Systematic review of the evidence underlying the association between mineral metabolism disturbances and risk of fracture and need for parathyroidectomy in CKD.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with such complications as fractures and the need for parathyroidectomy. Mineral metabolism control in patients with CKD has been poor. Studies have assessed fractures and parathyroidectomy risk with mineral disturbances, but with considerable diversity in methods.

Systematic review of the evidence underlying the association between mineral metabolism disturbances and risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and cardiovascular events in chronic kidney disease.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a powerful risk factor for all-cause mortality and its most common aetiology, cardiovascular (CV) mortality. Mineral metabolism disturbances occur very early during the course of CKD but their control has been poor. A number of studies have assessed the relationship between all-cause mortality, CV mortality and events with mineral disturbances in CKD patients, but with considerable discrepancy and heterogeneity in results.

Benefits of GM-CSF Versus Placebo or G-CSF in Reducing Chemotherapy-Induced Complications: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Unlike granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is not approved for reducing the incidence or duration of chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia. However, some studies have been conducted in this setting. A systematic review assessing the efficacy of GM-CSF versus placebo or G-CSF in reducing chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia and related complications was performed.

A review of the literature on osteonecrosis of the jaw in patients with osteoporosis treated with oral bisphosphonates: prevalence, risk factors, and clinical characteristics.

Objective: This literature review was performed to elucidate the relationship between bisphosphonate use and development of osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) in patients receiving oral bisphosphonates for the treatment of osteoporosis.

Methods: MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and EMBASE were searched for English-language articles published from 1966 to September 2006 whose titles included the term osteonecrosis of the jaw in conjunction with bisphosphonates, alendronate, risedronate, ibandronate, etidronate, clodronate, zoledronic acid, or pamidronate. Articles were included in the review if the population consisted of adults with ONJ; patients received bisphosphonates for the treatment of osteoporosis only; the reported data included baseline characteristics of the study population (age; sex; comorbidities; concomitant medications; history of dental surgery, trauma, or infection), characteristics of bisphosphonate treatment (specific bisphosphonate, dose, duration of treatment, mode of administration), clinical features of ONJ (signs, symptoms, site), the treatment protocol used to manage ONJ, or the prevalence of ONJ in patients with osteoporosis treated with bisphosphonates; and the publication involved a case report, case series, or observational study.

Comparison of pegfilgrastim with filgrastim on febrile neutropenia, grade IV neutropenia and bone pain: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background And Objective: While head-to-head clinical trials demonstrate pegfilgrastim to be as efficacious as filgrastim in reducing chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, these studies lacked the statistical power to demonstrate better outcomes with one therapy compared to the other. Our objective was to obtain a pooled estimate of the effect of pegfilgrastim compared with filgrastim on incidence of febrile neutropenia (FN), and related outcomes among patients with solid tumors and malignant lymphomas receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy.

Research Design And Methods: We searched PubMed and EMBASE for articles published from January 1, 1990 to August 31, 2006 reporting on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the efficacy and safety of pegfilgrastim versus filgrastim.

Treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell cancer: a RAND Appropriateness Panel.

Background: New developments in the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell cancer (MRCC) have suggested a need to reevaluate the role of systemic therapies. The authors convened a panel of medical and urologic oncologists to rate the appropriateness of the main options.

Methods: The authors used the RAND/University of California-Los Angeles Appropriateness Method to evaluate systemic therapy options and cytoreductive nephrectomy.

Risk of Upper Gastrointestinal Injury and Events in Patients Treated With Cyclooxygenase (COX)-1/COX-2 Nonsteroidal Antiinflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), COX-2 Selective NSAIDs, and Gastroprotective Cotherapy: An Appraisal of the Literature.

Numerous studies using varying methodologies and outcome measures have examined the gastrointestinal risks of aspirin and nonaspirin nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) use. Despite the large volume of literature, clarity regarding the key risk factors and their quantitative importance is lacking. We performed a comprehensive review of the literature to summarize the incidence of gastrointestinal injury in populations with varying risk characteristics using agents that inhibit both isoforms of cyclooxygenase and those that selectively inhibit only cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2).

Association between protease inhibitor use and increased cardiovascular risk in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus: a systematic review.

Some studies have shown that currently available protease inhibitors (PIs) are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. We have systematically reviewed the published literature and conference abstracts for studies evaluating cardiovascular risk factors and events in patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy, with and without PIs. The majority of studies showed that the use of PIs was associated with increased levels of total cholesterol (36 [75%] of 48 studies), triglycerides (35 [73%] of 48 studies), and low-density lipoprotein (12 [100%] of 12 studies).