CD44-negative parietal-epithelial cell staining in minimal change disease: association with clinical features, response to corticosteroids and kidney outcome.

Background: Activation of parietal-epithelial cells (PECs) with neo-expression of CD44 has been found to play a relevant role in the development of focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). The aim of this study was to analyse whether the expression of CD44 by PECs in biopsies of minimal change disease (MCD) is associated with the response to corticosteroids, with kidney outcomes and/or can be considered an early sign of FSGS.

Methods: This multicentric, retrospective study included paediatric and adult patients with MCD.

Seasonal variations in the onset of positive and negative renal ANCA-associated vasculitis in Spain.

Background: The closure of long-standing gaps in our knowledge of aetiological factors behind anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) is a major challenge. Descriptive and analytical epidemiological studies can improve our understanding of environmental influences. Reported seasonal variations in AAV, mainly related to Wegener's disease, have shown an increasing number of cases in the winter months, which could be related to an extrinsic factor underlying infection.

Determinants of renal and patient outcomes in a Spanish cohort of patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis and renal involvement.

The classification of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) remains controversial. The main objective of this study was to define the respective values of ANCA serotype-based classification, clinicopathological classification, and histopathological classification in predicting patient and renal outcomes in a Spanish cohort of patients with ANCA with specificity for myeloperoxidase, MPO-ANCA, versus ANCA with specificity for proteinase 3, PR3-ANCA. Two hundred and forty-five patients with ANCA-AAV and biopsy-proven renal involvement diagnosed between 2000 and 2104 were recruited in 12 nephrology services.

Treatment modification of yttrium-90 radioembolization based on quantitative positron emission tomography/CT imaging.

Treatment activity for yttrium-90 ((90)Y) radioembolization when calculated by using the manufacturer-recommended technique is only partially patient-specific and may result in a subtumoricidal dose in some patients. The authors describe the use of quantitative (90)Y positron emission tomography/computed tomography as a tool to provide patient-specific optimization of treatment activity and evaluate this new method in a patient who previously received traditional (90)Y radioembolization. The modified treatment resulted in a 40-Gy increase in absorbed dose to tumor and complete resolution of disease in the treated area within 3 months.

SU-E-I-32: Sterile Radiation Reduction Gloves May Be Contraindicated in Fluoroscopically Guided Interventions.

Purpose: Sterile radiation reduction gloves have been widely used in the past decade to provide modest decreases in operator hand dose when the hands are placed in the field of view (FOV). While multiple publications have quantified the potential dose reduction from the use of such gloves, possible effects on the patient have not yet been assessed. The aim of this study was to determine if radiation reduction gloves can Result in a significant increase in patient dose and increased risk of radiation induced skin injury when used in interventional radiology.

Gastrostomy-to-gastrojejunostomy tube conversion: impact of the method of original gastrostomy tube placement.

Purpose: To determine the outcome of gastrostomy tube-to-gastrojejunostomy tube conversion on the basis of the method of original gastrostomy tube placement.

Materials And Methods: One hundred twenty-four patients (age range, 13-87 years; 72 male and 52 female patients) underwent conversion of a primarily placed gastrostomy tube to a gastrojejunostomy tube at the authors' institution between January 2000 and December 2008. The method of original gastrostomy tube placement was radiologic (n = 27), endoscopic (n = 75), laparoscopic (n = 2), or open surgery (n = 20).

Human substance P receptor lacking the C-terminal domain remains competent to desensitize and internalize.

Substance P receptor (SPR) and its naturally occurring splice-variant, lacking the C-terminal tail, are found in brain and spinal cord. Whether C-terminally truncated SPR desensitizes like full-length SPR is controversial. We used a multivaried approach to determine whether human SPR (hSPR) and a C-terminally truncated mutant, hSPRDelta325, differ in their desensitization and internalization.