Second harmonic generation for collagen I characterization in rectal cancer patients with and without preoperative radiotherapy.

Rectal cancer is treated with preoperative radiotherapy (RT) to downstage the tumor, reduce local recurrence, and improve patient survival. Still, the treatment outcome varies significantly and new biomarkers are desired. Collagen I (Col-I) is a potential biomarker, which can be visualized label-free by second harmonic generation (SHG).

Are Incidental Gallbladder Cancers Missed with a Selective Approach of Gallbladder Histology at Cholecystectomy?

Background: Incidental gallbladder cancer (IGBC) is an unexpected finding when a cholecystectomy is performed upon a benign indication, and the use of routine or selective histological analysis of gallbladder specimen is still debated. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the proportion of submitted gallbladder specimens for pathological investigation influences the proportion of IGBC found, and what possible factors preoperatively or perioperatively could influence the selection process.

Methods: All cholecystectomies between January 2007 and September 2014 registered in the Swedish Registry of Gallstone Surgery and ERCP (GallRiks) were included.

Age but not Philadelphia positivity impairs outcome in older/elderly patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Sweden.

Objectives: Older/elderly patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are poorly represented in clinical trials.

Methods: Using Swedish national leukemia registries, we investigated disease/patient characteristics, treatment choices, outcome, and the impact of an age-adapted protocol (introduced in 2009) in this population-based study of patients aged 55-85 years, diagnosed with ALL 2005-2012.

Results: Of 174 patients, 82% had B-phenotype, 11% Burkitt leukemia (excluded), and 7% T-phenotype.

Surgical treatment for gallbladder cancer - a systematic literature review.

Objective: To evaluate existing evidence regarding surgical treatments for gallbladder cancer in a Health Technology Assessment. A specific aim was to evaluate whether extended surgery regarding liver, lymph nodes, bile duct, and adjacent organs compared with cholecystectomy alone in the adult patient with gallbladder cancer in early and late stages implies improved survival.

Methods: In April 2015 and updated in June 2016, a systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library.

Functional outcome in 17 patients whose mandibles were reconstructed with free fibular flaps.

Objective: The vascularised free fibular flap is considered to be a reliable choice for reconstruction of oromandibular defects, especially after resection of malignant tumours in the area. This study evaluates the functional outcome of this method.

Method: From January 2001 - May 2014, 37 patients were treated at the University Hospital of Linköping using the free fibular flap.

PDGF-D gene polymorphism is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality in elderly men.

Background: Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) D has been reported to be active in fibroblasts, and in areas of myocardial infarction. In this longitudinal study we evaluated the association between PDGF-D polymorphism and cardiovascular mortality, and attempted to discover whether specific genotype differences regarding risk could be observed, and if gender differences could be seen.

Methods: Four hundred seventy-six elderly community participants were included in this study.

Increased ferritin levels in patients with anorexia nervosa: impact of weight gain.

Purpose: A few recent studies have found elevated ferritin levels in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), indicating ferritin as a potential biomarker of disease severity. The purpose of this study was to study how body mass index (BMI) and changes in BMI affect plasma ferritin concentrations in Swedish patients with eating disorders.

Materials And Methods: In a retrospective computer search from 2009 to 2014, 662 patients with an eating disorder were identified from more than 200,000 individuals with electronic medical records.

Improved Health-Related Quality of Life, and More Days out of Hospital with Supplementation with Selenium and Coenzyme Q10 Combined. Results from a Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled Prospective Study.

Background: The impact of supplementation with selenium and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) on health-care usage and health-related quality of life (Hr-QoL) in community-dwelling elderly people has, to our knowledge, not previously been investigated.

Aim: To investigate the effect of 48 months supplementation with CoQ10 and selenium on community-dwelling elderly as regards: (I) the number of days out of hospital, and (II) the effect on Hr-QoL.

Methods: A 48-month double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial was carried out.

Analysis of breath samples for lung cancer survival.

Analyses of exhaled air by means of electronic noses offer a large diagnostic potential. Such analyses are non-invasive; samples can also be easily obtained from severely ill patients and repeated within short intervals. Lung cancer is the most deadly malignant tumor worldwide, and monitoring of lung cancer progression is of great importance and may help to decide best therapy.

Quality standards for predialysis education: results from a consensus conference.

This position statement was compiled following an expert meeting in March 2013, Zurich, Switzerland. Attendees were invited from a spread of European renal units with established and respected renal replacement therapy option education programmes. Discussions centred around optimal ways of creating an education team, setting realistic and meaningful objectives for patient education, and assessing the quality of education delivered.

Minimal important changes in the Constant-Murley score in patients with subacromial pain.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the minimal important change (MIC) of improvement in the Constant-Murley score in patients with long-standing subacromial pain and in subgroups of patients with subacromial pain with and without rotator cuff ruptures.

Method: The MIC was estimated by the anchor-based MIC distribution method, which integrates an anchor- and distribution-based approach: the optimal cutoff point of the receiver operating characteristic curve (MICROC) and the 95% limit cutoff point (MIC95% limit). The study population consisted of 93 patients included in a randomized clinical trial evaluating the effect of a specific exercise strategy.

Acoustic analysis of a mechanical circulatory support.

Mechanical circulatory support technology is continually improving. However, adverse complications do occur with devastating consequences, for example, pump thrombosis that may develop in several parts of the pump system. The aim of this study was to design an experimental clot/thrombosis model to register and analyze acoustic signals from the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) HeartMate II (HMII) (Thoratec Corporation, Inc.

Dressing the split-thickness skin graft donor site: a randomized clinical trial.

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to compare Aquacel (ConvaTec, Skillman, New Jersey), Allevyn (Smith & Nephew, St Petersburg, Florida), and Mediskin I (Mölnlycke, Health Care AB, Gothenburg, Sweden) in the treatment of split-thickness skin graft donor sites.

Design: This study was performed as a prospective randomized, 3-arm, clinical study.

Setting: A clinical study performed at a hand and plastic surgery department with burn unit.

What do patients need to know? Living with inflammatory bowel disease.

Aims And Objectives: To explore the need for knowledge as expressed by patients diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease has a major impact on physical and emotional well-being, placing considerable demands on patients' management of daily activities. Although inflammatory bowel disease patients' level of knowledge about their disease has been previously studied, it is necessary to learn more about their self-expressed needs.

Use of the national quality registry to monitor health-related quality of life of children with type 1 diabetes: a pilot study.

The management of diabetes is complicated, as treatment affects the everyday life of both children and their families. To enable optimal care for children with type 1 diabetes, it is important to highlight health-related quality of life (HrQoL) as well as medical outcomes to detect psychological problems that otherwise could be missed. The aim was to study HrQoL in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes dependent on gender, age and co-morbidity and to study the consistency between children's self-reporting and parents' proxy reporting.

Getting rid of intracellular Aβ- loss of cellular degradation leads to transfer between connected neurons.

The sporadic, late onset form of Alzheimer's disease (AD) shares pathological hallmarks with the familial form; however, no clear reason for increased β-amyloid (Aβ) generation has been found in the former. It has long been speculated that the late onset form of AD is caused by reduced degradation and/or clearance of Aβ. Indeed, both intracellular degradation systems, the proteasomal and lysosomal systems, have been shown to be defective in AD.

Time-course of depressive symptoms in patients with heart failure.

Background: It is unclear how depressive symptoms in patients with heart failure develop over time and whether this trajectory of depressive symptoms is associated with hospital admission and prognosis.

Aim: To describe the time-course of depressive symptoms and determine the relationship with hospitalisation and mortality.

Method: Data was analysed using 611 patients with completed CES-D questionnaires at baseline and at 18 months.

Pro-A-type natriuretic peptide, proadrenomedullin, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide used in a multimarker strategy in primary health care in risk assessment of patients with symptoms of heart failure.

Objective: Use of new biomarkers in the handling of heart failure patients has been advocated in the literature, but most often in hospital-based populations. Therefore, we wanted to evaluate whether plasma measurement of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), midregional pro-A-type natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP), and midregional proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM), individually or combined, gives prognostic information regarding cardiovascular and all-cause mortality that could motivate use in elderly patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of heart failure in primary health care.

Methods And Results: The study included 470 elderly patients (mean age 73 years) with symptoms of heart failure in primary health care.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms and mental health services utilization in adolescents with social anxiety disorder and experiences of victimization.

Recent findings from studies on adults show similarities between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and posttraumatic stress in the form of recurrent memories and intrusive and distressing images of earlier aversive events. Further, treatment models for SAD in adults have been successfully developed by using transdiagnostic knowledge on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Studies on adolescents are though missing.

Comparing ambient, air-convection, and fluid-convection heating techniques in treating hypothermic burn patients, a clinical RCT.

Background: Hypothermia in burns is common and increases morbidity and mortality. Several methods are available to reach and maintain normal core body temperature, but have not yet been evaluated in critical care for burned patients. Our unit's ordinary technique for controlling body temperature (Bair Hugger®+ radiator ceiling + bed warmer + Hotline®) has many drawbacks e.

Social integration: an important factor for health-related quality of life after critical illness.

Objectives: To examine to what extent availability of social integration affects health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in former intensive care unit (ICU) patients and how it relates to corresponding findings in a general reference group.

Design: Controlled, multicenter, prospective, explorative study.

Setting And Patients: HRQoL data (SF-36) were collected from three combined medical and surgical ICUs in the south-east of Sweden.

Doubling of water intake increases daytime blood pressure and reduces vertigo in healthy subjects.

We studied the effect of increased water intake on ambulatory blood pressure (BP) in healthy individuals. Blood pressure was recorded after 2 weeks of either regular (RWI) or extra water intake (EWI, an additional 30 ml water/kg body weight per day) in 20 healthy subjects (10 males, 10 females). The extra water intake (RWI: 1.

Second harmonic echocardiography and spontaneous contrast during implantation of a left ventricular assist device.

Implantable mechanical left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are used as a bridge or alternative to heart transplantation. Peroperative transesophageal echocardiography is commonly applied during implantation. Significant air embolism may occur as a result of air leakage at connections and anastomoses when LV filling becomes inadequate, and this must be prevented.

Low plasma concentrations of coagulation factors II, VII and XI indicate increased risk among elderly with symptoms of heart failure.

Heart failure is a serious condition, and it is, therefore, important to identify patients at high risk as early as possible in order to initiate appropriate treatment. The condition results in complicated disease mechanisms including disturbances in blood coagulation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether low plasma concentrations of coagulation factors (F) II, VII and XI influence cardiovascular mortality in an elderly population with possible heart failure.

Sights of touching activates the somatosensory cortex in humans.

We report our observations of cross-modal interactions between sight and touch using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Experiments were devised to show that sight and touch are linked in a cross-modal arrangement, and two separate experiments were done in an MRI scanner. In the first, the subject's right hand was stimulated with a brush; in the second, a video sequence was presented to the subject inside the scanner through video goggles in visual three-dimensional stereo, showing one brushstroke every second on a hand in the same manner as the subject had just previously experienced.