize actions, health policies and clinical guidelines adopted by six European countries (Belgium, France, Italy, Poland, Spain and United Kingd...

The 2019 EuGMS Congress “Evidence-Based Medicine in Geriatrics” was held in Krakow, Poland, and attended by over 1600 participants from 64 different countries. A summary and reflection on the congress was presented in the Closing Ceremony by European Academy for Medicine of Aging graduates, and summarised in this article. Keynote lectures, ‘state o...

Objectives We analysed tortuosity of basilar artery (BA) to determine its relationship with the presence of aneurysm.Methods We retrospectively analysed 71 patients with BA aneurysms along with 71 age- and risk factors-matched control patients without BA aneurysm. From patients’ medical records, we obtained their history including previous and curr...

The association between intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) shape and a poor treatment outcome has been established by few authors. We decided to analyze whether computationally assessed hemorrhage shape irregularity is associated with any known predictors of its poor treatment outcome. We retrospectively analyzed 48 patients with spontaneous intracereb...

Purpose: The parameters of cerebral blood flow are modulated by many factors. The aim of the study was to prospectively assess the relationship between the number of the established cardiovascular risk factors and hemodynamic parameters of cerebral blood flow. Material and methods: The study was cross-sectional baseline and 6-year follow-up data an...

Cardiovascular disease burden increases with the increasing age of populations. Also, with increasing longevity, some individuals are ageing along an unfavourable path developing frailty syndrome. Epidemiologic studies indicate that frailty is overrepresented among the persons with cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, frail subjects tend to b...

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are highly prevalent in older adults and represent a major geriatric health-care concern. Management of CVD in older patients may be challenging due to specific geriatric issues, such as frailty and multi-morbidity, which may influence patients’ outcomes. In this clinical context, diagnostic and therapeutic strategies...

Background: Subarachnoid haemorrhage is (SAH) is a devastating neurologic emergency often associated with systemic inflammatory response. Many reports demonstrated association between elevated inflammatory markers and poor outcome. We performed an observational study and a metaanalysis of the impact of high leukocyte count on outcome after SAH. M...

Subclinical arterial damage connected with endothelial dysfunction is a common denominator of cardiovascular complications in a variety of metabolic diseases, including obesity. The aims of the study was to assess functional vascular changes measured by flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and nitroglycerin-mediated dilation (NMD) of brachial artery, and...

Objective: To assess changes of post occlusive reactive hyperaemic (PORH) response in skin microcirculation among extremely obese patients ten days and six months after bariatric surgery for patients with and without hypertension. Methods: Skin blood flow was measured using PeriFlux laser Doppler fluxmetry (LDF). Data was analysed in the entire...

Background Prevalence of peripheral arterial disease increases with age and is related to increased morbidity and mortality. The clinical diagnosis includes the measurement of ankle–brachial index (ABI). Aims To check the prevalence of abnormal ABI, and the value of physical examination of arterial system in detection of ABI < 0.9. Methods We per...

Aim To report the most important messages of the 2018 EuGMS Congress in Berlin. Findings From social issues to nutrition, from cardiovascular aspects to new definition of sarcopenia, the congress has informed more than 1800 participants on the hottest issues of geriatric medicine of today. Message The EuGMS congress brings together both bench-to-...

Background: Insulin resistance and renal tubular sodium handling influence arterial structure and function and play an essential role in salt-sensitive forms of hypertension. Methods: In a population with prevailing sodium consumption, we assessed the relationship between cardiovascular phenotypes (peripheral and central blood pressures, elastic...

Objectives We decided to perform computer-aided analysis of the anterior cerebral artery (ACA) to check for a potential correlation with anterior communicating artery (ACoA) aneurysm presence and growth. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the ACA anatomy of 121 patients with ACoA aneurysms along with 121 age, risk factors, and vessel side-matched...

Tortuosity of blood vessels is a common angiographic finding that may indicate systemic disease and can be correlated with vascular pathologies. In this work, we determined whether patients with and without internal carotid artery (ICA) aneurysm presented with differences in its tortuosity descriptors. We retrospectively analysed data of 298 patien...

Background Prevalence of peripheral arterial disease increases with age and is related to increased morbidity and mortality. The clinical diagnosis includes the measurement of ankle-brachial index (ABI). Aims To check the prevalence of abnormal ABI, and the value of physical examination of arterial system in detection of ABI < 0.9. Methods We perfo...

Background Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is characterized by significant bone loss caused by dysregulation of physiological bone turnover, possibly resulting from intensified differentiation of osteoclasts. The aim of this study was to reevaluate the levels of osteoclastogenesis-mediating factors: soluble RANKL, M-CSF, OPG and other cytokines in...

Objective: Vitamin D plays an important role in mineral turnover and bone remodeling and there are increasing data about its immunomodulatory potential in different rheumatologic disorders. Deficiency of vitamin D is frequent in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) and some data suggest its association with increased disease activity and structur...

Background Bariatric surgery is considered as a first line treatment in extreme obese patients to achieve a reduction in health risks. However, after surgical procedure obese patients with normal blood pressure (BP) levels still present residual risk, which may be partly related to lack of correction of BP profile and variability. Aim To evaluate...

Background Many researchers have found a correlation between tortuous arteries and development of aneurysms in cerebral arteries. However, there are no studies analyzing the impact of tortuosity on risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) occurrence. Therefore, we decided to determine whether tortuosity of the anterior cerebral artery can be related t...

Background: Shape and density of intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is associated with higher risk of poor treatment outcome. However, methods of those features assessment are still inconclusive. Therefore, we decided to measure ICH shape irregularity using shape factors to achieve objective results. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 48 patients...

Background: Since its introduction by Hodkinson in 1972, Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS) and its English and other language versions have been widely used in research and clinical practice alike. However, whether the various versions of AMTS yield equivalent information has never been tested. Methods: We performed cross-sectional assessment...

Arterial hypertension is a prevalent disease with great harming potential. After the age of 55 years the remaining lifetime risk of hypertension amounts to 90%. Despite the constant advances some important issues such as the cut-off blood pressure for the initiation of antihypertensive therapy or the therapeutic goal are debated. In this review, we...

Left atrial enlargement (LAE) is a risk factor for cardiovascular complications and death. In hypertensive patients, LAE is usually due to left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction. We aimed to identify factors associated with LAE in patients with increased and normal left ventricular mass index (LVMI) with reference to pulsatile...

INTRODUCTION Different clinical course and pattern of skeletal involvement in peripheral (per) and axial (ax) spondyloarthritis (SpA) suggests distinct pathophysiology of these two phenotypic manifestations of SpA. Monocytes, as a part of innate immune system, seem to play an important role in the pathogenesis of SpA, but exact inflammatory pathway...

To the Editor When choosing an antihypertensive medication or a therapeutic goal, one should weigh benefit against risk. Unfortunately, in their recent network meta-analysis, Bundy et al¹ show only the bright side when they declare that randomized groups with a mean achieved systolic blood pressure (BP) of 120 to 124 mm Hg had lower cardiovascular...

Hypertension is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among the older adults worldwide. Pathophysiology of hypertension in old age has been linked to the large arterial remodelling and stiffness. This is followed by concentric hypertrophy of the arterioles and baroreceptor dysfunction. The process leads to increase of systolic (SBP) and, aft...

Objectives Report on one-year results from the Polish Spondyloarthritis Initiative registry (PolSPI), containing the cross-sectional analysis of clinical and imaging data as well as database methodology. Material and methods The PolSPI registry includes patients with axial (axSpA) and peripheral (perSpA) spondyloarthritis according to ASAS classif...

Background: Blood pressure (BP) control in the elderly is often limited by poor compliance with prescribed regimen. Both can be influenced by clinical cognitive or mood impairments; however, the impact of subclinical alterations of cognition or mood remains unknown. Objectives: To assess the relation between cognition, mood, and BP control in tr...

Introduction: Although recently a matter of epidemiologic controversy, sodium overload and its interaction with genetic factors predispose to hypertension and related target organ complications. Methods: In 131 (66 male) treated hypertensives, we measured peripheral and central arterial pressures and pulse wave augmentation indexes (AIx(P), AIx(...

The study aimed to compare arterial and echocardiographic parameters in subjects with newly diagnosed masked (MH) or white-coat hypertension (WCH) to subjects with sustained normotension or sustained hypertension, defined according to the 2014 European Society of Hypertension practice guidelines for ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring. We rec...

Background Beta-blockers remain one of the most frequently prescribed antihypertensive drug classes. The aim of the analysis was to evaluate characteristics of patients treated with beta-blockers and factors associated with the treatment of beta-blockers. Material and methods We analysed the data from the large cross-sectional study evaluating 12,3...

Sodium overload is related to the development of primary hypertension and its complications. In 131 (65 female) treated hypertensives (average blood pressure 144/82 mmHg and duration of hypertension 11.7 years), we measured peripheral and central arterial pressures, peripheral (AIxP) and central (AIxC1, AIxC2) augmentation indices, pulse-wave veloc...

To assess blood pressure control rate and its correlates in a Polish nationwide cohort of the community dwelling persons at or above the age of 80 years. As a part of PolFokus study we did a cross-sectional, nationwide survey of 2500 elderly people treated for hypertension for at least one year. In the current analysis we included data of 384 indiv...

Objective: Well controlled blood pressure during antihypertensive treatment results in regression of target organ damage which potentially is associated with favorable outcome. The study was aimed to compare arterial stiffness and echocardiographically determined parameters in subjects from general population with treated and untreated hypertension...