Breakage of an Epidural Catheter Inserted for Labor Analgesia.

The breakage of an epidural catheter, which is usually not noticed, is a rare but important complication encountered while inserting or removing the catheter during epidural blockade. While the epidural catheter was being inserted for labor analgesia, despite no problem being encountered in advancing the catheter, it was drawn back to verify the location; it was observed that 2 cm of the distal end of the catheter was missing. A neurosurgical consultation was requested; it was reported that the broken piece would not create any problems and reintervention could be performed for labor analgesia.

Does bupivacaine and fentanyl combination for epidural analgesia shorten the duration of labour?

In this study we aimed to explore the effects of epidural analgesia achieved by a combination of low-dose bupivacaine and fentanyl infused through an epidural catheter on mother, foetus and labour process in nulliparous at-term pregnant women during vaginal delivery. This study was designed in a prospective, randomised controlled manner. Epidural analgesia was achieved in 50 nulliparous women.

Novel alpha interferon (IFN-alpha) variant with improved inhibitory activity against hepatitis C virus genotype 1 replication compared to IFN-alpha2b therapy in a subgenomic replicon system.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment is based on the association of pegylated alpha interferon (IFN-alpha) and ribavirin. To improve the level of sustained virological response to treatment, especially in patients infected with HCV genotype 1, new IFNs with improved efficacy and toxicity profiles may be developed. In this report, we show that, in the BM4-5 cell line harboring an HCV subgenomic replicon, a novel and naturally occurring human IFN-alpha17 variant, GEA007.

Involvement of Bcl-2 and IL-2R in HIV-positive patients whose CD4 cell counts fail to increase rapidly with highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Objective: Combination antiretroviral therapy in a subset of HIV-infected patients, here called CD4-low responders (CD4-LR), fails to produce a rapid rise in CD4 cell counts despite effective control of plasma viral load (< 50 copies/ml). The mechanism responsible for this failure was investigated.

Design And Methods: CD4-LR patients (n = 13) included in the study had been receiving stable antiretroviral therapy for > 9 months, resulting in undetectable viral load, but nontheless showed a CD4 cell count of < 200 x 106 cells/l.