Fundamentals of immunology for understanding immunotherapy for lymphoma

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Criteria for selection of patients for bariatric surgery

International criteria for bariatric surgery and bariatric surgeons have been well-defined in terms of the current state of the art and are presented together with weight tables and a list of co-morbidities of morbid obesity. The bariatric surgeon should make the primary judgement concerning bariatric surgery using these criteria as guidelines only, not strict rules; others who use these criteria should govern themselves in a like, fair-minded, fashion. Medical insurers' and their agents' criteria, if excessively restrictive relative to the guidelines, may reflect an ingrained prejudice against the morbidly obese, manifesting itself in an unfair, unethical and immoral bias. It is the essence of humane and equitable behaviour on the part of all concerned that the morbidly obese receive non-discriminatory, appropriate treatment, care and medical insurer coverage for their disease and its comorbidities.     

Criteria for studies of treatment for oral-pharyngeal dysphagia

Treatment for oral and pharyngeal dysphagia may take a number of forms. Whether prosthetic devices, medication, surgery, compensatory strategies, or exercise programs are used, objective studies are needed to quantify the effects of these treatments on particular types of patients. Before the initiation of any treatment protocol, the anatomy and physiology of each patient's swallowing process should be documented objectively. Patient groups treated and studied should be homogeneous in the nature of their swallowing disorder, the etiology of that disorder, and the stage of their recovery or deterioration. The treatment protocol should be defined in detail. A variety of study designs may be used, including randomized protocols and single-subject designs.     

Gonadotropin therapy for the treatment of anovulation and for ovarian hyperstimulation for IVF

Knowledge of the mechanisms of single dominant follicle selection has led to the development of a novel and effective ovulation induction regimen for anovulatory women; the step down protocol. This commences with a fixed high gonadotropin dose followed by several decremental steps. For some patients the initial dose is too high, risking ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. A major improvement to this approach would, therefore, be the ability to use initial screening characteristics to assess the individual FSH threshold beforehand. For IVF treatment, interfering in the process of single dominant follicle selection in ovulatory women by late follicular phase administration of low doses of FSH may result in a significantly reduced duration of stimulation and amounts of exogenous FSH preparations used. Less monitoring would be required and chances for short-term complications or long term risks may be reduced.     

Filter Columns for Preparation of Leukocyte-Poor Blood for Transfusion

Filter columns (Imugard filters) packed with cotton wool prepared from Gossypium barbadense cotton removed 95--100% of leukocytes from packed red cell suspensions. Recovery of red cells was about 95%. The efficacy was similar for ACD and heparinized blood. Blood was filtered below 10 degrees C within 30 min under pressures of less than 0.2 kg/cm2. The shape and functions of the red cells were not altered by filtration. No pyrogenic or toxic substances, and little particulate matter were eluted from the filters.     

Novel frontiers of agents for bowel cleansing for colonoscopy

The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is characterized by rapid declines in the wake of widespread screening. Colonoscopy is the gold standard for CRC screening, but its accuracy is related to high quality of bowel preparation (BP). In this review, we aimed to summarized the current strategy to increase bowel cleansing before colonoscopy. Newly bowel cleansing agents were developed with the same efficacy of previous agent but requiring less amount of liquid to improve patients’ acceptability. The role of the diet before colonoscopy was also changed, as well the contribution of educational intervention and the use of adjunctive drugs to improve patients’ tolerance and/or quality of BP. The review also described BP in special situations, as lower gastrointestinal bleeding, elderly people, patients with chronic kidney disease, patients with inflammatory bowel disease, patients with congestive heart failure, inpatient, patient with previous bowel resection, pregnant/lactating patients. The review underlined the quality of BP should be described using a validate scale in colonoscopy report and it explored the available scales. Finally, the review explored the possible contribution of bowel cleansing in post-colonoscopy syndrome that can be related by a transient alteration of gut microbiota. Moreover, the study underlined several points needed to further investigations.     

Noninvasive Testing for Selection of Patients for Electrophysiological Study

Background: The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) has underscored the limitations of our methods of risk assessment. ICDs should be available to patients at high risk for arrhythmic death, but because of the potential for adverse effects and high cost it should be scrupulously avoided in patients whose lives will not be prolonged. Unfortunately, discrimination between these two groups of patients remains a challenge. Recent clinical trial results have not only shown that electrophysiological studies (EPS) in combination with other risk stratifiers identify patients with ischemic heart disease at high risk for arrhythmic death, but they have linked the efficacy of ICD therapy to the results of EPS. However, to perform EPS in all potential candidates for ICD therapy would be a time-consuming and costly burden to medical services and would expose many patients to the risks and discomfort of an invasive procedure. Noninvasive identification of appropriate candidates is therefore essential to successful application of EPS. Methods: Nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) and a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) was used to select patients for EPS in two important trials, but it is not certain that these are the optimal tests or that the optimal thresholds 1 episode of NSVT 3 beats; EF 0.35 or EF 0.40) were used. A number of studies have addressed the accuracy of clinical factors for predicting the results of EPS and a number of noninvasive tests have been proposed including the signal-averaged electrocardiogram, heart rate variability, T-wave alternans, and high spatial resolution (multilead) electrocardiography. In some contexts, combinations of factors provide significant improvements in accuracy. However, the populations studied were often highly selected, which makes comparisons between techniques or prediction of responses in the populations that would require screening difficult. Results from recently completed and ongoing clinical trials should provide important new information. A greater problem is that EPS has not been shown to consistently provide accurate discrimination of patients with nonischemic cardiac disorders. Conclusions: Effective widespread application of ICD therapy will require greater precision of patient selection. Noninvasive tests under investigation demonstrate considerable promise in selecting appropriate candidates for EPS. However, because the most precise methods of risk assessment are likely to be those most closely linked to the mechanisms of fatal arrhythmias, it is important that further development of noninvasive techniques incorporates advances in basic cardiac electrophysiology. A.N.E. 1999;4(4):434–442     

骨质疏松症诊断的专题研讨会征文通知

中华医学会骨质疏松和骨矿盐疾病分会定于 2 0 0 2年 4月在重庆召开“骨质疏松诊断专题研讨会”。征文内容 :骨质疏松症、髋部骨折、椎体骨折及其他骨质疏松性骨折的流行病学研究 ;骨质疏松症的影像学表现 ;骨量测定及其质量控制 (包括双能Ｘ线吸收仪骨密度测定 ,单光子吸收仪骨密度测定和定量ＣＴ骨密度测定等 ) ;骨超声检查 ;骨强度的评估 ;骨质疏松性骨折的骨密度阈值 ;骨质疏松症诊断标准的探讨 ;有关骨质疏松症诊断的其他方面的论文均可投稿。征文要求 :.本次会议为专题研讨会 ,对所投稿件的研究内容不做时间限制 ,已发表的文章亦可以…     

Prospects for the manufacture of red cells for transfusion

Whilst red cell transfusion is a well established cellular therapy, the problems of insufficiency of supply, transfusion transmitted infections and the requirement for immunological matching persist. The possibility of generating large numbers of O Rh D negative red cells at Good Manufacturing Practice grade as a route to circumvent these issues is therefore an attractive proposition. Significant numbers of erythrocytes can be generated from somatic haematopoietic stem cells, but it seems unlikely that these can provide sufficient volumes for large scale manufacture. However, human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and, potentially, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), may provide a route to this objective. Red cell transfusion is an attractive goal for pluripotent stem cell‐derived therapeutics because it is a well‐characterised single cell suspension that lacks nucleated cells and has a low expression of human leucocyte antigen molecules, but many challenges remain in translating this cellular therapy to the clinic.