Objectives: Lymphadenopathy is a classical manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) flare, occurring in approximately half of patients during the course of the disease. Lymphadenopathy in SLE is frequently associated with fever. Microbial infection may play a role in SLE onset and flares.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Previous studies have provided evidence that the discontinuation of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), and chloroquine (CQ), in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with an increased risk of disease flares, with limited information on the level of disease activity at the time of HCQ/CQ discontinuation. Here we aimed to describe the risk of SLE flare after withdrawal of HCQ or CQ in patients with SLE in remission.
Methods: Case-control study (1:2) comparing the evolution of patients with SLE after HCQ/CQ withdrawal for antimalarial retinopathy (cases) with patients with SLE matched for sex, antimalarial treatment duration and age at SLE diagnosis, whose antimalarial treatment was continued throughout the entire follow-up period (controls).
Background: Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare histiocytosis that may overlap with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH). This "mixed" entity is poorly characterized. We here investigated the clinical phenotype, outcome, and prognostic factors of a large cohort of patients with mixed ECD-LCH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of The Review: Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a rare systemic autoimmune disorder that can escalate into a 'thrombotic storm' called the catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS), frequently requiring ICU admission for multiple organ failure. This review aims to offer insight and recent evidence on critically-ill APS patients.
Recent Findings: The CAPS classification criteria define this condition as the involvement of at least three organs/systems/tissues within less than a week, caused by small vessel thrombosis, in patients with elevated antiphospholipid antibodies levels.
Background: Long-term hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) or chloroquine (CQ) intake causes retinal toxicity in 0.3-8 % of patients with rheumatic diseases. Numerous risk factors have been described, eg, daily dose by weight, treatment duration, chronic kidney disease, concurrent tamoxifen therapy and pre-existing retinal or macular disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis geoepidemiological study, performed in Italy and France, shows that Erdheim-Chester disease is increasingly diagnosed and cases cluster in specific geographic areas, namely southern Italy and central France. Disease frequency inversely correlates with the Human Development Index.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) (1) is defined by the development of vascular thrombosis, or pregnancy morbidity in the presence of persistent antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) can be detected in primary APS patients without any clinical systemic autoimmune disease. The presence of ANA antibodies could confer a specific phenotype in primary APS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Only a third of patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) are ANCA-positive, mainly directed against MPO. ANCA directed against PR3 are rarely found in EGPA. We aimed to examine the significance of PR3-ANCA in EGPA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFErdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis with a putative neoplastic and inflammatory nature. The disease is driven by mutations in proto-oncogenes such as BRAF and MEK, while immune-mediated mechanisms contribute to disease development and progression. The clinical presentation of ECD is highly heterogeneous, ranging from smouldering unifocal forms to multiorgan life-threatening disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGuidelines recommend using prognostic scales for risk stratification in patients with non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. It remains unclear whether risk scores offer greater accuracy than clinical evaluation. Compare the diagnostic accuracy of the endoscopist's judgment against different risk-scoring systems (Rockall, Glasgow-Blatchford, Baylor and the Cedars-Sinai scores) for predicting outcomes in peptic ulcer bleeding (PUB).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: This report provides an overview of the current knowledge of molecular characterization, clinical description, and treatment of Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD), a multi-systemic adult histiocytosis of the L group.
Recent Findings: The recent identification of several MAPK mutations in histiocytes of ECD lesions. Leading to targeted therapies.
This is an executive summary of the 2019 update of the 2004 guidelines and levels of care for PICU. Since previous guidelines, there has been a tremendous transformation of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine with advancements in pediatric cardiovascular medicine, transplant, neurology, trauma, and oncology as well as improvements of care in general PICUs. This has led to the evolution of resources and training in the provision of care through the PICU.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To update the American Academy of Pediatrics and Society of Critical Care Medicine's 2004 Guidelines and levels of care for PICU.
Design: A task force was appointed by the American College of Critical Care Medicine to follow a standardized and systematic review of the literature using an evidence-based approach. The 2004 Admission, Discharge and Triage Guidelines served as the starting point, and searches in Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), and PubMed resulted in 329 articles published from 2004 to 2016.
Clonal hematopoiesis of undetermined significance or CHIP describes the identification, in individuals without hematologic disease, of one or more somatic mutations in hematopoietic cells. These mutations, detected by high-throughput genes sequencing (Next-Generation Sequencing or NGS), affect genes first identified in acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome, such as DNMT3A, TET2 and ASXL1. CHIP is associated with an increased risk of malignant hemopathy, both myeloid and lymphoid, evaluated from 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: Provide an overview of recent progress in decoding the pathogenesis and treatment of systemic histiocytoses.
Recent Findings: Advances in molecular techniques over the last few years, enabling the identification of several MAPK mutations in lesion histiocytes, have revolutionized our understanding of histiocytosis that led to a revised classification and new treatments. Since the 2010 discovery of the BRAF mutation in 57% of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) lesions, several other kinase mutations have been found, mostly in the MAPK pathway, and also in other key signaling pathways, in LCH, Erdheim-Chester Disease (ECD) and, less frequently, Destombes-Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD).
The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) organized a multidisciplinary effort to create a clinical practice guideline specific to unscheduled, time-sensitive procedural sedation, which differs in important ways from scheduled, elective procedural sedation. The purpose of this guideline is to serve as a resource for practitioners who perform unscheduled procedural sedation regardless of location or patient age. This document outlines the underlying background and rationale, and issues relating to staffing, practice, and quality improvement.
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