What we believe to be a new type of transparent photon sieve is presented with application for presbyopia correction. Inspired by blazed gratings, we propose to design an intracorneal implant with slanted holes. The slopes introduce a new degree of freedom, breaking the symmetry of energy distribution along the optical axis and allowing to balance the energy between near and far vision.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNicotine substitution is a mainstay component in smoking cessation schemes. Current products including patches are poorly effective mainly because they do not give smokers the same pharmacokinetic profile of nicotine as cigarette consumption. This work evaluates a new computer operated delivery system for time controlled pulsatile transdermal administration of nicotine in a phase I clinical trial with twelve heavy smoking male volunteers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Crigler-Najjar syndrome (CN) type II is a congenital disease with unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia due to a deficiency of uridine 5'-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1. Since the currently proposed treatment with phenobarbital is associated with adverse reactions, we investigated the effect of hypericum extract.
Methods: Repetitive determination of total serum bilirubin in a female with CN type II before, during and after daily treatment with 900 mg hypericum extract on two occasions for 8 weeks.
Purpose: More than 95% of the body carnitine is located in skeletal muscle, where it is essential for energy metabolism. Vegetarians ingest less carnitine and carnitine precursors and have lower plasma carnitine concentrations than omnivores. Principle aims of the current study were to assess the plasma and skeletal muscle carnitine content and physical performance of male vegetarians and matched omnivores under basal conditions and after L-carnitine supplementation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The main metabolic pathways of oxycodone, a potent opioid analgetic, are N-demethylation (CYP3A4) to inactive noroxycodone and O-demethylation (CYP2D6) to active oxymorphone. We performed a three-way, placebo-controlled, double-blind cross-over study to assess the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic consequences of drug interactions with oxycodone.
Methods: The 12 participants (CYP2D6 extensive metabolizers) were pre-treated with placebo, ketoconazole or paroxetine before oral oxycodone ingestion (0.
Clopidogrel hydrogen sulfate is an antiplatelet agent administered, alone or in combination with acetyl salicylic acid, approved in the prevention of cardiovascular events based on large-scale clinical trials. The new salt formulations clopidogrel where approved based on pharmacokinetic measurements of the inactive prodrug on few healthy volunteers, without any other medication. Clopidogrel hydrogen sulfate has a wide variability in platelet response and the pharmacokinetic of the active metabolite is not dose-linear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report on a patient with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia who developed fever, rash, eosinophilia and hepatitis 10 days after initiation of a therapy with sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim. A DRESS syndrome was diagnosed and the therapy was changed successfully to pyrimethamine and dapsone. We describe the clinical picture, causative drugs, pathogenesis, differential diagnoses and therapy of this life-threatening disease to acquaint the general practitioner with it.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLaparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) has been considered by many as the treatment of choice for morbid obesity because of its simplicity and encouraging early results. The aim of this prospective study was to critically assess the effects, complications, and outcome after LAGB in the long-term, based on a 12-year experience. Between June 1998 and June 2009, all patients with implantation of a LAGB have been enrolled in a prospective clinical trial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn a patient with a bacterial nephritis and renal stones an incidental finding of a complicated renal cyst on the opposite side was made on CT scan. In contrast to the CT findings, on ultrasound examination the lesion appeared to be a solid mass. The injection of ultrasound contrast material confirmed this by showing an enhancement of the whole lesion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Described are the clinical and, especially, the contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic presentation and recovery of four cases of fascioliasis occurring between December 2008 and February 2009.
Materials And Methods: A detailed history, clinical examination and laboratory investigation were followed by contrast-enhanced ultrasonography of the liver and serological evidence for the presence of antibodies. A final contrast-enhanced ultrasound was performed 6 weeks after treatment with triclabendazole.
We report a case of severe intoxication with extended-release verapamil. In addition to cardiovascular toxicities with hypotension, atrioventricular block and bradycardia, the patient suffered from grand-mal seizure and pulmonary edema 13 and 48 hours respectively, after ingestion of 4.8 g of extended-release verapamil.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMacitentan (ACT-064992) is an orally active endothelin receptor antagonist. We first compared the in vitro dissolution characteristics of uncoated and film-coated tablets with hard gelatin capsules containing 10mg ACT-064992. Subsequently, we compared the oral pharmacokinetics of ACT-064992 and its active metabolite ACT-132577 of the coated tablet and the gelatin capsule formulation in 11 male volunteers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMem Inst Oswaldo Cruz
November 2008
Lutzomyia (Nyssomyia) whitmani s.l.is the main vector of cutaneous leishmaniasis in state of Mato Grosso, but little is known about environmental determinants of its spatial distribution on a regional scale.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 55-year-old male patient was hospitalized with severe nausea, vomiting and icterus. Laboratory testing showed hepatocellular damage. After exhaustive testing, the exclusion diagnosis of a toxic hepatitis was reached.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe describe a 44-year-old male patient with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and pulmonary arterial hypertension who was treated with several protease inhibitors and with sildenafil. In order to guide treatment with sildenafil, the pharmacokinetics and dynamics of sildenafil were monitored at various time points. In comparison with healthy subjects, the maximal concentration in plasma (Cmax), area under the curve (AUC), and elimination half-life of sildenafil were approximately doubled in the patient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe authors present a patient with refractory epilepsy who was treated with very high doses (up to 4 mg/min) of intravenous midazolam, phenytoin, carbamazepine, and other antiepileptics. Because it was known from the literature that the half-life of midazolam can increase at high dosage, the kinetics of midazolam (MDZ), 1'-hydroxymidazolam, and 4-hydroxymidazolam were assessed at steady state (dosage 1 mg/min) and after stopping treatment. Total body clearance of MDZ (33 L/kg) and intrinsic hepatic clearance (19 mL/min/kg) at steady state were both five to 10 times higher than after normal therapeutic doses, demonstrating hepatic cytochrome (CYP) 3A induction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The possible role of alcohol in the development of hepatotoxicity associated with therapeutic doses of paracetamol (acetaminophen) is currently debated.
Case Report: We describe 2 patients who were regular consumers of alcohol and who developed liver failure within 3-5 days after hospitalization and stopping alcohol consumption while being treated with 4 g paracetamol/day. A paracetamol serum level obtained in one of these patients was not in the toxic range.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
October 2007
Serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) has been identified as biochemical marker for biliary tract cancer (BTC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate its value as a treatment response marker and its value as a prognostic parameter in patients with unresectable BTC. We analyzed 70 patients with BTC treated with chemotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn an 81-year-old patient with a history of long-standing stable chronic renal failure a diagnosis of multiple myeloma was made. After an initial chemotherapy, a therapy with intravenous pamidronate, 90 mg monthly, was initiated. After four years of well tolerated therapy, pamidronate was stopped and zoledronate, 4 mg intravenously every four weeks, was started.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Vasc Endovasc Surg
May 2007
Objectives: To evaluate the influence of secondary infection on major amputation in chronic critical leg ischemia (CLI).
Design: Prospective, controlled observational study.
Materials And Methods: Sixty-seven patients with CLI and ischemic lesions participated in the study.