Quality of life in women with endometriosis: a cross-sectional survey

Quality of Life Research - The aim of the study was to assess QoL and identify and analyse its determinants in women with endometriosis. The study was performed in 2019 in health centres in Lublin...     

The relationships among monocyte subsets,miRNAs and inflammatory cytokines in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Background

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) causes irreversible myocardial damage and release of inflammatory mediators, including cytokines, chemokines and miRNAs. We aimed to investigate changes in the levels of cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10), miRNAs profiles (miR-146 and miR-155) and distribution of different monocyte subsets (CD14++CD16-, CD14++CD16+, CD14+CD16++) in the acute and post-healing phases of AMI.

Extravasation of Chemotherapy

Extravasation of chemotherapy is a feared complication of anticancer therapy. The accidental leakage of cytostatic agents into the perivascular tissues may have devastating short-term and long-term consequences for patients. In recent years, the increased focus on chemotherapy extravasation has led to the development of international guidelines that have proven useful tools in daily clinical practice. Moreover, the tissue destruction in one of the most dreaded types of extravasation (ie, anthracycline extravasation) now can effectively be prevented with a specific antidote, dexrazoxane.     

Tariquidar-induced P-glycoprotein inhibition at the rat blood-brain barrier studied with (R)-11C-verapamil and PET.

The multidrug efflux transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is expressed in high concentrations at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and is believed to be implicated in resistance to central nervous system drugs. We used small-animal PET and (R)-11C-verapamil together with tariquidar, a new-generation P-gp modulator, to study the functional activity of P-gp at the BBB of rats. To enable a comparison with human PET data, we performed kinetic modeling to estimate the rate constants of radiotracer transport across the rat BBB. METHODS: A group of 7 Wistar Unilever rats underwent paired (R)-11C-verapamil PET scans at an interval of 3 h: 1 baseline scan and 1 scan after intravenous injection of tariquidar (15 mg/kg, n = 5) or vehicle (n = 2). RESULTS: After tariquidar administration, the distribution volume (DV) of (R)-11C-verapamil was 12-fold higher than baseline (3.68 +/- 0.81 vs. 0.30 +/- 0.08; P = 0.0007, paired t test), whereas the DVs were essentially the same when only vehicle was administered. The increase in DV could be attributed mainly to an increased influx rate constant (K1) of (R)-11C-verapamil into the brain, which was about 8-fold higher after tariquidar. A dose-response assessment with tariquidar provided an estimated half-maximum effect dose of 8.4 +/- 9.5 mg/kg. CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrate that (R)-11C-verapamil PET combined with tariquidar administration is a promising approach to measure P-gp function at the BBB.     

Die Behandlung von Sehnenverletzungen an der Hand

Tendon injuries of the hand, especially flexor tendon injuries, should be treated by specially trained surgeons. Tendon injuries should be treated immediately to avoid joint stiffness or tendon adhesions, which arise predominantly at the tendon laceration. In addition to a professional operation, postoperative management is also important. As with surgery, specially trained physiotherapists should supervise the active or passive mobilization after tendon repair. A close cooperation between physiotherapist and physician is mandatory for an optimal result.     

Bioartifizielle Materialien in der Urologie

The scope of our research is the development of polymer-based bioabsorbable stents for urologic applications and in vitro testing of tissue reactions of cultured ureteral and urethral segments induced by implanted polymer stent prototypes. For these purposes a tissue cultivation model was developed using selected techniques of tissue engineering. Essential advantages of degradable over nondegradable urethral stents are elimination of the adverse extraction of epithelialized stents and the potential for recovery of organ-specific functionality. Moreover, the biocompatibility of a degradable urethral stent could potentially reduce the risk of restenosis due to hyperplasia and could be used, even repeatedly, for the treatment of a number of subvesical obstructions. For the treatment of tumor-induced strictures, application of degradable polymer stents coated with cytostatic drugs may be possible. The mechanical effect of the drug-loaded stent as a “place holder” could be complemented by adjuvant or palliative approaches such as local chemotherapy. We have developed and tested in vitro a degradable urethral stent incorporated with the model drug methotrexate for local drug delivery (LDD) by diffusion and during stent degradation.     

Vascular Centerline Extraction in 3D MR Angiograms for Phase Contrast MRI Blood Flow Measurement

The accuracy of 2D phase contrast (PC) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) depends on the alignment between the vessels and the imaging plane. PC MRA imaging of blood flow is challenging when the flow in several vessels is to be evaluated with one acquisition. For this purpose, semi-automatic determination of the plane most perpendicular to several vessels is proposed based on centerlines extracted from 3D MRA. Arterial centerlines are extracted from 3D MRA based on iterative estimation-prediction, multi-scale analysis of image moments, and a second-order shape model. The optimal plane is determined by minimizing misalignment between its normal vector and the centerlines’ tangent vectors. The method was evaluated on a phantom and on 35 patients, by seeking the optimal plane for cerebral blood flow quantification simultaneously in internal carotids and vertebral arteries. In the phantom, difference of orientation and of height between known and calculated planes was 1.2° and 2.5 mm, respectively. In the patients, all but one centerline were correctly extracted and the misalignment of the plane was within 12° per artery. Semi-automatic centerline extraction simplifies and automates determination of the plane orthogonal to one vessel, thereby permitting automatic simultaneous minimization of the misalignment with several vessels in PC MRA.