Novel therapies in CIDP.

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) is a heterogeneous but clinically well-described disease within circumscribed parameters. It is immunologically mediated through several poorly understood mechanisms. First-line therapies with steroids, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) or plasma exchange are each effective in about two-thirds of patients.

Nutrition Situation Analysis in the UAE: A Review Study.

This review study aimed to assess the nutrition situation in the UAE using published data from 2010 to 2022. It highlights the gaps and challenges that prevail in addressing the nutrition-related problems in the UAE and the opportunities that have been overlooked. The available literature indicates that the UAE is burdened with more than one form of nutrition-related problems, including being underweight, being overweight, obesity, micronutrient deficiencies, and nutrition-related chronic diseases.

Iatrogenic diversion of inferior vena cava to the left atrium presented as recurrent foetal loss: a case report.

Background: Iatrogenic diversion of inferior vena cava (IVC) to the left atrium (LA) after atrial septal defect repair (ASD) is an unusual complication. It rarely occurred nowadays due to trans-oesophageal echocardiography (TEE) check during surgery, but there are still few numbers of patients who survived from an old operation during childhood and reached adulthood undiagnosed.

Case Summary: We present a 27-year-old female post ASD repair in childhood with a unique presentation of recurrent abortion in adulthood besides exertional dyspnoea.

Increasing frequency of hospital admissions for retinal detachment and vitreo-retinal surgery in England 2000-2018.

Objectives: To analyse the changes in reported frequency of retinal detachment admissions and vitreo-retinal surgery procedures performed between 2000 and 2018 in England. To obtain information useful to contribute towards the planning of service delivery.

Methods: Analysis of England's Hospital Episode Statistics from the Health and Social Care Information Centre and population data from the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics.

Consultations with patients for whom English is not their first language.

Good communication is essential in neurological consultations, yet this is obviously compromised by the absence of a common language. Interpreters can make valuable contributions to improving consultations, but translation has its shortcomings. The consultation dialogue is not always interpreted correctly or accurately, even (or especially) when friends or family are translating.

The diagnostic accuracy of OCT angiography in naive and treated neovascular age-related macular degeneration: a review.

Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a non-invasive retinal imaging innovation that has been gaining popularity for the evaluation of the retinal vasculature. Of clinical importance is its current use either as an alternative or in conjunction with conventional dye-based angiography in neovascular age-related macular degeneration. OCTA is not without limitations and these include image artefact, a relatively small field of view and failure of the segmentation algorithms, which can confound the interpretation of findings.

Temperature, pH and Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Are Potent Inhibitors of Biofilm Formation by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Clinical Isolates.

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, an opportunistic pathogen usually connected with healthcare-associated infections, is an environmental bacterium. Intrinsic resistance to multiple antibiotics, with different virulence determinants in the last decade classified this bacterium in the group of global multiple drug resistant (MDR) organism. S.

Corneal graft failure due to migration of Ozurdex™ implant into the anterior chamber.

Purpose: We report a case of corneal endothelial graft failure secondary to dexamethasone intravitreal implant (Ozurdex™) migration into the anterior chamber (AC).

Observations: A 53-year-old man with a history of bilateral idiopathic chronic uveitis, had a right anterior vitrectomy and AC intraocular lens (ACIOL) with a peripheral iridotomy. He received an intravitreal Ozurdex™ implant for right cystoid macular oedema (CMO).

Feasibility and Importance of Enteroscopy after Gastric Bypass.

Background: Bariatric surgery has increased in popularity, with Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) being one of the most frequently performed. This leads to many cases in which the stomach is removed from routine gastroscopy access, sometimes being a major source of concern. Performing enteroscopy in these patients is technically difficult.

Genotypic and Phenotypic Characterization of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Strains from a Pediatric Tertiary Care Hospital in Serbia.

Background: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an environmental bacterium and an opportunistic pathogen usually associated with healthcare-associated infections, which has recently been recognized as a globally multi-drug resistant organism. The aim of this study was genotyping and physiological characterization of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolated in a large, tertiary care pediatric hospital in Belgrade, Serbia, hosting the national reference cystic fibrosis (CF) center for pediatric and adult patients.

Methods: We characterized 42 strains of cystic fibrosis (CF) and 46 strains of non-cystic fibrosis (non-CF) origin isolated from 2013 to 2015 in order to investigate their genetic relatedness and phenotypic traits.

Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment following intravitreal ocriplasmin.

Purpose: To describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients presenting with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) after ocriplasmin (OCP) injection.

Methods: Retrospective, multi-centre, observational case series with case note review.

Results: Eight patients with symptomatic vitreomacular traction (six with concomitant macular hole) were diagnosed with RRD after a median of 16 days (range 3-131 days) post-OCP injection.

Optimal management of idiopathic macular holes.

This review evaluates the current surgical options for the management of idiopathic macular holes (IMHs), including vitrectomy, ocriplasmin (OCP), and expansile gas use, and discusses key background information to inform the choice of treatment. An evidence-based approach to selecting the best treatment option for the individual patient based on IMH characteristics and patient-specific factors is suggested. For holes without vitreomacular attachment (VMA), vitrectomy is the only option with three key surgical variables: whether to peel the inner limiting membrane (ILM), the type of tamponade agent to be used, and the requirement for postoperative face-down posturing.

Totally laparoscopic versus laparoscopic-assisted left colectomy for cancer: a retrospective review.

Background: Laparoscopic left colectomy (LLC) became the standard of care for treating distal transverse and descending colon cancer in many centers. Most centers use laparoscopic-assisted colectomy with extracorporeal anastomosis (LAC/EA). A totally laparoscopic colectomy with intracorporeal anastomosis (TLC/IA) has been proposed.

Increasing Neonatal Mortality among Palestine Refugees in the Gaza Strip.

Background: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has periodically estimated infant mortality rates among Palestine refugees in Gaza. These surveys have recorded a decline from 127 per 1000 live births in 1960 to 20.2 in 2008.

A metabolomic approach to identifying platinum resistance in ovarian cancer.

Background: Acquisition of metabolic alterations has been shown to be essential for the unremitting growth of cancer, yet the relation of such alterations to chemosensitivity has not been investigated. In the present study our aim was to identify the metabolic alterations that are specifically associated with platinum resistance in ovarian cancer. A global metabolic analysis of the A2780 platinum-sensitive and its platinum-resistant derivative C200 ovarian cancer cell line was performed utilizing ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy.

The Case Mix of Patients Presenting with Full-Thickness Macular Holes and Progression before Surgery: Implications for Optimum Management.

Aims: Analysis of pre-operative spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) characteristics of full-thickness macular holes (FTMH) and effect on optimum management.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed SD-OCT characteristics of a consecutive cohort of patients waitlisted for FTMH surgery and categorized them by current evidence-based treatments.

Results: Out of the 106 holes analysed, 36 were small, 40 medium and 30 large.

Off-pump myocardial revascularization in a high-risk patient with essential thrombocythemia.

Essential thrombocythemia is a rare type of myeloproliferative disorder. Cerebral, myocardial, and peripheral thrombosis are all frequent complications of the disease. A 71-year-old man presented with severe coronary artery disease, associated with cerebral vascular ischemic changes and erythromelalgia.

The staining pattern of brilliant blue G during macular hole surgery: a clinicopathologic study.

Purpose: To describe the intraoperative staining pattern of the internal limiting membrane (ILM)-specific dye Brilliant Blue G (BBG) in a cohort of patients with idiopathic macular holes; to analyze the associations of the staining pattern with pre- and postoperative variables and to correlate the staining pattern with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of the excised ILM.

Methods: Fifty-five consecutive patients were studied. The staining pattern was divided into three subtypes based on the intraoperative appearance.

Cloudy corneas as an initial presentation of multiple myeloma.

Summary: We report a case of previously unsuspected myeloma, presenting with cornea verticillata due to intracorneal paraprotein deposition.

History: An 85-year-old female presented via her optician with a 4-month history of cloudy vision. She had undergone an uneventful bilateral phacoemulsification surgery 7 years earlier.

Massive pulmonary embolism secondary to longstanding traumatic femoropopliteal pseudoaneurysm associated with arteriovenous fistula.

Pulmonary embolism is a common clinical condition associated with high mortality.The majority of pulmonary emboli originate from deep venous thrombosis in the popliteal and femoral veins.We present a rare case of a 21-year-old caucasian male patient with massive pulmonary embolism.