Performance comparison of a flow cytometry immunoassay for intracellular cytokine staining and the QuantiFERON® SARS-CoV-2 test for detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2-Spike-reactive-IFN-γ-producing T cells after COVID-19 vaccination

European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases - We compared the performance of an in-house-developed flow cytometry assay for intracellular cytokine staining (FC-ICS) and a...     

Caliber-persistent labial artery: report of 3 cases

The caliber-persistent labial artery is a vascular anomaly in which a primary arterial branch penetrates into the submucosal tissue without reduction in diameter. Most lesions are benign and do not require treatment, except for complications and/or on patient demands. In this way, noninvasive diagnostic tools are preferred such as high-resolution and color Doppler ultrasonography which allow direct observation of the lesion, assessing its exact location and diameter at every axis, as well as the blood flow velocity. An excisional biopsy of these lesions or even their surgical extirpation could have a fatal outcome with profuse bleeding.     

Calendario de vacunaciones de la Asociación Española de Pediatría: recomendaciones 2021

The CAV-AEP annually publishes the immunisation schedule considered optimal for all children and adolescent resident in Spain, taking into account the available evidence.The 2 + 1 schedule is recommended (2, 4, and 11 months) with hexavalent vaccines (DTPa-VPI-Hib-HB) and with 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate.A 6-year booster is recommended, preferably with DTPa (if available), with a dose of polio for those who received 2 + 1 schemes, as well as vaccination with Tdpa in adolescents and in each pregnancy, preferably between 27 and 32 weeks.Rotavirus vaccine should be systematic for all infants.Meningococcal B vaccine, with a 2 + 1 schedule, should be included in routine calendar.In addition to the inclusion of the conjugated tetravalent meningococcal vaccine (MenACWY) at 12 years of age with catch up to 18 years, inclusive, the CAV recommends this vaccine to be also included at 12 months of age, replacing MenC. Likewise, it is recommended in those over 6 weeks of age with risk factors or who travel to countries with a high incidence of these serogroups.Two-dose schedules for triple viral (12 months and 3-4 years) and varicella (15 months and 3-4 years) will be used. The second dose could be applied as a tetraviral vaccine.Universal systematic vaccination against HPV is recommended, regardless of gender, preferably at 12 years, and greater effort should be made to improve coverage. The 9 genotype extends coverage for both genders.     

Cognitive impairment following chemotherapy for breast cancer: The impact of practice effect on results

Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Impairment (CRCI) can be an adverse effect in women treated for breast cancer. Some longitudinal studies reported deficits in attention, memory, and executive function following treatment, but other studies did not find cognitive changes. It is known that practice effects (PE) on repeated assessments with cognitive tests contribute to the discrepancies in these results, but its influence on scores has not been systematically explored. The present study examines the impact of PE on retest scores in a group of women with breast cancer treated with chemotherapy and evaluated longitudinally.

Method: 51 women with breast cancer treated with a combination of 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide with or without taxanes were assessed after surgery but before chemotherapy (T1), post-chemotherapy (T2), and at one year after T2 (T3). Longitudinal changes on cognitive performance were analyzed twice: when retest scores were not corrected for PE and when correction for PE was applied to T2 and T3 scores.

Results: When PE was not corrected, progressive improvement over time in measures of memory and divided attention at T2 and T3 was observed. In contrast, when PE was corrected, worsening was found in measures of memory, fluency, executive function, and attention at T2 and in attention and executive function at T3. Results after correction for PE are in line with previous longitudinal studies that report cognitive impairment after treatment with chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Conclusion: Accounting for PE is recommended to identify true change on cognition through treatment with chemotherapy for breast cancer.