Epidemiology, risk factors and prognosis of Interferon alpha induced thyroid disorders. A Prospective Clinical Study.

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a worldwide problem and hepatitis, which is its natural unfavourable course, is still a challenge for hepatologist. At present, standards of treatment are changing from combined therapy with interferon alpha (IFN-α) and ribavirin to new antiviral drugs. The current classification divides interferon induced thyroid diseases (IITD) into two groups: autoimmune (Hashimoto disease, Graves disease, positive antithyroid autoantibodies in euthyroid patients) and non-autoimmune (destructive thyroiditis, non-autoimmune hypothyroidism).

Autoimmune hepatitis in the material of Department and Regional Hospital of Infectious Diseases in Gdańsk.

Background: The aim of the study was the analysis of patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), with respect to diagnostics, clinical course and treatment, based on the material from the wards of infectious diseases.

Material/methods: The study was carried out in the group of 106 AIH patients--95 females aged 11-81 (mean age 46 years) and 11 males aged 8-73 (mean age 35 years). The diagnosis of AIH was based on international criteria, including biochemical test results, autoantibodies, and liver tissue morphology.

Autoimmune reactions in HBV and HCV.

Background: Hepatotropic viruses HBV and HCV are capable of triggering autoimmune reactions (AIH). The aim of the study was the assessment of clinical course of AIH in patients with HBV and HCV, and the revision of treatment methods employed in these cases.

Material And Methods: Among 120 patients with AIH and those qualified for antiviral therapy, 21 (17.

A pharmacokinetic study of amphotericin B lipid complex injection (Abelcet) in patients with definite or probable systemic fungal infections.

This study describes a pharmacokinetic evaluation of amphotericin B (AMB) lipid complex injection (ABLC or Abelcet) in 17 patients with systemic fungal infection administered 5 mg/kg of body weight/day by infusion for 10 to 17 days. The results showed that AMB exhibited multiexponential disposition with high clearance, large volume of distribution at steady state, and long apparent elimination half-life but no evidence of accumulation in the blood after multiple daily doses. The results confirm previous observations and further reinforce the suggestion that ABLC may exist as a depot in the tissues from which free AMB is slowly released to limit exposure.

[Wegener's granulomatosis].

The authors present a case of Wegener's granulomatosis in a 22 year-old female patient. They observed multi-organic changes concerning upper and lower respiratory tracts, skin, oral cavity, joints, kidneys. The diagnosis was confirmed in the Department for Infectious Diseases after two years of the beginning of the disease.