Hepatic Osteodystrophy: A Global (Re)View of the Problem.

Hepatic osteodystrophy is a common and frequently untreated complication, manifested as osteoporosis or osteopenia, encountered in the evolution of chronic liver diseases. This article provides a narrative review of hepatic osteodystrophy. The aim is to revise the prevalence, pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of hepatic osteodystrophy.

Cutting Edge: Homeostasis of Innate Lymphoid Cells Is Imbalanced in Psoriatic Arthritis.

Innate lymphoid cells (ILC) have a high potency for cytokine production independent of specific Ag stimulation. Imbalance of ILC subsets may influence cytokine production in humans and hence be associated with the development of inflammatory disease. Evidence for an imbalance of ILC homeostasis in human disease, however, is very limited to date.

Human anatomic variations: common, external iliac, origin of the obturator, inferior epigastric and medial circumflex femoral arteries, and deep femoral artery course on the medial side of the femoral vessels.

Probably, the most variable anatomic pattern relates to the iliac arteries system. There are reported here multiple rare anatomic variants found in a single case, at CT evaluation: (a) the unilaterally present common trunk of origin of the obturator, inferior epigastric, and medial circumflex femoral arteries and (b) the medial insertion of the deep femoral artery (DFA) onto the femoral artery, which placed the DFA initially on the medial side of the femoral vein. Such rare, but possible, anatomic variations should recommend surgeons to plan the procedures on a case-by-case basis.

The time for surgery of peritonitis associated with peritoneal dialysis.

Peritonitis is the main complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and also an important factor for raising the cost of the method to the level of hemodialysis. Associated with PD, peritonitis is responsible for the increase of morbidity and mortality of the procedure and, at the same time, the main cause of the technique failure. Severe and prolonged peritonitis or repeated episodes of peritonitis lead to ultrafiltration failure.

Body composition in HIV-infected patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Background: The development of combination antiretroviral therapies (cART) represents a significant advance in the treatment of (human immunodeficiency virus) HIV infection. However, several studies report that a large percentage of individuals with HIV, particularly those receiving cART, present body composition differences compared with the general population. The aim of this study was to explore body composition differences by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), among HIV-positive patients receiving cART, in comparison to healthy controls.

Body Composition Changes in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C.

Aims: We aimed to quantify global and regional body composition changes in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients, compare them to healthy controls and identify possible association between body composition changes and CHC. To our knowledge, this study is the first one comparing CHC patients to controls with regard to soft tissue body composition changes.

Methods: We assessed 60 CHC patients and 60 healthy controls by Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry.

Entheseal involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus: are we missing something?

Background Musculoskeletal involvement is extremely common in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Continuing the research initiated in patients with inflammatory arthritis, recent studies have shown the potential role of musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) in the evaluation of clinical and subclinical lupus synovitis. The inflammatory process in SLE is traditionally considered to be localized at synovial tissue areas while enthesis is not included among the possible targets of the disease.

Low bone mineral density and associated risk factors in HIV-infected patients.

Background: Aging of persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) resulted in high rates of osteopenia and osteoporosis. Multiple cohort studies have reported an increased prevalence of bone demineralization among HIV-infected individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate bone mineral density (BMD) and risk factors for osteopenia/osteoporosis among HIV-positive patients attending the National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Prof.

Biomarkers in Rheumatoid Arthritis, what is new?

Unlabelled: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease with autoimmune pathogenesis. It affects mainly small joints (of the hands and feet) and has many systemic manifestations. Studying biomarkers in rheumatology intensely appeared from the need to understand the mechanisms underlying some rheumatic diseases.

Composition of TWIST1 dimers regulates fibroblast activation and tissue fibrosis.

Objectives: TWIST1 is a member of the class B of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors that regulates cell lineage determination and differentiation and has been implicated in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Here, we aimed to investigate the role of TWIST1 for the activation of resident fibroblasts in systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: The expression of Twist1 in fibroblasts was modulated by forced overexpression or siRNA-mediated knockdown.

Hepatic hemangioma -review-.

Hepatic hemangiomas are benign tumors of the liver consisting of clusters of blood-filled cavities, lined by endothelial cells, fed by the hepatic artery. The vast majority of HH are asymptomatic, most often being discovered incidentally during imaging investigations for various unrelated pathologies. Typical hemangiomas, the so-called capillary hemangiomas, range from a few mm to 3 cm, do not increase in size over time and therefore are unlikely to generate future symptomatology.

A Romanian version of the UCLA Scleroderma Clinical Trial Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract Instrument.

Objectives: UCLA Scleroderma Clinical Trial Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract (UCLA SCTC GIT 2.0) Instrument is a comprehensive, self-administered survey for the assessment of gastrointestinal involvement in scleroderma patients, developed and validated in English. Our objective was to translate and validate a Romanian version of UCLA SCTC GIT 2.

The efficiency of biologic therapy in a group of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: The following study aims to evaluate the monotherapy with biologic agents: Infliximab (IFX), Etanercept (ETA), Adalimumab (ADA) and Rituximab (RTX) in patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: To achieve these objectives, the database of "Dr. I.

Stimulators of soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) inhibit experimental skin fibrosis of different aetiologies.

Objectives: Stimulators of the soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) have recently been shown to inhibit transforming growth factor-β signalling. Here, we aimed to demonstrate that riociguat, the drug candidate for clinical trials in systemic sclerosis (SSc), is effective in experimental fibrosis and to compare its efficacy to that of phosphodiesterase V inhibitors that also increase the intracellular levels of cyclic guanosine monophosphate.

Methods: The antifibrotic effects of riociguat and sildenafil were compared in the tight-skin 1 model, in bleomycin-induced fibrosis and in a model of sclerodermatous chronic graft-versus-host-disease (cGvHD).

Therapeutic approaches in pelvic bleeding of neoplastic origin.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to present the main - surgical and non-surgical - therapeutic approaches (or methods) used in the treatment of pelvic bleeding of neoplastic origin.

Materials And Methods: analysis of the materials found in the literature on this subject.

Results: Among the surgical methods used, hypogastric artery ligation is the oldest therapeutic approach in cervical bleedings of neoplastic origin.

Assessment of acid-base balance at birth in newborns from diabetic mothers.

Newborns from diabetic mothers are more frequently born prematurely, large for the gestational age, with difficult respiratory adaptation and risk of RDS (respiratory distress syndrome) and, subsequently, exposed to a higher risk of perinatal distress, hypoxia, metabolic stress and hematologic alterations. Comparing the status at birth of 120 newborns from mothers with diabetes, with 120 controls from uncomplicated pregnancies, over a period of 4 years, in a specialized tertiary center, no significant differences in the immediate outcome of such newborns and similar incidence of hypoxia at birth were shown, as illustrated by the parameters of the acid-base balance (cord pH, BE and HCO3). However, there are significant differences in the route of delivery, with a predominance of C-section deliveries in the diabetic group (4 out of every 5 cases), which might be an important contribution to the relative good status of these newborns at birth.

Neonatal hypoglycemia screening in newborns from diabetic mothers--arguments and controversies.

The most important known metabolic complication of the newborns from diabetic mothers, including diabetes type 1 and 2 and gestational diabetes, is the postnatal hypoglycemia. If unrecognized and undiagnosed, hypoglycemia in this particular high-risk group can determine severe neurological lesions and even death, in a significantly higher proportion than those from the general population. The present paper brings arguments for the crucial importance of screening for post-natal hypoglycemia in the early hours after birth, and discusses the management strategies and the topics that still remain in debate.

The new prognostic-therapeutic index - an easy method of establishing surgical indication in the pathology of the diabetic foot.

Unlabelled: HYPOTHESIS AND AIM: The large number of invalidating surgical interventions in patients suffering from lesions of the diabetic foot, the late recognition of the lesions and sometimes the wrongful interpretation of their severity, have made necessary a multi-parameter study of these types of patients and the elaboration of a therapeutic-prognostic index to guide the physician in adopting the adequate method of treatment. Starting with the therapeutic-prognostic index imagined by professor Traian Patrascu, we have elaborated a new therapeutic prognostic index, by adding new, statistically significant parameters, for the purpose of facilitating the surgical indication, depending on the lesion type.

Methods: A number of 929 patients who were admitted at the Surgery Clinic of the "Dr.

Gallstone ileus: analysis of eight cases and review of the literature.

Objective: We hereby analyzed a series of gallstone ileus cases operated on in our department starting from a Bouveret syndrome case.

Method: Retrospective analysis of all gallstone ileus cases who underwent surgery in our department during the last 26 years. We took into consideration diagnostic elements, time from admission to surgery, type of surgery and post-operative outcome.

Hepatitis virus C infection, adipokines and hepatic steato-fibrosis.

Hepatitis C viral infection is accompanied by various serum alterations that could explain its molecular impact on hepatic structure and metabolic homeostasis. Recently it has been shown that adipocytokines play a pivotal role in development of hepatic steato-fibrosis, different studies giving a support of the hypothesis that the balance of adipocytokine expression is a key regulator for the progression of hepatic steatosis and fibrosis. The association between insulin resistance and hepatitis C virus genotypes and liver fibrosis stage foreshadowed that virus-induced insulin resistance may be a mechanism for fibrogenesis in chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

Epidemiology of ocular involvement in autoimmune diseases.

Unlabelled: The main objective of this study was to identify the prevalence of ocular manifestations in Romanian rheumatic patients admitted in a specialized rheumatology clinic since January 2006 till June 2007. The secondary outcome was the occurrence of adverse visual events associated with systemic therapy.

Methods: Information regarding rheumatic and ocular diseases was extracted from medical records system available in "I.

Correlation between different components of synovial fluid and pathogenesis of rheumatic diseases.

Unlabelled: Biochemical analysis of synovial fluid is important in orientating the diagnosis of joint effusions. Its composition reflects the metabolic status of synovial tissue correlated with different rheumatic pathologies. The aim of this study was to compare the information provided by usual biochemical tests and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) analysis of synovial fluid, in order to detect potential characteristics of joint effusion correlated to the pathogenesis of arthritis.

Efficacy and safety of oral tibolone 1.25 or 2.5 mg/day vs. placebo in postmenopausal women.

Background: tibolone at usual doses of 2.5 mg/day in postmenopausal women has been shown to improve climacteric complaints, without affecting endometrial thickness and lipid profile or blood glucose. However, the potentially similar efficacy, but better tolerability, of a low dose of this drug (1.