Dtsch Arztebl Int
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Acne is the most common skin disease in adolescence, with a prevalence of nearly 100%. About 60% of affected adolescents have mild acne for which they use non-prescription preparations without consulting a physician. The remaining 40% constitute the population of acne patients seen in medical practice. The course of acne can be either acute or chronic; its manifestations can appear in waves, sometimes with dramatically severe inflammation leading rapidly to scarring. Acne often has adverse emotional consequences. Its treatment is markedly better than in the past because of new pharmacological and physicochemical approaches and because evidence-based guidelines are now available. ⋯ A variety of effective treatments for acne are available, depending on the severity of the condition.
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Theophylline is often used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Current evidence leaves the effectiveness and safety of this drug open to question. Thus, we evaluated the effectiveness of theophylline on the rate of hospitalizations and disease exacerbations by examining routine data from the ambulatory disease management program for COPD in the German state of Bavaria. ⋯ Treatment with theophylline is associated with an elevated incidence of exacerbations and hospitalizations. The therapeutic value of this drug should be reconsidered and investigated in further studies.
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Review Meta Analysis
Iatrogenic nerve injuries: prevalence, diagnosis and treatment.
Iatrogenic nerve injuries can result from direct surgical trauma, mechanical stress on a nerve due to faulty positioning during anesthesia, the injection of neurotoxic substances into a nerve, and other mechanisms. Treating physicians should know the risk factors and the procedure to be followed when an iatrogenic nerve injury arises. ⋯ A thorough knowledge of the anatomy of the vulnerable nerves and of variants in their course can lessen the risk of iatrogenic nerve injury. When such injuries arise, early diagnosis and planning of further management are the main determinants of outcome. If adequate nerve regeneration does not occur, surgical revision should optimally be performed 3 to 4 months after the injury, and 6 months afterward at the latest. On the other hand, if postoperative high resolution ultrasound reveals either complete transection of the nerve or a neuroma in continuity, surgery should be performed without any further delay. If the surgeon becomes aware of a nerve transection during the initial procedure, then either immediate end-to-end suturing or early secondary management after three weeks is indicated.
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Review Meta Analysis
Borderline personality disorder and comorbid addiction: epidemiology and treatment.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) affects 2.7% of adults. About 78% of adults with BPD also develop a substance-related disorder or addiction at some time in their lives. These persons are more impulsive and clinically less stable than BPD patients without substance dependency. They display suicidal behavior to a greater extent, drop out of treatment more often, and have shorter abstinence phases. The combination of borderline personality disorder with addiction requires a special therapeutic approach. ⋯ Patients with borderline personality disorder and comorbid addiction should be treated as early as possible for both conditions in a thematically hierarchical manner. There is no evidence for any restriction on drug therapy to prevent recurrent addiction in these patients. The psychotherapeutic techniques that can be used (despite the currently inadequate evidence base) include DBT-SUD, DFST, and DDP. These patients need qualified expert counseling in choosing a suitable type of psychotherapy. Specific treatment is available in only a few places, and the relevant treatment networks in Germany are just beginning to be constructed.