Complex regional pain syndrome - Autoimmune or functional neurologic syndrome.

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) purports to explain extremity pain accompanied by a variety of subjective complaints, including sensitivity to touch, fatigue, burning sensations, allodynia and signs consistent with voluntary immobilization, including skin changes, edema and trophic changes. By its own definition, CRPS pain is disproportionate to any inciting event or underlying pathology, which means that the syndrome describes non-anatomic and exaggerated symptoms. Although CRPS was coined in the early 1990s, physicians have described unexplained exaggerated pain for centuries.

Administration of Human Non-Diabetic Mesenchymal Stromal Cells to a Murine Model of Diabetic Fracture Repair: A Pilot Study.

Individuals living with type 1 diabetes mellitus may experience an increased risk of long bone fracture. These fractures are often slow to heal, resulting in delayed reunion or non-union. It is reasonable to theorize that the underlying cause of these diabetes-associated osteopathies is faulty repair dynamics as a result of compromised bone marrow progenitor cell function.

Complex regional pain syndrome - False hopes and miscommunications.

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) has been considered to be an autoimmune disease and there have been clinical trials with intravenous immunoglobulin. Often the etiology of the so-called CRPS diagnosis cannot be discerned and there are no validated instruments that provide functional metrics. The term complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), coined in 1994 to describe patients in whom the pain is out of proportion to the injury, was actually a diagnosis proposed during the American Civil War, but was originally known as causalgia.

A novel drug management system in the Febuxostat versus Allopurinol Streamlined Trial: A description of a pharmacy system designed to supply medications directly to patients within a prospective multicenter randomised clinical trial.

Background: Trials of investigational medicinal products are required to adhere to strict guidelines with regard to the handling and supply of medication. Information technology offers opportunities to approach clinical trial methodology in new ways. This report summarises a novel pharmacy system designed to supply trial medications directly to patients by post in the Febuxostat versus Allopurinol Streamlined Trial.

Influenza H1N1 (swine flu) vaccination: a safety surveillance feasibility study using self-reporting of serious adverse events and pregnancy outcomes.

Aims: During the global H1N1 influenza A (swine flu) pandemic 2009-2010, swine flu vaccines were expeditiously licensed and a mass vaccination programme for high risk groups, including pregnant women, was introduced in the UK. This pilot active safety surveillance study was performed to establish the feasibility of rapidly monitoring the new swine flu vaccines in large patient numbers receiving or offered the vaccination under normal conditions of use within a short time frame.

Methods: A cohort design with safety data capture through modern technologies was carried out in Scotland, UK during the winter swine flu vaccination programme 2009-2010 in individuals receiving or offered the swine flu vaccination.

Managing security and privacy concerns over data storage in healthcare research.

Purpose: Issues surrounding data security and privacy are of great importance when handling sensitive health-related data for research. The emphasis in the past has been on balancing the risks to individuals with the benefit to society of the use of databases for research. However, a new way of looking at such issues is that by optimising procedures and policies regarding security and privacy of data to the extent that there is no appreciable risk to the privacy of individuals, we can create a 'win-win' situation in which everyone benefits, and pharmacoepidemiological research can flourish with public support.

Influence of incrementally substituting dietary soya bean meal for rapeseed meal on nutrient digestibility, nitrogen excretion, growth performance and ammonia emissions from growing-finishing pigs.

A completely randomised design experiment was performed to examine the effects of replacing different levels of soya bean meal (SBM) with rapeseed meal (RSM) on the growth performance, carcass characteristics, apparent nutrient digestibility, nitrogen (N) balance and manure ammonia emissions of growing-finishing pigs. Pigs (n = 336; mean live weight 42.1 kg) were assigned to one of four dietary treatments containing per kg diet: 210 g SBM; 140 g SBM and 70 g RSM; 70 g SBM and 140 g RSM; and 210 g RSM.

Detecting deviations from pure EOF during CE separations.

CE separations are known for their high separation efficiencies. In systems with EOF, the high efficiencies benefit from the flat, plug profile that is characteristic of EOF. When a velocity gradient is present, such as in separations which have nonuniform buffer ionic strength, surface adsorption or differences in the height of the ends of the capillary, a parabolic flow component is introduced.

Building individualized medicine: prevention of adverse reactions to warfarin therapy.

Warfarin is the most widely used oral anticoagulant in the world for patients with venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, chronic atrial fibrillation, and prosthetic heart valves. Approximately 30 genes contribute to therapeutic effects of warfarin, and genetic polymorphisms in these genes may modulate its anticoagulant activity. In contrast to monogenic pharmacogenetic traits, warfarin drug response is a polygenic trait, and development of diagnostic tools predictive of adverse reactions to warfarin requires a novel approach.

Anaphylactic reaction to a dietary supplement containing willow bark.

Objective: To report a case of anaphylaxis resulting from the use of a willow bark-containing dietary supplement in a patient with a history of an aspirin allergy.

Case Summary: A 25-year-old white woman presented to the emergency department of a community teaching hospital with anaphylaxis requiring epinephrine, diphenhydramine, methylprednisolone, and volume resuscitation to which she responded favorably. Medication history revealed that she had ingested 2 capsules of Stacker 2 (NVE Pharmaceuticals, Newton, NJ), a dietary supplement promoted for weight loss, prior to experiencing her initial symptoms.

Hospital admissions resulting from preventable adverse drug reactions.

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a significant cause of hospital admissions. These events can lead to significant morbidity and mortality and financial costs. ADRs that may be preventable might be considered a form of medication error.