Azacitidine Use for Myeloid Neoplasms

Azacitidine and decitabine are hypomethylating agents frequently used interchangeably to treat myeloid neoplasms in different settings. Azacitidine is metabolized intracellularly into decitabine. Hypomethylating agents work by inhibiting DNA methyltransferases, causing demethylation of aberrantly methylated promoter regions of genes involved in the pathogenesis of myeloid neoplasms. Azacitidine was the first agent approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome in 2004, after which, the use of azacitidine in other myeloid neoplasms increased significantly. It is a well tolerated agent and can be safely administered in the outpatient setting, which makes it an attractive choice for patients as well as physicians. In this review we summarize the published literature about the use of azacitidine in myeloid neoplasms, and shed the light on some ongoing trials.     

Combined study to assess the role of calcium alginate swabs and ligation of the inferior tonsillar pole in the control of intra-operative blood loss during tonsillectomy

Bleeding is the major source of morbidity and mortality of tonsillectomy and most operative time is spent securing haemostasis. Calcium alginate reduces experimental wound blood loss. This study assessed the efficacy of alginate swabs during tonsillectomy and inferior tonsillar pole ligation in the control of blood loss during tonsillectomy. Ninety-nine tonsillectomy patients were randomized to gauze or alginate swab use. A haemoglobinometer measured blood losses collected by suction during dissection and by swab until haemostasis was secured. Operative time, complications and healing were also assessed. Mean total blood losses and operative times were similar for the two groups. Swab blood loss was significantly lower for surgeons who ligated the lower tonsillar pole, compared with surgeons who used a snare. This finding was independent of swab type. Independent assessment showed no difference in the healing rate. Alginate swabs offer no advantage over gauze in terms of blood loss, operative time or complications of tonsillectomy. The results show that routine lower pole ligation significantly reduces post-dissection blood loss. We suggest that this technique should be more widely adopted.     

Autotransfusion of the ascitic fluid in the treatment of severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.

Three cases of severe OHSS were treated by transvaginal aspiration of the ascitic fluid and autotransfusion of the aspirated fluid. Marked improvement of the symptoms, general condition, and urine output followed the aspiration shortly. No reactions were noticed during or after the autotransfusion. The blood parameters were corrected, and the general condition and urine output continued to improve. The procedure is simple, safe, and straightforward that showed a striking physiological success in correcting the maldistribution of fluid and proteins without the use of heterogeneous biological material.     

Long-term Graft Survival After Kidney Allograft Torsion: Rapid Diagnosis and Surgical Management Key to Reversibility of Injury

Introduction

Kidney allograft torsion (KAT) is a rare complication of kidney transplantation (KT) that occurs when the transplanted kidney rotates around its vascular pedicle, which may result in a catastrophic compromise of the graft's blood supply, deterioration of kidney function, and eventually premature graft death.

Curcumin assisted green synthesis of silver and zinc oxide nanostructures and their antibacterial activity against some clinical pathogenic multi-drug resistant bacteria

According to WHO warnings, the antibiotic resistance crisis is a severe health issue in the 21st century, attributed to the overuse and misuse of these medications. Consequently, the dramatic spreading rate of the drug-resistant microbial pathogens strains. The microbiological, biochemical tests and antibiotic sensitivity identified the bacteria''s multi-drug resistance (MDR). About 150 different clinical samples were taken from hospitalized patients, both males, and females, ranging from 9 to 68 years. Gram-negative strains were (70.0%), while Gram-positive isolates were (30.0%). Among sixteen antibiotics, antibiotic susceptibility of imipenem was found to be the most efficient drug against most of the Gram-negative and Gram-positive isolates, followed by meropenem, depending on the culture and sensitivity results. All the experimental bacteria showed multidrug-resistant phenomena. In this study, green synthesized silver (Cur-Ag NPs) and zinc oxide (Cur-ZnO NPs) nanoparticles in the presence of curcumin extract. In addition, their physicochemical properties have been characterized using different techniques such as UV-Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and colloidal properties techniques. Furthermore, curcumin-capped silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) exhibited solid antimicrobial action against the experimental bacterial isolates, except Proteus vulgaris (i.e., P. vulgaris). Curcumin-capped zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) found antimicrobial activity against all tested strains. Finally, the minimum inhibitory concentration exhibited values from 3.9 to 15.6 μg ml⁻¹, which is too small compared to other traditional antibiotics. In addition, the green-synthesized Cur-Ag NPs and Cur-ZnO NPs showed good biocompatibility.

Curcumin-assisted synthesized Ag and ZnO NPs showed significant antibacterial activity with lower minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against the multi-drug resistance bacteria and biocompatibility compared to traditionally used antibiotics.     

99mTc-MIBI in the assessment of response to chemotherapy and detection of recurrences in bone and soft tissue tumours of the extremities.

AIM: This prospective study is focused on the assessment of tumour response in a group of 28 bone sarcoma patients using (99m)Tc-MIBI scintigraphy. METHODS: The quantitative changes in MIBI uptake before and after chemotherapy were measured and associated with the pathological evaluation of the degree of tumour necrosis. Besides this, another group of 40 patients with bone and soft tissue tumours was studied in order to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of (99m)Tc-MIBI scintigraphy versus computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting the status of the disease and its recurrences. After injection of 555-740 MBq of (99m)Tc-MIBI, regional and whole body images were acquired at 20 and 60 min. The lesion/normal (L/N) uptake ratio was calculated in both early and delayed images and the washout rate (WR%) of (99m)Tc-MIBI was obtained. Following 3-4 courses of chemotherapy, bone tumours were assessed by comparing the uptake ratio in the viable tumours with the amount of necrotic processes described in the surgically removed specimens. RESULTS: In the first group of patients the rate of tumour response to chemotherapy, calculated according to the percentage of necrosis and the (99m)Tc-MIBI uptake ratios, was as follows: complete response in 12 patients, partial response in 8 and no response in 8 patients. Linear regression analysis of quantitative changes in (99m)Tc-MIBI uptake (expressed as changes percent) and of (99m)Tc-MIBI uptake ratio showed a positive correlation (r=0.77), whereas it showed a negative correlation with the changes in the washout ratio (r=-0.32). In the second group of patients (40 patients) (99m)Tc-MIBI scintigraphy proved to be able to detect recurrences of bone and soft tissue tumours. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of (99m)Tc-MIBI scan versus CT and/or MRI were calculated and they resulted 93%, 95% and 92% versus 86%, 75% and 84%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The application of (99m)Tc-MIBI scan in the management of patients treated with chemotherapy may allow an early identification of the non-responder patients and lead to a choice of different strategies (alternative chemotherapy or salvage surgery).     

Relapse outcomes,safety, and treatment patterns in patients diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and initiated on subcutaneous interferon β-1a or dimethyl fumarate: a real-world study

Objective: To estimate real-world treatment patterns, safety, and relapse outcomes of subcutaneous (sc) interferon (IFN) β-1a (Rebif) vs dimethyl fumarate (DMF; Tecfidera), to treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

Methods: A US retrospective chart review of 450 randomly selected adults newly diagnosed with RRMS who received sc IFN β-1a (n?=?143) or DMF (n?=?307) was conducted. Patients were either (a) treatment-naïve, initiating first-line treatment with sc IFN β-1a or DMF, or (b) previously treated, switching to sc IFN β-1a or DMF. Two years’ follow-up data were captured. Patient characteristics, persistence, and adverse events between treatment groups were compared using t-tests or Chi-square tests. Kaplan-Meier curves with log-rank tests and Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare time to, and risk of non-persistence. Annualized Relapse Rates (ARR) were calculated using a robust variance Poisson model adjusting for covariates. Propensity scores were used to address possible selection bias.

Results: One hundred and twelve patients became non-persistent, most commonly due to an adverse event (n?=?37). No difference was observed in time to overall non-persistence between sc IFN β-1a and DMF patients. Among treatment-naïve patients, those receiving DMF had 2.4-times the risk (HR?=?2.439, 95% CI?=?1.007–5.917, p?=?.0483) of experiencing a discontinuation than patients receiving sc IFN β-1a. Non-persistent patients receiving DMF had 2.3-times the risk (HR?=?2.311, 95% CI?=?1.350–3.958, p?=?.0023) of experiencing an adverse event at a given time point than patients prescribed sc IFN β-1a. No differences in relapse risk or ARR between sc IFN β-1a- and DMF-treated patients were observed.

Conclusions: sc IFN β-1a-treated patients had comparable persistence and relapse outcomes, and better safety outcomes vs DMF-treated patients across 2 years.     

A Medicaid and Commercial Insured Claims-Based Study to Estimate Improved Antipsychotic Medication Adherence Among Patients with Schizophrenia

Compliance with antipsychotic medication is clinically important but challenging for schizophrenia patients. Clinical trials and epidemiological studies strongly suggest that improved compliance results in reduced hospitalizations and other adverse outcomes. Examination of Medicaid and commercial claim data suggests that a significant portion of schizophrenia patients have a regular pattern of visits with one outpatient professional, yet are noncompliant with their medication. For many of these patients, results show that the administration of once-monthly verifiable therapy would improve compliance.