European journal of internal medicine
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Dec 2021
Clinical presentation of secondary infectious complications in COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit treated with tocilizumab or standard of care.
The hypothesis of this study is that tocilizumab should affect common signs of infection due to its immunosuppressive properties. Primary aim of the study was to investigate whether the administration of tocilizumab to critically ill patients with COVID-19, led to a different clinical presentation of infectious complications compared to patients who did not receive tocilizumab. Secondary aim was investigating differences in laboratory parameters between groups. ⋯ The clinical features of infectious complications in critically ill patients with COVID-19 admitted to ICU were not affected by tocilizumab.
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Dec 2021
The role of minor salivary glands' biopsy in the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome and other systemic diseases.
The minor salivary glands' biopsy is a minimally invasive procedure used for the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome. Its significance has also been reported in other inflammatory/infiltrative diseases. The objectives are to investigate its use in the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome, as well as to evaluate its role in the diagnosis of amyloidosis and sarcoidosis. ⋯ The minor salivary glands' biopsy is a simple procedure with effectiveness in the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome and amyloidosis. In this study, its use increased the number of patients who met the Sjögren's syndrome classification criteria. It also appears to be useful in the diagnosis of amyloidosis.