Inclusion of salt form on prescription medication labeling as a source of patient confusion: a pilot study.

Background: It has been estimated that 10,000 patient injuries occur in the US annually due to confusion involving drug names. An unexplored source of patient misunderstandings may be medication salt forms.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess patient knowledge and comprehension regarding the salt forms of medications as a potential source of medication errors.

Reduced efficacy of the Plk1 inhibitor BI 2536 on the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma due to low intratumoral drug levels.

Highly promising preclinical data obtained in cultured cells and in nude mice bearing xenografts contrast with the rather modest clinical efficacy of Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) inhibitors. In the present study, we investigated if Plk1 might be a suitable target in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and if a genetically engineered mouse tumor model that well reflects the tumor cell and micro-environmental features of naturally occurring cancers might be suitable to study anti-Plk1 therapy. Analysis of Plk1 expression in human HCC samples confirmed that HCC express much higher Plk1 levels than the adjacent normal liver tissue.

Acoustic radiation force impulse-imaging and transient elastography for non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis and steatosis in NAFLD.

Background: Transient elastography (TE) and acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI)-imaging have shown promising results for the staging of liver fibrosis.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to compare ARFI of the left and right liver lobe with TE using the standard and obese probes for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis in NAFL/NASH. In addition, liver steatosis is evaluated using the novel controlled attenuation parameter (CAP).

Human herpesvirus 6 in biopsies from patients with gastrointestinal symptoms after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Gastrointestinal complications are frequent after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). Main differential diagnoses are graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and viral infections. In this retrospective analysis, we included 50 patients with severe vomiting or diarrhea in the first year after allo-SCT.

Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse-Imaging for the evaluation of the thyroid gland: a limited patient feasibility study.

Purpose: Real-time tissue elastography, a qualitative elastography method, has shown promising results in the diagnostic work up of thyroid nodules. However, to our knowledge no study has evaluated a quantitative elastography method in the thyroid gland. The present study is a feasibility study evaluating Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse-Imaging, a novel quantitative elastography method in the thyroid gland.