Articles: chronic.
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Multicenter Study
Catheter-tip Granulomas Associated with Intrathecal Drug Delivery - A Two-Center Experience Identifying 13 Cases.
Intrathecal (IT) drug therapy with implanted pumps is an effective treatment modality for chronic pain and/or spasticity, especially after non-invasive treatment has failed. Long-term use of intrathecal opioids may cause formation of inflammatory masses at the tip of intrathecal catheters, possibly leading to neurological deficits and/or catheter revision. ⋯ Our patient cohort with CG differed in some features, of which some like catheter localization, choice, dosage, and the concentration of drugs are potentially modifiable. These results could contribute to the prevention of CG in the future.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Asthma, COPD and overlap syndrome: a longitudinal study in young European adults.
We compared risk factors and clinical characteristics, 9-year lung function change and hospitalisation risk across subjects with the asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) overlap syndrome (ACOS), asthma or COPD alone, or none of these diseases. Participants in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey in 1991-1993 (aged 20-44 years) and 1999-2001 were included. Chronic airflow obstruction was defined as pre-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/forced vital capacity
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Differential effect of mMRC dyspnea, CAT and CCQ for symptom evaluation within the new GOLD staging and mortality in COPD.
The modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea, the COPD Assessment Test (CAT), and the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) have been interchangeably proposed by GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) for assessing symptoms in patients with COPD. However, there are no data on the prognostic value of these tools in terms of mortality. We endeavored to evaluate the prognostic value of the CAT and CCQ scores and compare them with mMRC dyspnea. ⋯ The CAT and the CCQ have similar ability for predicting all-cause mortality in patients with COPD, but were inferior to mMRC dyspnea scores. We suggest new thresholds for CAT and CCQ scores based on mortality risk that could be useful for the new GOLD grading classification.
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Journal of neurology · Mar 2015
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyIntravenous immunoglobulin for chronic residual peripheral neuropathy in eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Churg-Strauss syndrome): a multicenter, double-blind trial.
Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), previously called Churg-Strauss syndrome, frequently affects the peripheral nervous system. We conducted a multicenter, double-blind, three-arm treatment period, randomized, pre-post trial to assess the efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) administration for residual peripheral neuropathy in patients with EGPA that is in remission, indicated by laboratory indices. Twenty-three patients were randomly assigned into three groups, in which the timing of IVIg and placebo administration was different. ⋯ The results over time suggested that this effect continued until the last assessment was done 8 weeks later. The number of muscles with manual muscle testing scores of three or less (p = 0.004) and the neuropathic pain scores represented by the visual analogue scale (p = 0.005) also improved significantly 2 weeks after IVIg administration. This study indicates that IVIg treatment for EGPA patients with residual peripheral neuropathy should be considered even when laboratory indices suggest remission of the disease.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Modelling the Predictive Value of Pain Intensity on Costs and Resources Utilization in Patients with Peripheral Neuropathic Pain.
The aim of the present analysis was to model the association and predictive value of pain intensity on cost and resource utilization in patients with chronic peripheral neuropathic pain (PNP) treated in routine clinical practice settings in Spain. ⋯ Pain intensity predicts the health care and non-health care resource utilization, and costs related to chronic PNP. Management of patients with drugs associated with a higher reduction of pain intensity may have a greater impact on the economic burden of that condition.