Chinese-Australian carers' perceived needs and preferences in planning to embed an iSupport for Dementia program in aged care services.

Objective: To assess Chinese-Australian carers' needs and preferences through co-design strategies with stakeholders to embed an evidence-based iSupport for Dementia program into routine community aged care services in Chinese ethno-specific aged care organisations.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from July to August 2022 in three Chinese ethno-specific aged care organisations in Australia. We applied a univariate analysis to test variables associated with carers' needs and preferences when embedding the iSupport for Dementia program into routine practice among community aged care services.

Intermittent Hypoxia Inhibits Hepatic CYP1a2 Expression and Delays Aminophylline Metabolism.

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to determine the effects of intermittent hypoxia (IH) on hepatic cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) expression and the pharmacokinetics of CYP1A2-mediated aminophylline and warfarin and in a rabbit model of obstructive sleep apnea.

Materials: Human normal liver (LO-2) cells were exposed to 30 min each of 1%, 1-21%, 21%, and 21-1% O, and then, CYP1A2 expression and drug concentrations were analyzed. We compared the pharmacokinetic parameters of drugs administered to normoxic rabbits and those exposed to 10 min of IH during which the oxygen level fluctuated from 21% to 8%-10% ( = 10 per group).

Atorvastatin attenuates intermittent hypoxia-induced myocardial oxidative stress in a mouse obstructive sleep apnea model.

Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), a hallmark of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), is associated with various cardiovascular diseases. In the present study, we assessed the effect of the lipid reducing agent atorvastatin on CIH-induced myocardial oxidative stress and apoptosis in a mouse OSA model. Forty-eight C57BL/6J mice were evenly divided among normoxia + vehicle, normoxia + atorvastatin, CIH + vehicle, and CIH + atorvastatin groups.

Calcium channel blockers for lung function improvement in asthma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: For decades, calcium channel blockers (CCBs) have been believed to play a role in asthma treatment. However, the clinical efficacy of CCBs for lung function improvement in patients with asthma has not been qualitatively evaluated.

Objective: To assess the effect of CCBs vs placebo on lung function test results in adults with asthma.

A case report of acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia with pneumothorax and avian exposure history.

Acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia (AFOP) is an uncommon variant of acute lung injury. Here, we report a patient with AFOP and a previously unreported condition, pneumothorax. After our experience with this case, we suggest that exposure to birds may be associated with AFOP; pneumothorax can develop in patients with AFOP; and glucocorticoids are very effective for treating AFOP.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy in childhood ependymoma.

Purpose: To determine the patterns of failure after intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for localized intracranial ependymoma.

Methods And Materials: From 1994 to 2005, 22 children with pathologically proven, localized, intracranial ependymoma were treated with adjuvant IMRT. Of the patients, 12 (55%) had an infratentorial tumor and 14 (64%) had anaplastic histology.

Supine craniospinal irradiation using intrafractional junction shifts and field-in-field dose shaping: early experience at Methodist Hospital.

Purpose: To describe our preliminary experience with supine craniospinal irradiation. The advantages of the supine position for craniospinal irradiation include patient comfort, easier access to maintain an airway for anesthesia, and reduced variability of the head tilt in the face mask.

Methods And Materials: The cranial fields were treated with near lateral fields and a table angle to match their divergence to the superior edge of the spinal field.

Versatility of the Novalis system to deliver image-guided stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for various anatomical sites.

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT) programs to treat brain tumors were implemented when we first acquired the Brainlab Novalis system in 2003. Two years later, we started an extra-cranial stereotactic radio-ablation or more appropriately a stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) program using the Brainlab Novalis image-guided system at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. We hereby summarize our initial experience with this system in delivering image-guided SBRT to a total of 80 patients during our first year of clinical implementation, from February 2005 to January 2006.

Phase I-II trial evaluating combined intensity-modulated radiotherapy and in situ gene therapy with or without hormonal therapy in treatment of prostate cancer-interim report on PSA response and biopsy data.

Purpose: There is an evolving role for combining radiotherapy (RT) with gene therapy in the management of prostate cancer. However, the clinical results of this combined approach are much needed. The preliminary results addressing the safety of this Phase I-II study combining RT and gene therapy (adenovirus/herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase gene/valacyclovir with or without hormonal therapy) in the treatment of prostate cancer have been previously reported.

Hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy for primary glioblastoma multiforme.

Purpose: A pilot study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a novel regimen of hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy (RT) in the adjuvant treatment of primary glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The rationale of the study was to combine the potential radiobiologic advantage of hypofractionation to GBM with a highly conformal radiotherapeutic technique. The study was designed to measure the acute and chronic morbidity of patients treated with this regimen, response of GBM to the treatment, overall survival, and time to disease progression after therapy completion.

Initial experience using intensity-modulated radiotherapy for recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Purpose: To report our initial experience on the feasibility, toxicity, and tumor control using intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for retreatment of recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Methods And Materials: A total of 49 patients with locoregional recurrent carcinoma in the nasopharynx were treated with IMRT between January 2001 and February 2002 at the Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China. The average time to the nasopharyngeal recurrence was 30.

IMRT for prostate cancer: defining target volume based on correlated pathologic volume of disease.

Purpose: The intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment planning system generates tightly constricted isodose lines. It is very important to define the margins that are acceptable in the treatment of prostate cancer to maximize the dose escalation and normal tissue avoidance advantages offered by IMRT. It is necessary to take into account subclinical disease and the potential for extracapsular spread.

Dosimetric predictors of xerostomia for head-and-neck cancer patients treated with the smart (simultaneous modulated accelerated radiation therapy) boost technique.

Purpose: To evaluate the predictors of xerostomia in the treatment of head-and-neck cancers treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), using the simultaneous modulated accelerated radiation therapy (SMART) boost technique. Dosimetric parameters of the parotid glands are correlated to subjective salivary gland function.

Materials And Methods: Between January 1996 and June 2000, 30 patients with at least 6 months follow-up were evaluated for subjective xerostomia after being treated definitively for head-and-neck cancer with the SMART boost technique.

Gamma knife radiosurgery for treatment of trigeminal neuralgia in multiple sclerosis patients.

Background: Trigeminal neuralgia is a paroxysmal pain syndrome commonly associated with multiple sclerosis. While gamma knife radiosurgery has been shown to be an effective treatment for most cases of trigeminal neuralgia, it is considered to be less efficacious in patients with multiple sclerosis and less viable as a treatment option.

Methods: Seven patients with multiple-sclerosis-associated trigeminal neuralgia were identified from 50 consecutive patients treated for trigeminal neuralgia at the Memorial-Hermann Gamma Knife Radiosurgery Center.

Using technology to decrease xerostomia for head and neck cancer patients treated with radiation therapy.

The treatment of head and neck cancer has evolved from conventional fields encompassing large volumes of normal tissue to focused treatment aimed at conforming the dose around the target while avoiding normal tissue. Intensity modulated radiation therapy has changed the way radiation oncologists think about head and neck cancer. Using the concepts of conformal treatment and avoidance, the therapeutic ratio can be improved and technology exploited to the patients' advantage.

The use of rectal balloon during the delivery of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer: more than just a prostate gland immobilization device?

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of a rectal balloon for prostate immobilization and rectal toxicity reduction in patients receiving dose-escalated intensity-modulated radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients with localized prostate cancer who were undergoing intensity-modulated radiotherapy were treated in a prone position, immobilized with a customized Vac-Lok bag (MED-TEC, Orange City, IA). A rectal balloon with 100 cc of air was used to immobilize the prostate.

Treatment of acoustic neuroma: stereotactic radiosurgery vs. microsurgery.

Purpose: Two major treatment options are available for patients with acoustic neuroma, microsurgery and radiosurgery. Our objective was to compare these two treatment modalities with respect to tumor growth control, hearing preservation, development of cranial neuropathies, complications, functional outcome, and patient satisfaction.

Methods And Materials: To compare radiosurgery with microsurgery, we analyzed 96 patients with unilateral acoustic neuromas treated with Leksell Gamma Knife or microsurgery at Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas, between 1993 and 2000.

Combining radiotherapy with gene therapy (from the bench to the bedside): a novel treatment strategy for prostate cancer.

Combined radiotherapy and gene therapy is a novel therapeutic approach for prostate cancer. There are various potential benefits in combining ionizing radiation with gene therapy to achieve enhanced antitumor effects: A) ionizing radiation improves transfection/ transduction efficiency, transgene integration, and possibly, the "bystander effect" of gene therapy; B) gene therapy, on the other hand, may interfere with repair of radiation-induced DNA damage and increase DNA susceptibility to radiation damage in cancer cells, and C) radiotherapy and gene therapy target at different parts of the cell cycle. Preclinical data have demonstrated the enhanced antitumor effects of this combined approach in local tumor control, prolongation of survival, as well as systemic control.

Post-nerve-sparing prostatectomy, dose-escalated intensity-modulated radiotherapy: effect on erectile function.

Purpose: The advent of widespread prostate-specific antigen screening has resulted in more younger, potent men being diagnosed with early-stage, organ-confined prostate cancer amenable to definitive surgery. Nerve-sparing prostatectomy is a relatively new surgical advance in the treatment of prostate cancer. Very few data exist on the effect of postoperative radiotherapy (RT) on erectile function after nerve-sparing prostatectomy.

Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) decreases treatment-related morbidity and potentially enhances tumor control.

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), a new form of three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT), optimizes the concept of computer-controlled radiation deposition in tumor (target) while sparing adjacent normal structures. A retrospective review was done on the initial 185 patients with tumors in different sites including prostate cancer, head and neck cancer, pediatric tumors, adult brain tumors, and previously irradiated recurrent tumors treated with IMRT. Preliminary findings indicate that IMRT is a new clinically feasible tool in radiation oncology.

Clinical experience with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer with the use of rectal balloon for prostate immobilization.

The implementation of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is the result of advances in imaging, radiotherapy planning technologies, and computer-controlled linear accelerators. IMRT allows both conformal treatment of tumors and conformal avoidance of the surrounding normal structures. The first patient treated with Peacock IMRT at Baylor College of Medicine took place in March 1994.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy for pediatric medulloblastoma: early report on the reduction of ototoxicity.

Purpose: The combination of cisplatin chemotherapy and radiation therapy for the treatment of medulloblastoma has been shown to cause significant ototoxicity, impairing a child's cognitive function and quality of life. Our purpose is to determine whether the new conformal technique of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) can achieve lower rates of hearing loss by decreasing the radiation dose delivered to the cochlea and eighth cranial nerve (auditory apparatus).

Patients And Methods: Twenty-six pediatric patients treated for medulloblastoma were retrospectively divided into two groups that received either conventional radiotherapy (Conventional-RT Group) or IMRT (IMRT Group).

Evaluation of patients after extraperitoneal lymph node dissection and subsequent radiotherapy for cervical cancer.

Objective: The presence of nodal metastases is the most important prognostic factor in cervical cancer. To adjust our therapy based on the true extent of the patient's disease, we performed an extraperitoneal lymph node dissection (EPLND) in all patients with cervical cancer prior to radiotherapy (RT) or radical hysterectomy.

Methods: Thirty-three patients with carcinoma of the cervix underwent EPLND.