Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift
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Wien Med Wochenschr · Jan 1998
Multicenter Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial[Therapy of febrile neutropenia episodes in systemic hematologic illnesses with new once daily ceftriaxone administration].
In this open label prospective multicenter trial, 420 patients with neutropenia < 1000/microliter, fever > 38.5 degrees C and hematological malignancies were treated with ceftriaxone. Acute leukemia (n = 238) and high-grade lymphoma patients (n = 182) from 35 centers were enrolled. Between February 1992 and January 1996, patients were treated with 2 g ceftriaxone i.v. per day either as monotherapy (n = 135), or in combination with aminoglycosides (n = 235), glycopeptides (n = 37), or other antimicrobial agents (n = 13). ⋯ At the end of the observation, an overall response was obtained in 88.3% of the patients (n = 371) without statistical difference between patients treated with ceftriaxone alone or in combination. Once daily ceftriaxone either alone or in combination was effective in patients with hematological malignancies. Monotherapy was effective in a low risk group characterized by neutrophil counts (> or = 500/microliter), a Karnofsky-performance-score (> or = 7) and a duration of neutropenia (< or = 5 days) at the commencement of treatment.
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Wien Med Wochenschr · Jan 1998
Review[Prolonged video EEG monitoring in differential diagnosis of seizures and in presurgical epilepsy diagnosis].
Prolonged video-EEG-monitoring facilitates a correlation of clinical seizure semiology and corresponding EEG changes. Indications for prolonged video-EEG-monitoring comprise differential diagnosis of epileptic and psychogenic seizures, correct classification of epileptic syndromes and presurgical evaluation of patients with medically refractory focal epilepsies. 6000 patients in Austria would benefit from epilepsy surgery with an additional 150 bis 200 new patients appearing each year. ⋯ If the epileptogenic zone cannot be localized adequately with these methods, invasive electrophysiological techniques with intracranial (epidural peg-electrodes, foramen-ovale electrodes, subdural strip or grid electrodes) or intracerebral electrodes (stereotaxically implanted depth electrodes) have to be applied. Epilepsy surgery renders 70 to 80% of patients seizure free and thus can regarded an effective and safe treatment option for patients with medically refractory focal epilepsies.
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Wien Med Wochenschr · Jan 1998
Review[Acupuncture in prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting].
In this review the effectiveness of the acupuncture point Pericard 6 (P 6) on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is described. Use of the acupuncture, acupressure as well as the laser stimulation of P 6 proved as efficient prophylaxis of PONV in numerous studies. These methods are free of side effects and represent therefore a good alternative to the pharmacological prophylaxis and treatment of PONV.
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Wien Med Wochenschr · Jan 1998
Assessment of satisfaction with the communication process during consultation of cancer patients with potentially curable disease, cancer patients on palliative care, and HIV-positive patients.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the attitudes of cancer patients towards the medical interview and to determine their psychosocial satisfaction subsequent to the dialogue. The answers given by patients with curable cancer were compared to those given by cancer patients whose treatment intent was palliative and to the replies of patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a nonmalignant but also incurable state. The subject population comprised a total of 139 patients. ⋯ Cancer patients considered themselves better informed compared to patients with HIV-infection. This is in significant contrast with the actual, measurable knowledge about their disease in the latter group. It is indeed surprising that only a small minority of incurable cancer patients realized that the goal of the medical care they received was relief of symptoms, the principle objective of palliation.
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Wien Med Wochenschr · Jan 1998
Comparative Study Clinical Trial[Acupuncture and ganglionic local opioid analgesia in trigeminal neuralgia].
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is defined as a chronic, severe, electrifying and burning pain in one side of the face. The attacks are initiated by tactile irritations in a so-called trigger area of the trigeminal nerve and are perceived within the borders of this nerve's innervation. TN is a chronic condition which initially goes into spontaneous remission but these become fewer as the condition progresses. ⋯ These results show that the combined use of acupuncture and carbamazepine with/without GLOA achieves an additional therapeutic effect in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. The addition of acupuncture seems to have a superior effect to the addition of GLOA. These results support the use of acupuncture as an additional form of therapy for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.