Optimal [F]FDG PET/CT Cutoff for Pathologic Complete Response in HER2-Positive Early Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Neoadjuvant Trastuzumab and Pertuzumab in the PHERGain Trial.

The PHERGain trial investigated the potential of metabolic imaging to identify candidates for chemotherapy deescalation in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive, invasive, operable breast cancer with at least 1 breast lesion evaluable by [F]FDG PET/CT. [F]FDG PET/CT responders were defined as patients with an SUV reduction (ΔSUV) of at least 40% in all of their target lesions after 2 cycles of trastuzumab and pertuzumab (HP) (with or without endocrine therapy). In total, 227 of 285 patients (80%) included in the HP arm showed a predefined metabolic response and received a total of 8 cycles of HP (with or without endocrine therapy).

The Radiotherapy: Basic Concepts And Recent Techniques Advances For Thoracic Malignancies.

Radiation therapy (RT) is a clinical modality treatment that uses ionizing radiation in the approach of malignant tumors, (and occasionally benign diseases). Since its inception, the goal of RT has been to cure cancer without excessive side effects. The most important factors affecting the results of RT are the tumor histology, its location and regional extent, the anatomic area of involvement and the geometric accuracy with which a calculated radiation dose is delivered.

A qualitative study of patient and carer experiences with home respiratory therapies: Long-term oxygen therapy and home mechanical ventilation.

Studies exploring the experience of patients receiving home respiratory therapies (HRT), such as long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) and home mechanical ventilation (HMV), are still limited. This study focused on patients' and carers' experience with LTOT and HMV. An exploratory, cross-sectional qualitative study, using semi-structured focus groups, was carried out with 18 patients receiving HRT (median 71y, 78% male, 56% on both LTOT and HMV) and 6 carers (median age 67y, 67% female).

Face masks for community use: An awareness call to the differences in materials.

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Hospitalizations in Children with a Penicillin Allergy Label: An Assessment of Healthcare Impact.

Background: Beta-lactam allergy is overdiagnosed. Diagnosis of penicillin allergy has been associated with a greater use of hospital resources and an increased risk of antibiotic-resistant infections, although this issue remains poorly studied in children. We aimed to compare patient characteristics and use of hospital resources in hospitalized children with and without a record of penicillin allergy.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis and erythema multiforme drug-related hospitalisations in a national administrative database.

Background: Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN) and erythema multiforme (EM) are immunologically-mediated dermatological disorders commonly triggered by drug exposure and/or other external agents. We aimed to characterise SJS/TEN- and EM-drug-related hospitalisations in a nationwide administrative database, focusing on demographic and clinical characteristics, and in the most frequently implicated drug classes.

Methods: We analysed all drug-related hospitalisations with associated diagnosis of SJS/TEN or EM in Portuguese hospitals between 2009 and 2014.

3D echoendoscopy and miniprobes for rectal cancer staging.

Background: rectal cancer staging using rigid probes or echoendoscopes has some limitations. The aim of the study was to compare rectal cancer preoperative staging using conventional endoluminal ultrasonography with three-dimensional endoscopic ultrasonography and miniprobes.

Materials And Methods: sixty patients were included and evaluated with: a) a conventional echoendoscope (7.

Cost of asthma in children: A nationwide, population-based, cost-of-illness study.

Background: Childhood asthma is very prevalent and costs can be high, especially in severe disease. This study aimed to estimate the cost of asthma in Portuguese children and the variations by level of asthma control.

Methods: A nationwide, population- and prevalence-based cost-of-illness study with a societal perspective was conducted.

Duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumor and endoscopic ultrasound.

Duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are a very rare condition. The pre-operative diagnosis can be a challenge but it is very important because GISTs have singularities that differ from other tumors and their location in the duodenum itself can have a major role in the choice of the surgical approach. We present two cases of duodenal GISTs where endoscopic ultrasound had a single role in their management, namely allowing the possibility to obtain material for immunocytochemical pre-operative diagnosis and regarding the precise relation to the papilla of Vater.

Asthma control in children is associated with nasal symptoms, obesity, and health insurance: a nationwide survey.

Background: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of asthma control and determinants of poor control in the Portuguese pediatric population (<18 years); secondarily, we described asthma-related healthcare services and medication use.

Methods: Data of 98 children with current asthma, from the second phase of a nationwide population-based telephone survey (INAsma study), were analyzed. Asthma control definition was based on GINA criteria, grouping partially controlled and uncontrolled asthma as 'not-controlled asthma' (NCA).

Multiple minute digitate hyperkeratosis affecting the face and folds: clinical, dermoscopic, and histological report of a familial case.

A case of a generalized non-follicular digitate keratosis classified as multiple minute digitate hyperkeratosis is described with suggestive clinical, dermoscopic, and histopathogical data. The patient was a 52-year-old Caucasian woman presenting a 6-year history of multiple asymptomatic skin-colored digitate lesions, 3 to 5 mm long and 1 to 2 mm wide, distributed on the forehead, neck, and extensor surface of the arms as well as in the inframammary folds, axillae, and lower limbs, especially on the popliteal fold. She reported having a 67-year-old sister and a 39-year-old niece with an identical eruption.

Nail surgery.

Nail surgery is a special branch of hand and dermatologic surgery. It is not widely performed, and many physicians do not feel at ease to perform it. The objective of this contribution is to give a short overview of the most important surgical procedures in clinical practice.