Isr Med Assoc J
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Up to 60% of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients treated with infliximab develop antibodies to infliximab (ATI), which are associated with low drug levels and loss of response (LOR). Hence, mapping out predictors of immunogenicity toward infliximab is essential for tailoring patient-specific therapy. Jewish Sephardi ethnicity, in addition to monotherapy, has been previously identified as a potential risk factor for ATI formation and infliximab failure. ⋯ Contrary to previous findings, Sephardi Jewish ethnicity was not identified as a risk factor for ATI formation compared with Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity. Other risk factors remained unchanged.
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Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is associated with adverse prognosis in various patient populations, but currently no data is available about the prevalence and prognostic implication of TR in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. ⋯ Among STEMI patients after primary PCI, the presence of moderate-severe TR was independently associated with adverse outcomes and significantly lower survival rate.
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Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by various additional symptoms. The prevalence of FMS ranges between 2-8% of the population. The exact pathophysiology of the disease remains unknown, and under certain circumstances it is difficult for the physician to diagnose. Previous studies have shown a correlation between inflammatory biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and FMS activity, suggesting that an inflammatory component may play a role in this disease pathogenesis. ⋯ FMS has certain inflammatory components that may be useful in disease diagnosis.
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The current approach to performing sacral neuromodulation consists of a two-stage procedure, the first of which includes insertion of the sacral electrode under fluoroscopic visualization of the S3 foramen. Alternatively, in certain situations computed tomography (CT)-guided insertion can be used. ⋯ CT-guided insertion of a sacral electrode is a safe and promising option, especially in recurrent and or selected cases.
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For locally advanced rectal cancer patients a watch-and-wait strategy is an acceptable treatment option in cases of complete tumor response. Clinicians need robust methods of patient selection after neoadjuvant chemoradiation. ⋯ We evaluated the feasibility of using non-diagnostic CT images as a data source for texture analysis combined with wavelets feature analysis for predicting pCR in locally advanced rectal cancer patients. The model performance showed the importance of including wavelets features in radiomics analysis.