Diagnosis and management of neuropathic pain: review of literature and recommendations of the Polish Association for the Study of Pain and the Polish Neurological Society - Part Two.

Neuropathic pain may be caused by a variety of lesions or diseases of both the peripheral and central nervous system. The most common and best known syndromes of peripheral neuropathic pain are painful diabetic neuropathy, trigeminal and post-herpetic neuralgia, persistent post-operative and post-traumatic pain, complex regional pain syndrome, cancer-related neuropathic pain, HIV-related neuropathic pain and pain after amputation. The less common central pain comprises primarily central post-stroke pain, pain after spinal cord injury, central pain in Parkinson disease or in other neurodegenerative diseases, pain in syringomyelia and in multiple sclerosis.

Diagnosis and management of neuropathic pain: review of literature and recommendations of the Polish Association for the study of pain and the Polish Neurological Society - part one.

Neuropathic pain still present a major diagnostic and therapeutic challenge despite considerable progress in understanding of its mechanisms and publication of number of studies which assessed the efficacy and safety of drugs used in the symptomatic treatment. In practice, it is diagnosed less frequently than recognised in the epidemiological studies, and many patients do not achieve satisfactory outcomes of treatment. A multidisciplinary team of Polish experts, commissioned by the Polish Association for the Study of Pain and the Polish Neurological Society, has reviewed the literature on neuropathic pain, with special focus on the published international recommendations, and formulated recommendations on neuropathic pain diagnosis and treatment, in accordance with the principles of evidence-based medicine.

Differences in the psychological and hormonal presentation of lean and obese patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders found in women of reproductive age. Differences in hormonal and metabolic profiles are observed in groups of patients with normal and elevated BMI. Cause of disturbances observed in the two groups of patients with PCOS is analyzed.

Subclinical hyperthyroid patients' knowledge about radioiodine therapy--the key role of medical information.

Objectives: Many patients with a chronic disease are dissatisfied with the information they are given. A brief questionnaire completed by patients would assist health professionals to identify areas of information needed to be provided, tailored to the patient's mental condition.

Aim: The aim of our study was to assess how often thyroid patients report being adequately informed about iodine treatment in connection with their real need thereof, emotional state and acceptance of the disease.

Changes in thyroid morphology and function in children in western Poland as a result of intensified iodine prophylaxis.

Aim: To determine the changes in thyroid pathology resulting from obligatory salt iodization in a group of children aged 8-12 years from the rural and urban areas of Wielkopolska Region, Poland.

Population And Methods: The survey was conducted on 1215 children, of both sexes, 402 of whom were examined in 1992 (before salt iodization), 408 in 2000, and 405 in 2005 (after salt iodization beginning in 1996). Thyroid ultrasound, urinary iodine, FT4, FT3, TSH and antithyroid antibodies were measured.

Iodine prophylaxis intensification. Influence on radioiodine uptake and activity of 131I used in the treatment of hyperthyroid patients with Graves' disease.

Unlabelled: Poland, a country with mild/moderate iodine deficiency introduced an obligatory iodination salt system in 1996.

Aim: To compare the results of radioiodine (131I) uptake after 5 h and 24 h with the activity of radioiodine used in the treatment of hyperthyroid patients with Graves' disease in the years 1995 and 2003.

Patients, Methods: The marker of iodine content in the diet was urinary iodine excretion.

A simple epigenetic method for the diagnosis and classification of brain tumors.

The new, simple, and reliable method for the diagnosis of brain tumors is described. It is based on a TLC quantitative determination of 5-methylcytosine (m(5)C) in relation to its damage products of DNA from tumor tissue. Currently, there is evidence that oxidative stress through reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays an important role in the etiology and progression of several human diseases.

Poznań's program of cochlear and brainstem implantation: a general review.

The cochlear implantation program in Poznań started in January 1994. Within 8 years, 151 patients were implanted (149 cochlear and 2 auditory brain-stem implants). The implanted group comprised 111 children and 40 adults.

Cardiac arrest related to coronary spasm in patients with variant angina: a three-case study.

We present three patients with variant angina pectoris and episodes of cardiac arrest. All of them had typical clinical symptoms, ST-segment changes in electrocardiogram, and coronary artery spasm confirmed by arteriography. They were treated with high doses of calcium antagonists and nitrates.

Aberrant left subclavian artery.

This paper describes a rare case in which the left subclavian artery originates from a common stem arising from the aortic arch and splits into a brachiocephalic trunk and a left subclavian artery. The course of other large vessels of the aortic arch in this case are typical.

Development of valves in the small saphenous vein in human fetuses.

The study was performed on 82 small saphenous veins in human fetuses of both sexes aged 9 to 37 weeks. The earliest valves were observed in 13 week-old fetuses. In fetuses between 13 and 18 weeks old the number of valves increased from 1 to 8.

Visual evoked potentials in patients with psoriasis vulgaris.

Purpose: The aim of this study is an estimation of the visual evoked potentials (VEP) in patients with psoriasis vulgaris. The role of the nervous system was pointed out in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Also epidemiologic research confirms that patients with psoriasis are at increased risk of MS development.

Transverse ligament of the knee in human embryos aged 7 and 8 weeks.

The aim of the study was to trace the transverse ligament of the knee in staged human embryos. Investigations were carried out on 42 embryos of developmental stages 18-23 (44-56 postovulatory days) from the collection of the Department of Anatomy in Poznań. It was found that in embryos at stage 19 peripheral condensation of the mesenchymal interzone of knee joint, located anteriorly to the primordia of the cruciate ligaments, was recognizable.

Growth cones in the superior cervical sympathetic ganglion in human foetus aged 23 weeks.

Ultrastructural study was conducted on the superior cervical sympathetic ganglia in human foetus aged 23 weeks. It was shown that in investigated foetus the nerve fibres in the ganglion were in different phases of myelination. Also growth cones, which present evidence of still growing fibres, were observed.

Hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion production by polymorphonuclear neutrophils in patients with chronic periapical granuloma, before and after surgical treatment.

Chronic periapical granuloma represents a localized tissue injury with well established signs of systemic immunological reactions. The aim of the study was to investigate changes in superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide production by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) in patients with chronic periapical granuloma before and after surgical treatment. The affected teeth were extracted from 20 patients with chronic periapical lesions.

Audiological assessment of unilateral deafness.

Unilateral deafness constitute medical (aetiological diagnosis, treatment, hearing aid fitting) and social problems (no certification of disability). Following audiological examinations were performed in the study: pure tone audiometry (PTA), impedance audiometry, auditory brainstem responses (ABR), otoacoustic emissions (OAE), as well as balance, taste, examinations and electric sensitivity of the acoustic nerve. In cases of tinnitus the parameters of its character were done.

Low birth weight as a risk factor of hearing loss.

The purpose of this study was the audiological evaluation of low birth weight children as well as to investigate any possible relation between very low birth weight and the associated risk factors and the subsequent hearing loss. A group of 110 children was examined audiologically. The prenatal, perinatal and postnatal risk factors were related to the audiological diagnosis.

Morphometric study of the cornea in human embryos.

Morphometric study was conducted on 28, serially sectioned staged human embryos. The cornea is of equal thickness during its early development (stages 15-17). During developmental stages 18 and 19 (7th week) it is thicker in the central part.

Early development of the cruciate ligaments in staged human embryos.

Investigations were carried out on 43 serially sectioned human embryos of developmental stages 18 to 23. The homogeneous interzone of the future knee joint is observed in embryos at stage 18. During stage 19 this interzone is differentiated into dense, intensively stained, peripheral parts, which are the primordia of menisci and the medial portion, in which the cruciate ligaments are formed.

Variation in morphology of the biceps brachii and coracobrachialis muscles associated with abnormal course of blood vessels and nerves.

On the right upper limb, during laboratory dissection the low division of the common trunk of the musculocutaneous nerve and the lateral root of the median nerve, low fusion of two roots of the median nerve as well as accessory heads of the coracobrachialis and biceps brachii muscles were found. The axillary and brachial arteries showed abnormal course.

Application of computed tomography in studies on development of human paranasal sinuses in the early postnatal period.

Seven skulls of newborns and of infants aged 3 weeks to 12 months were studied using computed tomography. Size of the maxillary sinuses was measured. Between 3rd and 12th week of life the ethmoidal sinus formed small spaces in ethmoidal labyrinth.

A comprehensive analysis of selected diagnostic methods with respect to their usefulness in evaluating the biology of neoplastic cells in patients with laryngeal cancer.

The difficult and complicated mechanism of cancer development with little knowledge about the biology of existing cancers can lead to a permanent search for new examination techniques to improve the precision of life expectancy in patients and the selection of the most efficient methods of treatment. The aim of this study was to analyze certain prognostic factors, i.e.

Quantitative changes in peripheral blood lymphocytes in erosive rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with methotrexate. Correlation with disease activity.

In order to better understand the immunological mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the level of various lymphocyte subsets in the peripheral blood of 29 patients with erosive RA was determined. All the patients were treated with methotrexate for 2 years. The total number and the proportion of CD3 cells, CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ cells did not change during the study.

Interureteric distance at the level of the ureter openings in early human fetuses.

The interureteric distance at the level of the trigone of the urinary bladder was measured in 20 fetuses aged 10, 11 and 12 weeks. This distance was from 0.3 mm during 10th week to 1.