How to attract our future? - Perception of plastic surgery among medical students.

Background: There is a mounting body of evidence that underscores the worldwide and US national need for increased plastic surgery recruitment of trainees. Thus, plastic surgery must attract more applicants while maintaining the high-level qualifications of residency candidates.

Methods: A total of 250 (w = 197) medical students rated the prototypical plastic surgeon (PS), general practitioner (GP), and craniomaxillofacial surgeon (CMF) with respect to traits derived from a literature review on the general perception of surgery, favorability, and their intention to pursue a respective career.

Fibroblasts in Nodular Sclerosing Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma Are Defined by a Specific Phenotype and Protect Tumor Cells from Brentuximab-Vedotin Induced Injury.

Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is one of the most common malignant lymphomas in Western Europe. The nodular sclerosing subtype of cHL (NS cHL) is characterized by a proliferation of fibroblasts in the tumor microenvironment, leading to fibrotic bands surrounding the lymphoma infiltrate. Several studies have described a crosstalk between the tumour cells of cHL, the Hodgkin- and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells, and cancer-associated fibroblasts.

, , , and are frequently mutated in T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma.

T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma is a rare aggressive lymphoma showing histopathological overlap with nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma. Despite differences in tumor microenvironment and clinical behavior, the tumor cells of both entities show remarkable similarities, suggesting that both lymphomas might represent a spectrum of the same disease. To address this issue, we investigated whether these entities share mutations.

Oral versus intravenous iron therapy in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and iron deficiency with and without anemia in Germany - a real-world evidence analysis.

Background: Iron-deficiency anemia and iron deficiency are common comorbidities associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) resulting in impaired quality of life and high health care costs. Intravenous iron has shown clinical benefit compared to oral iron therapy.

Aim: This study aimed to compare health care outcomes and costs after oral vs intravenous iron treatment for IBD patients with iron deficiency or iron deficiency anemia (ID/A) in Germany.

A strong host response and lack of MYC expression are characteristic for diffuse large B cell lymphoma transformed from nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma.

Nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) is an indolent lymphoma, but can transform into diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), showing a more aggressive clinical behavior. Little is known about these cases on the molecular level. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to characterize DLBCL transformed from NLPHL (LP-DLBCL) by gene expression profiling (GEP).

Highly recurrent mutations of SGK1, DUSP2 and JUNB in nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma.

Nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL)-a subtype of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL)-is characterized by a low content of tumor cells, the lymphocyte predominant (LP) cells. Transformation into diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) occurs in about 10% of patients. We performed whole-genome mutation analysis of the DLBCL components from two composite lymphomas consisting of clonally related NLPHL and DLBCL as a means to identify candidate tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes in NLPHL.

Efficacy and Safety of Intravenous Ferric Carboxymaltose in Geriatric Inpatients at a German Tertiary University Teaching Hospital: A Retrospective Observational Cohort Study of Clinical Practice.

Current iron supplementation practice in geriatric patients is erratic and lacks evidence-based recommendations. Despite potential benefits in this population, intravenous iron supplementation is often withheld due to concerns regarding pharmacy expense, perceived safety issues, and doubts regarding efficacy in elderly patients. This retrospective, observational cohort study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intravenous ferric carboxymaltose (FCM, Ferinject) in patients aged >75 years with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA).

Safety of pharmacoenhancers for HIV therapy.

HIV protease inhibitors have been part of highly active therapy regimens throughout the past 16 years of antiretroviral therapy. The majority of currently available protease inhibitors are coadministered with low-dose ritonavir (RTV) as a pharmacoenhancer, significantly increasing their plasma concentrations. This therapeutic principle called 'boosting' helped to overcome the obstacles of this class of drugs concerning unfavorable pharmacokinetics, resulting in either a high frequency of dosing or subtherapeutic plasma concentrations.

Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense infection in a German traveller returning from the Masai Mara area, Kenya, January 2012.

In January 2012, a case of Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) has been identified in Germany in a traveller returning from the Masai Mara area in Kenya. The 62-year-old man had travelled to the Masai Mara game park from 18 to 19 January 2012 and developed fever on 28 January. The infection with Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense was confirmed by laboratory testing three days hereafter.

A liver-mimicking MRI phantom for thermal ablation experiments.

Purpose: To develop a liver-mimicking MRI gel phantom for use in the development of temperature mapping and coagulation progress visualization tools needed for the thermal tumor ablation methods, including laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA).

Methods: A base solution with an acrylamide concentration of 30 vol. % was prepared.

Intracoronary beta-radiation therapy for in-stent restenosis: long-term success rate and prediction of failure.

Objective: The following retrospective observational study assesses the long-term results of intracoronary beta-radiation therapy for patients with in-stent restenosis.

Background: Beta-radiation has been used to treat patients with coronary in-stent restenosis. However, long-term clinical success using this technique has not at this time been established.

Protein C preserves microcirculation in a model of neonatal septic shock.

Objectives: Sepsis remains a disease with a high mortality in neonates. Microcirculatory impairment plays a pivotal role in the development of multiorgan failure in septic newborns. The hemodynamic effects of recombinant activated protein C (rhAPC) were tested in an animal model of neonatal septic shock focusing on intestinal microcirculation.

Suppression and recovery of LPS-stimulated monocyte activity after trauma is correlated with increasing injury severity: a prospective clinical study.

Background: Monocytes represent a key immunocompetent cell type, whose functional capacity is profoundly influenced by systemic trauma. Because data on monocyte function in a heterogeneous trauma population, including slightly injured patients, is limited, we evaluated whether the magnitude of monocyte dysfunction can be related with injury severity and is useful as a predictive biomarker for development of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis.

Methods: Blood samples were obtained from 58 patients at admission to a level 1 Trauma Unit (mean injury severity score [ISS] of 25.

Clinical effects of STW 5 (Iberogast) are not based on acceleration of gastric emptying in patients with functional dyspepsia and gastroparesis.

STW 5, a herbal extract, is effective for the treatment of symptoms in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD). However, its mode of action is still unclear and a modulation of gastric motility is hypothesized. This multicentre, placebo-controlled double-blind study addressed the question of whether STW 5 accelerates gastric emptying in patients with FD and gastroparesis.

Serum procalcitonin levels in patients with multiple injuries including visceral trauma.

Procalcitonin (PCT) is known to be a reliable biomarker of sepsis and infection. Elevation of serum or plasma PCT has also been observed after major surgery or trauma. The association of PCT with the severity or location of injury in multiple traumatized (polytrauma) patients has not been clearly established, to date.

Altered gene expression patterns in dendritic cells after severe trauma: implications for systemic inflammation and organ injury.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells and members of the adoptive immunity. In addition, they play an important role in innate immunity within the systemic inflammatory response to trauma and sepsis. In this study, gene expression patterns of DC in patients with multiple trauma were studied.

The inulin hydrogen breath test accurately reflects orocaecal transit time.

Background: The lactose[(13)C]ureide breath test ((13)C-LUBT) has been validated and established as a reliable, non-invasive test for the assessment of orocaecal transit time (OCTT). More recently, small studies have demonstrated that inulin could be an alternative substrate for H(2)-based breath testing of the small bowel transit (H(2)-INBT). We compared the performance of the H(2)-INBT with the (13)C-LUBT in an appropriate number of participants, determined by sample-size calculation.

Periodontal therapy in siblings with Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome and tinea capitis: a report of two cases.

Objective: Report of clinical and microbiological periodontal findings before and 6 months after treatment of two siblings with Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome (PLS) and tinea capitis.

Methods: Two brothers, RG 3 years and NG 5 years of age, were referred for treatment due to premature mobility of their deciduous teeth. Probing depths (PPD), attachment levels (PAL-V), and furcation involvements were examined clinically.

Surgical treatment of overgrowth of the greater trochanter in children and adolescents.

After developmental dislocation of the hip, Perthes disease, bacterial coxitis, and other pediatric hip conditions, the femoral neck may develop short, with an overgrowth of the greater trochanter. Forty-four patients with trochanter overgrowth (47 hips) ages 6 to 17 years underwent surgery. Trochanteric epiphysiodesis was performed in 13 patients (group A), distal transfer of the greater trochanter in 24 patients (26 hips; group B), and femoral neck lengthening osteotomy in 7 patients (8 hips; group C).

Fracture and retrosternal dislocation of the medial clavicle in a 12-year-old child--case report, options for diagnosis, and treatment in children.

We report a retrosternally displaced epiphysiolysis in a 12-year-old child and discuss options for the most appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic approach. If a standard anteroposterior view of the shoulder girdle shows abnormalities or if appropriate clinical suspicion is present, we strongly favor an magnetic resonance imaging study for further workup instead of a computed tomographic scan, which is currently the diagnostic method of choice in clinical algorithms. Radiation exposure is thereby limited and maximum information about possible mediastinal soft tissue complications is obtained using a single diagnostic tool.

Graft repair of the peroneal nerve restores histochemical profile after long-term reinnervation of the rat extensor digitorum longus muscle in contrast to end-to-end repair.

Declining motor function is a prominent feature of ageing physiology. One reason for this is a reduction in plasticity that normally compensates for ongoing reorganization of motor units under physiological conditions. Previous work from our laboratory has shown that microsurgical repair of the transected peroneal nerve is followed by considerable changes in the histochemical profile of the reinnervated extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle and that these changes are dependent on both the time and the type of nerve repair.

Living kidney donors' long-term psychological status and health behavior after nephrectomy - a retrospective study.

Background: The aim of the study was a comprehensive psychological evaluation of living kidney donors. Existing studies indicate a high donor satisfaction with the decision to donate and good donor quality of life in short-term, as well as in long-term follow-up periods. In many studies, questionnaires with only a few items have been used to assess psychological health or well-being; however, most studies exclusively measured quality of life.

Prospective randomised comparison of traditional, personal bedside and problem-oriented practical dermatology courses.

Purpose: This paper reports a prospective, randomised study comparing a problem-oriented practical (POP) course based on paper cases to a personal bedside teaching (PBT) practical course and a standard practical course.

Methods: During 2 consecutive terms, students were randomly allocated to either 2 POP groups/term (n = 10/group), 2 PBT groups/term (n = 10/group) or the standard practical course, which consisted of a rotating system of lectures and bedside teaching with randomly appointed tutors. Each course was evaluated with the same 12-item questionnaire and multiple-choice test administered at the beginning and end of the course.