Evaluation of Financial Interventions in Breast Cancer Care Worldwide: A Systematic Review.

Background: Out-of-pocket costs are burdensome for breast cancer patients. Cost-reducing interventions, though implemented, have unclear comparative efficacy. This study aimed to critically evaluate characteristics of successful versus unsuccessful interventions designed to decrease out-of-pocket costs for breast cancer patients.

Code Pseudo Stroke - A Case of Hypokalaemic Periodic Paralysis Mimicking Stroke.

Unlabelled: We present a case of thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (TPP) presenting with stroke symptoms as a harbinger of Grave's disease. A 61-year-old female presented with symptoms of abdominal pain and fatigue two weeks prior to admission and reported acute diarrhoea and unintentional weight loss. Investigation revealed thyrotoxicosis with undetectable thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), elevated free T4 and elevated thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin (TSI).

Variability in Medicaid Coverage for Gender-affirming Surgeries Across U.S. States.

Objective: To describe the current Medicaid coverage landscape for gender-affirming surgery across the United States at the procedure level and identify factors associated with coverage.

Background: Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgery differs by state, despite a federal ban on gender identity-based discrimination in health insurance. States that cover gender-affirming surgery also differ in which procedures are included in Medicaid coverage, leading to confusion among patients and clinicians.

Financial Toxicity Among Patients With Breast Cancer Worldwide: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Importance: Financial toxicity (FT) is the negative impact of cost of care on financial well-being. Patients with breast cancer are at risk for incurring high out-of-pocket costs given the long-term need for multidisciplinary care and expensive treatments.

Objective: To quantify the FT rate of patients with breast cancer and identify particularly vulnerable patient populations nationally and internationally.

Modeling, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Potential Retinoid-X-Receptor (RXR) Selective Agonists: Analogs of 4-[1-(3,5,5,8,8-Pentamethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahyro-2-naphthyl)ethynyl]benzoic Acid (Bexarotene) and 6-(Ethyl(4-isobutoxy-3-isopropylphenyl)amino)nicotinic Acid (NEt-4IB).

Five novel analogs of 6-(ethyl)(4-isobutoxy-3-isopropylphenyl)amino)nicotinic acid-or NEt-4IB-in addition to seven novel analogs of 4-[1-(3,5,5,8,8-pentamethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-2-naphthyl)ethynyl]benzoic acid (bexarotene) were prepared and evaluated for selective retinoid-X-receptor (RXR) agonism alongside bexarotene (), a FDA-approved drug for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Bexarotene treatment elicits side-effects by provoking or disrupting other RXR-dependent pathways. Analogs were assessed by the modeling of binding to RXR and then evaluated in a human cell-based RXR-RXR mammalian-2-hybrid (M2H) system as well as a RXRE-controlled transcriptional system.

Stiff-Person Syndrome: Seeing Past Comorbidities to Reach the Correct Diagnosis.

Stiff-person syndrome (SPS) is a rare disorder seen in approximately one in one million people. Although it is rare, the symptoms and findings of a typical case should paint a clear clinical picture for those who are familiar with the disease. The primary findings in SPS include progressive axial muscle rigidity as well as muscle spasms.

Amisulpride: A New Drug for Management of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting.

Objective: To review the pharmacology, efficacy, and safety of amisulpride and determine its role in the management of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV).

Data Sources: A PubMed search (1946 to November 2020) using the terms and was conducted.

Study Selection And Data Extraction: Relevant reports on intravenous amisulpride were included.

Medial HOXA genes demarcate haematopoietic stem cell fate during human development.

Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) may provide a potential source of haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) for transplantation; however, unknown molecular barriers prevent the self-renewal of PSC-HSPCs. Using two-step differentiation, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) differentiated in vitro into multipotent haematopoietic cells that had the CD34(+)CD38(-/lo)CD90(+)CD45(+)GPI-80(+) fetal liver (FL) HSPC immunophenotype, but exhibited poor expansion potential and engraftment ability. Transcriptome analysis of immunophenotypic hESC-HSPCs revealed that, despite their molecular resemblance to FL-HSPCs, medial HOXA genes remained suppressed.

Using the Lower Limit of Normal Instead of the Conventional Cutoff Values to Define Predictors of Pulmonary Function Impairment in Subjects With Chronic Heart Failure.

Background: Using the newer lower limit of normal criterion instead of the conventional cutoff values to define pulmonary function abnormalities may result in different predictors of pulmonary function impairment in patients with heart failure. Therefore, we assessed predictors of pulmonary function impairment in subjects with chronic heart failure according to the lower limit of normal in comparison with conventional cutoff values.

Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, 164 chronic heart failure subjects (age 68 ± 10 y, 78% men, 88% New York Heart Association class I-II) with left ventricular ejection fraction <40% underwent pulmonary function tests.

Serial pulmonary function tests to diagnose COPD in chronic heart failure.

Background: It is unknown whether serial pulmonary function tests are necessary for the correct diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in patients with stable non-congested chronic heart failure (CHF). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of COPD in outpatients with stable CHF without pulmonary congestion using initial as well as confirmatory spirometry three months after treatment for COPD.

Methods: Spirometry was performed in 187 outpatients with stable CHF without pulmonary congestion on chest radiograph who had a left ventricular ejection fraction < 40% (mean age 69 ± 10 years, 78% men).

Pulmonary function impairment in patients with chronic heart failure: lower limit of normal versus conventional cutoff values.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of pulmonary function abnormalities in patients with chronic heart failure (HF) according to recent American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society (ATS/ERS) guidelines using the lower limit of normal (LLN) compared to conventional cutoff values.

Background: Recent ATS/ERS guidelines recommend the use of the LLN instead of the conventional cutoff values to define pulmonary function impairment to avoid misclassification of patients. However, studies addressing the prevalence of pulmonary function abnormalities according to both definitions in patients with chronic HF are lacking.

COPD in chronic heart failure: less common than previously thought?

Background: Using a fixed ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 s to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) < 0.70 instead of the lower limit of normal (LLN) to define chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may lead to overdiagnosis of COPD in elderly patients with heart failure (HF) and consequently unnecessary treatment with possible adverse health effects.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine COPD prevalence in patients with chronic HF according to two definitions of airflow obstruction.

Bronchodilator responsiveness in patients with chronic heart failure.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of inhaled bronchodilators on pulmonary function and dyspnea in patients with chronic heart failure (HF).

Background: Conflicting data exist on whether bronchodilators may improve pulmonary function and dyspnea in patients with chronic HF.

Methods: In this retrospective observational study we analyzed data of 116 chronic HF outpatients with systolic dysfunction who underwent spirometry and Borg dyspnea measurements before and after inhalation of 400 μg salbutamol and 80 μg ipratropium.

[Surgical tactics at acute colonic bleedings].

The analysis of complex clinical examination of 134 patients with acute colonic bleeding treated at Medical Centre "St. Grigor Lusavorich" in Yerevan during last 12 years is presented. It was found that causes of acute colonic bleeding are very diverse.

[Pathogenesis of enteral insufficiency in patients with postoperative peritonitis].

Enteral insufficiency is considered to trigger the syndrome of endogenous intoxication and, further, multiple organ failure. Enteral insufficiency often accompanies postoperative septic complications, such as peritonitis. Morphologic changes of the intestinal wall by septic peritonitis consisted of edema, fibrinous degradation of muscular layer and dystrophy of local nervous pathways.

[Development of navigation technologies for ambulatory surgery].

The article considers the main directions in the development of navigation surgical technologies allowing to decrease traumatic effects of certain operative interventions and to fulfill them in "one day" hospitals. The historical aspects of navigation surgery are given as well as a classification of the navigation interventions and examples of the newest of them used at the present time in the Medical Center of Bank of Russia.

Nutritional implications of dental and swallowing issues in head and neck cancer.

Tumors of the head and neck account for 4% of cancers in the United States. Both the disease process itself and side effects of cancer treatment, such as xerostomia, dysphagia, and malnutrition, compromise oral health, swallowing ability, and nutritional status. Optimal treatment of dental, swallowing, and nutritional problems of head and neck cancer patients requires practical strategies that address these problems.

[Technologies of ambulatory surgery].

The development of the outpatient surgery in Russia is thought by the authors to be very urgent if compared with the experiences of foreign clinics. In 1998 a Center of the outpatient surgery was set up in the Medical center of the Bank of Russia where the planned surgery treatment was performed in the regimen of the one-day hospitalization. The ultrastructure of the unit and problems of the outpatient surgery technologies are discussed.

Fat augmentation for glottic insufficiency.

Objectives: Fat lipoinjection augmentation for glottic insufficiency has been used in patients with vocal fold paralysis. Relatively little information is available on the effectiveness of fat injection in patients with vocal atrophy, intubation trauma, and post-hemilaryngectomy defects.

Study Design: This paper retrospectively compares the efficiency of fat injection in patients with vocal cord paralysis (n = 9), vocal scar (n = 13), and vocal atrophy (n = 11).

Familial Mediterranean fever: effects of genotype and ethnicity on inflammatory attacks and amyloidosis.

Objective: The gene causing familial Mediterranean fever (FMF)-an autosomal recessive disease characterized by recurrent short episodes of fever associated most commonly with peritonitis, pleuritis, and arthritis-has recently been found and several mutations identified. The most severe complication of the disease is amyloidosis, which can lead to renal failure. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of genetic versus nongenetic factors on the phenotype as well as on the development of amyloidosis in FMF in a large and heterogeneous group of patients.

Videolaryngostroboscopy following vertical partial laryngectomy.

Phonation after partial laryngeal ablative surgery has not often been examined. Videolaryngostroboscopic recordings made after vertical partial laryngectomy (VPL) were retrospectively reviewed and correlated with patient historical and operative factors. Among VPL patients (n = 42), the most common site of vibration during phonation was the contralateral false vocal fold (17/42 patients or 40.

[Circular dichroism spectra of rat liver chromatin upon exposure to hydrocortisone and insulin].

It was shown by the circular dichroism method that hydrocortisone and insulin have a synergetic effect on the structure of chromatin in vivo. The effect of hydrocortisone and insulin on chromatin is mediated and determined by intracellular regulatory mechanisms.