Dealing with cancer--conversations with radiotherapy patients

Thirty in-patients treated by radiotherapy were questioned in qualitative interviews about the information they had received from the physicians and their way to deal with the disease and the physicians. Furthermore 18 persons out of this group were accompanied continuously. The confidential relationships between the patients and the author of the study brought about spontaneous conversations showing some new aspects of the way to experience disease and therapy. Despite a poor prognosis and an initially insufficient information, the patients formulated their questions openly. Generally they desired a clearer communication. They criticized above all the lack of information and attention from the physicians. A need for confidence, frankness, and the conveyance of a justified hope was expressed. The physician's stress and resulting lack of time was complained of. During the time of accompanying which lasted several weeks, it became evident that information means a way to deal with the disease to which the patient can make his individual contribution. The majority of questions as well as emotional reactions as fear or depression came from those patients who seemed to be quiet persons.     

Radiochemotherapy with temozolomide for patients with glioblastoma

Background

The objective of this retrospective analysis was to assess long-term outcome and prognostic factors of unselected patients treated for glioblastoma (GB) at a single center with surgery, standard radiotherapy (RT), and concomitant temozolomide (TMZ). From 1999?C2005, the institutional protocol included surgery and RT with TMZ. From 2005 on, adjuvant TMZ was routinely added.

Patients and Methods

Between April 1999 and September 2009, 181 patients with GB were treated with RT (60 Gy in 30 fractions) and concomitant TMZ (75 mg/m²/day throughout RT). Biopsy only had been performed in 53 patients (29.3%), 128 patients (70.7%) had undergone resection, which was complete based on postoperative MRI in 51 patients (28.2%). Adjuvant TMZ was applied in 67 of 181 patients (37%).

Results

Median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 15.0 (95% CI, 13.1?C16.8) and 7.2 months (95% CI, 5.9?C8.5), respectively. After complete resection, partial/subtotal resection and biopsy, median OS was 23.20, 14.75, and 7.89 months (p < 0.001), respectively. In multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models, extent of resection (p < 0.0001), Karnofsky??s performance score (p < 0.0001) and adjuvant TMZ (p = 0.001) were significant independent prognostic factors for OS. RT with concomitant TMZ was well tolerated in the majority of patients and could be completed as scheduled in 146 patients (80.7%), while 11 patients (6.1%) discontinued RT. Another 35 patients (19.3%) interrupted concomitant chemotherapy.

Conclusion

RT with concomitant TMZ is a feasible regimen with acceptable toxicity in routine practice. Our data are compatible with a beneficial effect of adjuvant TMZ on OS and PFS.     

湿润烧伤膏与手术联合治疗褥疮的护理

目的 :减少溃疡期褥疮的术前准备时间 ,缩短褥疮的总病程。方法 :将 1996年 5月至 2 0 0 2年 5月收住院的 4 2例溃疡期褥疮病人按随机原则分为 2组 ,2 1例术前用湿润烧伤膏纱换药处理 ,为A组 (试验组 ) ;2 1例用庆大霉素紫草油纱布换药处理 ,为B组 (对照组 )。 2组病例的年龄、性别、发病原因、病灶部位、病灶范围等经统计学处理 ,无显著性差别 ,有可比性。两组病人均换药至创面新鲜行皮瓣转移手术 ;比较两组平均术前换药时间 ,及换药 +手术的总住院日。术前术后两组患者均运用护理程序施行整体护理。结果 :A组术前平均换药时间为 8 4 9± 2 2 3天 ,B组为 15 6 0± 6 70天 ;A组平均治愈时间为 2 0 5 0± 4 81天 ,B组为 35 31± 7 70天。结论 :湿润烧伤膏换药与庆大霉素紫草油纱布换药比较 ,前者可明显缩短褥疮手术的术前准备时间及病人的总住院天数。     

Bronchogenic carcinoma: staging with MR compared with staging with CT and surgery

Thirty-three patients suspected of having bronchogenic carcinoma were studied prospectively using magnetic resonance (MR). In this group, 30 underwent examination with computed tomography (CT), 15 underwent thoracotomy, six had mediastinal biopsy procedures performed, and eight underwent bronchoscopy. MR studies, which included transaxial spin-echo imaging (TR, 0.5 and 2.0 sec; TE, 28 and 56 msec) of all patients and sagittal or coronal imaging of 18, were performed without knowledge of CT findings, using only plain radiographs as a guide. CT and MR studies were interpreted separately. CT and MR provided comparable information regarding the presence and size of mediastinal lymph nodes. MR better discriminated mediastinal nodes from vascular structures. However, in two of 11 patients who had multiple mediastinal lymph nodes that were normal in size at CT examination and surgery, MR suggested a confluent abnormal mass, probably because of its poorer spatial resolution. MR was superior to CT in showing enlarged hilar lymph nodes, but CT was better for demonstrating bronchial abnormalities. In three of four patients who had a proved hilar mass with distal obstructive pneumonia, MR (TR, 2.0 sec) helped distinguish between the mass and collapsed lung.     

臭氧治疗船员下肢损伤89例

2006年10月至2007年4月,我科采用引进的德国赫尔曼Medozon型臭氧发生装置系统产生的臭氧治疗船员下肢损伤89例,疗效满意.现报告如下.     

Tumor Burden Assessment with Positron Emission Tomography with

Objective: In patients with advanced cancer, total tumor burden affects the likelihood of tumor response and has important implications for prognosis. The aim of this study was to select the optimum 2-[F-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG PET) tumor uptake parameter to accurately measure tumor burden in advanced metastatic renal cell cancer, in comparison with volumes measured with computed tomography (CT), as a reference test.Materials and Methods: Six patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma measurable on CT were studied. CT and FDG PET scans were carried out on all patients within 4 weeks prior to their entry into a phase I-II radioimmunotherapy trial. CT-based evaluation of disease extent (tumor volume) and 4 PET-based measurements (standardized uptake value[SUVmax], SUVav, volume, and total lesion glycolysis [TLG]) were performed independently by a radiologist (VN) and a nuclear medicine physician (TA). The degree of correlation between conventional (CT) extent of disease and parameters describing tumor concentration of FDG was then determined.Results: Fifty-seven CT-measurable metastatic lesions in lung, abdomen, and scalp were evaluated in 6 patients. There was a high correlation between CT and FDG PET volume estimates for lesions greater than 5 cm(3) in size. However, a PET-derived parameter that embodies both FDG uptake and lesion size, the TLG, correlated better with CT-derived tumor volume than did FDG PET volume alone.Conclusion: Using CT volume as a gold standard, the optimal PET-based estimate of total tumor burden in patients with metastatic renal cancer is the sum over all lesions of the total lesion glycolysis.     

MEBO药纱门诊治疗烧(烫)伤71例的体会

作者报道用MEBO药纱敷盖门诊治疗烧（烫）伤71例，均获治愈。经随访1年，深Ⅱ度创面疤痕发生率为15％（3／20），浅Ⅲ度创面疤痕发生率为38．9％（7／18）。     

多虑平、雷尼替丁治疗消化性溃疡81例临床观察

1995年 1月～ 1 998年 2月 ,我们采用多虑平、雷尼替丁治疗消化性溃疡 (ＰＵ) ,并与雷尼替丁为对照组进行治疗观察 ,疗效满意 ,现总结报告如下。1　临床资料1 1　一般资料　本组 81例ＰＵ均因上腹痛、返酸、腹胀及食欲不振等症状 ,经胃镜诊断为溃疡活动期患者。病程 2个月～ 5ａ,平均 1 7ａ。伴有焦虑、抑郁及夜眠欠佳等症者59例。随机分为 2组 :治疗组 4 1例 ,男 3 8例 ,女 3例 ;年龄 1 8～ 3 6岁 ,平均 2 4岁。其中胃溃疡 1 1例 ,十二指肠球部溃疡 3 0例。对照组 4 0例 ,男 3 7例 ,女 3例 ;年龄 1 9～ 3 5岁 ,平均 2 4 5岁 ;胃溃疡 1 2…     

Transarterial chemoembolization with drug-eluting beads in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: response analysis with mRECIST

PURPOSEAccording to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging classification, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the treatment of choice for intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Thereby, the use of drug-eluting beads (DEB) as embolic agents has been recently established in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to evaluate tumor response after DEB-TACE.METHODSThis retrospective study was approved by the institutional ethics committee. Overall, 89 patients with HCC (Child Pugh A or B) receiving DEB-TACE as palliative treatment option or as bridging before liver transplantation were included in the study. Tumor response was assessed by modified response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (mRECIST) and a tumor growth rate. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier estimator with log-rank testing and Cox proportional hazards.RESULTSA total of 188 TACE procedures were performed between 2006 and 2010. After the last intervention, 18% achieved complete response, 45% achieved partial response, 28% had stable disease and 9% had progressive disease. Using the tumor growth rate, 90% of all patients showed a tumor reduction between first and final response evaluation. The 6-month, 1-, 2- and 3-year overall survival rates were 86.5%, 67.4%, 47.2%, and 33.7%, with a median survival of 45, 24, 15, and 14 months for complete response, partial response, stable disease, and progressive disease, respectively. Tumor reduction showed a positive effect on survival.CONCLUSIONDEB-TACE offers conclusive response results with mRECIST and proves a strong tendency of tumor reduction on survival benefits. Therefore, tumor growth rate represents a possible parameter to predict survival.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer and the third deadliest cancer in industrialized countries (1). The relevance for HCC is rising by its increase of incidence which is attributed to a higher occurrence of hepatitis B and C as well as to a growing number of alcohol-associated liver diseases and to the epidemic of metabolic syndrome (2, 3). Taking this into account, as well as late diagnosis and very poor prognosis, prevention and treatment of HCC represents the main focus of research.The clinical staging system according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) classification was introduced by Llovet in 1999 and was updated by Forner in 2010, assigning 5 stages according to tumor burden, liver function, and physical condition that are referred to treatment indications (4, 5). With improved surveillance programs nowadays, diagnosis at an initial stage is feasible for 30%–40% of the patients. Still most patients are diagnosed at intermediate and advanced stage and can therefore only be considered for noncurative treatment options (6). Especially patients at intermediate stage (BCLC-B) benefit from transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) which is the only noncurative treatment, combined with systemic chemotherapy of sorafenib, lenvatinib or regorafenib, that shows to improve survival (7–9).TACE protocols differ widely among centers in regard to technique and chemotherapeutics. In particular the choice of embolic agents is of great scientific interest, as the lipiodol-based conventional TACE (cTACE) is being questioned to release chemotherapeutics in an unregulated high amount to the bloodstream (10). The recent development of drug-eluting beads (DEB) as embolic microspheres, which release high-dose chemotherapeutics in a more controlled way over several weeks, makes them a favorable object of study (11).To assess therapy success and its connection to survival, the adequate selection of response criteria is crucial. This led us to our current retrospective investigation, analyzing tumor response criteria after DEB-TACE in HCC patients and identifying possible survival benefits among response groups.     

Correction measured by attenuation in tomographic heart studies with single photon emission with thallium 201. Comparison with positron- emission tomographic studies with ammonium marked with nitrogen

PURPOSE: We investigated 201Tl myocardial uptake with(out) nonuniform attenuation compensation in ischemic myocardiopathy patients. The segmental patterns of the two types of SPECT images were compared with PET [13N]NH3 studies performed in the same patient. PET images were taken as reference and the diagnostic accuracy of SPECT with(out) attenuation correction was evaluated. MATERIAL AND METHODS: During the SPECT study transmission and emission data were simultaneously recorded by a triple head gamma camera equipped with fan beam collimators and a 99mTc transmission line source (740MBq). SPECT and PET images, the former reconstructed with(out) attenuation correction, were corecorded and reoriented along the short axis. The left ventricular wall was divided into 11 segments and segmental activity normalized to maximum in each study. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found between PET/(un)corrected SPECT ratios in posterior and septal segments. In these myocardial regions, attenuation correction compensates for attenuation artifacts, by correcting the underestimation of radioactivity concentration caused by radiation absorption. A statistically significant difference was also found in midventricular anterior and apical segments (p < .05). However, in these regions attenuation correction results in a decrease in corrected relative to uncorrected SPECT activity. The agreement rate with PET data is higher for corrected SPECT (mean differences were 3.12 +/- 11.51 and 2.19 +/- 8.63 for uncorrected versus corrected SPET). We had 50% positive and 77% negative predictive value without attenuation correction, versus up to 69% and 90%, respectively, with attenuation correction. CONCLUSIONS: The attenuation correction procedure with simultaneous transmission-emission effectively reduces attenuation artifacts in SPECT myocardial imaging. While diagnostic accuracy increases in posterior and septal myocardial regions, anterior and apical data need careful interpretation because a relative decrease in radioactivity concentration can be observed after attenuation correction.     

高压氧治疗46例特发性面神经麻痹的体会

特发性面神经麻痹,又称Bell麻痹、周同性面神经瘫痪、面神经炎等,是一种急性发作的一侧周嗣性面神经麻痹[1].为探讨高压氧在特发性面神经麻痹治疗中的作用,笔者自2004年1月至2006年12月采用临床常规和加用高压氧2种方法治疗特发性面神经麻痹各46例.现报告如下.     

烧伤合并多器官功能衰竭117例临床分析

目的　探讨烧伤合并多器官功能衰竭 (MOF)的临床特点。方法　对 1993年 1月— 2 0 0 2年 12月治疗的 117例烧伤合并MOF作出分析。结果　吸入性损伤、休克、全身性感染是烧伤后导致MOF的常见诱因 ,烧伤合并MOF后果严重、死亡率极高。结论　抓住休克、感染的预防 ,是减少MOF发生率、降低烧伤死亡率的关键。     

Women with fibromyalgia walk with an altered muscle synergy

Most individuals can use different movement and muscle recruitment patterns to perform a stated task but often only one pattern is selected which optimizes an unknown global objective given the individual's neuromusculoskeletal characteristics. Patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FS), characterized by their chronic pain, reduced physical work capacity and muscular fatigue, could exhibit a different control signature compared to asymptomatic control volunteers (CV). To test this proposal, 22 women with FS, and 11 CV, were assessed in a gait analysis laboratory. Each subject walked repeatedly at self-selected slow, comfortable, and fast walking speeds. The gait analysis provided, for each walk, each subject's stride time, length, and velocity, and ground reaction force, and lower extremity joint kinematics, moments and powers. The data were then anthropometrically scaled and velocity normalized to reduce the influence of subject mass, leg length, and walking speed on the measured gait outcomes. Similarities and differences in the two groups' scaled and normalized gait patterns were then determined. Results show that FS and CV walk with externally similar stride lengths, times, and velocities, and joint angles and ground reaction forces but they use internally different muscle recruitment patterns. Specifically, FS preferentially power gait using their hip flexors instead of their ankle plantarflexors. Interestingly, CV use a similar muscle fatiguing recruitment pattern to walk fast which parallels the common complaint of fatigue reported by FS walking at comfortable speed.