Effectiveness of an educational intervention about inhalation technique in healthcare professionals in primary care: a cluster randomized trial.

Incorrect inhalation technique (IT) is an important issue for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and healthcare professionals. Studies in which counseling is carried out with healthcare professionals beforehand so that they can properly educate their patients are required. The objective of the present trial is to assess the improvement in the performance of the IT in subjects with COPD and prescribed inhaled therapy after the implementation of an educational intervention conducted by their general practitioners.

Risk factors associated with Retinopathy of Prematurity development and progression.

Several studies propose that Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is a multifactorial disorder implicating many prenatal and postnatal factors. The objective of our study was to determine the incidence and the risk factors that influenced ROP development and progression. We retrospectively compiled data of preterms with birth weight (BW) ≤ 1.

Metformin, testosterone, or both in men with obesity and low testosterone: A double-blind, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial.

Background: Men with obesity tend to be insulin resistant and often have low-normal testosterone concentrations. We conducted a clinical trial aimed to evaluate potential therapeutic strategies for low testosterone in men with obesity.

Methods: We did a 1-year, parallel, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, where we evaluated the independent and combined effects of metformin and testosterone in 106 men with obesity, aged 18-50 years, who had low levels of testosterone and no diabetes mellitus.

Multimodal analyses of vitiligo skin identify tissue characteristics of stable disease.

Vitiligo is an autoimmune skin disease characterized by the destruction of melanocytes by autoreactive CD8+ T cells. Melanocyte destruction in active vitiligo is mediated by CD8+ T cells, but the persistence of white patches in stable disease is poorly understood. The interaction between immune cells, melanocytes, and keratinocytes in situ in human skin has been difficult to study due to the lack of proper tools.

Antenatal Betamethasone Every 12 Hours in Imminent Preterm Labour.

Background: Benefits of antenatal corticosteroids have been established for preterm infants who have received the full course. In imminent preterm labours there is no time to administer the second dose 24 h later.

Objective: To determine whether the administration of two doses of betamethasone in a 12 h interval is equivalent to the effects of a full maturation.

Benefits of a Single Dose of Betamethasone in Imminent Preterm Labour.

Background: A complete course of prenatal corticosteroids reduces the possibility of morbimortality and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Occasionally, it is not possible to initiate or complete the maturation regimen, and the preterm neonate is born in a non-tertiary hospital. This study aimed to assess the effects of a single dose of betamethasone within 3 h before delivery on serious outcomes (mortality and serious sequelae) and RDS in preterm neonates born in tertiary vs.

Effects of music therapy as an adjunct to chest physiotherapy in children with cystic fibrosis: A randomized controlled trial.

Airway clearance therapy (ACT) is considered an important approach to improve airway clearance in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). Daily ACT administration requires substantial commitments of time and energy that complicate ACT and reduce its benefits. It is crucial to establish ACT as a positive routine.

Label-free, High-Resolution Optical Metabolic Imaging of Human Cervical Precancers Reveals Potential for Intraepithelial Neoplasia Diagnosis.

While metabolic changes are considered a cancer hallmark, their assessment has not been incorporated in the detection of early or precancers, when treatment is most effective. Here, we demonstrate that metabolic changes are detected in freshly excised human cervical precancerous tissues using label-free, non-destructive imaging of the entire epithelium. The images rely on two-photon excited fluorescence from two metabolic co-enzymes, NAD(P)H and FAD, and have micron-level resolution, enabling sensitive assessments of the redox ratio and mitochondrial fragmentation, which yield metrics of metabolic function and heterogeneity.

Impact of Early Reoperation on the Prognosis of Patients Operated on for Glioblastoma.

Background: The prognosis for patients with glioblastoma depends particularly on the degree of tumor resection. Patients with tumor remnants in postsurgical magnetic resonance imaging (<72 hours) may benefit from early reoperation. We present our results concerning the impact on overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of reoperation in patients who have already undergone surgery for glioblastoma.

Macular choroidal thickness in patients with pseudoxanthoma elasticum measured by enhanced-depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.

Background/objectives: To analyze macular choroidal thickness in patients with pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) by enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).

Subjects/methods: This is a prospective cross-sectional study. Sixty-eight eyes of 34 patients with PXE and 68 normal eyes of 34 controls were included to study the macular area with enhanced depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).

Nitrogenous content in parenteral nutrition: a four-year experience in a general hospital. Critically-ill patient specificity.

Introduction: There have been several studies focusing on caloric intake during the last years, while protein content relevance has been underestimated. Some recent evidence has shown that protein deficiency has also an impact on patient outcomes. We have studied the nitrogen (N) content in parenteral nutrition (PN) bags administered to adult patients in a Spanish tertiary level hospital for four years.

Imaging mitochondrial dynamics in human skin reveals depth-dependent hypoxia and malignant potential for diagnosis.

Active changes in mitochondrial structure and organization facilitate cellular homeostasis. Because aberrant mitochondrial dynamics are implicated in a variety of human diseases, their assessment is potentially useful for diagnosis, therapy, and disease monitoring. Because current techniques for evaluating mitochondrial morphology are invasive or necessitate mitochondria-specific dyes, their clinical translation is limited.

Analysis of peripapillary choroidal thickness in non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy.

Purpose: To analyse peripapillary choroidal thickness (PCT) in non-arteritic ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION).

Methods: 28 patients diagnosed with NAION (37 affected and 19 unaffected eyes) and 38 disease-free control individuals (38 eyes) were analysed using enhanced-depth imaging of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. A vertical and a horizontal raster scan centred on the optic nerve were obtained per eye.

The Effect of Peripapillary Detachment on Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Measurement by Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography in High Myopia.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the repercussions of peripapillary detachment on retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) measurements in patients with highly myopic eyes.

Methods: A total of 244 highly myopic eyes underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination that included optical coherence tomography (OCT) to analyze the peripapillary retina and RNFL thickness. Based on the OCT findings, patients were grouped as follows: group A: eyes with a peripapillary intrachoroidal cavitation (PIC); group B: eyes with a peripapillary neurosensory retinal detachment (PNRD), and group C: eyes without a peripapillary detachment.

Consistency and distribution of reflectance confocal microscopy features for diagnosis of cutaneous T cell lymphoma.

Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) represents a noninvasive imaging technique that has previously been used for characterization of mycosis fungoides (MF) in a pilot study. We aimed to test the applicability of RCM for diagnosis and differential diagnosis of MF in a clinical study. A total of 39 test sites of 15 patients with a biopsy-proven diagnosis of either MF, parapsoriasis, Sézary syndrome, or lymphomatoid papulosis were analyzed for presence and absence of RCM features of MF.

Peritumoral clefting in basal cell carcinoma: correlation of in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy and routine histology.

Background: Histopathologically, basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is characterized by basaloid tumor nodules of varying size showing peripheral palisading of cells and nuclei, and separation from surrounding stroma by optically empty appearing clefts. These are usually regarded as an artifact, occurring during routine tissue processing. Recently, reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) has been applied for noninvasive, in vivo evaluation of BCC.

Effects of a 1,450 nm diode laser on facial sebum excretion.

Background And Objective: Laser therapy with a 1,450 nm diode laser is a clinically effective treatment for acne vulgaris, although the mechanism of action is unknown. To investigate this, we conducted a small, prospective, controlled clinical trial to assess this laser's effects on the facial sebum excretion rate (SER).

Materials And Methods: Fourteen healthy volunteers without active acne were enrolled in this study and received three laser treatments on test areas of the nose and forehead.

[Postoperative ureteral obstruction after endoscopic antireflux therapy].

Objectives: To know the incidence of new contralateral VUR and its evolution in children with primary unilateral vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) managed with endoscopic treatment (ET).

Methods: During 7.5 years a total of 228 children with primary VUR underwent endoscopic implantation of bulking material, 90 of them (39.

Clinical applicability of in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy for the diagnosis of actinic keratoses.

Background: In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) has been used for evaluation of the morphologic features of nonmelanoma skin cancer. The application of RCM for diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma has been reported; however, the evaluation of actinic keratoses (AKs) has only been the subject of preliminary studies.

Study Goal: The goal of this study was to evaluate the applicability of RCM in the diagnosis of AK in correlation with routine histology.

Prognostic value of serum angiogenic activity in colorectal cancer patients.

Angiogenesis, resulting from an imbalance between angiogenic activator factors and inhibitors, is required for tumour growth and metastasis. The determination of the circulating concentration of all angiogenic factors (activators and inhibitors) is not feasible at present. We have evaluated diagnostic and prognostic values of the measurement of serum angiogenic activity in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) patients.

Irritant contact dermatitis induced by a common household irritant: a noninvasive evaluation of ethnic variability in skin response.

Objective: This study was undertaken to investigate the ethnic susceptibility to irritant contact dermatitis induced by a common dishwashing liquid using noninvasive technologies.

Methods: A total of 30 participants (15 Caucasian, 15 African American) were patch tested to graded concentrations of a common household irritant and evaluated using clinical scoring, reflectance confocal microscopy, transepidermal water loss, and fluorescence excitation spectroscopy.

Results: At 24 hours, the concentration thresholds for clinically perceptible irritancy were significantly higher for African American compared with Caucasian participants.

Pilot study on the sensitivity and specificity of in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy in the diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis.

The validity, reproducibility, and specificity of patch-testing in the diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) have repeatedly been addressed. In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) has been used for real-time evaluation of the histopathologic features of ACD. This pilot study was designed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of RCM in diagnosing ACD in reference to patch-testing.

Long-pulsed neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser treatment for port-wine stains.

Objective: Laser treatment of port-wine stain (PWS) might be improved using a deeply penetrating wavelength.

Methods: PWSs in 17 patients were treated 3 times with a 595-nm pulsed dye laser (PDL) and a 1064-nm neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser. Fluences of 1.