Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research
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Comment Letter Historical Article
The upright name of the disorder: Adamantiades-Behçet's disease.
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Review Comparative Study
Stem cells have the potential to rejuvenate regenerative medicine research.
The increasing number of publications featuring the use of stem cells in regenerative processes supports the idea that they are revolutionizing regenerative medicine research. In an analysis of the articles published in the journal Cell Transplantation - The Regenerative Medicine Journal between 2008 and 2009, which reveals the topics and categories that are on the cutting edge of regenerative medicine research, stem cells are becoming increasingly relevant as the "runner-up" category to "neuroscience" related articles. The high volume of stem cell research casts a bright light on the hope for stem cells and their role in regenerative medicine as a number of reports deal with research using stem cells entering, or seeking approval for, clinical trials. ⋯ Transplantation studies were again more popular than non-transplantation, and the contribution of stem cell-related transplants was greater than other types of transplants. The non-transplantation articles were predominantly related to new methods for the preparation, isolation and manipulation of materials for transplant by specific culture media, gene therapy, medicines, dietary supplements, and co-culturing with other cells and further elucidation of disease mechanisms. A sizeable proportion of the transplantation articles reported on how previously new methods may have aided the ability of the cells or tissue to exert beneficial effects following transplantation.
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Case Reports
The divergent clinical presentations of transfusion-related acute lung injury illustrated by two case reports.
Although the 2-event pathogenesis of transfusion-related (TR) acute lung injury (ALI) has been accepted as an explanatory model, case reports classically describe patients without other risk factors for ALI. Patients who exhibit another risk factor for the onset of ALI may be neglected as having TRALI, which contributes to underreporting. ⋯ The 2 cases illustrate that TRALI can occur both in the absence and in the presence of another ALI risk factor. Awareness should be increased that all patients exhibiting ALI within 6 hours of a blood transfusion, including possible TRALI, should be reported to the blood bank.
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Meta Analysis
The efficacy of treatment for systemic sclerosis interstitial lung disease: results from a meta-analysis.
This meta-analysis examined all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing pharmacotherapy for systemic sclerosis (SSc)-interstitial lung disease (ILD) with placebo or alternative drugs on pulmonary function tests (PFTs), quality of life, dyspnea, skin thickness, and adverse events. ⋯ This conservative yet significant effect of cyclophosphamide demonstrates the need for further investigation of its effectiveness on patient-important outcomes such as dyspnea and quality of life, which could not be evaluated by this meta-analysis. It may be that studies in SSc-ILD need outcomes that are more sensitive to change.
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Refractory hypotension is a frequent event during reperfusion of a liver graft. Measures that help maintain hemodynamic stability include correction of electrolytes and acid-base abnormalities as well as administration of fluid and/or catecholamines. Vasoplegic syndrome represents the most severe form of hemodynamic instability. Management of this condition is very difficult due primarily to the inadequate response to even very high doses of catecholamines. ⋯ Release of nitric oxide in the systemic circulation can be a potential cause of vasoplegic syndrome. Future investigation will demonstrate whether a patient's preoperative cGMP plasma level can be a potential predictor of intraoperative hemodynamic instability.