Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre
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To assess the degree of immunosuppressive medication adherence in kidney transplant patients (KTPs) and to determine if there is a difference in the rate of adherence to tacrolimus (Tac), cyclosporine (CsA) and sirolimus (Sir). ⋯ The KTPs in this study demonstrated a high level of adherence. Nonadherence was associated with worse graft function and a lower Tac level. Knowledge about the degree of adherence could help the early identification of nonadherent patients and the development of strategies to improve this.
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The mortality rate of patients with poststernotomy mediastinitis remains very high. The aim of this study was to identify the risk factors associated with mortality in these patients. ⋯ In this study, elimination of MRSA from the hospital setting decreased the rate of mortality in patients with poststernotomy mediastinitis.
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To report a case of broncholithiasis with different types of calculi in the tracheobronchial tree. ⋯ The diagnosis of broncholithiasis should be kept in mind in patients who had hemoptysis and calcified mediastinal lymph nodes on thorax computerized tomography, and diagnostic bronchoscopy should be done to prove the relationship of the tracheobronchial tree with a broncholith.
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To assess the efficacy of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG PET)/computed tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of patients with fever of unknown origin (FUO), who were finally diagnosed as lymphoma. ⋯ In this study, PET/CT had high diagnostic accuracy in patients with FUO resulting from lymphoma, which indicated that PET/CT scanning was a valuable diagnostic tool for these groups of patients with FUO.
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The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of anti-carbonic anhydrase (CA II) autoantibodies in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and relationships between the autoantibody titers and ghrelin, glucose, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine. ⋯ In ESRD patients, the results showed the development of an autoimmune response against CA II. This suggests that anti-CA II antibodies could be involved in the pathogenesis of ESRD.