patients

Introduction: Forty-six per cent children have allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (Allergologica 2005). Working hypothesis: Ocular topical cyclosporine improves the quality of life for these patients. Material, methods, design: 2-year prospective study (2015-16), 40 patients with topical corticosteroids without improvement, followed 20 and 20 switched to corticosteroids cyclosporine 0.05%. Interview with Quality of Life Questionnaire in Children with rhinoconjunctivitis (PRQLQ) before and at the end of treatment. Mean age of 10.3 years with 60% male-40% female. Treatments were applied from January to March. There were 15 questions divided into two blocks. Children responded using a card with responses rated from zero (not bothered at all) to 6 (quite upset). Results: Before the 100% reported that, the itching was very bothersome. In the group of 40 children, 80% showed symptoms of epiphora and 60% showed symptoms of ocular inflammation. 100% complained of significant discomfort in rubbing their eyes, 30% did not like to take medications. Headaches affected 20%. 100% stated that they cannot play normally. 80% showed decreased concentration in class. Continuing with corticosteroids did not show statistically significant changes. Patients with cyclosporine improved the results by 3 points, with decreased itching, tearing, swelling, pain, eye rubbing, medication and headaches. In the 2nd questionnaire there was limited variation in the results related to fatigue, malaise, and irritability but with substantially improved balance of sleep, insomnia and concentration at school. Conclusion: Cyclosporine A is a cyclic polypeptide calcineurin inhibitor developed from the fungus Tolypocladium inflatum. The first dilution was 2% but it is currently used at a dilution of 0.05% and recent publications suggest nanosuspensions. Our study showed improvement in parameters related to symptoms, especially itching and lower improvement of psychological aspects, this achieves a better quality of life for children and more willingness to adhere to the treatment.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)-associated arthritis is called Enteropathic Arthritis (EA) which is classified among the group of Spondyloarthritis (SpA), because its presentation is variable. The current trend is to classify them as autoinflammatory rather than autoimmune diseases, since no antibodies have yet been identified. The study of biomarkers (BM) will help us with early identification and hence, to provide treatment in the early stages, prior to radiographic progression, which will enable prompt identification of the disease phenotype. 42 patients diagnosed with IBD were included, of which 48% were females; the mean age of the study group was 48.12 ± 5.02 (95% CI). The average time of evolution of disease was 37.57 ± 14.28 months; most patients referred to the rheumatologist had a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis (83%). According to our analysis, we were able to determine that the three most significant variables influencing the development of sacroiliitis were: Lactoferrin, ANCA and HLA B27 (p < 0.5). The variable that can be ruled out because of its almost neglectable contribution was fecal calprotectin.

The insufficiency of interferon production and the cytokine imbalance in patients with atopic dermatitis, especially in combination with persistent herpes virus infection, has been identified. The expediency of the use of interferon inducer Cycloferon in the treatment of chronic atopic dermatitis has been shown.

Purpose: Percutaneous abscess drainage (PAD) is the first-line approach for abscess in Crohn’s disease (CD) since it procrastinates or avoids surgery especially in postoperative abscesses [within 30 days post-operative (p.o.)]. We retrospectively evaluated the effectiveness, complications and outcome after PAD in postoperative and spontaneous abscesses and factors influencing the outcomes. Methods: We performed PAD in 91 abscesses, 45 (49,5%) postoperative and 46 (50,5%) spontaneous. We defined the overall success (OS) as clinical (CS) and technical success (TS) when imaging documented the resolution of the abscess with no surgery within 30 days. Conversely, patients without abscess at the time of surgery, were considered as TS but clinical failure (CF). We also analyzed the overall failure (OF) defined as CF with or without technical failure (TF). Overall technical success (OTS) was OS plus TS. Complications were classified as major and minor according to the Interventional Radiology Criteria. Results: In postoperative abscesses we found 91% OS, 9% OF, no TF and 100% OTS. In spontaneous abscesses we found 33% OS, 67% OF, 6.4% TF, 95,6% OTS. A total abscess resolution was achieved in 97,8% of patients. No major complication occurred; only 1 case of minor complication. Factors statistically influencing the outcome were postoperative vs spontaneous collections (OF: 9% vs. 67%, p < 0.0001), multiloculated vs uniloculated collections (OF: 38% vs. 1%, p < 0.0001) and upper abdominal vs lower location (OF: 13% vs. 25%, p <0.05). Conclusion: Our data confirms the safety and effectiveness of PAD even in cases needing surgery within 30 days; most remarkable, PAD allows avoidance of early reoperation in almost all the patients with postoperative abscess.

Background:While recognition and documentation of true drug allergy is critically important, most physicians acknowledge that its prevalence is likely overestimated, often on the basis of historical, sometimes anecdotal evidence. Correct or not, once applied, drug allergy labels may result in altered, potentially inferior therapy, increased costs and prolonged hospitalisation. Objective:Estimate the point prevalence, accuracy and symptomatology of self-reported drug allergy in a typical, large NHS Acute Trust adult inpatient population. In the subset with penicillin allergy (PA), estimate additional management costs from the use of alternative antibiotics and readmission rates in the previous 5 years. Methods:Data on self-reported drug allergies were extracted from 440 adult inpatient prescription charts over a 4 month period. Where penicillin allergy (PA) was reported, alternative antibiotic regimens were recorded and their additional costs calculated. Hospital electronic records were used to assess readmission rates of PA patients. Results:194/440 inpatients (44.5%) reported at least one drug allergy. Antibiotic allergy was most commonly reported (51%), followed by analgesic (23%) and antiemetic (12%) allergy. PA accounted for 76% of reported antibiotic allergy. The commonest reported symptoms were cutaneous (42%) and gastrointestinal (18%). Where antibiotic therapy was required for patients with PA to manage acute infections, Ciprofloxacin, Clarithromycin, Teicoplanin, Clindamycin and Cefuroxime were the most commonly employed alternatives. Extrapolation of these figures to include the entire Trust inpatient population suggested that the use of alternative antibiotics in PA patients incurred additional annual expenditure of £268,000. Further, 87% of PA patients had been admitted more than once in the preceding 5 years, with 74% requiring further courses of antibiotics during these admissions. Conclusion:Self-reported drug allergy, and in particular PA, is common in hospital inpatient populations and, in addition to the potentially unnecessary hazards to individual patients resulting from the use of alternative antibiotics, results in a considerable additional financial burden to the healthcare system. This problem could be eliminated by the provision of a nationwide and equitable tertiary Allergy service.

Background: Intensive care patients are often in need of sedation to endure being intubated. Light sedation is increasingly common since it has been proved to offer benefits such as faster recovery to patients. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe critical care nurses’ experiences of nursing patients lightly sedated with dexmedetomidine. Research Methodology: Qualitative personal interviews were conducted during 2015 with 10 critical care nurses in Sweden. Interview transcripts were analysed using inductive qualitative thematic analysis. Results: Light sedation of the patient facilitated communication and interaction with him or her, and the relationship between the patient and his or her family members. Dexmedetomidine was described as a fairly new drug, and the critical care nurses stated that they needed more knowledge about it and about sedation scales in order to learn more about the drug’s mechanism of action and its potential side effects on patients. Conclusion: It is important to critical care nurses to learn more about dexmedetomidine and about sedation scales to assess levels of sedation, as light sedation has been shown to benefit the patient as opposed to deep sedation that can increase recovery time.

Chronic asthma accounts for a significant amount of unscheduled office and emergency department (ED) visits. According to the latest World Health Organization statistics, asthma worldwide affects 300 million individuals and creates a substantial health burden by restricting the patient’s lifetime activities. Data estimate that asthma causes a loss of disability-adjusted life years over 150,000/year [1]. While most individuals with asthma can be controlled with current therapies, 5-10% of patients have difficult-to-control/refractory asthma. Severe or refractory asthma places a significant burden on the patient and often requires treatment with systemic glucocorticoids, which have significant side effects. The American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society define refractory asthma as asthma that requires treatment with high-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) plus a second controller and/or systemic corticosteroids to prevent it from becoming ‘‘uncontrolled’’ or asthma that remains ‘‘uncontrolled’’ despite this aggressive therapy. To fully meet this definition the diagnosis of asthma needs to be confirmed and comorbidities addressed as well. The above are considered major criteria for severe asthma and only one needs to be present for considering the diagnosis of refractory asthma [2]. For these reasons, clinicians must learn to identify and formulate additional diagnoses of “asthma imitators” [3]. One of the more common disorders associated with difficult-to-control asthma is vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) [4]. This disorder is known by many names, but current nomenclature endorsed by European and American societies correctly refers it as “Inducible Laryngeal Obstruction” (ILO) [5]. The following case demonstrates the importance of recognizing the clinical and spirometric features of ILO when asthma remains “refractory” to multiple therapies.

Chest compression is the fundamental technique in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in patients with cardiac arrest [1]. The quality and the early implementation of CPR are essential to improve the prognosis and the chances of restoring spontaneous circulation. In the literature, there are some articles about the poor quality of chest compression [2-4]. Therefore chest compression is as crucial as alerting the emergency services or early defibrillation in the survival chain. In accordance with the guidelines, chest compressions have to be performed continuously to improve the outcome [5]. However, the efficacy of manual chest compression diminishes over time with the fatigue of the provider (which appears within minutes of starting the procedure), and is impaired during transportation manoeuvres, which expose patients to unforeseen interruptions and a deterioration in the quality du massage in terms of power and rhythm. The efficacy of manual chest compression has been reported to fall by 20% per minute [6,7]. Mechanical chest compression overcome this problem of operator fatigue by ensuring constant efficacy in terms of both quality and quantity. Even though current data show no difference between manual chest compression and automated systems in terms of survival, haemodynamic studies in animal models have shown that mechanical techniques are more effective [8].

Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is the unique curative treatment to help allergic patients to get over their allergies. With a personalized approach, AIT is the best example of precision medicine. After a century of intensive studies and innovative discoveries, allergists have in their hands many tools to orchestrate the best strategy to re-educate the hypersensitive immune systems that decrease the quality of life of their patients. This review describes both the historical and the promising acquisitions in this field, focusing the biochemical and Bioengineering tools that render an allergen more suitable for a secure, convenient and effective immunotherapy.

Background: The use of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for evaluation of neurological disorders has increased in the past two decades. This has led to an increased detection of incidental findings on brain MRI. The most common of these asymptomatic abnormalities are white matter lesions that are interpreted as demyelinating based on radiological criteria. However, in the absence of associated clinical symptoms suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS), a definite diagnosis of MS can’t be made in patients with these incidental white matter lesions. These patients are diagnosed as CIS (clinically isolated syndrome) and RIS (radiologically isolated syndrome).Using the revised McDonald criteria now allows some patients who would have been diagnosed with CIS to be diagnosed as having MS before a second episode. Method: Sixty one patients, 40 females and 21 males, age ranged between 15 years and 58 years, were included in our study. In addition to a detailed medical and neurological history and examination, CSF and blood analysis for oligoclonal bands and IgG index were performed for all patients. Result: 41 patients had positive oligoclonal bands and IgG index. After clinical, MRI results and laboratory results 44 (72.1%) were diagnosed CIS and 17 (27.9%) were RIS. Conclusion: Diagnosis of MS not depend only on MRI finding but need clinical and laboratory work up including CSF and blood analysis for oligoclonal bands and IgG index to confirm diagnosis.

Drug-induced Hepatotoxicity and biologic drugs have historically been challenging in IBD. We aim to study the prevalence of hepatotoxicity in adult patients using biologic medications.

This study describes chemotherapy exposure, healthcare utilization, overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) among patients diagnosed with chronic lymphoid leukemia (CLL). Newly diagnosed CLL patients who received chemotherapy were selected from the Eindhoven Cancer Registry between 1998-2011, linked on a patient-level to the PHARMO Database Network including data on in- and out-patient drug dispensings, hospitalizations and clinical laboratory measurements. Chemotherapy was classified in regimens of use based on chemotherapy combinations. OS and PFS were determined after diagnosis and after chemotherapy. Healthcare utilization was assessed in the year before diagnosis and in the year after chemotherapy. In total, 125 CLL patients received chemotherapy: 52 patients (42%) started chemotherapy within 6 months and 73 patients (58%) started chemotherapy ≥6 months after diagnosis. Mean (±SD) age was 67(±10) years and 68% was male. About 50% had one treatment line and about 25% two lines of treatment. Chlorambucil was the most common type of first line chemotherapy. Prior diagnosis, 44% were hospitalized for any cause and 94% had at least one drug dispensing. After chemotherapy, this was 43% and 98%, respectively. One-year survival rate after diagnosis was 94%. Median PFS after first treatment line was 17 months for patients starting within 6 months and 27 months for patients starting ≥6 months after diagnosis. In conclusion, most CLL patients receiving chemotherapy were treated with chlorambucil. One-year after initial diagnosis, 94% were still alive. Median PFS after first line chemotherapy ranged from 17 to 27 months, depending on the timing of chemotherapy.

The presence of an incidental finding, defined as an abnormality which is unrelated to the initial scanning indication, is widely increases due to the access to new devices and imaging modalities. This growing number of incidental findings can lead to additional medical care including unnecessary tests nevertheless, in a minority of patients, can lead to diagnosis of an important and unexpected condition that could be crucial for the patient. We reported three cases in which nuclear medicine imaging, performed for different reasons and showed a relevant and unexpected pathology. In the case 1, a bone scan, performed in a 66 aged woman for breast cancer staging, allowed the diagnosis of a uterine fibroma. In the case 2, a HMPAO labeled-WBC scintigraphy performed because of a suspect of osteomyelitis, showed a remarkable heart-shaped photopenic area, highly suggestive of cardiac global dilatation. In the case 3, a 62 aged man referred to bone scintigraphy for the staging of recent diagnosed lung cancer. The bone scan allowed the diagnosis of a meningioma. Therefore, the occurrence of incidental findings could lead to reveal relevant abnormalities for the diagnostic pathway.  

Background: Asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disorder in childhood. Asthmatic attacks are described and classified according to the type of wheezing to Non –atopic and Atopic asthma (IgE mediated wheezing). The aim of this review is to determine the onset of clinical diagnosis in relation to clinical presentation of asthma in children and obstacles related to delay of Asthma diagnosis. Methods: This review highlights the results of studies done regarding clinical diagnosis in relation to clinical presentation and of asthma in children. An extensive search has been conducted for researches about asthma in children. This search based on the publications posted on the National Center for Biotechnology Information PubMed or by Google Scholar. Key words used for the research: Asthma, clinical diagnosis, children. Results and Conclusion: Diagnosing asthma in young children is difficult because children often cough and wheeze with colds and chest infections, but this is not necessarily asthma. Miss diagnosis of asthma in children occurs when physicians diagnose patients with asthma from the clinical diagnosis in the first attack without excluding other asthma mimickers which can be any other respiratory problem. There is over-diagnosis of asthma due to the symptoms which mimic other respiratory infections. First episodes of cough, runny nose and fever that happen in cold/flu season- fall/winter/early spring is likely not asthma. If the child has several more episodes of wheeze and cough, it is likely to be asthma. Since there is no diagnostic test available for children younger than 6 years of age, making a diagnosis in this age group is more difficult than in older children. Over the age of about 6 years it is possible for a child to have a spirometer test

It is estimated that there are 36.9 million individuals living with HIV-1 from who 21.7 million patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) [1,2]. ART has had a significant effect on the patients’ quality of life recently, however, its global coverage declines to 16-35% in low or middle income parts of Africa [3]. ART is unable to eliminate the virus from the infected individuals despite the fact of great impact on virus life cycle. There is no doubt that vaccination is considered as the most important medical strategy to prevent and suppress the infectious diseases. Nevertheless, there are many difficulties toward the cure or prevention of HIV-1 including the virus characteristics, lack of ideal animal model and funding [4-7].

Background: Beta 2- micro globulin (β2-MG) is involved in human malignancies. Increased synthesis and release of β2-MG, as indicated by elevated serum, plasma, or urine β2-MG concentration, occurs in several malignant diseases. Objective: The study was designed to assess the role of serum Beta2- micro globulin in the support of the diagnosis of different types of pediatric malignancies. Subjects and Methods: This case - control study was carried out on 137 children and adolescents with newly diagnosed pre-treated malignant diseases who were admitted to pediatric oncology center at Basra Children’s Specialty Hospital, their ages ranged from 3 months to 15 years, during the period from the 1st of November 2014 till the end of October 2015, 71 were males and 66 were females and 148 healthy children and adolescents (83 were males and 65 were females) matched for age and sex regarded as control group. Cases and control characteristics were assessed from data collection by special questionnaire. All patients and control group were investigated for Beta2- microglobulin by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The study had revealed that level of Beta2-microglobulin was significantly higher in patients with malignancy in comparison to control group, P value < 0.001.Also the serum Beta2- microglobulin level for both hematological malignancies and solid malignancies was assessed and it was found that significantly higher percentage of elevated serum Beta2- microglobulin level was present in patients with hematological malignancies in comparison to solid malignancies, P value <0.01.The study also had revealed that there was a significant correlation between the initial white blood cells count ≥ 50000 cells/ml and abnormal serum Beta2- microglobulin level, P value < 0.01,but there was no significant differences in serum Beta2- microglobulin level in relation to risk groups and immunophynotypes of acute lymphoblastic leukemia ,morphological subtypes of acute myloid leukemia, stages of each type of lymphoma (Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma) and the histopathological subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. After subjecting variables (specific to acute lymphoblastic leukemia) to logistic regression analysis, the significant independent risk factor that associated with abnormal serum Beta2- microglobulin level was high initial white blood cells count (≥50000 cells/ml). Conclusion: Serum Beta2- microglobulin level is significantly higher in patients with hematological malignancies and high initial white blood cells count(≥50000cells/ml) .From this study, serum Beta2- microglobulin could be recommended in the initial work up for diagnosis of childhood malignancy.

Asthma is a complicated chronic disease of airway and airway inflammation, bronchoconstriction, cough, dyspnea and wheezing that are main symptoms of the asthma. Genetic, epigenetic and environmental agents are main factors in pathophysiology of the asthma. Direct and indirect healthcare costs and health-related quality of life in asthmatic patients require more and more attention. A main challenges of asthma control is environment and specially house and building [1].

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by airway inflammation, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, reversible airflow obstruction and recurrent symptoms. Patients often present with coughing, wheezing, dyspnea, and chest tightness, were they usually responds to the mainstay of treatment that relies on inhaled glucocorticoids (ICS), and long acting β2 agonist (LABA), along with leukotriene. In around 20% of the patient’s morbidity, mortality and cost of therapy increased because they fail to benefit from the existing gold standard therapy regimen. Both immunoglobulin-E (IgE), interlukin-5 (IL-5) had proven to play important major role in asthma pathogenesis. Over the past two decades biologic therapy that targeting IgE begins the era in treating severe asthma, and recently anti-IL-5, revealed major role in eosinophils maturation, activation, survival, and recruitment process of severe asthma. The different biologic therapy that is currently available in the market are supported by solid evidence from controlled randomized clinical trials, to guide the clinician on the type of patients that will benefit from the therapy, with an insight on the appropriate monitoring parameters and patient evaluation plans. This review was conducted by searching PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar to identify peer-reviewed clinical trials, guidelines, and review articles published in English in the role of biologic therapy in severe asthma. The main aim from publishing this review is to summarize the current available evidence on the approved biologic therapy in treating patients with severe asthma.

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by chronic airway inflammation. Common manifestations of asthma include wheezing, chest tightness, cough, shortness of breath. Diagnosis of asthma requires clinical documentation of respiratory symptoms, exacerbation of symptoms following exposure to triggers, as well as demonstration of expiratory airflow obstruction. Wheeze is a continuous sound, lasting longer than 0.25 s that is produced by oscillation of opposing airway walls [1,2]. Wheezing, although a typical symptom of asthma, can also be caused by other diseases. Apart from asthma, wheezing can be due to extra-thoracic upper airway obstruction, intrathoracic upper airway obstruction, lower airway obstruction. Benign multimodal goiter is a common disease, that rarely causes upper airway obstruction. Retrosternal goiter should be taken into account the differential diagnosis of upper airway obstruction [3]. The respiratory symptoms of a retrosternal goiter may be masked for years due to the slow growth of the goiter. Patients commonly complain of respiratory symptoms if tracheal diameter is narrowed more than 50% from the normal size. Respiratory symptoms may be suddenly precipitated by spontaneous or traumatically induced bleeding into the substernal goiter, as well as by tracheal infections [4]. Clinical management of this condition is really challenging. Diagnosis is also not straightforward, as clinical suspicion is needed. There are cases of retrosternal goiter mimicking asthma that remain undiagnosed for many years. Retrosternal goiter should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of patients diagnosed as suffering from asthma, and presenting no improvement despite medical therapy. In addition, it should be taken into account that sudden gland enlargement due to hormonal changes might lead to life threatening upper airway obstruction with clinical picture similar to bronchial asthma attack [5]. In a recent very interesting case report, the authors present a case of a pregnant woman in the second trimester who presented with an acute airway obstruction due to the enlargement of a retrosternal goiter [3]. Goiters are the more common masses of the superior mediastinum [6,7]. Commonly, retrosternal goiter is due to the extension in the thorax of a cervical goiter. However, rarely, it may represent primary disease due to the growth of ectopic thyroid tissue. In addition, retrosternal goiter may develop in patient submitted to thyroidectomy due to cervical multinodular goiter [8]. Although retrosternal goiters are commonly asymptomatic, symptoms may include dyspnea, stridor, hoarseness, dysphagia, superior vena cava syndrome, transient ischemic attacks, cerebral edema, Horner’s syndrome, and thyrotoxicosis [4]. Diagnosis could be verified by neck and chest radiography, thorax CT and MRI. Chest radiography commonly shows a widened mediastinum with a superior mediastinal mass causing compression of the trachea as well as deviation of the trachea to the right. Mediastinal computed tomography reveals a mass that is extension of the thyroid gland. The presence of respiratory symptoms in a patient with retrosternal goiter is an indication for surgery. The majority of retrosternal goiters can be approached through a cervical approach [9,10].

Background: Pulmonary fibrosis is a clinical problem with an enigmatic etiology with no effective therapy. Current therapies for lung fibrosis are ineffective for progression of lung fibrosis and preventing respiratory failure. Objectives: The aim of this study is to explore the expression of Desmin, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and the telomerase subunit: human telomerase reverse transcriptase (h-TERT) in a spectrum of lung tissue samples consist of lung fibrosis, lung cancer, and healthy controls. Materials and Methods: The expression of Desmin, α-SMA and hTERT were studied in samples of 15 pulmonary fibrosis samples, 16 samples of lung cancer and 14 healthy controls investigated. We evaluated Desmin, α-SMA as well as the expression of components of telomerase (TERT), by methods: RNA Extraction and cDNA synthesis, Real-Time quantitative PCR, Immunohistochemistry, all prepared from lung tissue paraffin blocked. Results: α-SMA marker detected 1(8.3%) of healthy control and 11(91.7%) of lung fibrosis samples. The difference between groups was significant (p<0.001). Also the difference between healthy control 1(6.7%) and lung cancer 14 (93.3%) for α-SMA marker was a significant (P<0.001). It was a significant difference between healthy control and lung cancer for TERT expression (P=.005). TERT was not positive in any sample of neither healthy control nor lung fibrosis. For TERT, it was a significant difference between lung fibrosis and lung cancer by Fisher’s Exact Test (P=.004). Expression of TERT and α-SMA between small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was not statistically significant (P=.700, P=0758), respectively. Conclusions: We recommend more investigation to regard α-SMA, Desmin in patients with lung fibrosis and follow them for possible cancer risk. Also, more study is needed to regard TERT as a marker in lung cancer. Assessment of these markers may have future implication to explain the same way of pathogenesis and carcinogenesis of fibrosis and cancer and for prevention or treatment