[Conditions for performing CT and MRI scans in pregnant and lactating patients].

Many women are pregnant during several percent of their lives. Occasionally, there is a need for neuroradiological examinations during pregnancy or lactation. In our clinical work, we regularly see that female patients are being withheld relevant diagnostic scans during pregnancy, due to insufficient knowledge or an unbalanced comparison between benefits and risks.

Non-functioning pituitary microadenoma in children and adolescents: Is follow-up with diagnostic imaging necessary?

Purpose: No consensus exists regarding follow-up recommendations for suspected pituitary microadenoma in children. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated the growth potential of pituitary solid and cystic lesions <10 mm in children and evaluated the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements.

Methods: The children included were <18 years at first pituitary MRI and radiologically diagnosed with a non-functioning microadenoma or cyst <10 mm.

Mohs micrographic surgery revisited: A multidisciplinary, collaborative approach for the treatment of aggressive and recurrent basal cell carcinoma on the head and neck.

Mohs micrographic surgery is the preferred surgical option for high-risk basal cell carcinomas. In our institution, the method is exclusively used for the treatment of aggressive and recurrent facial tumours selected via multidisciplinary team meetings and consistently managed using a multidisciplinary approach. The aim of this retrospective patient-record study was to examine the outcomes for basal cell carcinomas managed with Mohs micrographic surgery and to present our experience from multidisciplinary team meetings and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Forest-linked livelihoods in a globalized world.

Forests have re-taken centre stage in global conversations about sustainability, climate and biodiversity. Here, we use a horizon scanning approach to identify five large-scale trends that are likely to have substantial medium- and long-term effects on forests and forest livelihoods: forest megadisturbances; changing rural demographics; the rise of the middle-class in low- and middle-income countries; increased availability, access and use of digital technologies; and large-scale infrastructure development. These trends represent human and environmental processes that are exceptionally large in geographical extent and magnitude, and difficult to reverse.

Patients with cutaneous head and neck melanoma, particularly elderly with more advanced primary tumors, seem to benefit from initial CT staging before considering a sentinel lymph node biopsy.

The role of CT scanning at the time of diagnosis for patients with primary cutaneous head and neck melanoma (cHNM) clinically asymptomatic for metastatic disease remains unclear. To determine the positive yield of initial CT scanning before considering sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) staging. A retrospective review was performed on 170 consecutive patients with cHNM referred to a tertiary head and neck academic center for SLNBs from 2014 through 2018.

"Taken by surprise" - Women's experiences of the first eight weeks after a second degree perineal tear at childbirth.

Objective: This study explores women's experience of having a second degree perineal tear and related consequences to daily life during the first eight weeks after childbirth.

Method: Written responses to open-ended questions in a questionnaire distributed about eight weeks postpartum and completed by 1,007 women with second degree perineal tears were excerpted from the national quality register, Perineal Laceration Register. Inductive qualitative content analysis was applied to the data.

"Struggling to settle with a damaged body" - A Swedish qualitative study of women's experiences one year after obstetric anal sphincter muscle injury (OASIS) at childbirth.

Objective: This study aimed to explore women's experiences related to recovery from obstetric anal sphincter muscle injuries (OASIS) one year after childbirth.

Method: This is a qualitative study based on written responses from 625 women approximately one year after childbirth in which OASIS occurred. Data was obtained from a questionnaire distributed by the national Perineal Laceration Register (PLR) in Sweden.

Pituitary Metastases: A Nationwide Study on Current Characteristics With Special Reference to Breast Cancer.

Objective: To investigate the contemporary presentation of pituitary metastases.

Patients: Thirty-eight patients diagnosed with pituitary metastases from 1996 to 2018 in Sweden.

Methods: Pituitary metastases were confirmed by histopathology (n = 27) or considered highly likely according to radiological findings, including rapid tumor progression (n = 11).

'A worse nightmare than expected' - a Swedish qualitative study of women's experiences two months after obstetric anal sphincter muscle injury.

Objective: this study explores women's experiences of the first two months after obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASIS) during childbirth with a focus on problematic recovery.

Methods: this qualitative study used inductive qualitative content analysis to investigate open-ended responses from 1248 women. The data consists of short and comprehensive written responses to open-ended questions focusing on recovery in the national quality register, the Perineal Laceration Register, two months after OASIS at childbirth.

Conventional and synthetic MRI in multiple sclerosis: a comparative study.

Objectives: To compare the assessment of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) using synthetic and conventional MRI.

Materials And Methods: Synthetic and conventional axial images were prospectively acquired for 52 patients with diagnosed MS. Quantitative MRI (qMRI) was used for measuring proton density and relaxation times (T1, T2) and then, based on these parameters, synthetic T1W, T2W and FLAIR images were calculated.

Instantaneous Wave-free Ratio versus Fractional Flow Reserve to Guide PCI.

Background: The instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) is an index used to assess the severity of coronary-artery stenosis. The index has been tested against fractional flow reserve (FFR) in small trials, and the two measures have been found to have similar diagnostic accuracy. However, studies of clinical outcomes associated with the use of iFR are lacking.

Complement Activation Correlates With Disease Severity and Contributes to Cytokine Responses in Plasmodium falciparum Malaria.

The impact of complement activation and its possible relation to cytokine responses during malaria pathology was investigated in plasma samples from patients with confirmed Plasmodium falciparum malaria and in human whole-blood specimens stimulated with malaria-relevant agents ex vivo. Complement was significantly activated in the malaria cohort, compared with healthy controls, and was positively correlated with disease severity and with certain cytokines, in particular interleukin 8 (IL-8)/CXCL8. This was confirmed in ex vivo-stimulated blood specimens, in which complement inhibition significantly reduced IL-8/CXCL8 release.

Female urinary incontinence: patient-reported outcomes 1 year after midurethral sling operations.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Although midurethral slings have become standard surgical methods to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI), little is known about women who still have urinary incontinence (UI) after surgery. This study assesses and compares the patient-reported outcome 12 months after tension-free vaginal tape (TVT), tension-free vaginal tape-obturator (TVT-O), and transobturator tape (TOT), with a special focus on women who still have urinary leakage postoperatively.

Methods: This study analyzed preoperative and 12-month postoperative data from 3,334 women registered in the Swedish National Quality Register for Gynecological Surgery.

How do urinary incontinence and urgency affect women's sexual life?

Objective: To investigate the impact of urinary incontinence and urgency on women's sexual life and the prevalence of urinary leakage during sexual activity. A further aim was to explore factors affecting sexual desire and satisfaction with sexual life.

Design: A semi-structured questionnaire study.

Impact of female urinary incontinence and urgency on women's and their partners' sexual life.

Aims: To assess the impact of female urinary incontinence (UI) and urgency on women's and their partners' sexual life in sexually active couples and to elucidate the concordance of answers within couples.

Methods: Women aged 18-74 years with UI and/or urgency (n = 206) were consecutively recruited from four outpatient clinics. Those with a partner (n = 170) completed a questionnaire regarding relationship and sexual life and gave a similar questionnaire to him.

Injury downregulates the expression of the human cathelicidin protein hCAP18/LL-37 in atopic dermatitis.

Reduced production of antimicrobial peptides was proposed to contribute to susceptibility for skin infections in atopic dermatitis (AD). Focusing on the human cathelicidin protein, hCAP18, the aim of the present study was to explore whether reduced hCAP18 expression is a constitutive trait in AD and if established inducers affect the expression of hCAP18 in the skin of AD. First, we compared levels of hCAP18 mRNA between lesional skin in AD and psoriasis and verified significantly lower expression of hCAP18 mRNA in AD.

The impact of female urinary incontinence and urgency on quality of life and partner relationship.

Aims: To examine the impact of female urinary incontinence, urgency and frequency on quality of life, and partner relationship in women (18-74 years) and their partners, and make comparisons with the corresponding age groups in a Swedish population-based study.

Methods: Women with urinary incontinence, urgency and frequency (n = 206) completed specific questionnaires concerning medical history and the Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms questionnaire. Women who had a stable relationship (n = 170) also answered a questionnaire regarding psychosocial situation, partner relationship and sexual life, and were asked to give a similar questionnaire to their partner.

Physicians' expectations regarding registered nurses caring for older people living in sheltered housing, retirement homes and group dwellings.

The aim of this study was to illuminate the meaning of the physicians' expectations regarding registered nurses who are responsible for the care of older people living in sheltered housing, retirement homes and group dwellings. A phenomenological-hermeneutic method was used for the analysis. Twelve physicians from two municipalities in Sweden were interviewed.

Antimicrobial protein hCAP18/LL-37 is highly expressed in breast cancer and is a putative growth factor for epithelial cells.

Human cathelicidin antimicrobial protein hCAP18/LL-37 is an effector molecule of the nonspecific innate immune system. hCAP18/LL-37 is present in leukocytes and is expressed in skin and other epithelia, where it is upregulated in association with inflammation and injury. In addition, antimicrobial proteins including cathelicidins have been proposed to play a role in the nonspecific defense against tumors.

Older patients awaiting emergency department treatment.

The aim of this study was to describe, through observations and interviews with patients >/=75 years old and the relatives who accompanied them to the hospital, the conditions at the emergency department (ED) and the events that took place during the waiting period. Twenty older patients were studied, together with their relatives. A modification of a comparative design, the interpretative method 'grounded theory', was utilized.

The meaning of the future for the oldest old.

The aim of the study was to highlight the oldest old people's view of their future from a perspective of philosophy of life. Data was collected by means of life story interviews with 15 persons. The analysis was performed by utilizing a phenomenological hermeneutic method and the interpretation was guided by the conceptual framework of philosophy of life as designated by Jeffner (1988).

The cathelicidin anti-microbial peptide LL-37 is involved in re-epithelialization of human skin wounds and is lacking in chronic ulcer epithelium.

The human cathelicidin anti-microbial protein, hCAP18 is a component of the innate immune system and has broad anti-microbial activity conferred by its C-terminal fragment LL-37. hCAP18 is constitutively produced in leukocytes and is induced in barrier organs upon inflammation and infection. We demonstrate here a novel role for this peptide in re-epithelialization of skin wounds.