The New England journal of medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
A randomized trial of epidural glucocorticoid injections for spinal stenosis.
Epidural glucocorticoid injections are widely used to treat symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis, a common cause of pain and disability in older adults. However, rigorous data are lacking regarding the effectiveness and safety of these injections. ⋯ In the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis, epidural injection of glucocorticoids plus lidocaine offered minimal or no short-term benefit as compared with epidural injection of lidocaine alone. (Funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01238536.).
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High plasma levels of nonfasting triglycerides are associated with an increased risk of ischemic cardiovascular disease. Whether lifelong low levels of nonfasting triglycerides owing to mutations in the gene encoding apolipoprotein C3 (APOC3) are associated with a reduced risk of ischemic cardiovascular disease in the general population is unknown. ⋯ Loss-of-function mutations in APOC3 were associated with low levels of triglycerides and a reduced risk of ischemic cardiovascular disease. (Funded by the European Union and others.).