Randomised clinical trial: the efficacy and safety of propionyl-L-carnitine therapy in patients with ulcerative colitis receiving stable oral treatment.

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterised by impaired fatty-acid oxidation; l-carnitine has a key role in fatty-acid metabolism and short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate and propionate are important energy source for intestinal epithelial cells.

Aim: To evaluate efficacy and safety of colon-release propionyl-L-carnitine (PLC) in patients with mild-to-moderate UC receiving stable oral aminosalicylate or thiopurine therapy.

Methods: In a multicentre, phase II, double-blind, parallel-group trial, patients were randomised to receive PLC 1 g/day, PLC 2 g/day or placebo.

[Clinical pathomorphology of critical conditions].

The authors present a review of clinicopathologic manifestations of the most important syndromes of terminal period. Insufficiency and failure of the heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, and liver as well as multiple organ failure are characterized. Precise definition in the autopsy report of the prevailing syndrome and type of death makes it possible to assess adequacy of intensive care and resuscitation, reveal probable causes of their ineffectiveness and improve treatment protocols in premortal period of the disease.

[A case of respiratory distress syndrome complicated by the development of interstitial emphysema and pneumomediastinum].

A 15-year-old patient has been admitted to the intensive care unit for severe respiratory distress syndrome that developed as a result of pneumonia. Interstitial lung edema was confirmed by computer-aided tomography. It was successfully treated by positive pressure ventilation (PPV).

[Experience in the treatment of severe forms of sepsis by extracorporeal therapy and hyperbaric oxygenation].

The results of multiple modality treatment of 81 patients with sepsis complicated by multiple organ failure are assessed. In 40 patients the traditional therapy of sepsis was supplemented with extracorporeal methods (hemoperfusion, autotransfusion of UV-exposed blood, and perfusion of xenospleen slices) and hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) sessions. In the patients treated traditionally the mortality was 94%, whereas addition of extracorporeal treatment and HBO decreased this value to 40%.