Impact of histological subtype on the response to chemoradiation in locally advanced cervical cancer and the possible role of surgery.

Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women in developing countries, second only to breast cancer, with more than 450.000 new cases every year. Romania has the highest incidence of cervical cancer in Europe; more than four times the incidence found in Western Europe.

Umbilical cord lactate compared with pH as predictors of intrapartum asphyxia.

Despite advances in fetal monitoring during labor, one of the most critical causes of neonatal death and neurologic injuries remains intrapartum asphyxia. Umbilical cord gases can be used to detect acidosis and fetal distress. We conducted a retrospective, multicenter study to evaluate umbilical cord blood pH and lactate as a mean of evaluating the degree of intrapartum hypoxia and also to establish which of the two is more reliable in predicting morbidity in term neonates.

A Romanian therapeutic approach to peripheral nerve injury.

The study of nerve regeneration and functional recovery of the injured peripheral nerves represents a worldwide subject of clinical and scientific research. Our team aimed to obtain the first guide for nerve regeneration, bioartificial and biodegradable, using exclusively Romanian resources and having the advantages of price and quality, over the imported nerve conduits already used in clinical practice. First steps of this project consisted in obtaining the prototype of nerve guide conduit and its' testing in vitro and in vivo.

Association of +35A/C (intron3/exon3) polymorphism in SOD1-gene with diabetic nephropathy in type 1 diabetes.

Diabetic nephropathy is a major complication of type 1 diabetes whose pathogenesis is insufficiently known, but oxidative stress and genetic susceptibility seem to be involved. The purpose of this study is to assess the possible association of +35A/C (rs2234694) polymorphism in SOD1-gene with advanced stages of diabetic nephropathy in patients with type 1 diabetes in Romania. There have been enrolled 238 unrelated patients, having type 1 diabetes, divided into group A (106 patients) with diabetic nephropathy - macroalbuminuria or ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) and group B (132 patients) without diabetic nephropathy.

The glycemic control and temporal characteristics of diabetes as risk factors for the occurence of diabetic renal disease.

Diabetes is one of the most spread pandemy, which affects nowadays the world, its incidence increasing globally. The chronic complications of diabetes are extremely important, out of which the diabetic kidney disease (DKD) being by far the most expensive and severe. On the basis of statistic studies, we tried to identify the risk factors within some epidemiological studies.

[Puberty, pregnancy, gender and hormonal status--putative risk factors for diabetic nephropathy].

Contemplation of non-genetic risk factors that are influencing the onset and development of diabetic nephropathy (diabetic kidney disease--DKD) is very important. This article is integrative, assessing the existent data about several possible risk factors for DKD. Because the age of onset and postpubertal duration of diabetes seems to be strongly correlated with DKD, it is feasible for puberty to be another independent risk factor.

Asthma in children and adolescents: socio-economic and psycho-somatic considerations.

Bronchial asthma, despite the theoretical and experimental medical progress, remains the most frequently seen chronic disease of the children and has a heavy impact on global morbidity and mortality. The inadequate psychological approach to the asthmatic child and his family can be responsible for this failure in asthma control. We present here the psychosomatic characteristics of the child with asthma and his parents.

[Pathogenic mechanisms for fat redistribution in patients with HIV disease].

Lipodystrophy syndrome is a common term in the literature traditionally used to describe several morphologic (lipoatrophy; lipohypertrophy; mixed syndrome) and metabolic (dyslipidemia, insulin resistance) disturbances found in patients with HIV disease, with or without treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Increasing evidence suggests these disorders, though commonly clustering in a syndrome pattern, have distinct pathologic pathways and can occur independently of each other. The pathogenesis of these disorders is complex, but recent hypotheses and evidence suggest that impairment to adipocyte differentiation, in particular through alterations in the expression of the transcription factor sterol responsive element binding protein-lc (SREBP1c), impairment of adipokine regulation, unopposed production of proinflammatory cytokines, adipocyte apoptosis mediated by proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) and IL-6, dysregulation of 1l-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, and mitochondrial toxicity may play a role.

[Lipodystrophy syndrome in HIV-infected patients. Clinical and diagnostic features].

After the introduction of HAART (Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy) in patients infected with HIV, a new syndrome--Lipodystrophy syndrome--has been described, in 1998. Lipodystrophy syndrome in patients with HIV infection comprises several conditions: lipoatrophy, lipohypertrophy, mixed syndrome (lipoatrophy and lipohypertrophy), often associated with dyslipidemia and insulin resistance. Lipoatrophy and lipohypertrophy can occur independently, being associated with different constellations of host, disease and drug risk factors.

[Aspects of pleural/pulmonary involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus].

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has a wide spectrum of laboratory findings and clinical manifestations. Our objective was to study the pleural/pulmonary involvement in patients with SLE. We have considered 200 patients, diagnosed according to ARA criteria for SLE.

Allergic reactions to antithyroid drugs are associated with autoimmunity a retrospective case-control study.

Unlabelled: Thiamazole is the most used antithyroid drug for thyrotoxicosis in Basedow-Graves' (BG) (autoimmune) disease and in toxic multinodular goitre (TMG) (non-autoimmune). This study aims to find whether allergic reactions to thiamazole occur more frequently during the treatment of BG than of TMG.

Method: Retrospective study, of 128 patients newly diagnosed and treated for thyrotoxicosis in the first 6 months of 2006, in the Endocrinology Department of "Elias" Hospital, Bucharest.