Medicina
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Case Reports
A Rare Case of Effusive-Constrictive Pericarditis Caused by Streptococcus agalactiae: Emergency Surgical Treatment.
A 70-year-old male patient was admitted to the emergency room in cardiac arrest. The patient was resuscitated and then referred to our cardiac surgery department, where he was diagnosed with suspected effusive constrictive pericarditis. A failed trial of TEE-guided pericardiocentesis led to the decision of surgical intervention. ⋯ Histological samples were sent to be analyzed immediately; a few days later, they were unexpectedly negative for any neoplastic disease but showed a group-B-hemolytic Streptococcus agalactiae infection, which causes pericarditis in extremely rare cases. Postoperatively, the patient, under intravenous antibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapy, remained asymptomatic and was discharged ten days after the surgery. At the three-month follow-up, transthoracic echocardiography showed a normal right and left ventricular function with no pericardial effusion.
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Background and purpose: Osteoporotic hyperkyphosis is associated with adverse outcomes, such as fatigue, back pain, or reduced back extensor strength, with a negative impact on functionality and quality of life. The purpose of this review is to assess the effectiveness of spinal orthosis on these adverse effects. Methods: A systematic review following the PRISMA guidelines was performed. ⋯ Interventions consisting of wearing a dynamic hyperextension orthosis for at least two hours per day for six months improved functionality, mobility, back extensor strength, respiratory function, and reduced the thoracic kyphosis angle. Conclusions: Spinal orthosis, especially dynamic hyperextension braces, seems effective in improving the adverse outcomes of osteoporotic hyperkyphosis. It does not seem necessary to wear the orthosis during all daily activities.
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Schizophrenia, consisting of a group of severe psychiatric disorders with a complex etiology, is a leading cause of disability globally. Due to the lack of objective indicators, accurate diagnosis and selection of effective treatments for schizophrenia remain challenging. The association between schizophrenia and alarmins levels has been proposed for many years, but without solid evidence. ⋯ Several studies suggest strong associations among the high-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1), interleukin-1α, interleukin-33, S100B, heat-shock proteins, and uric acid with schizophrenic disorders. The purpose of this review is to discuss the evidence of central and peripheral immune findings in schizophrenia, their potential causes, and the effects of immunomodulatory therapies on symptoms and outline potential applications of these markers in managing the illness. Although there are currently no effective markers for diagnosing or predicting treatment effects in patients with schizophrenia, we believe that screening immune-inflammatory biomarkers that are closely related to the pathological mechanism of schizophrenia can be used for early clinical identification, diagnosis, and treatment of schizophrenia, which may lead to more effective treatment options for people with schizophrenia.
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Background and Objectives: No gold standard exists for treating persistent periprosthetic knee infections. Knee arthrodesis represents one treatment concept for extensive bone defects and extensor system insufficiencies. It has already been shown that knee arthrodesis leads to a significant reduction in one's quality of life. ⋯ Knee arthrodesis causes reduced gait kinetics/kinematics. Our survey shows that the relative joint moments of the ankle joint and hip are often reduced. The ankle joint is more affected compared to the hip.
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Background and objectives: The multidrug resistance protein 4 (MRP4) is a member of the ABC transporter, which has been extensively related to many types of cancer including leukemia. MRP4 overexpression and activity over the efflux of some chemotherapeutic drugs are the main causes of chemoresistance. 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) is a chemotherapeutic drug widely used in the consolidation and maintenance phases of leukemia treatment. However, 6-MP is a substrate of MRP4, which decreases its chemotherapeutic efficacy. ⋯ Ceefourin-1 additively cooperates with 6-MP to induce apoptosis in leukemic cells, but normal lymphoblast CRl-1991 showed resistance to both drugs. Conclusion: ceefourin-1 and 6-MP cooperates to trigger apoptosis in leukemic Jurkat cells, but the full mechanism needs to be elucidated in further works. In addition, our perspective is to test the cooperation between ceefourin-1 and 6-MP in samples from patients and healthy donnors.