Background: Intrathecal baclofen (ITB) is an effective treatment for secondary dystonia. However, in many patients with dystonia, placement of an intrathecal catheter is difficult because of anatomic anomalies or spinal fusion. Intraventricular baclofen (IVB) has been shown to be an effective alternate route for drug delivery in a small series of patients.
Objective: To present the largest series of IVB cases to date and to compare the complication rate with that of a concurrent cohort of ITB cases.
Methods: The senior author's series of IVB cases were reviewed. All contemporaneous cases of ITB for dystonia were reviewed as a control group. Data were collected by retrospective medical records review.
Results: Thirty IVB patients and 33 ITB patients were identified. Mean follow-up was 15 and 16 months, respectively. IVB patients were younger, were more commonly underweight, and had more severe dystonia, although no difference between groups was significant. Eleven patients (37%) in the IVB group and 16 patients (48%) in the ITB group experienced complications. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed an odds ratio of 0.67 (95% confidence interval, 0.30-1.48; P = .31) in favor of IVB. Adjusting for age and underweight status yielded an odds ratio of 0.64 (95% confidence interval, 0.29-1.42; P = .27) in favor of IVB. There were 7 catheter or leak-related complications in the ITB group and 2 in the IVB group (P = .15).
Conclusion: This study shows that IVB is as safe as ITB. There may be a lower risk of catheter or leak-related complications with IVB, although this study was too small to show significance.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1227/NEU.0b013e31823f5cd9 | DOI Listing |
Ann Surg Oncol
January 2025
Department of Otolaryngology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Background: Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a highly lethal disease, often diagnosed with advanced locoregional and distant metastases, resulting in a median survival of just 3-5 months. This study determines the stratified effectiveness of baseline treatments in all combinations, enabling precise prognoses prediction and establishing benchmarks for advanced therapeutic options.
Methods: The study extracted a cohort of pathologically confirmed ATC patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program.
Non-islet cell tumor hypoglycemia (NICTH) is a paraneoplastic syndrome associated with non-mesenchymal-derived and epithelial tumors. A 37-year-old male with stage IVB hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and pulmonary metastases presented with recurrent hypoglycemia despite glucose supplementation. Laboratory findings revealed low insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1) (15 ng/mL), elevated insulin growth factor 2 (IGF-2) (395 ng/ml), and an IGF-2:IGF-1 ratio of 26:1, consistent with NICTH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Cancer
January 2025
Department of Radiation Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, 295 Xichang Road, Kunming, 650032, P. R. China.
Introduction: The core objective of this study was to precisely locate metastatic lymph nodes, identify potential areas in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients that may not require radiotherapy, and propose a hypothesis for reduced target volume radiotherapy on the basis of these findings. Ultimately, we reassessed the differences in dosimetry of organs at risk (OARs) between reduced target volume (reduced CTV2) radiotherapy and standard radiotherapy.
Methods And Materials: A total of 209 patients participated in the study.
Viruses
December 2024
World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office, Kinshasa 01206, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection remains high in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), constituting a public health problem in view of the fatal complications it causes, notably cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of the situation of viral hepatitis B in the DRC and in particular its implications for public health. A systematic review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) group guidelines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNutrients
January 2025
School of Medicine, Valencia Catholic University, C/Quevedo 2, 46001 Valencia, Spain.
Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder that affects women of reproductive age and requires better treatment. -acetylcysteine (NAC) is known to be beneficial under such conditions owing to its antioxidant potential and insulin-sensitizing properties. The effect of NAC on the reproductive outcomes of PCOS patients was examined in this meta-analysis.
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