Publications by authors named "Balalau Cristian"

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies affecting people worldwide. As it is frequently diagnosed in advanced stages of the disease, the 5-year overall survival rate is <10%. Advanced stages are usually characterized by the local invasion of the superior mesenteric axis, celiac axis and portal vein and are considered a sign of unresectable cancer.

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Obesity is associated with endothelial dysfunction and this relationship is probably mediated in part by inflammation. The current study evaluated the effects of etanercept, a tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) inhibitor, on endothelial and vascular reactivity, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) immunoreactivity, and serum and aortic concentrations of TNF-α in a diet-induced rat model. Male weanling Wistar rats were exposed to a standard diet and cafeteria diet (CD) for 12 weeks and etanercept was administered during CD treatment.

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Industrial areas affected by high and long-term heavy metal pollution have a great impact on health of the resident population. Children represent a group at high-risk with an increased susceptibility to chronic heavy metal intoxication. Our work included the assessment of attention particularities through a case-control study in pre-school and school-aged children (4-6 years and 8-11 years) from two study areas, Copşa Mică and Zlatna, compared to a non-polluted locality with no history of heavy metal pollution.

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Background: Locally advanced pancreatic cancer invading the surrounding vascular structures has long been considered as unresectable and, therefore, patients were usually submitted to palliative chemotherapy.

Case Report: We present the case of a 44-year-old male investigated for weight loss and abdominal pain and diagnosed with a locally advanced pancreatic tumor invading the celiac axis. An endoscopic ultrasound was performed and a biopsy was retrieved demonstrating the presence of a moderately differentiated pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

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Background: pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies and a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The only chance to improve the long-term outcomes of patients with pancreatic cancer is surgery with radical intent.

Methods: in the present paper, we aim to describe a case series of 9 patients submitted to radical surgery for borderline resectable pancreatic cancer.

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Background/aim: Pancreatic cancer represents the most lethal abdominal malignancy, the only chance for achieving an improvement in terms of survival being represented by radical surgery. Although it has been considered that venous invasion represents a contraindication for resection, recently it has been demonstrated that in regards to overall survival after radical resection, it is similar to the one reported after standard pancreatoduodenectomy.

Case Report: A 53-year-old patient with no significant medical past was diagnosed with a borderline resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma invading the superior mesenteric vein.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study compared the clinical outcomes and complications of diabetic and non-diabetic patients undergoing emergency cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis over two years.
  • A total of 46 diabetic patients and 287 non-diabetic patients were analyzed for various factors, including comorbidities, biological variables, and postoperative complications.
  • Although diabetes did not significantly affect the severity of cholecystitis or surgery conversion risk, diabetic patients experienced more postoperative complications, emphasizing the need for careful perioperative management and glycemic control.
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Due to the wide introduction of screening tests, patients with neoplastic diseases of the uterine cervix trend to be diagnosed in early stages of the disease, and less invasive surgical procedures are needed in certain cases. In this respect, the technique of sentinel lymph node dissection has been widely implemented as part of the therapeutic strategy, indocyanine green (ICG) being one of the most reliable markers for sentinel lymph node detection. However, it seems that this agent is extremely useful in order to achieve better short-term and long-term results after cervical cancer surgery, due to its capacity to determine the uterine vascular perfusion in cases in which conservative treatment, such as trachelectomy, is performed, as well as to prevent and treat lower limb lymphedema.

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Background/aim: Endometrial cancer is one of the most commonly encountered malignancies among obese women worldwide, a strong causality relationship being established between the two entities. Furthermore, obesity is also associated with metabolic syndrome; the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of metabolic syndrome on the postoperative outcomes of patients with endometrial cancer.

Patients And Methods: Data of 23 patients diagnosed with endometrial cancer and metabolic syndrome were retrospectively reviewed and compared to the those of a control group of patients diagnosed with endometrial cancer in the absence of metabolic syndrome.

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Background/aim: The presence of "omental cake" has been considered since long as a negative prognostic factor in patients diagnosed with advanced-stage ovarian cancer. The aim of this paper was to study the impact of "omental cake" presence on the perioperative outcomes in advanced-stage ovarian cancer.

Patients And Methods: Between 2015 and 2020, 85 patients were submitted to surgery for advanced-stage ovarian cancer.

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Background/aim: Malignant transformation of mature cystic ovarian teratoma is a scarce eventuality, only rare cases being reported so far. Furthermore, development of this transformation in the setting of an abscessed tumor is even scarcer. The aim of this study was to report the case of a 47-year-old patient submitted to surgery for such a lesion.

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Background/aim: Association between cervical cancer and uterine prolapse represents a scarce eventuality. This is a case series of 11 patients diagnosed with different stages of cervical cancer in association with uterine prolapse.

Patients And Methods: Between 2014 and 2020, 11 patients were diagnosed with cervical cancer on prolapsed uterine cervix.

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Background/aim: Gastroenteropancreatic neuro-endocrine carcinomas represent poorly differentiated neoplasms with a high capacity of spreading inducing the development of distant metastases. In such cases debulking surgery seems to offer a good chance for survival especially in well and moderately differentiated lesions. The aim of this study was to report the case of a 48-year-old patient submitted to surgery for moderately differentiated neuroendocrine gastric carcinoma with distant metastases.

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The purpose of this paper is to study the type, the clinical presentation, and the best diagnostic methods for pleural solitary fibrous tumors (PSFTs), as well as to evaluate which is the most appropriate treatment, especially as PSFTs represent a rare occurrence in the thoracic pathology. A retrospective study was conducted on a group of 45 patients submitted to surgery between January 2015 and December 2019. In most cases, the diagnosis was established through imaging studies-thoracic computed tomography (CT) scan with or without contrast-but also using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or positron emission tomography (PET) scans when data from CT scans were scarce.

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The abdominal wall hernias in patients with liver cirrhosis have a significant higher prevalence than those in non- cirrhotic patients. The best surgical treatment option and the optimal operative time still represent a subject of debate. Material and method: We have retrospectively analyzed the cases of abdominal wall hernias in patients with liver cirrhosis admitted in the Surgical Department of the Sfantul Pantelimon Clinical Emergency Hospital from Bucharest, undergoing surgical treatment between January 2012 and December 2016.

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Although gastric metastases have been estimated to occur in less than 2% of cancer patients, an increased use of upper digestive tract endoscopy allows for a higher detection of secondary gastric tumors. We describe the case of a 66-year-old male patient presenting with mild pain in the sternum and upper abdominal area. Physical examination revealed a right parietal skull tumor, with no other significant clinical changes.

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Background/aim: Diaphragmatic surgery in advanced-stage ovarian cancer has been considered since long time to increase the rates of postoperative complications. However, improvement of surgical techniques and perioperative management of these patients has lead in the last decade to a safe association of such procedures as part of debulking process. The aim of the current paper was to report our experience regarding the role of diaphragmatic resections as part of debulking surgery for advanced stage ovarian cancer.

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Inguinal lymph node mass as the first sign in patients with ovarian cancer represents a rare situation, with only few cases being reported so far. We present the case of a 46-year-old patient who presented for the apparition of bilateral inguinal tumoral masses in the absence of any other pathological signs. The biopsy revealed the presence of an adenocarcinoma with probable genital origin; however, neither the gynaecological examination nor the computed tomography demonstrated the presence of any suspect lesion.

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Introduction: Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a benign condition with variable psychosocial impact, with some individuals adapting well while others needing therapeutic support. Although 5α-reductase inhibitors like finasteride and dutasteride have proven effective in ameliorating AGA, their use/selection is currently a subject of debate.

Areas Covered: Treatment of AGA with 5α-reductase inhibitors lead to variable adverse effects and relatively unstable results (therapeutic efficacy ending with treatment cessation), so the choice of optimal therapy is not straightforward.

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Article Synopsis
  • The discovery of new psychoactive substances is rare, but their rapid emergence poses challenges to public health regulations and existing control systems.
  • The review highlights both legal and illegal chemical substances, as well as current and proposed global monitoring and regulatory measures for their control.
  • Striking a balance in legislation is crucial to avoid banning potentially therapeutic substances while also restricting access to high-risk ones.
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Finasteride has proved to be relatively safe and effective in the therapeutic management of male androgenic alopecia. However, literature data report several endocrine imbalances inducing various adverse effects, which often persist after treatment cessation in the form of post-finasteride syndrome. Here we present the case of a 52-year-old man receiving finasteride (1 mg/day) who developed an uncommon adverse effect represented by generalized vitiligo 2 months after finasteride discontinuation.

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Symptomatic hemorhoidal disease is a serious issue affecting the quality of life. The multiplicity of current interventional procedures reflects the failure of covering all pathological aspects, thus justifying the quest for other operative solutions. Any new operative procedure is challenged by the need for broad applicability and less invasive attributes and should fit inside the frame of reasonable costs, fair efficacy, low morbidity and recurrence rate based on a procedural technique that is simple enough, reproducible and easy-tolearn.

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Nowadays, finasteride is a relatively frequently prescribed drug in the therapeutic management of male androgenic alopecia. The reported adverse effects are notable in some patients, consisting in signs and symptoms that are encountered both during finasteride administration and after treatment cessation. Clinical and imagistic data show that cognition and sexuality are two distinct but interrelated environmental functions, most probable due to lateralization process of the brain.

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Recent clinical and imaging studies suggest that sex hormones modulate sexuality according to a psychophysiologic process of lateralization of the brain, with androgens playing a greater role in sexual functioning of left hemibrain/right handedness and estrogens possibly for right hemibrain/left handedness. Based on this perspective, the current study attempted to specify the relationship between hand preference, estrogens, and sexual function in subjects with male breast cancer, taking into account the sexual side effects of tamoxifen as the agent for inhibiting estrogen action. Twenty-eight Romanian men-17 right-handed and 11 left-handed-undergoing treatment with tamoxifen for male breast cancer participated in this study.

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The present study was designed to investigate the toxic effects (evaluated as histopathological changes) of sodium fluoride on the kidney in two consecutive generations of NMRI mice. An attempt to correlate the toxicity with the urinary elimination of fluoride has been made, as urinary fluoride excretion has been widely used as an indicator of fluoride intake and exposure. Six mixed (males and females) animal groups have been constituted by dividing the populations of mice derived from pregnant females (named "mothers" 0.

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