Author's response to reviews Title: Impact of valvular heart disease on daily living activity of nonagenarians: The Leiden 85-plus study Authors:

Impact of valvular heart disease on activities of daily living of nonagenarians: the leiden 85-plus study a population based study

BACKGROUND Data on the prevalence of valvular heart disease in very old individuals are scarce and based mostly on in-hospital series. In addition, the potential detrimental effect of valvular heart disease on the activities of daily living is unknown. The present study evaluated the prevalence of significant valvular heart disease and the impact of valvular heart disease on the activities of d...

Author's response to reviews Title: Activities of daily living in dementia: Revalidation of the E-ADL Test and suggestions for further development Authors:

Diagnostic accuracy of plasma NT-proBNP levels for excluding cardiac abnormalities in the very elderly

BACKGROUND In the elderly the diagnosis of chronic heart failure is often challenging and the availability of echocardiography can be limited. Plasma levels of NT-proBNP are valuable tools to diagnose patients with heart failure. However, the performance of this biomarker to detect cardiac abnormalities in the very elderly remains unclear. The aims of this study were to investigate the relation...

Author's response to reviews Title: Translating the Dutch Walking Stairs, Walking Ability and Rising and Sitting Questionnaire into German and assess its construct validity with VAS measures of pain and activity in daily living. Authors:

Hematopoietic capacity and exceptional survival: the Leiden Longevity Study.

OBJECTIVES To assess whether familial longevity can be attributed to sustained hematopoietic capacity. DESIGN Prospective follow-up study of two independent population-based cohorts. SETTING The Leiden Longevity Study and the Leiden 85-plus Study. PARTICIPANTS From the Leiden Longevity Study, 1,001 nonagenarians with familial longevity were included. As age-matched controls, 260 nonagenar...