Health resource utilization associated with skeletal-related events in patients with bone metastases: Results from a multinational retrospective - prospective observational study - a cohort from 4 European countries.

Background: Skeletal-related events (SREs; pathologic fracture, radiation or surgery to bone, spinal cord compression) frequently occur in patients with advanced cancer with bone metastases/lesions. Limited data on the associated patient and economic burden are available to aid in resource planning and evaluating treatment options.

Methods: Patients with bone metastases/lesions secondary to breast, lung or prostate cancer or multiple myeloma; with at least one SRE within 97 days prior to enrollment; life expectancy of at least 6 months; and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0, 1 or 2 were recruited.

Basal functional status predicts three-month mortality after a heart failure hospitalization in elderly patients - the prospective RICA study.

Background: Many elderly heart failure (HF) patients show some degree of functional impairment. The study aim was to evaluate the functional status of oldest-old cohort of patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of decompensated (HF), and to analyze whether preadmission functional status predicts risk of 3-month mortality.

Methods: We analyzed 1431 elderly (≥ 75 years) patients prospectively included in the Spanish National Registry on HF (RICA).

Monthly CERA treatment maintains stable hemoglobin levels in routine clinical practice of peritoneal dialysis patients.

Data on routine use of continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA) in peritoneal dialysis patients are scarce. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of CERA administered once monthly in maintaining stable Hb levels in patients on peritoneal dialysis under routine medical practice. This was a 12-month, observational, prospective and multicenter study.

[Current status of elective surgical treatment of ulcerative colitis. A systematic review].

Despite recent advances in the medical treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC), approximately 25-40% of patients will need surgery during their disease. The aim of elective surgical treatment of UC is to remove the colon/and rectum with minimal postoperative morbidity, and to offer a good long-term quality of life. There are several technical options for the surgical treatment of UC; at present, the most frequently offered is restorative proctocolectomy and ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.

Possible usefulness of growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-I axis in Alzheimer's disease treatment.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been traditionally conceptualized as a clinicopathological entity, its definite diagnosis requiring the presence of characteristic pathology together with a dementia clinical picture. The fact that certain AD biomarkers show an acceptable sensitivity and specificity to detect AD pathology has shifted the diagnostic paradigm towards a clinicobiological approach. Neuropathological analysis of AD-affected brains reveals extensive atrophy due to neuronal loss, and accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic plaques, surrounded by a tract of neuroinflammation and loss of neurons.

Clinical assessment and determinants of chronic allograft nephropathy in maintenance renal transplant patients.

Background: Current knowledge about the natural history, treatment and physicians' perception of chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) is limited. The present study evaluated the prevalence and determinants of CAN in renal transplant patients.

Methods: Epidemiological, cross-sectional multi-centre study conducted in Spain.

Risk factors for, and clinical relevance of, faecal extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC) carriage in neutropenic patients with haematological malignancies.

The purpose of this study was to assess the risk factors for, and the clinical relevance of, faecal carriage by extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC) in neutropenic cancer patients (NCP). An observational prospective multicentre cohort study was conducted over 2 years at two teaching hospitals. Patients with acute leukaemia or undergoing stem cell transplantation were included during neutropenia episodes.

Long-term use of different doses of low-molecular-weight heparin versus vitamin K antagonists in the treatment of venous thromboembolism.

Background: We evaluated whether the incidence of recurrent venous thromboembolic events (VTEs) during and after therapy differs for patients treated with full or reduced doses of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) used long term compared with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs).

Methods: We identified randomized studies of long-term treatment with LMWH or VKA by searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS, and PASCAL. Seventeen studies were included, with 4,002 patients.

A randomised open-label trial comparing long-term sub-cutaneous low-molecular-weight heparin compared with oral-anticoagulant therapy in the treatment of deep venous thrombosis.

Objective: To evaluate whether low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) could be equally (or more) effective than oral anti-vitamin-K agents (AVK) in the long-term treatment of deep venous thrombosis (DVT).

Design: A randomised, open-label trial.

Material And Methods: In this trial, 241 patients with symptomatic proximal DVT of the lower limbs confirmed by duplex ultrasound scan were included.

Caspase-3 activity, response to chemotherapy and clinical outcome in patients with colon cancer.

Background And Aims: The prognostic value of the degree of apoptosis in colorectal cancer is controversial. This study evaluates the putative clinical usefulness of measuring caspase-3 activity as a prognostic factor in colonic cancer patients receiving 5-fluoracil adjuvant chemotherapy.

Materials And Methods: We evaluated caspase-3-like protease activity in tumours and in normal colon tissue.

Biliary complications after liver transplantation: diagnosis with MR cholangiopancreatography.

Objective: We sought to evaluate MR cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) as the only imaging procedure used in the diagnosis and management of biliary complications after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).

Conclusion: MRCP is a useful imaging procedure in the assessment of biliary complications after OLT.