The Doppler Perfusion Index of the Liver and the Underlying Duplex Sonography of Visceral Vessels-A Systematic and Comprehensive Evaluation of Reproducibility.

Prior to the curative resection of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) or pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the exclusion of hepatic metastasis using cross-sectional imaging is mandatory. The Doppler perfusion index (DPI) of the liver is a promising method for detecting occult liver metastases, but the underlying visceral duplex sonography is critically viewed in terms of its reproducibility. The aim of this study was to investigate systematically the reproducibility of the measured variables, the calculated blood flow, and the DPI.

Deconcentrating regulation in low- and middle-income country health systems: a proposed ambidextrous solution to problems with professional regulation for doctors and nurses in Kenya and Uganda.

Background: Regulation can improve professional practice and patient care, but is often weakly implemented and enforced in health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Taking a de-centred and frontline perspective, we examine national regulatory actors' and health professionals' views and experiences of health professional regulation in Kenya and Uganda and discuss how it might be improved in LMICs more generally.

Methods: We conducted large-scale research on professional regulation for doctors and nurses (including midwives) in Uganda and Kenya during 2019-2021.

Preoperative Detection of Local Tumor Extent in Patients with Advanced Retinoblastoma: Predictive Value of MRI and Clinical Findings.

Objective: Before planned enucleation, local tumor extension in advanced retinoblastoma is routinely assessed preoperatively using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The aim of our study was to analyse the predictive value of MRI and clinical characteristics for predicting tumor extent, as confirmed by histopathology postoperatively.

Patients And Methods: All consecutive patients were included who underwent primary enucleation for advanced retinoblastoma after high-resolution MRI examination in our hospital between January 2011 and December 2021.

PDGF, NGF, and EGF as main contributors to tumorigenesis in high-risk retinoblastoma.

Retinoblastoma (RB) is the most common form of eye cancer experienced in childhood. Its aggressive malignancy is associated with excellent survival rates in high-income countries; however, the prognosis in third-world countries is less favorable. Early diagnosis can maximize the patient's visual outcomes and their survival rate.

Update on the risk assessment of a rehabilitation stay for patients after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Objective: High-dose chemotherapy with allogeneic stem cell transplantation is the only chance of cure for many haemato-oncological patients. After such therapy, the immune system is weakened, and the contact with other people should therefore be limited as much as possible. The question arises whether a rehabilitation stay can be recommended to these patients, which risk factors for complications during the rehabilitation stay can be identified, and whether physicians and patients can be provided with decision-making aids as to when the optimal time is to start rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation of patients after CAR T-cell therapy. Experiences on 5 patients.

Objective: CAR T-cell therapy is an effective treatment for various relapsed or refractory haemato-oncological diseases. However, this therapy results in significant immunosuppression that lasts for months. Whether these patients are at risk during a rehabilitation stay, e.

ADAM10 and ADAM17-Novel Players in Retinoblastoma Carcinogenesis.

A disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) family proteins, acting as sheddases, are important factors in a number of pathologies, including cancer, and have been suggested as promising therapeutic targets. The study presented focuses on the involvement of ADAM10 and ADAM17 in retinoblastoma (RB), the most common malignant intraocular childhood tumor. A significant correlation between ADAM17 expression levels and RB laterality and RB staging was observed.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on rehabilitation of patients after high-dose chemotherapy with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: results of a monocentric, retrospective analysis.

Objective: Because immunocompromised patients are particularly vulnerable during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HDC/alloSCT) face the question of whether they should enter a rehabilitation stay. We therefore asked to what extent the pandemic has changed the acceptance of a rehabilitation stay and whether and how high the risk of infection for these patients should be assessed.

Methods: We analyzed all patients after HDC/alloSCT admitted to our rehabilitation facility during the period, since the first SARS-CoV-2 wave occurred in Germany (03/15/2020) and compared them with patients admitted to our rehabilitation facility before.

Combination of Brachytherapy and Intravitreal Chemotherapy in the Treatment of Retinoblastoma with Vitreous Seeding.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to report the efficacy of combined intravitreal chemotherapy (IVC) and ruthenium-106 brachytherapy in retinoblastoma, either as first-line or second-line treatment, following systemic chemoreduction or intra-arterial chemotherapy.

Methods: Retrospective data of 18 eyes from 18 patients treated with IVC and brachytherapy from August 2014 to December 2019 were collected.

Results: The method described was our first-line therapy in 6 patients, whereas it was used as second-line treatment after chemoreduction in the remaining 12 patients.

Comparing efficacy and side effects of two systemic chemotherapy regimens for eye-preserving therapy in children with retinoblastoma.

Background: Eye-preserving therapy in retinoblastoma comprises systemic chemotherapy, but studies analyzing the efficacy of different chemotherapy regimens are scarce.

Methods: The efficacy and side effects of two different eye-preserving chemotherapy regimens containing either vincristine, etoposide, and carboplatin (VEC) or cyclophosphamide, vincristine, etoposide, and carboplatin (CyVEC) were compared in a prospective non-interventional observational study including children diagnosed with retinoblastoma between 2013 and 2019 in Germany and Austria. Event-free eye survival (EFES) and overall eye survival (OES) of all 164 eyes treated with both regimens and risk factors were investigated.

Intraarterial Chemotherapy for Retinoblastoma - Initial Experiences of a German Reference Centre.

Background: Adequate management of retinoblastoma requires a multidisciplinary and individual approach to treatment. Intraarterial chemotherapy (IAC) is one of the most commonly used treatment modalities, and enables supraselective application of chemotherapy via the ophthalmic artery and is now established in almost all treatment centres. However, published treatment success rates are heterogeneous.

Feasibility of Proton Beam Therapy as a Rescue Therapy in Heavily Pre-Treated Retinoblastoma Eyes.

Despite the increased risk of subsequent primary tumors (SPTs) external beam radiation (EBRT) may be the only therapeutic option to preserve a retinoblastoma eye. Due to their physical properties, proton beam therapy (PBT) offers the possibility to use the effectiveness of EBRT in tumor treatment and to decisively reduce the treatment-related morbidity. We report our experiences of PBT as rescue therapy in a retrospectively studied cohort of 15 advanced retinoblastoma eyes as final option for eye-preserving therapy.

Effect of Temperature, Added Calcium and pH on the Equilibrium of Caseins between Micellar State and Milk Serum.

Micellar casein and casein monomers in milk serum are in a dynamic equilibrium. At temperature below 15-20 °C a considerable amount of casein monomers, β-casein in particular, is released from the casein micelle into the aqueous serum phase. This study investigates the effects of added calcium and related variations of pH on this peculiar equilibrium in order to minimize the amount of caseins in the serum and to better understand the casein permeation during microfiltration.

Eye Tumors in Childhood as First Sign of Tumor Predisposition Syndromes: Insights from an Observational Study Conducted in Germany and Austria.

Retinoblastoma and other eye tumors in childhood are rare diseases. Many eye tumors are the first signs of a genetic tumor predisposition syndrome and the affected children carry a higher risk of developing other cancers later in life. Clinical and genetic data of all children with eye tumors diagnosed between 2013-2018 in Germany and Austria were collected in a multicenter prospective observational study.

Long-Term Clinical Results and Management following Vitrectomy in Undetected Retinoblastoma Eyes.

Introduction: Given the rarity of retinoblastoma and the consequences of accidental vitrectomy in the event of misdiagnosis, reporting on clinical experience in this area is important.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyse the management and complications with a focus on local orbital recurrence and metastatic disease in 10 children vitrectomized in an undetected retinoblastoma eye.

Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive case series conducted in a single-centre referral university hospital.

[Tumors and Pseudotumors of the Retina and the Ciliary Epithelium].

The variety of retinal tumors ranges from harmless lesions to benign, locally destructive tumors and life-threatening diseases, and they are not always easy to distinguish from each other. The differential diagnosis includes real neoplasia, reactive inflammatory pathologies and vascular anomalies of the fundus as well. If possible, the diagnosis should be made clinically in order to avoid the danger of tumor cell spread via invasive diagnostic tools.

Bone metastasis of retinoblastoma five years after primary treatment.

Purpose: Histopathological, immunohistochemistry- and molecular pathology-based diagnostics to distinguish metastasis of retinoblastoma from subsequent primary malignancy in patients with heritable retinoblastoma.

Observations: An eight year-old girl presented with tibial pain and bone lesion five years after multimodal treatment of bilateral retinoblastoma, initially clinically suspicious of osteomyelitis. Histopathological examination of bone biopsy specimen revealed a highly proliferative small blue round cell tumor mimicking Ewing's sarcoma of bone.

Impact of dual energy cardiac CT for metal artefact reduction post aortic valve replacement.

Purpose: Assess image quality of dual-energy (DE) and single-energy (SE) cardiac multi-detector computed tomographic (MDCT) post aortic valve replacement (AVR) on a dual source MDCT scanner.

Methods: Eighty patients with cardiac MDCT acquisitions (ECG gated, dual-source) post-surgical and transcatheter AVR were retrospectively identified. Forty DE (cohort 1) and 40 SE acquisitions (cohort 2; 100 or 120 kVp) were reviewed.

Splanchnic Nerve Block for Chronic Heart Failure.

Objectives: We hypothesized that splanchnic nerve blockade (SNB) would attenuate increased exercise-induced cardiac filling pressures in patients with chronic HF.

Background: Chronic heart failure (HF) is characterized by limited exercise capacity driven in part by an excessive elevation of cardiac filling pressures.

Methods: This is a prospective, open-label, single-arm interventional study in chronic HF patients.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement for patients with severe bicuspid aortic stenosis.

Background: Patients with bicuspid aortic valve stenosis (BAV) were excluded from all the trileaflet aortic valve stenosis (TAV) pivotal trials, and therefore, their outcomes are not clearly defined. The aim of the study was to evaluate the outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in patients with BAV and compared them with those of TAV.

Methods: We evaluated the outcomes following TAVR of patients with BAV at our institution between April 2011 and November 2016 and compared them with the outcomes of patients with TAV treated with TAVR.

Review of alternative access in transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has surpassed surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) as the most common treatment strategy for severe symptomatic aortic stenosis over the past decade. As TAVR technology has continued to advance, it has been expanded from being an option only for extreme risk patients to now being the preferred option for the majority of patients with severe aortic stenosis. Recent trials have shown that TAVR is superior or non-inferior to SAVR even in patients at low surgical risk.

Does rehabilitation pose a risk to patients suffering from haemato-oncological diseases? Results of a monocentric, retrospective analysis in Germany.

Objective: Patients suffering from haemato-oncological diseases tend to have a weakened immune system after the end of their therapy. To avoid infections, patients are advised to limit contact with other people. This poses the question whether a stay at a rehabilitation facility can be recommended.

Histopathology of retinoblastoma eyes enucleated after intra-arterial chemotherapy.

Background: To demonstrate histopathological findings in retinoblastoma eyes enucleated after intra-arterial chemotherapy (IAC) with special emphasis on vascular toxicity and local tumour control.

Methods: Retrospective study with a consecutive series of 23 retinoblastoma eyes enucleated after IAC where histopathological work-up was available.

Results: From November 2010 to June 2019 23 eyes were enucleated after the attempt of eye salvaging therapy with IAC using melphalan.