Experience with Cyclosporine in Children with Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria

Abstract: Background: The identification of an autoimmune mechanism for many patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) was used as a rational for a controlled clinical trial of cyclosporine for adults with CIU not responsive to usual measures. That randomized placebo controlled clinical trial demonstrated clinical efficacy, acceptable safety, and a suggestion of inducing remission in such patients. Objective: To report our experience with cyclosporine in pediatric patients with CIU. Methods: Fifty‐four patients with CIU were referred to us during the period from 2000 through June of 2005. Seven of those, aged 9–16, failed therapy with high dose antihistamines even with the addition of alternate morning prednisone. Neoral brand of cyclosporine, 3 mg/kg/day divided b.i.d., was initiated in these patients. Cyclosporine serum concentrations, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, and blood pressure were routinely monitored. Results: All had cessation of hives. This occurred after 1–4 weeks for six of the seven and 8 weeks for one. While some experienced relapses, all were eventually off of all medications and free of hives. None of the seven experienced any adverse effects. Conclusions: Our experience in children is consistent with a previous controlled clinical trial in adults and supports the efficacy and safety of cyclosporine for CIU. However, we recommend that it be reserved for those whose CIU that is resistant to conventional measures and that patients be carefully monitored with cyclosporine serum concentrations and measures of renal function.     

Anti-inflammatory effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers: potential benefits for the prevention of atrial fibrillation: reply

We thank Drs Liu and Li for their interest in our randomizedtrial investigating the anti-arrhythmic effect of perindopriland losartan in the setting of lone paroxysmal atrial fibrillation(AF). While agreeing on modification of atrial remodelling asthe     

Long-term outcome of vocal cord dysfunction.

BACKGROUND: Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) is an involuntary functional disorder commonly misdiagnosed as asthma. Previous reports describe the disorder and treatment but not the long-term outcome. OBJECTIVE: To determine the long-term outcome of VCD. METHODS: A retrospective medical record review identified 49 patients, ages 8 to 25 years, diagnosed as having VCD from 1989 to 2002. Telephone contact was attempted in all. RESULTS: Of the 49 patients, 41 had previously been treated for asthma; that diagnosis was confirmed by us as a comorbidity in only 12 patients. Two distinct phenotypes of VCD were observed. Symptoms were limited to exercise-induced VCD (EIVCD) in 29 and spontaneously occurring VCD (SVCD) in 20, only 4 of whom additionally had EIVCD. Twenty-eight of the 49 were successfully contacted by telephone. Eight of the 11 contacted patients with SVCD followed the recommendation to see our speech therapist, all of whom learned to control symptoms. However, 2 who also had EIVCD continued with that problem. Pretreatment with an anticholinergic inhaler prevented EIVCD in 6 patients in whom this was tried. Complete absence of symptoms, at times ranging from 1 week to 5 years (median, 5 months), was reported in 26 of the 28 contacted patients. CONCLUSIONS: VCD continues to be frequently misdiagnosed as asthma. Two phenotypes of VCD are apparent: EIVCD and SVCD. Speech therapy provides relief of symptoms for SVCD. Prevention of EIVCD with an anticholinergic inhaler in 6 patients suggests that a controlled clinical trial is warranted. Regardless of treatment, eventual spontaneous resolution was common.     

Safety and efficacy of atorvastatin in heart transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Pravastatin and simvastatin prolong survival and reduce transplant-related coronary vasculopathy, although low-density lipoprotein (LDL) lowering with these agents is only modest. The objective of this study was to assess the safety of moderate dose atorvastatin and its efficacy when prior treatment with another statin had failed to lower LDL to < 100 mg/dl. METHODS: Data from 185 patients were retrospectively evaluated for adverse events, duration of exposure (person-days), and the mean atorvastatin dose exposure. Changes in lipid parameters, and prednisone and cyclosporine doses were determined. RESULTS: Safety: 48 patients received atorvastatin for 24,240 person-days at a mean dose exposure of 21 +/- 10 mg. Rhabdomyolysis, myositis, myalgias, and hepatotoxicity occurred in 0, 2, 2, and 0 patients, respectively. All events occurred at the 10-mg dose, within the first 3 months, and were rapidly reversible with atorvastatin discontinuation. Efficacy: Thirty-four patients evaluable for efficacy analyses had a pre-atorvastatin LDL of 145 +/- 38 mg/dl on the following statins: pravastatin (n = 30, 40 +/- 0mg), fluvastatin (n = 3, 33 +/- 12 mg), simvastatin (n = 1, 40 mg). After atorvastatin (21 +/- 9 mg/day) for 133 +/- 67 days, LDL was reduced to 97 +/- 24 mg/dl (relative reduction 31 +/- 20%, p < 0.0001). At the end of the observation period (418 +/- 229 days, atorvastatin final dose 24 +/- 14 mg/day), LDL was further decreased to 88 +/- 23 mg (relative reduction 37 +/- 17%, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Atorvastatin, when used at moderate doses and with close biochemical and clinical monitoring, appears to be safe and is effective in aggressively lowering LDL in heart transplant recipients when treatment with other statins has failed to achieve LDL goals.     

Single-trial evoked potential estimation: comparison between independent component analysis and wavelet denoising.

OBJECTIVE: Brain responses to repeated sensory stimuli are typically buried in the more prominent background activity, and thus analysis of these responses on a single-trial basis would require advanced procedures to estimate the brain activity related only to the experimental task. Recently, we have proposed a new iterative independent component analysis (iICA) approach to estimate single-trial responses. In this paper, we compare the performance of iICA at estimating single-trial responses with ensemble averaging and wavelet transform (WT) denoising. METHODS: We analyzed simulated evoked potentials (EPs) and actual recordings of the auditory N100 component from 33 normal subjects, and the performance of each method was quantified in terms of the average root-mean-square error and average correlation before and after processing. RESULTS: We found that WT gave a smoother overall average EP, while iICA could isolate the N100 component out of the entire EP waveform. With simulated data, iICA provided significantly better estimates of the true EP compared to plain averaging (p<0.01) and WT (p<0.01). With actual data, iICA showed clear responses in single trials, in all subjects. Additionally, the corresponding average EPs had a sharper N100-P200 complex, with flatter preceding and following regions, resulting in an enhanced N100 component. CONCLUSIONS: The iICA procedure can provide clear responses in each single trial, and the resulting average N100 component is significantly improved compared to plain averaging and wavelet denoising. SIGNIFICANCE: The proposed technique may have a significant impact as a clinical tool in the analysis of single-trial responses.     

Sequence Analysis of the RNA Polymerase Gene of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Serotype Asia1

The complete nucleotide (nt.) sequence of the RNA polymerase (3D) gene and 81 nt. in the 3-untranslated region of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) serotype Asia1 (IND63/72) was determined and compared with the sequence of other FMDV serotypes. The 3D genomic region was 1410 nt. long encoding 470 amino acids with an inframe stop codon (TAA) at nt. position 1411–1413. The deduced amino acid sequence of the protein showed 8 conserved motifs as reported in other picornaviruses, 2 of which are 100% identical across the serotypes. Antigenic regions in the polymerase protein were predicted and found to be located at the N-terminus of the protein. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the FMD viruses were segregated into different clusters based on geographical origin; the Asia1 virus did not cluster tightly with any of the geographical groups.     

Linkage to and retention in care following healthcare transition from pediatric to adult HIV care

Outcomes following healthcare transition (HCT) from pediatric to adult HIV care are not well described. We sought to describe clinical outcomes following HCT within our institution among young adults with behavioral-acquired (N?=?31) and perinatally-acquired (N?=?19) HIV. We conducted a retrospective cohort study among HIV-infected adults who attempted transition from pediatric to adult HIV care within our institution. The primary end point was retention in care, defined as the completion of at least two visits over 12 months following linkage to adult care. Additional end points include time to linkage to adult care, and changes in CD4?+?T cell count and HIV RNA across time. Outcomes were compared between perinatal and behavioral HIV cohorts. Binary data were analyzed using the Fisher exact test and continuous data were analyzed using the Mann–Whitney test. Forty-three (86%) of 50 patients were successfully linked to adult care. The median time to linkage was 98 days. Fifty percent of patients achieved full retention in care at 12 months post-linkage. Though those with behavioral-acquired HIV attempted transfer at an older age, the groups did not differ in rates of linkage and retention in adult care. CD4?+?T cell counts and rates of viral suppression did not differ between pre- and post-HCT periods. Despite high rates of successful linkage to adult care in our study population, rates of retention in adult HIV care following HCT were low. These results imply that challenges remain in the adult HIV care setting toward improving the HCT process.     

Clinical approach to hip pain

Hip joint pain occurs not uncommonly in clinical practice. Arthritis of the hip joint, ligament strain and bursitis are some of the common causes of hip joint pain encountered by physicians. This article dwells on relevant clinical anatomy of the hip and the diagnostic approach to hip pain in rheumatology clinic.