Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Alzheimer's dementia (AD) is the most common form of dementia in people with Down Syndrome (DS). Acetylcholine is a chemical found in the brain that has an important role in memory, attention, reason and language. Rivastigmine is a "pseudo-irreversible" inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, which is thought to maintain levels of acetylcholine. Rivastigmine can improve cognitive function and slow the decline of AD in the general population over time. It is important to note that people with DS tend to present with AD at a much younger age than the normal population as well as having subtle differences in physiology (e.g. metabolism and heart rate) and may therefore have different requirements from the general population. ⋯ As there are no included trials, recommendations cannot be made about rivastigmine for AD in DS. Well-designed, adequately powered studies are required.
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Alzheimer's dementia (AD) is the most common form of dementia in people with Down Syndrome (DS). There is an understanding that an increase in L-glutamate contributes to the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemias and AD. Memantine acts as an antagonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type receptors, which is thought to reduce abnormal activation of glutamate neurotransmission. It binds with a low affinity to the NMDA receptor and so should not prevent learning and the formation of memory. Memantine can improve cognitive function and slow the decline of AD in the general population over time, and is the subject of this review. It is important to note that people with DS tend to present with AD at a much younger age than the normal population as well as having subtle differences in physiology (e.g. metabolism and heart rate) and may therefore have different requirements from the general population. ⋯ As there are no included trials, recommendations cannot be made about memantine for AD in DS. Well-designed, adequately powered studies are required.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2009
Review Meta AnalysisPharmacological interventions to decrease blood loss and blood transfusion requirements for liver resection.
Blood loss during liver resection is one of the most important factors affecting the peri-operative outcomes of patients undergoing liver resection. ⋯ None of the interventions seem to decrease peri-operative morbidity or offer any long-term survival benefit. Aprotinin and tranexamic acid show promise in the reduction of blood transfusion requirements in liver resection surgery. However, there is a high risk of type I (erroneously concluding that an intervention is beneficial when it is actually not beneficial) and type II errors (erroneously concluding that an intervention is not beneficial when it is actually beneficial) because of the few trials included, the small sample size in each trial, and the high risk of bias. Further randomised clinical trials with low risk of bias and random errors assessing clinically important outcomes such as peri-operative mortality are necessary to assess any pharmacological interventions aimed at decreasing blood loss and blood transfusion requirements in liver resections. Trials need to be designed to assess the effect of a combination of different interventions in liver resections.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2009
Review Meta AnalysisAlpha2-adrenergic agonists for the management of opioid withdrawal.
Withdrawal is a necessary step prior to drug-free treatment or as the end point of long-term substitution treatment. ⋯ Clonidine and lofexidine are more effective than placebo for the management of withdrawal from heroin or methadone. No significant difference in efficacy was detected for treatment regimes based on clonidine or lofexidine, and those based on reducing doses of methadone over a period of around 10 days but methadone is associated with fewer adverse effects than clonidine, and lofexidine has a better safety profile than clonidine.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2009
Review Comparative StudyHigh frequency oscillatory ventilation versus conventional ventilation for infants with severe pulmonary dysfunction born at or near term.
Pulmonary disease is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in term and near term infants. Conventional ventilation (CV) has been used for many years but may lead to lung injury, require the subsequent use of more invasive treatment such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), or result in death. There are some observational studies indicating that high frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) may be more effective in these infants as compared to CV. ⋯ There are no data from randomized controlled trials supporting the use of rescue HFOV in term or near term infants with severe pulmonary dysfunction. The area is complicated by diverse pathology in such infants and by the occurrence of other interventions (surfactant, inhaled nitric oxide, inotropes). Randomized controlled trials are needed to establish the role of elective or rescue HFOV in near term and term infants with pulmonary dysfunction before widespread use of this mode of ventilation in such infants.