Helicobacter pylori infection found during upper endoscopy performed for the diagnosis of celiac, inflammatory bowel diseases, and eosinophilic esophagitis: A multicenter pediatric European study.

Background: Helicobacter pylori may be found during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGE) performed to diagnose celiac disease (CeD), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). We aimed to describe the frequency of H. pylori in children undergoing UGE for CeD, IBD, and EoE and the number of children receiving eradication treatment.

A randomized clinical trial comparing six techniques of postoperative analgesia for elective total hip arthroplasty under subarachnoid anesthesia with opioids.

Background: Optimal control of acute postoperative pain and prevention of chronic persistent pain in total hip arthroplasty (THA) remain a challenge. The main hypothesis was that peripheral nerve blocks improve postoperative analgesia.

Methods: Immediate postoperative pain (24 hours) was evaluated every hour in 510 patients using a verbal rating 11-point scale for patient self-reporting of pain (VRS-11).

Agreements and uncertainties in autologous haematopoietic stem cell mobilization and collection. A Spanish consensus document.

Although many experts position statements on autologous stem cell mobilization have been published, there are some aspects that are still under discussion. A Spanish Hematologist expert group was summoned to settle on agreements and uncertainties on PBSCs mobilization, including factors not always considered; as apheresis and cytometry key factors that determine a successful PBSC collection. This document reviews critical factors that define poor mobilizer patients and the tools to better collect the desired stem cells for a successful autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant.

Intrathecal cell therapy with autologous stromal cells increases cerebral glucose metabolism and can offer a new approach to the treatment of Alzheimer's type dementia.

Background Aims: After recent observations that intrathecal administration of autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) increases cerebral metabolism in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), we examined this type of cell therapy in Alzheimer's type dementia.

Methods: Three patients with clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease received every 3 months 100million autologous MSCs by intrathecal route, until a total dose of 300million.

Results: During cell therapy the patients showed arrest in neurological deterioration and two of them manifested clear improvement of previous symptoms.

Intrathecal administration of autologous bone marrow stromal cells improves neuropathic pain in patients with spinal cord injury.

Neuropathic pain (NP) is highly disabling, responds poorly to pharmacological treatment, and represents a significant cause of decreased quality of life in patients suffering from spinal cord injury (SCI). In recent years, cell therapy with autologous mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) has been considered as a potential therapeutic weapon in this entity. Ten patients suffering chronic SCI received 100 million MSCs into subarachnoid space by lumbar puncture (month 1 of the study) and this procedure was repeated at months 4 and 7 until reaching a total doses of 300 million MSCs.

[On line learning in urologic surgery. The value of the 2.0 Web tools.].

The field of Surgery is under the pressure of accelerated change where technological cycles get shorter and shorter, sometimes transformational. Learning and training have gotten a key role because learning curves for new techniques directly affect patient's safety and learning cycles are slower. The traditional learning model within the urology department is overwhelmed.

Should clinically meaningful outcomes in cancer be based on individual survival rather than median overall survival?

Aim: To assess whether the use of median overall survival to define clinically meaningful outcomes in the area of oncology could yield different decisions compared with those obtained with a more realistic measure such as individual survival.

Methods: Two scenarios that offered equivalent health gains/money spent were presented: 'median overall survival' scenario (new treatment provided small clinical benefits for the average population) and 'individual survival'scenario (new treatment provided substantial clinical benefits for a small percentage of the patients and no benefits for the rest). Responses from both scenarios were compared.

Juvenile- and adult-onset systemic lupus erythematosus: a comparative study in a large cohort from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology Lupus Registry (RELESSER).

Objectives: We aimed to describe juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (jSLE) features and to establish its differences compared to adult-onset SLE (aSLE) from a large national database.

Methods: Data from patients (≥4 ACR criteria) included in Spanish Society of Rheumatology Lupus Registry (RELESSER) were analysed. Sociodemographic, clinical, serological, activity, treatment, cumulative damage, comorbidities and severity data were collected.

Incidence, associated factors and clinical impact of severe infections in a large, multicentric cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objectives: To estimate the incidence of severe infection and investigate the associated factors and clinical impact in a large systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) retrospective cohort.

Methods: All patients in the Spanish Rheumatology Society Lupus Registry (RELESSER) who meet ≥4 ACR-97 SLE criteria were retrospectively investigated for severe infections. Patients with and without infections were compared in terms of SLE severity, damage, comorbidities, and demographic characteristics.

Perceptions of Oncologists, Healthcare Policy Makers, Patients and the General Population on the Value of Pharmaceutical Treatments in Oncology.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to explore the main factors explaining the relative weight of the different attributes that determine the value of oncologic treatments from the different perspectives of healthcare policy makers (HCPM), oncologists, patients and the general population in Spain.

Methods: Structured interviews were conducted to assess: (1) the importance of the attributes on treatment choice when comparing a new cancer drug with a standard cancer treatment; (2) the importance of survival, quality of life (QoL), costs and innovation in cancer; and (3) the most worrying side effects related to cancer drugs.

Results: A total of 188 individuals participated in the study.

Comorbidities in Patients With Primary Sjögren's Syndrome and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Comparative Registries-Based Study.

Objective: To compare the prevalence of the main comorbidities in 2 large cohorts of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), with a focus on cardiovascular (CV) diseases.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional multicenter study where the prevalence of more relevant comorbidities in 2 cohorts was compared. Patients under followup from SJOGRENSER (Spanish Rheumatology Society Registry of Primary SS) and RELESSER (Spanish Rheumatology Society Registry of SLE), and who fulfilled the 2002 American-European Consensus Group and 1997 American College of Rheumatology classification criteria, respectively, were included.

Age and gender differences in Clostridium difficile-related hospitalization trends in Madrid (Spain) over a 12-year period.

This study aimed to analyze temporal trends by gender and age in Clostridium difficile infection (CDI)-related hospitalization rates in the Autonomous Community of Madrid (Spain) over a 12-year period. A population-based cross-sectional study of all hospital admissions with a CDI diagnosis from 2003 to 2014 was carried out. Annual age-specific hospitalization rates were calculated by gender.

Do new cancer drugs offer good value for money? The perspectives of oncologists, health care policy makers, patients, and the general population.

Background: In oncology, establishing the value of new cancer treatments is challenging. A clear definition of the different perspectives regarding the drivers of innovation in oncology is required to enable new cancer treatments to be properly rewarded for the value they create. The aim of this study was to analyze the views of oncologists, health care policy makers, patients, and the general population regarding the value of new cancer treatments.

Neuroprotective role of liver growth factor "LGF" in an experimental model of cerebellar ataxia.

Cerebellar ataxias (CA) comprise a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by a lack of motor coordination. They are caused by disturbances in the cerebellum and its associated circuitries, so the major therapeutic goal is to correct cerebellar dysfunction. Neurotrophic factors enhance the survival and differentiation of selected types of neurons.

[Patient with testosterone deficit syndrome and erectile dysfunction non-responder to PDE-5 inhibitors].

Androgens play an essential role in the corporo-venous occlusive mechanism that provokes erection. Accordingly to various studies based on animal models,testosterone deficit syndrome causes an endothelial disorder in the corpora cavernosa with diminished secretion of NO, alteration of penile smooth muscle and tunica albuginea structure, and increase of the number of adipocytes within the erectile tissue, which favors fibrosis and impairs erection. All these alterations are reversible with the exogenous administration of androgens.

Perilesional intrathecal administration of autologous bone marrow stromal cells achieves functional improvement in pigs with chronic paraplegia.

Background Aims: At present, on the basis of the great number of preclinical studies and preliminary clinical trials in humans, bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) transplantation offers promise in the treatment of paraplegia. Nevertheless, there is not enough experience in humans about the best candidates for this type of cell therapy or details about the best parameters or best route of administration.

Methods: Two adult paraplegic pigs with chronic paraplegia were treated only with perilesional intrathecal administration of 40 × 10(6) autologous BMSC suspended in autologous plasma and followed for 1 year after cell transplantation.

Trichotillomania, bipolar disorder and white matter hyperintensities in a six-year old girl.

A six-year-old girl was referred to our child psychiatry outpatient clinic by the Pediatric Neurology Unit with a diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and trichotillomania. She had neither eyebrows nor eyelashes. The clinical picture was of irritability, frequent tantrums, and aggressive behaviour.

Endogenous neurogenesis after intracerebral hemorrhage.

Currently, it is accepted that brain injury promotes endogenous neurogenesis in mammals, primarily in the subventricular zone (SVZ), and newborn cells can migrate to the injured area. We examined the pattern of endogenous neurogenesis in adult rats after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) that was caused by intrastrial administration of collagenase type IV. Our results showed that ICH induced strong endogenous neurogenesis between 72 hours and 7 days after injury, but that the majority of newborn cells did not survive longer than 3 weeks due to apoptosis-mediated cell death.

Failure of delayed intravenous administration of bone marrow stromal cells after traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Currently, there is no effective strategy to treat the functional sequelae associated with TBI. Experimental evidence shows that the intravenous administration of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) during the first week after TBI prevents neurological deficits, but no experimental studies have shown evidence of the effect of intravenous BMSC on chronic brain injury sequelae.

Early infantile epileptic encephalopathy with unusual favourable outcome.

The authors report the case of an infant suffered from early infantile epileptic encephalopathy with suppression-burst, or Ohtahara syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy in early childhood. The patient was treated with vigabatrin causing a favourable response. This unusual outcome may be related with the normality of neuroimaging and metabolic studies, as happens with idiopathic West syndrome cases.