Only Effective Treatment (only + effective_treatment)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Smoking and hypoxemia caused by hepatopulmonary syndrome before and after liver transplantation

HEPATOLOGY, Issue 2 2001
Giovanni Rolla
Severe hypoxemia may occur in patients with liver disease as a result of abnormal intrapulmonary vasodilatations (hepatopulmonary syndrome, HPS). Liver transplantation (LT) is the only effective treatment of HPS, with a quite variable delay of improvement of oxygenation. Smoking, by decreasing respiratory nitric oxide (NO), apparently contributed to improved oxygenation in a 44-year-old man with alcohol-induced cirrhosis, complicated by HPS, who underwent LT. The patient quit smoking just before LT, when his PaO2 was 29 mm Hg and exhaled NO (eNO) 28 ppb, a value far above the normal limits (9.6 ± 3.2 ppb). After LT, oxygenation remained poor and eNO remained high for more than 4 months, when the patient started to smoke again (blood HbCO going up to 5%). At that time eNO decreased to 6 ppb and PaO2 increased to 67 mm Hg. The strict relationship between eNO and oxygenation observed in this case reinforces the hypothesis that NO is the most important vasodilating mediator in HPS. Smoking may have hastened the resolution of HPS after LT by inhibiting respiratory NO and/or through a generalized impairment of endothelium-dependent vasodilation. [source]


Gill disease of marine fish caused by infection with Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis

JOURNAL OF FISH DISEASES, Issue 9 2001
B L Munday
Amoebic gill disease (AGD) of maricultured salmonids, turbot, Scophthalmus maximus (L.), European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax (L.), and sharpsnout seabream, Diplodus puntazzo (Cetti), caused by Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis has been reported from Australia (Tasmania), Ireland, France, Chile, North America (Washington State and California) and Spain. Of the salmonids, Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., appears to be the most susceptible with rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), also suffering significant disease. Only minor outbreaks have been reported in coho, O. kisutch (Walbaum), and chinook salmon, O. tshawytscha (Walbaum). The disease now accounts for 10,20% of production costs of Atlantic salmon in Tasmania and has lead to temporary abandonment of culture of this species in parts of Spain. It is of lesser, but still significant, importance in other countries. Much is known about the pathology of AGD but the pathophysiology of the disease is poorly understood. There is evidence that non-specific immunity is involved in fish acquiring resistance to AGD, but no unequivocal evidence exists for protection as a result of specific immune responses. To date, for salmonids, the only effective treatment for AGD is a freshwater bath. Control procedures based on modification of management strategies have been minimal and virtually unresearched. [source]


Against the grain: An overview of celiac disease

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS, Issue 5 2008
FNP-C Clinical Instructor, Suzanne Martin RN
Abstract Purpose: To review the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of celiac disease (CD). Data sources: Review of literature using Pub Med and Access Medicine. The following search terms were used: celiac disease, malabsorption syndromes, diarrhea, and gluten-free diet (GFD). There was no limitation placed on publication year. Only articles written in English were included. Conclusions: CD is a chronic systemic autoimmune disorder triggered in genetically susceptible individuals by the ingestion of gluten proteins (wheat, barley, and rye). CD often presents atypically, and diagnosis delays are common. Currently, the only effective treatment for CD is strict adherence to a GFD. This is a difficult diet to comprehend and follow. Adherence to a GFD requires ongoing education and support from a multidisciplinary healthcare team, support groups, family, and friends. Implications for practice: Once considered a rare disease of childhood, CD is now recognized as a common disorder that can occur at any age. Clinicians need to be cognizant of risk factors, clinical manifestations, conditions, and complications associated with CD in order to make a timely diagnosis, ameliorate symptoms, and minimize disease complications. [source]


Review article: safe amounts of gluten for patients with wheat allergy or coeliac disease

ALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 5 2006
C. HISCHENHUBER
Summary For both wheat allergy and coeliac disease the dietary avoidance of wheat and other gluten-containing cereals is the only effective treatment. Estimation of the maximum tolerated amount of gluten for susceptible individuals would support effective management of their disease. Literature was reviewed to evaluate whether an upper limit for gluten content in food, which would be safe for sufferers from both diseases, could be identified. When setting gluten limits for coeliac disease sufferers, the overall potential daily intake should be considered, while for wheat allergy limits should be based on single servings. For coeliac disease sufferers this limit should lie between 10 and 100 mg daily intake. For wheat allergy, lowest eliciting doses for children lie in the lower milligram range, while for adults they are most significantly higher. Gliadins (part of the gluten proteins) not only trigger coeliac disease, but are also major allergens in wheat allergy. Therefore, measurement of gliadins with validated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods provides an appropriate marker for assessing gluten and/or wheat protein contents in food. Available data suggest that a maximum gluten content for ,gluten-free' foods could be set, which protects both wheat allergy sufferers and coeliac patients. [source]


Recurrent primary biliary cirrhosis

LIVER TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 6 2003
James Neuberger
Liver transplantation remains the only effective treatment for end-stage primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). It appears now well accepted that the disease recurs in the allograft. The diagnosis of recurrent PBC is made on the basis of a consistent history and demonstrating the histologic features of PBC on liver biopsy and exclusion of other causes of bile duct damage [source]


Surgery for gastrointestinal stromal tumour in the post-imatinib era

ANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 3 2005
Susan J. Neuhaus
Gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) is a rare tumour. Historically, surgery has been the only effective treatment. The prognosis of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumour is poor. Even after apparently ,curative' surgical resection more than 50% of patients relapse. The development of an effective novel targeted therapy against GIST (imatinib mesylate) is a success story of molecular biology that has dramatically altered the management of patients with these tumours. However, as follow up of patients who have initially responded to imatinib has increased, it has become evident that such hopes of cure were premature because responses to imatinib are of limited duration. Unresolved issues include the role of imatinib as an induction (neo-adjuvant) therapy prior to surgery, or as adjuvant treatment after surgery, the role of surgery in patients with a differential or partial response and the role of surgery in patients with isolated metastatic disease. In the present paper the biology and natural history of GIST are reviewed, and the complexities of surgical management that exist in the context of an effective, but not curative, biological therapy, are addressed. [source]