[Surgical aspects of the gastrointestinal diseases]
JAKAB Ferenc
NOVEMBER 20, 2007
Lege Artis Medicinae - 2007;17(11)
JAKAB Ferenc
NOVEMBER 20, 2007
Lege Artis Medicinae - 2007;17(11)
Lege Artis Medicinae
Lege Artis Medicinae
Lege Artis Medicinae
Lege Artis Medicinae
Lege Artis Medicinae
[INTRODUCTION - Persistently normal alanine aminotransferase levels, which occur in a fraction of patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus, do not rule out the presence of chronic hepatitis C, even of that with advanced inflammation and fibrosis. Here we report our results of the treatment of these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS - Patients with histologically confirmed chronic hepatitis C received combined antiviral treatment with pegylated interferon (alfa-2a 1×180 μg/week or alfa-2b 1×1.5 μg/kg/week) and ribavirin (800- 1200 mg/day) for 48-52 weeks. The alanineaminotransferase levels of 21 patients (14 females, 7 males, age: 20-54, mean 38 years) did not reach the upper limit of normal (40 U/l) during the period of observation (≥6 months). There were 19 and 2 cases with hepatitis C virus genotype 1b and 3, respectively. The patients' hepatitis activity index was 3.7 1.75, fibrosis score: 0.9 0.64, baseline viral titer: 1.18 1.12×106 IU/ml, alanine-aminotransferase level: 33.51 7.2 U/l. The last 100 unselected patients with elevated alanine-aminotransferase levels enrolled in treatment for chronic hepatitis C and who were followed for at least 6 months served as the control group with the following parameters: 41 females and 59 males (age: 18- 65, mean: 45.65 years), viral genotypes: 98 and 2 cases of type 1 and 3, respectively, hepatitis activity index: 5.44±4.03, stage: 1.29±1.00, baseline viral titer: 4.13±6.25×106 IU/ml. RESULTS - In the study group, all patients were hepatitis C virus RNA negative at the end of the treatment and with one exception remained so by the end of the 6-month follow-up period (20/21), while the sustained virologic response was 36% in the control group. The pretreatment normal alanine aminotransferase level decreased significantly (15.26 4.9 vs 33.51 7.2 U/l, p<0.001) by the end of the treatment, and remained at this level during the follow-up in all except one relapse case. CONCLUSION - The efficacy of the combined antiviral treatment is high in patients with persistently normal alanine aminotransferase levels, possibly due to the relatively younger age, the higher proportion of females, the lower baseline viral titer, and the less advanced liver disease (lower inflammatory activity and less or absent fibrosis) observed in this group. Combined antiviral treatment is recommended for patients with histologically confirmed chronic hepatitis C with normal alanine aminotransferase levels, even with mild inflammatory activity and minimal or absent fibrosis in the liver tissue. The previous suggestions based on published evidence to revise the upper limit of the normal range of alanine aminotransferase level are supported by the results of this study.]
Clinical Neuroscience
Far lateral lumbar disc herniations (FLDH) consist approximately 0.7-12% of all lumbar disc herniations. Compared to the more common central and paramedian lumbar disc herniations, they cause more severe and persistent radicular pain due to direct compression of the nerve root and dorsal root ganglion. In patients who do not respond to conservative treatments such as medical treatment and physical therapy, and have not developed neurological deficits, it is difficult to decide on surgical treatment because of the nerve root damage and spinal instability risk due to disruption of facet joint integrity. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) on the improvement of both pain control and functional capacity in patients with FLDH. A total of 37 patients who had radicular pain caused by far lateral disc herniation which is visible in their lumbar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, had no neurological deficit and did not respond to conservative treatment, were included the study. TFESI was applied to patients by preganglionic approach. Pre-treatment Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores of the patients were compared with the 3rd week, 3rd month and 6th month scores after the procedure. The mean initial VAS score was 8.63 ± 0.55, while it was 3.84 ± 1.66, 5.09 ± 0.85, 4.56 ± 1.66 at the 3rd week, 3rd month and 6th month controls, respectively. This decrease in the VAS score was found statistically significant (p = 0.001). ODI score with baseline mean value of 52.38 ± 6.84 was found to be 18.56 ± 4.95 at the 3rd week, 37.41 ± 14.1 at the 3rd month and 34.88 ± 14.33 at the 6th month. This downtrend of patient’s ODI scores was found statistically significant (p = 0.001). This study has demonstrated that TFESI is an effective method for gaining increased functional capacity and pain control in the treatment of patients who are not suitable for surgical treatment with radicular complaints due to far lateral lumbar disc hernia.
Clinical Neuroscience
Microdiscectomy (MD) is a standard technique for the surgical treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Uniportal percutaneous full-endoscopic interlaminar lumbar discectomy (PELD) is another surgical option that has become popular owing to reports of shorter hospitalization and earlier functional recovery. There are very few articles analyzing the total costs of these two techniques. The purpose of this study was to compare total hospital costs among microdiscectomy (MD) and uniportal percutaneous full-endoscopic interlaminar lumbar discectomy (PELD). Forty patients aged between 22-70 years who underwent PELD or MD with different anesthesia techniques were divided into four groups: (i) PELD-local anesthesia (PELD-Local) (n=10), (ii) PELD-general anesthesia (PELD-General) (n=10), (iii) MD-spinal anesthesia (MD-Spinal) (n=10), (iv) MD-general anesthesia (MD-General) (n=10). Health care costs were defined as the sum of direct costs. Data were then analyzed based on anesthetic modality to produce a direct cost evaluation. Direct costs were compared statistically between MD and PELD groups. The sum of total costs was $1,249.50 in the PELD-Local group, $1,741.50 in the PELD-General group, $2,015.60 in the MD-Spinal group, and $2,348.70 in the MD-General group. The sum of total costs was higher in the MD-Spinal and MD-General groups than in the PELD-Local and PELD-General groups. The costs of surgical operation, surgical equipment, anesthesia (anesthetist’s costs), hospital stay, anesthetic drugs and materials, laboratory workup, nursing care, and postoperative medication differed significantly among the two main groups (PELD-MD) (p<0.01). This study demonstrated that PELD is less costly than MD.
Lege Artis Medicinae
[Invasive investigations show that in two-thirds of patients the myocardial ischaemia persists without obstructive coronary disease and any other heart conditions (INOCA). The underlying cause may be microvascular dysfunction (CMD) with consecutive microvascular coronary disease (MVD) and microvascular or epicardial vasospastic angina (MVA). The modern practice of clinical cardiology while using the developed non-invasive cardiac imaging permits exact measuring of the coronary flow with its characteristic indices. All of these improve the diagnosing of CMD-induced myocardial ischemia and provide opportunity to determine primary MVD cases. Since the recognition and treatment of MVD is significantly underrepresented in the Hungarian medical care, the primary stable microvascular angina (MVA) is described in detail below with its modern invasive and non-invasive differential diagnosis and treatment, concerning especially its frequency provoked by high blood pressure and female coronary heart diseases. There are highlighted all recommended diagnostic procedures available under domestic conditions.]
Lege Artis Medicinae
[This study presents the complete history of the Hungarian vaccine production, partly in association with the process of fighting vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, and underlines the fact that every government actively contributed to the age-adjusted mandatory vaccination schedule of the past 140 years. It demonstrates the various achievements from the smallpox lymph production through the launch of diphtheria serum production at Phylaxia and the establishment of the National Public Health Institute (OKI) with its vaccine production and the later institutional transformation of OKI into Humán as economic corporation to its closure. Among all OKI’s vaccine production activities, this study focuses on the production of influenza vaccines, due to its international importance in the 1960s and 1970s. The vaccine production against diphtheria tetanus and pertussis stands out from Humán’s activities, and the tetanus component of this vaccine is still used in the products of a multinational vaccine manufacturer. ]
Lege Artis Medicinae
[Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most frequently used pharmaceuticals. Nevertheless, a number of studies emphasized that NSAIDs were damaging not only the gastrointestinal (GI), but also the cardiovascular (CV) system, could increase the blood pressure, the frequency of coronary events (angina, myocardial infarction) and stroke incidence, as well as they might deteriorate renal functions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) did not find evidence that administering NSAIDs could increase the risk of developing COVID-19 or worsened the condition of COVID-19 patients. However, unwanted effects of specific drugs differ substantially in their occurrence and seriousness as well. It seemed to be for a long time that the NSAIDs provoked higher GI-risk was closely related to the COX1/COX2 selectivity, like the cardiovascular (CV) risk to the COX2/COX1 selectivity, however, the recent data did not prove it clearly. Based on the available literature while pondering the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular adverse events, among all NSAIDs the aceclofenac profile seemed to be the most favourable.]
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