In the management of early-stage breast cancer (BC), lymph nodes (LNs) are typically characterised using the One-Step Nucleic Acid Amplification (OSNA) assay, a standard procedure for assessing subclinical metastasis in sentinel LNs (SLNs). The pivotal role of LNs in coordinating the immune response against BC is often overlooked. Our aim was to improve prognostic information provided by the OSNA assay and explore immune-related gene signatures in SLNs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To analyse factors affecting the ability to use the digital asthma monitoring application Mask-Air in old-age individuals living in inland Portugal.
Patients And Methods: In this observational study, patients with medically confirmed asthma who agreed to participate were interviewed and subdivided into Non-users Group: those who could not use the application and Users Group: those who could. Sociodemographic and psychological data, comorbidities, and asthma status were compared between groups.
Rationale: It is unclear how each individual asthma symptom is associated with asthma diagnosis or control.
Objectives: To assess the performance of individual asthma symptoms in the identification of patients with asthma and their association with asthma control.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we assessed real-world data using the MASK-air app.
Background: Asthma presents a significant health challenge, imposing a considerable burden on healthcare services. Discrepancies in asthma-related hospitalisations may reflect underlying health disparities. We aimed to analyse inequities in asthma hospital admissions in mainland Portugal and Spain, from a regional perspective and considering sex and age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In allergic rhinitis and asthma, adolescents and young adult patients are likely to differ from older patients. We compared adolescents, young adults and adults on symptoms, control levels, and medication adherence.
Methods: In a cross-sectional study (2015-2022), we assessed European users of the MASK-air mHealth app of three age groups: adolescents (13-18 years), young adults (18-26 years), and adults (>26 years).
Biomarkers for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with rhinitis and/or asthma are urgently needed. Although some biologic biomarkers exist in specialist care for asthma, they cannot be largely used in primary care. There are no validated biomarkers in rhinitis or allergen immunotherapy (AIT) that can be used in clinical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Validated questionnaires are used to assess asthma control over the past 1-4 weeks from reporting. However, they do not adequately capture asthma control in patients with fluctuating symptoms. Using the Mobile Airways Sentinel Network for airway diseases (MASK-air) app, we developed and validated an electronic daily asthma control score (e-DASTHMA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMASK-air , a validated mHealth app (Medical Device regulation Class IIa) has enabled large observational implementation studies in over 58,000 people with allergic rhinitis and/or asthma. It can help to address unmet patient needs in rhinitis and asthma care. MASK-air is a Good Practice of DG Santé on digitally-enabled, patient-centred care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Allergy Clin Immunol Pract
April 2023
The One Step Nucleic Acid Amplification (OSNA) is being adopted worldwide for sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) staging in breast cancer (BC). As major disadvantage, OSNA precludes prognostic information based on structural evaluation of SLNs. Our aim is to identify biomarkers related to tumor-microenvironment interplay exploring gene expression data from the OSNA remaining lysate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDigital health is an umbrella term which encompasses eHealth and benefits from areas such as advanced computer sciences. eHealth includes mHealth apps, which offer the potential to redesign aspects of healthcare delivery. The capacity of apps to collect large amounts of longitudinal, real-time, real-world data enables the progression of biomedical knowledge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeanuts (PN) and tree nuts (TN) are major causes of anaphylaxis worldwide. We aimed to determine the clinical and demographic characteristics associated with anaphylaxis in patients sensitized to PN and/or TN in a Mediterranean population. We conducted a retrospective study, which included 198 patients allergic to PN and/or TN (allergy symptoms plus specific immunoglobulin E [sIgE] sensitization), evaluated in consultations from January 2015 to December 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Data from mHealth apps can provide valuable information on rhinitis control and treatment patterns. However, in MASK-air®, these data have only been analyzed cross-sectionally, without considering the changes of symptoms over time. We analyzed data from MASK-air® longitudinally, clustering weeks according to reported rhinitis symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Allergy Clin Immunol Pract
November 2022
Background: Several studies have suggested an impact of allergic rhinitis on academic productivity. However, large studies with real-world data (RWD) are not available.
Objective: To use RWD to assess the impact of allergic rhinitis on academic performance (measured through a visual analog scale [VAS] education and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire plus Classroom Impairment Questions: Allergy Specific [WPAI+CIQ:AS] questionnaire), and to identify factors associated with the impact of allergic rhinitis on academic performance.
Drug repurposing is a major field of value-added medicine. It involves investigating and evaluating existing drugs for new therapeutic purposes that address unmet healthcare needs. Several unmet needs in allergic rhinitis could be improved by drug repurposing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Allergic contact dermatitis caused by topical ophthalmic medications (OftACD) is frequently difficult to confirm with patch testing and, therefore, it is considered uncommon.
Methods: We collected retrospective data from a cohort of 65 patients with suspected OftACD patch tested in our Dermatology Unit (2005-2021) according to ESCD guidelines, using a series of topical drugs and excipients (Chemotechnique Diagnostics), including betaxolol and timolol 5% pet. kindly supplied by the pharmaceutical industry.
Background: Different treatments exist for allergic rhinitis (AR), including pharmacotherapy and allergen immunotherapy (AIT), but they have not been compared using direct patient data (i.e., "real-world data").
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Evidence regarding the effectiveness of allergen immunotherapy (AIT) on allergic rhinitis has been provided mostly by randomised controlled trials, with little data from real-life studies.
Objective: To compare the reported control of allergic rhinitis symptoms in three groups of users of the MASK-air app: those receiving sublingual AIT (SLIT), those receiving subcutaneous AIT (SCIT), and those receiving no AIT.
Methods: We assessed the MASK-air data of European users with self-reported grass pollen allergy, comparing the data reported by patients receiving SLIT, SCIT and no AIT.
Background: Co-medication is common among patients with allergic rhinitis (AR), but its dimension and patterns are unknown. This is particularly relevant since AR is understood differently across European countries, as reflected by rhinitis-related search patterns in Google Trends. This study aims to assess AR co-medication and its regional patterns in Europe, using real-world data.
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