Metformin was a revelation in the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes, being widely used, with remarkable outcomes. Lately, research has greatly expanded the indications of metformin treatment, which can be used not only in diabetes but also in many other conditions. Although still debatable, several studies have shown the beneficial effects of metformin treatment in patients with psoriasis. This article is a review of the latest data of scientific literature about the effects of metformin administration in patients with diabetes and psoriasis, but also in nondiabetic patients with psoriasis
Introduction: Currently, parathyroidectomy represents the elective surgical treatment and the only one curative that relieves the patient of metabolic complications and improves the quality of life of the patient. Intraoperative confirmation of PTH is required to reflect the fact that the correct parathyroid gland has been extracted. Material and method: The study is retrospective. The period on which the data was gathered over a period of 2 years. The values of the PTH assay were obtained from blood drawn from the ipsilateral cephalic vein of the hyperproductive parathyroid gland: 1. at the moment of anesthesia induction; 2. at identification; 3. at 10 minutes after the extraction; 4. at 20 minutes after extraction. Results: We identified a number of 25 patients operated for primary hyperparathyroidism. Preoperative values of PTH were 380pg/mL with a maximum value of 821 pg/mL. PTH values decreased by 55% at 5 min, 68% at 10 minutes and 74% at 15 minutes. A marked reduction in PTH values occurred after the first 5 minutes while the interval between 10-15minutes associated a variation of only 8-10% decrease. Conclusion: Intraoperative PTH assay is a useful technique to predict the success of the intervention. The technique is standard although some issues have been raised and are still under discussion.
Given the continuous growth of the bacterial resistance phenomenon, the appropriate choice of antibiotherapy represents an important step in the treatment and prophylaxis of infectious diseases. Depending on the symptomatology, the dose required for the effective treatment of an infection may vary. Inadequate dosing not only reduces the effectiveness of the antibiotic, but also promotes the emergence of resistant bacterial strains. Also, too high of a dose increases the toxic side effects of antibiotics. Therefore, a personalised antibiotherapy according to: the patient's clinical status, body mass, associated chronic diseases, etc. represents a promising approach in the treatment of infectious diseases. The purpose of this study is to present the most important current affairs regarding the emergence of new antibiotics, the maximum doses recommended by the latest version of the "European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing" (EUCAST - version 9/2019) and providing an indication on whether these antibiotics are used in Romania.
This article was written because of the necessity of clarifying the recent biomedical selection criterion for the medical exam of the students who are applying for higher military education. In order to screen for or monitor liver disorders or hemolytic anemia the bilirubin is measured. The increased values of the bilirubin can be caused by multiple factors and they are presented in the following chapters.
Background and Aim: Various studies have reported that 4-7 percent of adults with palpable thyroid nodules that 50-70 percent of it’s diagnosed with high-accuracy sonography. Although most thyroid nodules are non-cancerous and do not require treatment, a small percentage of them are associated with a potential risk of malignancy, which is an important early diagnosis by ultrasound or pathology. The present study aimed to compare the ultrasound with the pathologic results of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of thyroid nodules for the rapid diagnosis of thyroid malignancies in patients referred to Baqiyatallah Hospital. Methods: The study population consisted of 100 (80 female, 20 male) patients with thyroid nodules in the age range of 19-82 years referred to the radiology ward of Baqiyatallah Hospital who were studied by the cross-sectional method. All patients were first scoring by ultrasound, then fine needle aspiration with thyroid nodule ultrasound was performed, and the specimens were referred to the pathology department for further evaluation. Results: The pathologic results from fine-needle aspiration showed that only 8 of the 100 patients studied had malignant nodules that, by ultrasound scoring, 7 patients had 4 scores and 1 patient had 3 scores. However, the other 92 patients with benign nodules 57.60% of patients had score 1, 30.43% of patients had score 2 and 11.97% of patients had score 3. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it seems that ultrasound scoring is useful in the rapid diagnosis of thyroid nodules and prevent unnecessary thyroid nodule FNA.
Gastrointestinal infections are among the most common infectious diseases found all over the world, varying depending on the etiological agent. Symptoms usually include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Water and electrolyte imbalance is the main consequence of gastrointestinal infections. Most of them are cured or self-limited in few days, but at the same time, for a specific population such as immunocompromised, elderly patients or new-borns, these infections are potentially severe. In this context, it is very important to identify the etiological agents of acute diarrhea for the appropriate treatment and infection control measures. While routine laboratory diagnosis of parasitic diarrhea still depends largely on microscopic examination of fecal samples, immunological and molecular methods are becoming increasingly commercially available and, in well-resourced settings, will ultimately displace traditional methods. The present paper presents some of the most common and well-known pathologies of this type, being a brief presentation of the variety of gastrointestinal diseases, each with characteristic clinical manifestations and diagnosis.
Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is becoming popular between the bariatric procedures. There are few studies available in the literature about LSG impact on esophageal motility, with debatable results. Technically, it modifies the anatomy of the esophago-gastric junction; it can damage the phreno-esophageal ligament and decrease the lower esophageal sphincter pressure that will predispose to reflux. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is already common in obese patients due to frequent hiatal hernia, high intraabdominal pressure, increased transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxations (TLESR), altered esophageal motility and poor esophageal clearance. LSG can worsen gastroesophageal reflux disease, but also the weight loss achieved after it and the decrease of acid production in the small gastric pouch will probably reduce the GERD symptoms. Dysphagia and odynophagia were reported after sleeve gastrectomy, but usually associated with anatomical narrowing of the gastric sleeve, caused by esophageal dismotility or secondary to diabetes mellitus, low tiamine level, the use of opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, even hypothyroidism. In addition to upper GI tract endoscopy, high-resolution esophageal manometry (HRM) should be required for all patients planning to undergo a LSG, and in the follow-up period according to the contractility pattern.
Non‑melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) comprises squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and severalrare skin tumors (i.e., Extramammary Paget’s disease), being the most common malignancy-affecting people worldwide. Itrepresents the majority of skin cancers and a significant percentage of all malignancies. Despite increasing public awarenessand scientific interest, the incidence of NMSC is constantly increasing. Even though most NMSC`s are associated with lessaggressive behavior, they can still be invasive locally and cause extensive damage to neighboring structures, inducingsignificant morbidity. In addition, different types and subtypes of NMSC tend to have frequent recurrences and may have significantmetastatic potential. As a direct consequence, NMSC has become an important issue for healthcare systems with a significantsocio‑economic impact.
The “volatile” international context requires the strengthening of the national security measures, including in the field of CBRN and public health. The medical countermeasures for the defense are based ultimately on the prophylactic treatment (pre-exposure, intra-exposure and post-exposure) and on the curative treatment (of emergency, maintenance and recovery) of the contaminated and the sick. Depending on the rapid and correct etiological diagnosis, the appropriate treatment is immediately applied. Although in times of peace this scenario is almost non-existent, during war or terrorist attack it can be a mass pathology, like an explosive epidemic, that requires specific therapeutic means. Military medicine had and has the conceptual capacity to make antidotes for CBRN medical protection; some have been patented and/or produced as experimental models, but it has no manufacturing capacity anymore.
Background and Aim: This study aimed to investigate the expression level of Sine oculis homeobox homolog 1(SIX1) in normal and cancerous cervical tissues. Methods: Real-time PCR was used to evaluate SIX1 expression level in fresh surgically obtained cervical biopsies. Also, cervical specimens were tested for HPV DNA detection by MY09/11, GP5+/6+ nested PCR method. Results: The expression level of SIX1 mRNA in Cervical cancer was markedly higher than in normal cervical tissue (p<0.0001). Moreover, HPV DNA was detected in 100% of cases and 21.05% of controls (P<0.0001). Conclusions: This finding indicates that increased SIX1 expression might be of relevance to the pathogenesis of cervical cancer. Perhaps, studies to find agents that specifically target SIX1, develop novel anti-cancer and anti-metastasis drugs. This idea has to be investigated in future clinical studies.