European journal of medical research
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We describe a clinical case of ARDS in an HIV infected patient. ARDS was associated to a respiratory syncytial virus infection that triggered a suspected Pneumocystis infection that despite missing etiologic proofs was treated with antimycotics. As rather limited information on RSV associated ARDS in HIV patients is available in the current literature, this case is of significant interest.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Randomized and non-randomized prospective controlled cohort studies in matched pair design for the long-term therapy of corpus uteri cancer patients with a mistletoe preparation (Iscador).
Mistletoe preparations such as Iscador are in common use as complementary/anthroposophic medications for many cancer indications, particularly for solid cancers. Efficacy of this complementary therapy is still discussed controversially. ⋯ The mistletoe preparation Iscador in these studies has the effect of prolonging overall survival of corpus uteri cancer patients. Psychosomatic self-regulation as a measure of autonomous coping with the disease, rises significantly more under Iscador therapy than under conventional therapy alone.
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Increased intracranial pressure (ICP) is responsible for causing most nervous system diseases to progress seriously, till death. Recently, volume-targeted therapeutic strategy against increased ICP, which works by releasing excessive intracranial liquid especially from the venous compartment, attracted a great deal of attention. Previous research by us found a structurally special "outflow segment cuff" that is located at the juncture of superior sagittal sinus (SSS) and the brain-bridging veins in porcine model. Sequential observation demonstrated that this special structure appeared to have functional abnormalities. Based on these findings, it was proposed to try and prove a further hypothesis that there exists a similar structure in human beings that might be of importance for cerebral venous system to intervene in volume-initiated ICP regulation. Meanwhile, the diameters of bridging veins under either increased or normal ICP are compared by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). ⋯ Intracranial venous compartment occupies about 70 to 80% blood volume inside the inflexible cranial cavity. Following volume-targeted rationale, ICP can be regulated effectively by the fluctuation of venous blood volume based on different aspects of morphology, biomechanics, and hemodynamics. In the present study, the coincidence of animal model and human venography in vivo offers strong evidences to support the hypothesis that venous hemodynamics, although passively, influences intracranial pressure environment through a possible key regulator - outflow segment narrow structure. The fact that this narrow formation and proximal vascular dilation appears more in patients under high ICP condition rather than in patients with normal pressure. Both narrow formation and proximal vascular dilation indicate its significant contribution to intracranial venous congestion, resulting from difficult drainage and the close relationship between intracranial venous volume and ICP.