This article presents a case review and literature review focused on the challenges of managing subaortic membranes (SAMs) in young adult patients with mild aortic regurgitation (AR) or aortic stenosis (AS). The study aims to discuss the diagnosis of SAM, the imaging studies used for assessment, the management strategies in young patients, the risk of valvular damage, and the controversy surrounding prophylactic resection in mild AR. The management of SAM in adults poses challenges due to limited treatment options and potential complications, necessitating further investigation into the progression of AS and AR in asymptomatic SAM patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBull World Health Organ
November 2023
The importance of strong coordination for research on public health and social measures was highlighted at the Seventy-fourth World Health Assembly in 2021. This article describes efforts undertaken by the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop a global research agenda on the use of public health and social measures during health emergencies. This work includes a multistep process that started with a global technical consultation convened by WHO in September 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To assess the role of the positron emission tomography with fluorine-18-deoxyglucose (PET/CT) in the detection of recurrent serous ovarian cancer in patients with normal serum CA125 level.
Material And Methods: Thirty-one patients with suspected recurrent serous ovarian cancer with normal (< 35 IU/mL) serum CA125 level and no prior recurrence underwent PET/CT imaging. The results of the PET/CT were analyzed considering clinical data of the patients, histological diagnosis and 6 months follow-up.
Background: The exact role of positron emission tomography with fluorine-18-deoxyglucose ([18F]FDG PET/CT) in an early diagnosis of relapsed ovarian cancer is not clearly defined. The aim of the study was to assess the value of [18F]FDG PET/CT in the detection and differentiation of recurrent ovarian cancer.
Material And Methods: Eighty-four patients with suspected recurrent ovarian cancer underwent [18F]FDG PET/CT examination.
Background: An infodemic is excess information, including false or misleading information, that spreads in digital and physical environments during a public health emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an unprecedented global infodemic that has led to confusion about the benefits of medical and public health interventions, with substantial impact on risk-taking and health-seeking behaviors, eroding trust in health authorities and compromising the effectiveness of public health responses and policies. Standardized measures are needed to quantify the harmful impacts of the infodemic in a systematic and methodologically robust manner, as well as harmonizing highly divergent approaches currently explored for this purpose.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVenom immunotherapy (VIT) is the only efficient therapy for the Hymenoptera insect venom allergy. Immunotherapy with bee venom is encumbered with a higher risk of systemic side effects and/or therapeutic failures. The objective of the study was to assess if specific profiles of molecular IgE (Immunoglobulin E) responses are associated with an increased risk of systemic side effects and/or the treatment’s inefficacy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndividuals with a history of allergy are potentially at risk of suffering from adverse effects after COVID-19 vaccination. We sought to assess the tolerance towards the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in allergic patients. To address this issue, we used a questionnaire conducted on-line in a group of medical professionals who were vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe current limitations in evaluating synovial fluid (SF) components in health and disease and between species are due in part to the lack of data on normal SF, because of low availability of SF from healthy articular joints. Our study aimed to quantify species-dependent differences in phospholipid (PL) profiles of normal knee SF obtained from equine and human donors. Knee SF was obtained during autopsy by arthrocentesis from 15 and 13 joint-healthy human and equine donors, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: We aimed to test whether birth season is associated with age at menarche in the sub-tropical climate of Central India where temperature and photoperiod differences between seasons are very small.
Methods: Date of birth and age at menarche were collected for 330 female students of Central University, Sagar. The impact of birth month and birth season on age at menarche was analyzed using ANOVA and time-to-event analysis with the use of the Kaplan-Meier curve.
Background: Large local reaction to Hymenoptera stings is usually defined as a swelling >10 cm which lasts longer than 24 hours, sometimes associated with erythema, pruritus and blisters. Currently, the risk of subsequent systemic reactions after re-stings is considered low (2%-15%). Therefore, a diagnostic workup in case of large local reaction is often judged unnecessary, as well as adrenaline auto-injector and venom immunotherapy prescription.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Investig Allergol Clin Immunol
February 2019
Background Insect venom immunotherapy (VIT) is used to protect patients against Hymenoptera insects' venom allergy (HVA), which can result in severe systemic or even life-threatening conditions. Molecular mechanisms triggered by VIT remain largely unknown. Objective To compare genome-wide gene expression of patients with severe HVA prior to VIT and 12 months after.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Investig Allergol Clin Immunol
March 2020
Objective: To perform a genome-wide characterization of changes in microRNA (miRNA) expression during the course of venom immunotherapy (VIT).
Methods: miRNA was isolated from the whole-blood of 13 allergic patients and 14 controls, who experienced no allergic reaction upon stings by honeybees and wasps. We analyzed 2549 miRNAs from the whole blood of these patients prior to VIT and 12 months after the start of VIT.
Background: The birthweight of multiples is naturally lower than that of singletons. Given that the incidence of twin pregnancy has risen in recent years, it seems reasonable to create standards of birthweight separately for twins. This could help in the objective assessment of small and large for gestational age twin newborns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Digit ratio (2D:4D) is a sexually dimorphic trait and its determination in utero is influenced by testosterone. The solstitial-melatonin-testosterone hypothesis posits that melatonin inhibits the production of foetal testosterone and melatonin levels are at their lowest in months when light levels are high.
Aims: We test the relationship between 2D:4D, month-of-birth and light levels.
Osteoarthritis Cartilage
August 2016
Objective: The lipid profile of synovial fluid (SF) is related to the health status of joints. The early stages of human osteoarthritis (OA) are poorly understood, which larger animals are expected to be able to model closely. This study examined whether the canine groove model of OA represents early OA in humans based on the changes in the lipid species profile in SF.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Investig Allergol Clin Immunol
April 2016
Background: The ultrarush protocol is an attractive approach in the buildup phase of venom immunotherapy (VIT-UR). However, the degree of risk of VIT-UR in children remains unknown. The objective of this study was to compare the safety of VIT-UR in children and adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Hyaluronic acid (HA), lubricin, and phospholipid species (PLs) contribute independently or together to the boundary lubrication of articular joints that is provided by synovial fluid (SF). Our study is the first reporting quantitative data about the molecular weight (MW) forms of HA, lubricin, and PLs in SF from cohorts of healthy donors, patients with early (eOA)- or late (lOA)-stage osteoarthritis (OA), and patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods: We used human SF from unaffected controls, eOA, lOA, and RA.
Introduction: Lysosomal cathepsins have been reported to contribute to Osteoarthritis (OA) pathophysiology due to their increase in pro-inflammatory conditions. Given the causal role of cathepsins in OA, monitoring their specific activity could provide means for assessing OA severity. To this end, we herein sought to assess a cathepsin activity-based probe (ABP), GB123, in vitro and in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Extravasation of circulating cancer cells is an important step of the metastatic cascade and a potential target for anti-cancer strategies based on vasoprotective drugs. Reports on anti-cancer effects of fenofibrate (FF) prompted us to analyze its influence on the endothelial barrier function during prostate cancer cell diapedesis.
Research Design And Methods: In vitro co-cultures of endothelial cells with cancer cells imitate the 'metastatic niche' in vivo.
Articular synovial fluid (SF) is a complex mixture of components that regulate nutrition, communication, shock absorption, and lubrication. Alterations in its composition can be pathogenic. This lipidomic investigation aims to quantify the composition of sphingolipids (sphingomyelins, ceramides, and hexosyl- and dihexosylceramides) and minor glycerophospholipid species, including (lyso)phosphatidic acid, (lyso)phosphatidylglycerol, and bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate species, in the SF of knee joints from unaffected controls and from patients with early (eOA) and late (lOA) stages of osteoarthritis (OA), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In this report the increase in the number of notifications of suspicions of diseases caused by the way the job is per formed, observed recently in the Regional Center of Occupational Medicine in Wroclaw, is highlighted. The problem stems from the recognition of medical certification of such diseases as occupational diseases only in one third of all notifications of suspicions.
Material And Methods: The case study was based on statistical data concerning notifications of suspected occupational diseases collected in the Branches of the Regional Center of Occupational Medicine in Wroclaw in the years 2006-2011, as well as on medical certificates issued by the Center's Out-patient Clinics of Occupational Diseases.
Objective: Membrane phospholipid species contribute to boundary lubrication that is provided by synovial fluid (SF). Altered levels of lubricants can be associated with increased friction, leading to articular cartilage damage. This study was undertaken to determine whether the composition of phospholipid species is altered in diseases of human knee joints.
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