Effects of Beta-Blockers on Melanoma Microenvironment and Disease Survival in Human.

The regulation of melanoma by noradrenergic signaling has gain attention since pre-clinical and clinical studies suggested a benefit of using beta-blockers to control disease progression. We need to confirm that human melanoma recapitulates the mechanisms described from pre-clinical models. The sources and targets of norepinephrine in the microenvironment of 20 human melanoma samples was investigated using immunostaining.

[Limitations of active therapeutic and palliative care in chronic respiratory disease].

The issue of intensive and palliative care in patients with chronic disease frequently arises. This review aims to describe the prognostic factors of chronic respiratory diseases in stable and in acute situations in order to improve the management of these complex situations. The various laws on patients' rights provide a legal framework and define the concept of unreasonable obstinacy.

Intracoronary Adenosine: Dose-Response Relationship With Hyperemia.

Objectives: The present study sought to establish the dosage of intracoronary (IC) adenosine associated with minimal side effects and above which no further increase in flow can be expected.

Background: Despite the widespread adoption of IC adenosine in clinical practice, no wide-ranging, dose-response study has been conducted. A recurring debate still exists regarding its optimal dose.

Surgical Clipping of Very Small Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms: A Multicenter International Study.

Background: Treatment of very small unruptured intracranial aneurysms (VSUIAs, defined as ≤3 mm) can be indicated in selected circumstances. The feasibility and outcomes of endovascular therapy for VSUIAs have been recently published; however, the efficacy and complication rate of surgical clipping has not been reported in any large series to date.

Objective: We conducted a multicenter study to examine surgical outcomes for VSUIAs.

Risk Analysis of Prostate Cancer in PRACTICAL, a Multinational Consortium, Using 25 Known Prostate Cancer Susceptibility Loci.

Background: Genome-wide association studies have identified multiple genetic variants associated with prostate cancer risk which explain a substantial proportion of familial relative risk. These variants can be used to stratify individuals by their risk of prostate cancer.

Methods: We genotyped 25 prostate cancer susceptibility loci in 40,414 individuals and derived a polygenic risk score (PRS).

Mononeuritis multiplex predicts the need for immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory drugs for EGPA, PAN and MPA patients without poor-prognosis factors.

Patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Churg-Strauss) (EGPA), non-HBV polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) or microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) without Five-Factor Score (FFS=0)-defined poor-prognosis factors were included in two prospective randomized-controlled trials and were initially treated with corticosteroids (CS) alone. Because some patients required subsequent add-on therapies, inclusion characteristics associated with their use were sought. Add-on treatments (cytotoxic agents, biotherapies, intravenous immunoglobulins and plasma exchanges) were subjected to univariate and multivariate analyses.

The role of transient elastography in the detection of liver disease in patients with chronic pancreatitis.

Background & Aims: Quantification of liver stiffness with transient elastography (TE) is validated for staging hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C infection. The current study was aimed to assess the diagnostic performance of liver stiffness measurement for the determination of fibrosis stage in patients with chronic pancreatitis.

Methods: Thirty consecutive patients with chronic pancreatitis and increased liver enzyme were enrolled over a 2.

[New tests for the diagnosis of tuberculosis].

Over the last decade, molecular biology techniques for identifying mycobacteria in pulmonary secretions have become more and more sensitive and rapid, even in smear negative samples. Nuclear amplification techniques also allow the rapid detection of resistance to first or second line anti-tuberculous drugs. The sensitivity of these techniques for non respiratory samples is yet to be determined.

An unusual digestive foreign body.

Foreign digestive bodies present unusual circumstances because they are associated with various degrees of local trauma and may lead to direct perforation or delayed local injury. Patients with foreign bodies should be evaluated upon admission for signs of impaction and perforation. While all objects impacted in the esophagus require urgent treatment, rectal foreign bodies are usually removable through the anus.

[Severe H1N1 2009 influenza infection in adults: the French experience].

The REVA-Flu-SRLF register allowed collection of data from 562 patients infected with H1N1 influenza virus 2009 and hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU). The overall mortality of these patients was 20%. The use of invasive ventilation, heart failure, and immunosuppression were associated with mortality.

[Orbitotemporal facial involvement in type 1 neurofibromatosis (NF1)].

Plexiform neurofibromas of the orbit, sometimes extending to the temporal region and the face, are considered to be a rare but devastating and disfiguring complication of neurofibromatosis type 1. The first symptoms appear in infancy and the involvement of the orbit and the face is present in nearly all children after the age of 5. The disease is unilateral in most cases but can exceptionally involve both sides of the face.

High prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions for psoriasis patients prescribed methotrexate or cyclosporine for psoriasis: associated clinical and economic outcomes in real-world practice.

Background: Methotrexate (MTX) and cyclosporine (CYC) may adversely interact with common medications in patients with psoriasis.

Objective: Our purpose was to investigate the prevalence and outcomes of MTX/CYC polypharmacy.

Methods: We evaluated rates of events that may be associated with drug-related toxicity, health care resource utilization and costs for patients with psoriasis in the Ingenix(R) Impact National Managed Care Database (1999-2007) who were exposed or not exposed to potential drug-drug interactions.

Human herpes virus 8 replication during disseminated tuberculosis in a man with human immunodeficiency virus: a case report.

Introduction: Human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) is mainly responsible for the development of Kaposi's sarcoma and multicentric Castleman's disease in immunocompromised patients with untreated human immunodeficiency virus. Positive viral loads have been described in cases of Kaposi's sarcoma and multicentric Castleman's disease, with higher values found in the latter. We describe the case of a patient with HIV in whom a high level of HHV-8 replication was detected and who contracted an opportunistic disease other than multicentric Castleman's disease or Kaposi's sarcoma.

Symptomatic syringomyelia occurring as a late complication of posterior fossa medulloblastoma removal in infancy in a boy also suffering from scaphocephaly.

Introduction: The association of a medulloblastoma and a syringomyelia has been already described in rare instances albeit without symptoms related to the syrinx.

Case Report: The case of a 23-year-old man operated in infancy for a medulloblastoma and then treated solely with adjuvant chemotherapy is reported. He was also operated in infancy for a scaphocephaly.

Evaluation of the user-friendliness of seven new generation intensive care ventilators.

Objective: To explore the user-friendliness and ergonomics of seven new generation intensive care ventilators.

Design: Prospective task-performing study.

Setting: Intensive care research laboratory, university hospital.

ECG manifestations of left atrial flutter.

Purpose Of Review: The present popularity of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation has generated interest in the pathophysiology of arrhythmias originating from the left atrium. An improved understanding of ECG manifestations of reentrant left atrial arrhythmias has obvious clinical implications. An ideal goal would be to achieve diagnostic precision similar to the 'sawtooth' ECG morphology of typical atrial flutter.

Typical Flutter Ablation as an Adjunct to Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation.

During the past decades there has been a consistent evolution of both surgical and catheter-based techniques for the treatment of stand-alone atrial fibrillation, as alternatives or in combination with anti-arrhythmic drugs. Transcatheter ablation has significantly improved outcomes, despite often requiring multiple procedures and with limited success rates especially in presence of persistent atrial fibrillation. Surgical procedures have dramatically evolved from the original cut-and-sew Maze operation, allowing nowadays for closed-chest epicardial ablations on the beating heart.

Intentional leaks in industrial masks have a significant impact on efficacy of bilevel noninvasive ventilation: a bench test study.

Background: During noninvasive ventilation, nonintentional leaks have a detrimental effect on the efficacy of ventilation. A wide range of industrial masks are available, with intentional leaks of different importance. The potential impact of this variability in intentional leaks on performances of bilevel ventilators has not been assessed.

Diagnosis and management of anal cancer.

During the past three decades, anal cancer has served as a paradigm for the successful application of chemoradiation to solid tumors. Since the early 1990s, the increasing incidence of anal cancer in homosexual men has highlighted the causative role of oncogenic human papilloma-virus infection. This review focuses on significant trends and developments in the management of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal, emphasizing three major aspects of diagnosis and treatment: routine screening and eradication of premalignant lesions in high-risk individuals; outcome of chemoradiation therapy in HIV-positive individuals in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy; and potential improvements in chemoradiation protocols through improved radiation delivery technique and the combination of mitomycin with cisplatin in current prospective randomized trials.

Non-union after a two-level anterior cervical decompression and fusion with Surgibonetrade mark.

Numerous alternative implants have been proposed for cervical fusion, including bovine bone. We report a case of a two level cervical interbody fusion for degenerative disc disease using bovine dowels of Unilab Surgibonetrade mark. We describe the clinical evolution and histological examination after failure of the procedure due to non-union of the Surgibone implants.