Adjunct Histamine Blockers as Premedications to Prevent Carboplatin Hypersensitivity Reactions.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of premedications given as an adjunct to carboplatin on the incidence of hypersensitivity reactions in women with ovarian cancer. Medications of interest include a histamine1 (H1 ) and histamine2 (H2 ) blocker in addition to dexamethasone.

Methods: This was a retrospective chart review evaluating the addition of an H1 and H2 blocker in addition to dexamethasone as standard premedications on the incidence of carboplatin hypersensitivity reactions (CHRs) in women with ovarian cancer.

Disparity in the availability of injectable epinephrine in a large, diverse US school district.

Background: Food allergies affect 2.5% of the US population. Results of studies show that minorities have the highest prevalence of food allergies.

Improvement of teacher food allergy knowledge in socioeconomically diverse schools after educational intervention.

Background: Increasingly, teachers are the first respondents to food allergic reactions in schools. Studies of food allergy in school settings have identified deficiencies in teacher recognition and treatment of reactions. We sought to determine the effect of a didactic session on teacher knowledge of the causative foods, symptoms, and treatment of reactions in diverse elementary schools.

Grief in healthcare chaplains: an investigation of the presence of disenfranchised grief.

We examined how chaplains respond to grief and determined the prevalence of disenfranchised grief (i.e., grief that is not or cannot be acknowledged or supported by society) in healthcare chaplains.

Adult seafood allergy in the Texas Medical Center: A 13-year experience.

There is a paucity of data regarding prevalence and characteristics of adult seafood allergy in United States cohorts. This study was designed to determine the characteristics of patient-reported seafood allergy in a large allergy referral adult population. Retrospective analysis was performed of laboratory and clinical characteristics of seafood-allergic patients in three allergy clinics in the Texas Medical Center between January 1, 1997 and January 30, 2010.

Long-term quality of life after radiotherapy for the treatment of anal cancer.

Background: Radiotherapy is the current standard of care for patients with localized squamous cell cancer of the anal canal. The goal of the current study was to evaluate long-term quality of life (QoL) in patients after this treatment.

Methods: Questionnaires were mailed to 80 patients treated with definitive radiotherapy, with or without concurrent chemotherapy, for anal cancer, with a minimum 2-year interval after the completion of radiotherapy.

Predisposing risk factors for palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia when using liposomal doxorubicin to treat recurrent ovarian cancer.

Objective: Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) was introduced to reduce the adverse effect of doxorubicin in treating recurrent ovarian cancer. We sought to characterize the efficacy and adverse-effect profile of PLD in different doses and to evaluate predictive factors of palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (PPE).

Methods: Patients with recurrent ovarian, primary peritoneal, and fallopian tube carcinoma treated with single-agent PLD between 1996 and 2006 at The University of Texas M.