Palliative treatment with high-dose-rate endobronchial interventional radiotherapy (Brachytherapy) for lung cancer patients.

Purpose: to report on the use of high-dose-rate (HDR) endobronchial interventional radiotherapy (brachytherapy, EBIRT) for palliation of symptoms in patients with lung cancer.

Patients And Methods: retrospective review of lung cancer patients treated with HDR-EBIRT at our institution (1995-2017). Treatment results and treatment related toxicity were recorded.

kOBCS: a novel software calculator program of the Objective Breast Cosmesis Scale (OBCS).

Purpose: The Objective Breast Cosmesis Scale (OBCS) is an objective method that documents the aesthetic changes in breast cancer patients. This work evaluates the kOBCS software (http://www.kobcs.

Salvage treatment with sole high-dose-rate endobronchial interventional radiotherapy (brachytherapy) for isolated endobronchial tumor recurrence in non-small-cell lung cancer patients: a 20-year experience.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report on the use of high-dose-rate (HDR) endobronchial interventional radiotherapy (brachytherapy) for isolated endobronchial tumor recurrence in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, in whom a surgery or external radiation treatment is not possible.

Methods And Materials: A retrospective review of the patients with endobronchial tumors treated with HDR-endobronchial interventional radiotherapy at our institution (1995-2015) was performed. Treatment results and treatment-related toxicity were recorded.

Cosmetic assessment in brachytherapy (interventional radiotherapy) for breast cancer: A multidisciplinary review.

Purpose: This review was to focus on breast brachytherapy cosmetic assessment methods state of the art and to define the advantages and disadvantages related to.

Methods And Materials: We conducted a literature review of the major experience on breast brachytherapy cosmetic assessment methods in several databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases). To identify the relevant works, a task force screened citations at title and abstract level to identify potentially relevant paper.

Impact of pathological complete response following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in esophageal cancer.

Background: Neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy (nRCT) followed by surgery has become the gold standard treatment in patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer. The pathological response is an important predictor in such patients. This work represents a single-center analysis investigating the impact of pathological complete response (pCR) on treatment outcome.

Full-Thickness Resection Device for Complex Colorectal Lesions in High-Risk Patients as a Last-Resort Endoscopic Treatment: Initial Clinical Experience and Review of the Current Literature.

The full-thickness resection device (FTRD) is a novel endoscopic device approved for the resection of colorectal lesions. This case-series describes the device and its use in high-risk patients with colorectal lesions and provides an overview of the potential indications in recently published data. Between December 2014 and September 2015, 3 patients underwent endoscopic full thickness resection using the FTRD for colorectal lesions: 1 case for a T1 adenocarcinoma in the region of a surgical anastomosis after recto-sigmoidectomy, 1 case for a non-lifting colonic adenoma with low-grade dysplasia in an 89-year old patient and 1 for a recurrent adenoma with high-grade dysplasia in a young patient with ulcerative rectocolitis who was under immunosuppression after renal transplantation.

A medical device-grade T1 and ECV phantom for global T1 mapping quality assurance-the T Mapping and ECV Standardization in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (T1MES) program.

Background: T mapping and extracellular volume (ECV) have the potential to guide patient care and serve as surrogate end-points in clinical trials, but measurements differ between cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) scanners and pulse sequences. To help deliver T mapping to global clinical care, we developed a phantom-based quality assurance (QA) system for verification of measurement stability over time at individual sites, with further aims of generalization of results across sites, vendor systems, software versions and imaging sequences. We thus created T1MES: The T1 Mapping and ECV Standardization Program.

Immediate recovery of renal function after orthotopic liver transplantation in a patient with hepatorenal syndrome requiring hemodialysis for more than 8 months.

Severe liver dysfunction may lead to impairment of renal function without an underlying renal pathology. This phenomenon is called hepatorenal syndrome (HRS), which is associated with a poor prognosis showing a median survival of less than 2 months if renal replacement therapy is necessary. Liver transplantation is the best therapeutic option to regain renal function, but because of poor survival, these patients often die before transplantation.

Laparoscopic versus open donor nephrectomy in Germany: impact on donor health-related quality of life and willingness to donate.

Introduction: Laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy (LDN) offers multiple advantages to the donor. Since 1999 LDN has become the only surgical approach for living kidney donation in our department. To our knowledge a donor health-related quality of life (QoL) has not yet been performed with standardized and validated questionnaires to compare laparoscopic with open nephrectomy.

Safety and feasibility of a cardiac support device.

The Cardiac Support Device (CSD), a preformed-knitted polyester device surgically placed over the cardiac ventricles, prevents left ventricular (LV) remodeling and improves LV ejection fraction (EF) in dogs with heart failure (HF). This study was designed to examine the safety of the CSD in patients with advanced HF. As of December 31, 1999, the CSD was implanted into 22 patients with myocardial disease.

Quantification of the effect of inhaled budesonide on airway inflammation in intermittent asthma by bronchitis index.

The bronchitis index (BI) is a scoring system for the visual quantification of airway inflammation by flexible bronchoscopy. A prospective study was carried out to determine whether patients with intermittent asthma present a considerable visible airway inflammation. Ten steroid-naive patients with intermittent asthma taking only inhaled beta2-agonists were enrolled and received budesonide (800 microg/day) over a period of 4 weeks.

Registration of functional and anatomical MRI: accuracy assessment and application in navigated neurosurgery.

Objective: A procedure for acquisition, automated registration, and fusion of functional and anatomical magnetic resonance images is presented. Its accuracy is quantitatively assessed using a publicly available gold standard. A patient case is used to illustrate the technique's clinical usefulness in image-guided neurosurgery.

Virus safety of avital bone tissue transplants: evaluation of sterilization steps of spongiosa cuboids using a peracetic acid-methanol mixture.

The aim of this study was to validate the virus-inactivating/eliminating capacity of the manufacturing process of spongiosa cuboids. Both the sterilization step with peracetic acid (PAA)/ethanol and the defatting step of bones with chloroform/methanol (2:1, v/v) were investigated. Relevant enveloped, non-enveloped, and model viruses belonging to different virus families were included in the investigation: human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2), hepatitis A virus (HAV), poliovirus (PV-1), pseudorabies virus (PRV), porcine parvovirus (PPV), and bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV).

Plasmacytoid monocytes appear in the bronchoalveolar lavage: differences between smokers and nonsmokers.

The primary purpose of this study was to describe the expression pattern of the surface antigens CD68, CD36, 27E10, G16/1, and RM3/1 on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells of smokers and nonsmokers. We found a cell type, morphologically similar to lymphocytes, which showed a strong expression of the monocyte markers CD68 and CD36. We therefore recognized these cells as plasmacytoid monocytes (PM).

Plasmalogens effectively reduce the surface tension of surfactant-like phospholipid mixtures.

The alkenyl-acyl subclass of phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) and phosphatidylcholine (plasmalogens) are minor components of alveolar surfactant. Plasmalogens promote and stabilize hexagonal structures of phospholipids. In another study (W.

Interleukin-4 (IL-4) enhances and soluble interleukin-4 receptor (sIL-4R) inhibits histamine release from peripheral blood basophils and mast cells in vitro and in vivo.

The aim of the study was to analyse the effect of interleukin-4 (IL-4) on allergen and anti-IgE mediated histamine release from basophils and human skin mast cells and to assess whether soluble recombinant interleukin-4 receptor (sIL4R) can inhibit these effects. Anti-IgE stimulated histamine release from peripheral blood basophils and mast cells of atopic donors was enhanced after preincubation with IL-4, whereas after preincubation with sIL-4R it was inhibited. These effects were even more pronounced when samples were stimulated with a clinically relevant allergen.

Myeloperoxidase and eosinophil cationic protein in serum and sputum during antibiotic treatment in cystic fibrosis patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection.

I order to study the time-course of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) as parameters for monitoring inflammation in cystic fibrosis (CF), we investigated ten patients during both a 14-day intravenous antibiotic treatment and a corresponding self control. Modified Shwachman-Kulczycki score improved significantly (p < 0.008), C-reactive protein (CRP) levels decreased significantly (p < 0.