Medicine
-
Brucellosis is a multisystem infection found worldwide that has a broad range of characteristics, which range from acute fever and hepatomegaly to chronic infections that most commonly affect the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, or skeletal system. Gastrointestinal and splanchnic artery involvements in brucellosis are relatively uncommon. ⋯ In brucellosis, gastrointestinal manifestations may be the only observable features of the disease. Splanchnic arterial stenosis is a rare complication of brucellosis. Sonography and computed tomography may be useful for both diagnosis and follow-up.
-
In this new era of highly effective oral antiviral drugs for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), indications for antiviral treatment may be extendable. This study undertaken to identify suitable candidates for peg-interferon plus ribavirin (PEG-IFN/RBV) treatment by evaluating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in patients with chronic HCV treated or not with PEG-IFN/RBV. This large-scale retrospective study was conducted on 1176 patients with chronic HCV without a history of HCC (treatment group [n = 489] and no-treatment group [n = 687]). ⋯ In the no-treatment group, age, male, and the presence of cirrhosis were independent predictors for HCC development. HCC risk increased in patients with chronic HCV with older age, cirrhosis, SVR (-) after PEG-IFN/RBV treatment, and no PEG-IFN/RBV treatment. Active antiviral therapy based on highly effective oral drugs needs to be considered in these patients.
-
Drug-induced valvular heart disease (DI-VHD) remains an under-recognized entity. ⋯ Benfluorex is a fenfluramine derivative which has been marketed between 1976 and 2009. Although norfenfluramine is the common active and toxic metabolite of all fenfluramine derivatives, the valvular and pulmonary arterial toxicity of benfluorex was much less known than that of fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine. The vast majority of benfluorex-induced valvular heart disease remains misdiagnosed as hypothetical rheumatic fever due to similarities between both etiologies. Better recognition of DI-VHD is likely to improve patient outcome.
-
Observational Study
Patients with CYP3A4*1G genetic polymorphism consumed significantly lower amount of sufentanil in general anesthesia during lung resection.
CYP3A4, an isoform of cytochrome P450 enzymes, is responsible for the metabolism of 45% to 60% of currently prescribed drugs. It has been shown that CYP3A4*1G, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), affects the enzymatic activity of CYP3A4. Sufentanil, a synthetic opioid commonly used for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia, analgesia, and sedation, is mainly metabolized by CYP3A4. ⋯ High frequency of CYP3A4*1G variants was detected in patients of Chinese Han nationality. Significantly lower amount of sufentanil was consumed in mutant patients compared with wild type subjects, likely a result of impaired CYP3A4 activity due to the point mutation. These findings suggest genotyping of CYP3A4 might be of value in providing guidance for the use of sufentanil.
-
Case Reports
Pneumonitis in cancer patients receiving anti-PD-1 and radiotherapies: Three case reports.
In development of novel therapies for the treatment of patient with cancer, the use of radiotherapy (RT) can produce significant local control and, in recent studies, has also been shown to mediate anti-tumor responses at distant sites by triggering and enhancing the endogenous cellular immune responses. Although RT induces an abscopal effect in some patients due to enhanced immune response to the tumor, immune-escape mechanisms, including up-regulation of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) on tumor cells, limit this benefit in other patients. Hence, many studies have promoted the synergy of RT and anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) treatment for antitumor immunity. However, outcome may be improved when more therapies are combined, but risk of side effects can be increased. ⋯ Our review of 3 cases warrants careful workup to reduce the risk of side effects by combinative therapy with RT and anti-PD-1 treatment.