Medicina
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Background and objectives: Atopic dermatitis (AD) and psoriasis (PS) are systemic inflammatory diseases with complex and distinct immune mechanisms. That the same factors may aggravate both diseases cannot be ruled out. The aim of this study was to assess the potential differences between a sensitization to inhaled allergens and the immunological profiles of patients diagnosed with AD and PS in comparison with healthy controls. ⋯ There were no relationships between the increased serum concentrations of individual cytokines and allergies to the individually examined allergens. Conclusion: Inhalation-dependent IgE sensitizations were prevalent in the AD patients but were also possible in the PS patients; they were often without clinical manifestations in the latter group. The investigated cytokine profiles indicated their high convergence in the studied patients and confirmed the active inflammatory nature of AD and PS.
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Background and Objectives: There have been numerous advances in spine surgery for metastatic spinal tumors, and minimally invasive spine stabilization (MISt) is becoming increasingly popular in Japan. MISt is a minimally invasive fixation procedure that temporarily stabilizes the spine, thereby reducing pain, preventing pathological fractures, and improving activities of daily living at an early stage. MISt may be useful given the recent shift toward outpatient cancer treatment. ⋯ Patients with breast, prostate, renal, and thyroid cancers had a good prognosis, whereas those with gastrointestinal and head and neck cancers had a poor prognosis. Conclusions: MISt can benefit patients who are ineligible for conventional, highly invasive surgery and is also suitable because cancer treatment is increasingly performed on an outpatient basis. Furthermore, choosing the right surgery for the right patient at the right time can significantly affect life expectancy.
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Background and Objectives: To compare the accuracy of multimodality imaging (myocardial perfusion imaging with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT MPI), 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET), and cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in the evaluation of left ventricle (LV) myocardial viability for the patients with the myocardial infarction (MI) and symptomatic heart failure (HF). Materials and Methods: 31 consecutive patients were included in the study prospectively, with a history of previous myocardial infarction, symptomatic HF (NYHA) functional class II or above, reduced ejection fraction (EF) ≤ 40%. All patients had confirmed atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD), but conflicting opinions regarding the need for percutaneous intervention due to the suspected myocardial scar tissue. ⋯ According to the cut-off values (LVEDV (CMR) > 330 mL, infarct size (CMR) > 26%, and LV GCS (CMR) < −15.8), we performed prediction of non-viable myocardium (reversibility score < 10) with the overall percentage of 80.6 (Nagelkerke R2 0.57). Conclusions: LGE CMR reveals a significantly higher number of scars, and the FDG PET appears to be more optimistic in the functional recovery prediction. Moreover, using exact imaging parameters (LVEDV (CMR) > 330 mL, infarct size (CMR) > 26% and LV GCS (CMR) < −15.8) may increase sensitivity and specificity of LGE CMR for evaluation of non-viable myocardium and lead to a better clinical solution (revascularization vs. medical treatment) even when viability is low in LGE CMR, and FDG PET is not performed.