Teaching Palliative Care to Health Professional Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: End-of-life care is challenging on health professionals' mental and emotional state. Palliative care education can support health professional students' transition, helping them to cope with the challenges of working in this complex setting. Students feel that they need more preparation in this area.

Multiplex serum protein analysis reveals potential mechanisms and markers of response to hyperimmune caprine serum in systemic sclerosis.

Background: Hyperimmune caprine serum (HICS) is a novel biological therapy with potential benefit for skin in established diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis. Here we report multiplex protein analysis of blood samples from a placebo-controlled phase II clinical trial and explore mechanisms of action and markers of response.

Methods: Patients were treated with HICS (n = 10) or placebo (n = 10) over 26 weeks, with follow-up open-label treatment to 52 weeks in 14 patients.

A single-centre retrospective review of unilateral and bilateral Dysport injections in adductor spasmodic dysphonia.

We reviewed the results and side-effect profile of the Dysport preparation of botulinum toxin A (BTA) in the management of the adductor spasmodic dysphonia. We performed 272 injection episodes in 68 patients, 42 (62%) female, 26 (38%) male. A total of 116 of these injections were unilateral, and 156 were bilateral; 94% of the injections were considered to have been successful with a voice score of 2 or higher.

Unilateral versus bilateral thyroarytenoid Botulinum toxin injections in adductor spasmodic dysphonia: a prospective study.

Objectives: In this preliminary prospective study, we compared unilateral and bilateral thyroarytenoid muscle injections of Botulinum toxin (Dysport) in 31 patients with adductor spasmodic dysphonia, who had undergone more than 5 consecutive Dysport injections (either unilateral or bilateral) and had completed 5 concomitant self-rated efficacy and complication scores questionnaires related to the previous injections. We also developed a Neurophysiological Scoring (NPS) system which has utility in the treatment administration.

Method And Materials: Data were gathered prospectively on voice improvement (self-rated 6 point scale), length of response and duration of complications (breathiness, cough, dysphagia and total voice loss).

Hyperimmune goat serum for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The authors report a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who showed a lessening of deterioration in respiratory muscle strength during treatment with hyperimmune goat serum (HGS) (Aimspro). Respiratory function tests (RFTs) were measured by established protocols, and all measurements were expressed as a percentage of normal predicted values. The rate of decline was calculated by linear regression analysis.