Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry
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For many physicians, quantification of serum drug-specific IgE (sIgE) antibodies constitutes the first measure in the diagnostic approach of immediate drug hypersensitivity reactions (IDHR). ⋯ Although drug-sIgE assay can provide valuable information they should not be performed in isolation to establish correct diagnosis, as their predictive value is not per se absolute. Larger comprehensive studies are urgently required to determine the accuracy of drug-sIgE assays.
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Case Reports
Hypodysfibrinogenemia: A novel abnormal fibrinogen associated with bleeding and thrombotic complications.
Congenital disorders of fibrinogen are rare diseases resulting in the complete absence (afibrinogenemia), reduced concentration (hypofibrinogenemia) or altered function of circulating fibrinogen (dysfibrinogenemia). A combination of two different fibrinogen abnormalities with a significant functional and secretion defect (hypodysfibrinogenemia) reported in Tunisian family members, was investigated in this study. ⋯ These results suggest that this mutation could alter the extremely conserved conformations of fibrinogen D domain and D-D lateral regions on fibrin assembly.
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Despite their undoubted helpfulness in diagnosing sepsis, increased blood C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) levels have been described in many noninfectious conditions. Presepsin is a soluble fragment of the cluster of differentiation 14 involved in pathogen recognition by innate immunity. We aimed to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic performance of presepsin in comparison to PCT and CRP in patients presenting with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and suspected sepsis. ⋯ In septic patients, presepsin revealed earlier concentration changes over time when compared to PCT and CRP. Presepsin and PCT could differentiate between septic and non-septic patients with comparable accuracy and both biomarkers showed similar performance for predicting 28-day mortality. Early changes in presepsin concentrations might reflect the appropriateness of the therapeutic modality and could be useful for making effective treatment decisions.