Excellent RAI therapeutic response on a patient presenting skull metastasis of follicular thyroid cancer after 15 years.

Bone is the second most common site of metastasis for differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). Bone metastasis (BMs) occur in about 10% of patients with DTC and is observed more often in follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) (7-28%) than papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) (1-7%). Bone metastasis is associated with unfavorable clinical outcomes mainly including skeletal-related events (SREs), such as pathologic fractures, bone pain, spinal cord compressions, and hypercalcemia, which negatively impact the quality of life of patients and reduce their life expectancy.

Lab on a bead with oscillatory centrifugal microfluidics for fast and complete mixing enables fast and accurate biomedical assays.

Rapid mixing and precise timing are key for accurate biomedical assay measurement, particularly when the result is determined as the rate of a reaction: for example rapid immunoassay in which the amount of captured target is kinetically determined; determination of the concentration of an enzyme or enzyme substrate; or as the final stage in any procedure that involves a capture reagent when an enzyme reaction is used as the indicator. Rapid mixing and precise timing are however difficult to achieve in point-of-care devices designed for small sample volumes and fast time to result. By using centrifugal microfluidics and transposing the reaction surface from a chamber to a single mm-scale bead we demonstrate an elegant and easily manufacturable solution.

Ambroxol plus amoxicillin in the treatment of exacerbations of chronic bronchitis.

Twenty-three patients with exacerbations of chronic bronchitis were divided in two groups in a randomized fashion receiving either amoxicillin 1500 mg/d (n = 13) or amoxicillin 1500 mg/d associated with the mucolytic drug ambroxol 90 mg/d (n = 10). The improvement in cough, expectoration difficulties and sputum purulence was statistically more evident and occurred earlier in the ambroxol + amoxicillin group than in the amoxicillin only group. Although amoxicillin plasma and sputum levels were similar in both groups, the differences in daily sputum volume, which was also statistically greater in patients receiving ambroxol, suggests that this drug favours the bronchial mucus clearance of the antibiotic which could be related to the more favourable clinical evolution.

Influence of ambroxol on amoxicillin levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.

Amoxicillin levels were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid samples obtained from patients who after randomization were treated in double-blind fashion either with amoxicillin 1000 mg p.o.t.