妊娠性肝内胆汁淤积症：一项地塞米松和熊脱氧胆酸的随机、对照试验

妊娠性肝内胆汁淤积症（ICP）的主要特征是：母体难以忍受的瘙痒症，血清胆汁酸升高（≥10μmol／L）以及胎儿死亡风险的增加。最近，确定了一个与影响胎儿损害相关的界值，即血清胆汁酸≥40μmol／L。在一项双盲、安慰剂对照试验中，作研究了熊脱氧胆酸（UDCA）和地塞米松对瘙痒症、胆汁淤积的生化指标和胎儿并发症发生率的影响。为此，选取了130例患有ICP的妇女，随机分到UDCA组（1g／d，使用3周），地塞米松组（12mg／d使用1周，第2周、第3周使用安慰剂）和安慰剂组（使用3周）进行治疗。在治疗期间和治疗3周后对瘙痒症和胆汁淤积的生化指标进行分析。在分娩时记录胎儿的并发症（自发性早产，新生儿窒息，羊水、胎盘、胎膜的胎粪染色）。意向治疗分析显示仅在UDCA组中，丙氨酸转氨酶（ALT）（P=0．01）和胆红素（P=0．002）明显减少。在血清胆汁酸≥40μmol／L的ICP妇女的亚群分析中发现（n=34）UDCA对瘙痒症（减轻75％）、胆汁酸（下降79％）、ALT（降低80％）和胆红素（降低50％）也有明显效果，但对胎儿并发症发生率无影响。地塞米松并无减轻瘙痒症或降低ALT的作用，在降低胆汁酸和胆红素方面比UDCA效果差。     

The prevalence of peripheral arterial disease and medial arterial calcification in patients with chronic renal failure: requirements for diagnostics

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) is limited because of a lack of uniformity in disease definition and recognition. Furthermore, little is known of the prevalence of medial arterial calcification (MAC) in patients with CRF. Our goal is to study the prevalence of PAD and MAC defined by ankle brachial index (ABI) or toe brachial index (TBI) measurements in a Finnish population of patients with CRF consisting of predialysis and dialysis patients, as well as renal transplant recipients. METHODS: We examined 136 patients with CRF and 59 control subjects. Fifty-nine of the patients with CRF had moderate to severe predialysis CRF, 36 patients were on dialysis treatment, and 41 were renal transplant recipients. Mean age of patients was 51.9 +/- 11.5 years, and 39 patients (29%) had diabetes. ABI and TBI were measured by means of photoplethysmography. The definition of PAD required an ABI value of 0.90 or less, a TBI value of 0.60 or less, or a previous positive lower-extremity angiogram result. ABI values of 1.3 or greater or incompressible arteries at ankle level indicated MAC. The presence of claudication was determined by an interview. RESULTS: Prevalences of PAD on this study were 22.0% in patients with predialysis CRF, 30.6% in patients on dialysis treatment, 14.6% in renal transplant recipients, and 1.7% in the control group (P = 0.001). Prevalences of MAC were 23.7%, 41.7%, 23.1%, and 3.4% (P < 0.001), respectively. Only 9 patients had claudication, and 6 of those patients had PAD. CONCLUSION: Both asymptomatic PAD and MAC are common in patients with CRF. Therefore, we recommend the use of both ABI and TBI measurements in the evaluation of PAD in patients with CRF.     

Shoulder instability: impact of glenohumeral arthrotomography on treatment

We used arthrotomography to study the glenoid labrum in 114 patients. Sixty-nine of the patients had anatomic instability of the shoulder (including recurrent dislocation and subluxation of the shoulder), and 45 patients had functional instability of the shoulder (denoted by chronic pain, clicking of the joint, and the sensation that an unstable condition exists without the objective signs of it). Labral tears were revealed arthrotomographically in 86% of the patients with anatomic instability, while only 40% of the patients with functional instability had labral abnormalities, and these were primarily of minor severity. Fifty-six patients (44 of whom had anatomic instability; 12, functional instability) required surgery. The surgical findings were correlated with the arthrotomographic findings, and no false-positive results were revealed. However, arthrotomography demonstrated only part of the pathologic condition of two patients. These results confirm that there is a strong correlation between labral pathologic conditions and anatomic instability of the shoulder. Arthrotomographic studies have a great impact on the selection of therapy in cases of both anatomic and functional instability of the shoulder.