Treatment of acute migraine with subcutaneous sumatriptan.

Sumatriptan succinate, a 5-HT1D receptor agonist, constricts human cranial arteries. Two parallel-group trials for treatment of acute migraines were conducted in the United States. Adult patients were randomized and given either 6 mg of sumatriptan succinate subcutaneously (n = 734) or placebo (n = 370). At 1 hour, sumatriptan was significantly more effective than placebo in reducing moderate or severe headache pain to mild or no pain (70% vs 22%), in completely relieving headaches (49% vs 9%), and in improving clinical disability (76% vs 34%). Sumatriptan also reduced nausea and photophobia significantly better than placebo. Patients with residual migraines received another injection; those who had originally received sumatriptan received either a second active injection (n = 187) or placebo (n = 178), while those who had received placebo received a second placebo injection (n = 335). Statistical evidence for benefit of second sumatriptan injection is absent. Adverse events associated with sumatriptan were tingling, dizziness, warm-hot sensations, and injection-site reactions. Sumatriptan is effective and well tolerated in patients with acute migraine.     

Case mix measures and diagnosis-related groups: opportunities and threats for inpatient dermatology

OBJECTIVE: The changing healthcare environment world-wide is leading to extensive use of per case payment systems based on diagnosis-related groups (DRG). The aim of this study was to examine the impact of application of different DRG systems used in the German healthcare system. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed 2334 clinical data sets of inpatients discharged from an academic dermatological inpatient unit in 2003. Data were regarded as providing high coding quality in compliance with the diagnosis and procedure classifications as well as coding standards. The application of the Australian AR-DRG version 4.1, the German G-DRG version 1.0, and the German G-DRG version 2004 was considered in detail. To evaluate more specific aspects, data were broken down into 11 groups based on the principle diagnosis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: DRG cost weights and case mix index were used to compare coverage of inpatient dermatological services. Economic impacts were illustrated by case mix volumes and calculation of DRG payments. RESULTS: Case mix index results and the pending prospective revenues vary tremendously from the application of one or another of the DRG systems. The G-DRG version 2004 provides increased levels of case mix index that encourages, in particular, medical dermatology. CONCLUSIONS: The AR-DRG version 4.1 and the first German DRG version 1.0 appear to be less suitable to adequately cover inpatient dermatology. The G-DRG version 2004 has been greatly improved, probably due to proceeding calculation standards and DRG adjustments. The future of inpatient dermatology is subject to appropriate depiction of well-established treatment standards.     

T-cell receptor gene rearrangement in T-cell large granular leukocyte leukemia: preferential V alpha but diverse J alpha usage in one of five patients

T-gamma lymphoproliferative disease (T-gamma LPD) is a chronic disorder of mature T cells that is associated with neutropenia and autoimmune phenomena. Although the progression of the lymphoproliferation is indolent, it is often associated with a monoclonal proliferation of T- cell-type large granular lymphocytes (LGL) that manifest multiple in vitro suppressor and cytotoxic activities. We considered the possibility that the granulocytopenia or anemia might represent an autoimmune disorder mediated by the monoclonal LGL via T-cell receptor (TCR) recognition of an antigen involved in hematopoiesis. Therefore, in an effort to characterize the usage of the TCR alpha- and beta-chain genes in patients with T-gamma LPD, we cloned and sequenced TCR alpha- and beta-chain mRNAs derived from the T-cell type LGL of five patients. The five patients studied did not use a common V alpha nor a common J alpha segment. However, an unusual finding was observed in one of the patients where the occurrence of a single variable-diversity-junctional (VDJ) rearrangement of the beta chain confirmed the monoclonal origin of the LGL proliferation. In accord with this evidence for monoclonality, many of the cells studied used a common V alpha (V alpha 19.1). In contrast to this common V alpha usage, there was a marked diversity of the J alpha segments and N-region addition that were associated with the V alpha 19.1 segment. This pattern of common V alpha usage associated with different N and J alpha segments suggests an immune-mediated selection process affecting the TCR alpha chain occurring after the transformation event that established the clone. We suggest that the T-cell-type LGL malignant clone might have developed autoreactivity conferred by the selected TCR alpha chain and that this autoreactivity might be implicated in this patient's anemia.     

Prolonged Atrium Electromechanical Interval Is Associated with Stroke in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation After Catheter Ablation

Electromechanical Interval and Strokes After Ablations of AF . Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with increased risk of embolic stroke. Catheter ablation of AF provides an effective therapy for patients with symptomatic and drug‐refractory AF. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the atrial electromechanical interval is useful in identifying patients at risk of stroke after successful catheter ablation. Methods and Results: A total of 279 AF patients who received catheter ablation and showed no evidence of recurrences were enrolled. Electromechanical interval (PA–PDI) was determined as the time interval from the initiation of P wave deflection to the peak of mitral inflow A wave on pulse wave Doppler imaging. The PA–PDI interval was measured for each patient after the 3‐month blanking period of catheter ablation. The clinical endpoint was the occurrence of ischemic stroke. During the follow‐up of 46.5 ± 17.2 months, 6 patients suffered from ischemic strokes. Patients with strokes had higher CHA₂DS₂–VASc scores and longer PA–PDI intervals (138.7 ± 12.4 ms vs 161.2 ± 7.7 ms, P value < 0.001) compared to those without strokes. At a cutoff point of 150 ms identified by ROC curve, the positive and negative predictive values of the PA–PDI interval to predict stroke were 86.7% and 100%, respectively. The PA–PDI interval improved the predictive performance of the CHA₂DS₂–VASc score, and the area under the ROC curve increased from 0.75 to 0.85. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the PA–PDI interval is a useful tool to identify patients with high risk of stroke after successful catheter ablation of AF. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 24, pp. 375‐380, April 2013)     

PCI-32765和Bortezomib对B细胞肿瘤细胞系细胞增殖、凋亡的影响及其机制的研究

本研究旨在探讨Btk抑制剂PCI-32765和蛋白酶体抑制剂bortezomib对Raji、Ramos细胞的增殖、凋亡的影响及其作用机制.PCI-32765和bortezomib单药及联合用药处理Raji和Ramos细胞后,分别运用CCK-8法及流式细胞术检测细胞的增殖与凋亡,Western blot法检测Btk、NFκB、c-IAP1、Bcl-xL、caspase-3等蛋白的表达.结果表明：①PCI-32765（0.5、1.0、2.0、3.0、4.0、5.0、6.0μmol/L）和bortezomib（10、20、30、40、50、60、80 nmol/L）处理Raji和Ramos细胞48 h,均可抑制细胞增殖,抑制率呈剂量依赖性,且两药具有协同作用;②PCI-32765（2.0μmol/L）、bortezomib（20 nmol/L）单药及联合用药处理Raji和Ramos细胞不同时间（8、12、24、36、48、72 h）,均可抑制细胞存活率,抑制率呈时间依赖性,且两药具有协同作用;③PCI-32765（2μmol/L）和bortezomib（20 nmol/L）单药及联合用药处理Raji和Ramos细胞48 h,可明显促进Raji及Ramos细胞的凋亡.Raji细胞实验结果,空白对照组、PCI-32765和bonezomib单药组、联合用药组的细胞凋亡率分别为10.34±0.53％、24.26±0.91％、43.66±1.08％与74.06±0.72％,各组间有统计学差异（P＜0.05）;Ramos细胞实验结果,空白对照组、PCI-32765和bortezomib单药组、联合用药组的细胞凋亡率分别为15.16±1.49％、71.36±0.82％、75.32±2.36％与84.30±0.91％,各组间有统计学差异（P＜0.05）;④PCI-32765和bonezomib单药处理Raji、Ramos细胞后,细胞内Btk、NFκB、Bcl-xl及c-.IAP1的表达水平较对照组降低,Caspase-3的表达水平升高,两药联用后,作用增强.结论：PCI-32765和bonezomib可以协同抑制Raji与Ramos细胞的增殖,促进其凋亡,其机制可能与抑制Btk、NFκB的活性,下调Bcl-xl及c-IAP1等抗凋亡蛋白,同时上调Caspase-3等凋亡蛋白的表达而发挥作用.