Dexamethasone improves clinical and biological tolerance of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is widely used for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment but side effects hamper tolerance. Dexamethasone reduces TACE side effects in patients with viral hepatitis, but data regarding alcohol and metabolic liver diseases are lacking. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of dexamethasone in preventing TACE-associated adverse events in European populations with predominantly alcoholic and metabolic cirrhosis.

Neck muscle vibration and prism adaptation fail to improve balance disturbances after stroke: A multicentre randomised controlled study.

Background: Pilot studies suggest potential effects of neck muscle vibration (NMV) and prism adaptation (PA) on postural balance disturbances related to spatial cognition.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of 10 sessions of NMV and/or PA on ML deviation. We used the mediolateral centre of pressure position (ML deviation) as a biomarker for spatial cognition perturbation, hypothesising that PA and NMV would improve ML deviation, with a potential synergistic impact when used together.

Transanal irrigation is a better choice for bowel dysfunction in adults with Spina bifida: A randomised controlled trial.

Aim: To compare transanal irrigation with conservative bowel management for the treatment of bowel dysfunction in Spina bifida (SB) patients.

Methods: Patients with SB and bowel dysfunction were randomly assigned to receive either transanal irrigation or conservative bowel management. The effectiveness of the treatment was defined as a decrease of 4 points in the neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBD) score at week 10.

Contribution of voriconazole N-oxide plasma concentration measurements to voriconazole therapeutic drug monitoring in patients with invasive fungal infection.

Background: Voriconazole (VRC), a widely used triazole antifungal, exhibits significant inter- and intra-individual pharmacokinetic variability. The main metabolite voriconazole N-oxide (NOX) can provide information on the patient's drug metabolism capacity.

Objectives: Our objectives were to implement routine measurement of NOX concentrations and to describe the metabolic ratio (MR), and the contribution of the MR to VRC therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) by proposing a suggested dosage-adjustment algorithm.

Patient-reported outcomes and their relation with iron parameters in HFE haemochromatosis during maintenance therapy: A prospective cohort study.

Background & Aims: The standard of care for haemochromatosis is regular phlebotomy in order to maintain low ferritin levels. Many patients report fatigue or joint pain despite serum ferritin within the therapeutic targets. We evaluated Patient-Reported Outcomes, and their relation with iron parameters, in C282Y homozygous patients undergoing maintenance phlebotomy.