Monitoring skeletal response to treatment which site to measure in the femur?

In the past it was usual to interpret bone mineral density (BMD) scans of the femur using the femoral neck, trochanter, or Ward's triangle sites. Recently, a study by the International Committee for Standards in Bone Measurement recommended that the total hip should be the preferred site for the interpretation of femur BMD, and another study described a new central hip site that may offer improved precision. This article compares the longitudinal sensitivities of the different femur BMD sites for monitoring patient response to treatment. The study population was 152 postmenopausal women enrolled in a trial of a bisphosphonate therapy. Spine and hip BMD scans were performed at 0, 1, and 2 yr. The mean percentage change at 2 yr was calculated for six sites in the hip, and the spine was also included for comparison. Treatment effect was defined as the difference in the BMD change between the treated and placebo groups. Although the data analysis incorporated a term for a calibration change caused by a repair of the dual X-ray absorptiometry scanner, the effect of this event on the estimation of treatment effect was negligible. Longitudinal sensitivity was derived by dividing the treatment effect by the root mean square error (RMSE) of the statistical model. Results (and standard errors) normalized to the ratio of treatment effect: RMSE for femoral neck BMD were as follows: femoral neck: 1.00; trochanter: 1.33 (0.38); intertrochanteric: 0.84 (0.41); total hip: 1.20 (0.38); Ward's triangle: 1.03 (0.27); central hip: 1.09 (0.30); spine: 2.08 (0. 45). At none of the femur sites was the change in BMD large enough to allow monitoring of response to treatment in individual patients. However, for studies involving the follow-up of a group of subjects, the longitudinal sensitivities of the different femur sites were equal within the statistical errors of the study. In particular, total hip BMD appears to be as effective as femoral neck BMD for detecting response to treatment in the femur in the setting of a clinical trial or similar research study.     

Chronic subdural haematoma: time to rationalize treatment?

This article reviews chronic subdural haematoma in terms of evidence relating to incidence, pathogenesis and treatment. While it is one of the commonest neurosurgical conditions, unanswered questions persist, particularly in terms of treatment options, with a multitude of personal preferences. Current management strategies are summarized and the need to rationalise treatment backed up by Class I randomized studies is discussed.     

Has basic research contributed to chronic pain treatment?

Our understanding of nociceptive processing and of plastic changes after persistent noxious input has increased immensely within the last two decades. It is now clear that long-lasting noxious stimulation or damage to the nervous system give rise to a neuronal hyperexcitability and that this sensitisation of the nervous system plays an important role for development and maintenance of chronic pain. The manifestations of such hyperexcitability are numerous and include among others: increased neuronal response to a suprathreshold stimulus, expansion of the peripheral areas from where a central neurone can be activated and the recruitment of previous non-responding nociceptive neurones. Furthermore, it has been possible to modulate this neuronal hyperexcitability by the discovery of molecular targets for pain, by sequencing DNA of ion channels and receptors and by development of new molecules that exert their effects on these molecular targets. The changes in responsiveness appear to be partly time and intensity dependent and partly dependent on the cause of injury. Whereas relatively short-lasting and moderate noxious input leads to reversible plastic changes, more intense and long-lasting noxious stimulation implies a risk for persistent and more profound alterations in transmitters, receptors, ion channels and in neuronal connectivity. Despite the explosion of new knowledge in pain processing and in molecular background for neuroplasticity, this progress has unfortunately not resulted in a corresponding improvement of our ability to treat chronic pain. The number of patients with chronic unrelieved pain is still high and newer types of treatment have so far not resulted in a substantially better treatment. Nevertheless, there is now an ongoing systematic research in which chronic pain conditions are assessed in a fashion so that mechanisms underlying pain can be dissected. Moreover, controlled clinical trials together with systematic reviews are carried out which in the future should permit formulation of treatment algorithms for chronic pain. Finally, it is likely that the development of new specific types of treatment will show efficacy if they are evaluated and analysed not on the global pain experience, but more specifically on those targets and elements of the pain experience they are aimed to deal with.     

Ureteral lithiasis, what treatment?

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and ureteroscopy are minimal invasive techniques, both of which have definitively become essential for the treatment of ureteral stones resistant to conservative treatment. At the time of evidence-based medicine, no study makes it possible to recommend one of these methods rather than the other. For stones of identical size and location, this review of the literature shows that extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and ureteroscopy prove of comparable effectiveness and innocuousness. The urologist thus has two alternatives of which the technical control, the availability of the endoscopes or lithotriptors as well as the desire and comfort of the patients are the factors which condition his choice of the method for the treatment of ureteral stones.     

Scintigraphic, biochemical, and clinical response to zoledronic acid treatment in patients with Paget’s disease of bone

Bisphosphonates have long been used with success in the treatment of Paget’s disease of bone (PDB). The aim of this study was to evaluate the early (up to 3 months) and late (at 12 months) scintigraphic, biochemical, and clinical response to a single intravenous infusion of zoledronic acid (ZOL) in patients with PDB serially assessed for 1 year. Nine patients with 30 bone lesions caused by PDB were prospectively evaluated. Total serum alkaline phosphatase (SAP) was serially measured. Scintigraphy was performed before and at 3 and 12 months after ZOL administration, and bone lesions were assessed quantitatively. After treatment, pain was alleviated in five of six patients starting from the first month. At 3 months, a significant decrease of SAP levels compared to baseline values was found (322 ± 211 IU/l before vs. 101 ± 36 IU/l 3 months after; P < 0.05), with normal values attained in all except one patient. The scintigraphic index of involvement (SII), a marker for the perpatient activity of the disease, was reduced from 14.4 ± 7.6 to 7.2 ± 1.8 (P = 0.01). The scintigraphic ratio (SR), a marker for the per-lesion activity of the disease, was reduced from 12.8 ± 7.7 to 7.0 ± 2.9 (P < 0.001). The values of markers of disease activity remained unchanged up to 12 months. A single intravenous administration of ZOL leads to a favorable clinical, biochemical, and scintigraphic response in patients with PDB starting as early as 3 months after treatment and lasting no less than 12 months (i.e., considerably longer than the other existing therapies).     

Pain treatment in neonates, infants and children--is the current treatment sufficient?

Paediatric patients quite often have to undergo painful or stressful procedures, e. g. blood sampling, dressing of wounds or removal of a drainage. The key problem is to decide if a child has pain or if there are other reasons for crying. Establishing a high standard in an institution requires regular evaluation and documentation of pain scores. For many clinical situations, clear and functioning concepts exist - we just have to use them. Unanswered questions are the evaluation of pain in small children, the side-effects of opioids, surgery involving the airways and the risk-benefit-ratio of certain techniques. Pain therapy after tonsillectomy is still troublesome: relevant postoperative pain occurs. Local infiltration of the tonsillar bed has no pre-emptive effect and only a minimal impact on the postoperative pain. Management relies on opioids, steroids and non-opioids. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should not be used because of an increased risk of bleeding. Promising data have been reported on COX-2-blockers, but experience in children is still limited. Pain management after circumcision is relatively easy to perform. A conduction block with a long-acting local anaesthetic combined with one dose of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug provides sufficient analgesia in over (2/3) of patients. Today, penile block is the standard of care and complications only rarely occur. However, despite successful pain prevention, circumcision remains a stressful procedure for the small patients. Pain treatment per se is not sufficient to relieve all the suffering connected with surgery in children. The concept of balanced analgesia is successful under many circumstances, but continuous efforts are needed to improve the management for difficult situations, e. g. tonsillectomy.     

Discrepancies in staging,treatment, and delays to treatment may explain disparities in bladder cancer outcomes: An update from the National Cancer Data Base (2004–2013)

Introduction

We sought to characterize national disparities in the diagnosis of advanced stage bladder cancer. Among patients with advanced disease, we explored disparities in overall survival, treatment, and time to treatment.

Conservative treatment of brain edema--which way is leading to Rome?

In patients with brain edema the pathophysiology of the different forms of edema have to be considered to ensure the prompt, sensible and consistent use of the limited treatment modalities available. Brain edema may be classified into cytotoxic and vasogenic edema, these two types often coexist in one patient. Head elevation, hyperventilation, osmotic therapy and reduction of brain metabolism by sedation or hypothermia should be used closely monitoring ICP and blood pressure. In the future considering the autoregulatory capacity of the individual patient will possibly lead to a more effective action of the treatment modalities described. Further research will open new perspectives how aquaporines are involved in the genesis and mobilisation of brain edema.