Real-life validation of a sample pooling strategy for screening of hepatitis C.

Objectives: To test a real-life sample pooling screening strategy which contributes to increasing the diagnostic capacity of clinical laboratories and expanding access to massive screening of hepatitis C.

Methods: After evaluating the sensitivity of the pooling strategy for seven different commercial assays which are used to determine the concentration of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA in the plasma or serum, consecutive samples submitted for HCV diagnosis during the first 3 weeks of November 2021 were tested for HCV antibodies and, in parallel and in a blinded way, were pooled into 100 samples and tested for HCV-RNA. When the result was positive, a strategy to un-mask the positive(s) pool(s), which needed up to 15 total HCV-RNA tests, was used.

Correlation of fatigue with other disease related and psychosocial factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with tocilizumab: ACT-AXIS study.

To assess the hypothesis if tocilizumab (TCZ) is effective on disease activity, and also its effect in fatigue and other clinical and psychological disease-related factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with TCZ.A 24-week, multicenter, prospective, observational study in patients with moderate to severe RA receiving TCZ after failure or intolerance to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or tumor necrosis factor-alpha was conducted.Of the 122 patients included, 85 were evaluable for effectiveness (85% female, 51.

[Fingolimod: effectiveness and safety in routine clinical practice. An observational, retrospective, multi-centre study in Galicia].

Introduction: The effectiveness and safety of fingolimod in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) have been proven in clinical trials. Yet, due to their limitations, it is important to know how it behaves under everyday clinical practice conditions. Hence, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of fingolimod after 12 months' usage in clinical practice in Galicia.

[Clinical experience with lacosamide in Galicia: the GALACO study].

Introduction: Lacosamide is a sodium channel blocker antiepileptic drug authorized as an adjunctive therapy for focal seizures in adolescents and adults.

Aim: To analyze the efficacy and safety of lacosamide in Galicia according to its use in daily clinical practice.

Patients And Methods: Retrospective observational study in patients who started treatment with lacosamide between January 2014 and June 2013 in 10 hospitals in Galicia, Spain.

[Gastroparesis and other gastrointestinal symptoms in Parkinson's disease].

Different gastrointestinal symptoms, such as excessive salivation, deterioration and other disorders affecting the teeth, dysphagia, gastroparesis, gastroesophageal reflux, constipation, difficult defecation or loss of weight are frequent events in all the stages of the development of Parkinson's disease and affect at least a third of the patients. These symptoms reflect the dysfunction of the enteric nervous system, and the stomach is one of the organs where alpha-synuclein is first deposited. Other factors, such as the dysfunction of structures in the central nervous system like the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagal nerve, hormonal factors or secondary effects deriving from the consumption of antiparkinsonian drugs, are involved in its origin.

[Management of complications related to intraduodenal infusion of levodopa/carbidopa in patients with Parkinson's disease].

Continuous infusion of intraduodenal levodopa/carbidopa is an effective treatment that improves the motor complications and the quality of life of patients in the advanced stages of Parkinson's disease. However, it is not free of complications. These may present in the post-operative period following surgery (gastrostomy) or in the long-term during the follow-up period and can be related with the medication (levodopa/carbidopa), the stoma, the gastrostomy or the device (pump, enteral tube, parts of the FREKA system).

[Desmoplastic trichoepithelioma: presentation of two cases].

Trichoepithelioma is a benign neoformation with hair follicle differentiation that may clinically present in solitary, multiple or desmoplastic form. From a histopathological standpoint, it poses some diagnostic difficulties with basal cell carcinoma. We present two cases of desmoplastic trichoepithelioma, a rare adnexal tumor whose incidence is estimated at 2 per 10,000.

[Diastematomyelia: a form of spinal dysraphism].

Diastematomyelia is a rare form of occult spinal dysraphism (less than 3 % of cases) that is more frequent in children and mainly affects females. Clinically, there are three groups of manifestations: cutaneous, neurological and orthopedic deformities. We present the case of an 11-year-old girl with a recent, incidental diagnosis of diastematomyelia.

[Cholesterol crystal embolism].

Cholesterol crystal embolism (CCE) is an infrequent entity that primarily appears in males over the age of 60 with generalized arteriosclerosis after angiographic procedures, vascular surgery or, more rarely, with oral anticoagulant treatment with heparin or with fibrinolytics. We present the case of a patient with several risk factors for CCE, who presented with the pathognomonic triad of leg and foot pain, livedo reticularis and palpable pedal pulses. The diagnosis was based on the fact that cholesterol crystals were seen in the arterioles in the skin biopsy.

[Nursing care in prevention and treatment of diabetic foot].

Considering in fact diabetes mellitus is a disease which affects a huge number of people during the XXI century, we carry out prevention and care of the diabetic foot procedure, one of the most frequent complications of this disease, to show the problem by the whole, and about which Nursing has many things to say.We want to improve the patients' life quality and reduce the complications of the diabetic foot because if we don't treat them in time they can cause an infection, necrosis of the injured extremity, amputation⋯(invalidated processes all of them). As a consequence of this, it would be necessary a suitable health education, in order to try to avoid either the apparition of the problem or once the problem exits, proportionate the necessary care to guarantee a best kindness which finish its progression and sequels

[Multiple symmetrical lipomatosis: report of two different clinical types and review of the literature].

Multiple symmetrical lipomatosis or Lauwnois-Bensaude disease is a rare entity characterized by the development of subcutaneous fat masses around the neck shoulders and upper extremities. Peripheral neuropathy is a common finding as well as the association with alcholism, hepatopathy and glucose intolerance. Pathogenesis is unknown.

[Prevalence of hepatitis C virus genotypes in the area of El Ferrol (La Coruña, Spain)].

Background: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes in the area of El Ferrol, as well as their distribution according to risk factors.

Methods: A total of 479 patients with hepatitis C were studied, including 254 with no known risk factors, 161 intravenous drug abusers (IVDA) and 64 with a history of blood transfusions. The presence of HCV RNA was studied by RT-PCR, and a reverse hybridization method (INNO-LiPA) was used for genotyping.

[Meningococcal infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C].

Background: In recent years an increase has been observed in the prevalence of meningococcal infection by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C and in the appearance of strains with moderate resistance to penicillin.

Patients And Methods: A microbiologic study of the cases of meningococcal infection of serogroup C treated from 1995 to 1996 in the health care area of Ferrol (La Coruña, Spain) was carried out.

Results And Conclusions: Twenty-nine cases were detected in 1995 and 28 in 1996.