Internal medicine
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Editorial Comment
Subcutaneous Edema in Polymyositis and Dermatomyositis.
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Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease manifesting with motor and non-motor symptoms. Current treatment mainly relies on medication as a symptomatic therapy modulating neurotransmitters. Dopamine replacement therapy has been established, and levodopa is the gold standard for treatment of PD. ⋯ Recent progression in the management of motor complications is supported by newly developed agents and advances in device and formulation technology to deliver drugs continuously. Elucidation of the pathophysiology of PD and the development of disease-modifying therapy that affects the underlying fundamental pathophysiology of the disease are also progressing. In this review, we introduce current knowledge on developments concerning medications for patients with PD.
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Vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors and checkpoint inhibitors are effective treatments for solid tumors. These new classes of anti-cancer agents frequently cause kidney-related side effects. ⋯ The combination therapy was discontinued and replaced with intravenous methylprednisolone followed by oral prednisolone. Subsequently, the urinary protein excretion levels declined.
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Objective The severity of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is an important prognostic factor. The "MN criteria," proposed in Japan in 2017, attempted to remedy the shortfalls in the reported guidelines proposed globally to determine CDI severity. We therefore assessed the accuracy of the MN criteria and validated the important factors associated with predicting CDI severity. ⋯ Results The screening of the fulminant cases and classification of the non-fulminant cases into mild/moderate and severe/super severe cases resulted in a sensitivity of 1.00 and a specificity of 0.89. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed a significant association of the serum albumin (Alb) level as well as white blood cell (WBC) count with clinical events. Conclusion The findings provide evidence supporting the accuracy of the MN criteria in predicting CDI severity and show that the Alb and WBC are important variables in predicting CDI severity.