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Reasonable Candidates (reasonable + candidate)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Lack of association between the tryptophan hydroxylase gene A218C polymorphism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in Chinese Han population

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS, Issue 6 2001
Guomei Tang
Abstract Previous studies have suggested that the serotonergic (5-HT) system might be involved in the development of Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD is frequently characterized by aggressive and impulsive behavior, a major symptom associated with reduction in serotonergic function. The tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) gene is a reasonable candidate for ADHD because it encodes the rate-limiting enzyme in the process of 5-HT biosynthesis. In this study, we examined the relationship between the A218C polymorphism in TPH gene and ADHD. Sixty-nine ADHD patients and their biological parents were investigated. The A218C polymorphism in intron 7 of TPH gene was detected by PCR-RFLP method. No allele or genotype concerned with this A218C polymorphism was found to be associated with ADHD when analyzed with the haplotype relative risk method. Therefore, our data indicate that the TPH gene A218C polymorphism may not be a susceptibility factor of ADHD in the Chinese Han population. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Strategies for surgical treatment of epilepsies in developing countries

EPILEPSIA, Issue 3 2008
Ali A. Asadi-Pooya
Summary Epilepsy surgery has been proved to be efficacious, safe and cost-effective in developing countries. However, the success of epilepsy surgery depends on selecting suitable candidates based on the available resources and technologies. Some of the challenges to provide appropriate surgical treatment for epilepsy patients in developing countries include providing human and technological resources and developing realistic presurgical protocols. Detection of ideal candidates for epilepsy surgery is possible for well-trained epileptologists with the help of basic investigative technologies, for example, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). Patients with potentially epileptogenic, well-circumscribed lesions on MRI and patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) are reasonable candidates for surgery. Palliative epilepsy surgeries include corpus callosotomy and other disconnections. These operations are feasible in developing countries with a knowledgeable team consisting of an epileptologist, neurosurgeon and technicians and with using MRI and EEG as basic investigative technologies. [source]

Acute kidney injury in cirrhosis,

HEPATOLOGY, Issue 6 2008
Guadalupe Garcia-Tsao
Acute renal failure (ARF), recently renamed acute kidney injury (AKI), is a relatively frequent problem, occurring in approximately 20% of hospitalized patients with cirrhosis. Although serum creatinine may underestimate the degree of renal dysfunction in cirrhosis, measures to diagnose and treat AKI should be made in patients in whom serum creatinine rises abruptly by 0.3 mg/dL or more (,26.4 ,mol/L) or increases by 150% or more (1.5-fold) from baseline. The most common causes of ARF (the term is used interchangeably with AKI) in cirrhosis are prerenal azotemia (volume-responsive prerenal AKI), acute tubular necrosis, and hepatorenal syndrome (HRS), a functional type of prerenal AKI exclusive of cirrhosis that does not respond to volume repletion. Because of the progressive vasodilatory state of cirrhosis that leads to relative hypovolemia and decreased renal blood flow, patients with decompensated cirrhosis are very susceptible to developing AKI with events associated with a decrease in effective arterial blood volume. HRS can occur spontaneously but is more frequently precipitated by events that worsen vasodilatation, such as spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. Conclusion: Specific therapies of AKI depend on the most likely cause and mechanism. Vasoconstrictors are useful bridging therapies in HRS. Ultimately, liver transplantation is indicated in otherwise reasonable candidates in whom AKI does not resolve with specific therapy. (HEPATOLOGY 2008;48:2064-2077.) [source]

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts: an update

LIVER TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 3 2003
Barbara Rosado
Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS) have been used in the treatment of complications of portal hypertension. TIPS is used for the control of acute variceal bleeding and for the prevention of vericeal rebleeding when pharmacologic therapy and endoscopic therapy have failed. Patients with refractory ascites with adequate hepatic reserve and renal function who fail to respond to large volume paracentesis may be reasonable candidates for TIPS. Promising indications for TIPS are Budd-Chiari syndrome uncontrolled by medical therapy, severe portal hypertensive gastropathy, refractory hepatic hydrothorax, and hepatorenal syndrome. TIPS cannot be recommended for preoperative portal decompression solely to facilitate liver transplantation. Special care should be taken to insure proper placement of the stent to avoid increasing the technical difficulty of the transplantation procedure. The major limiting factors for TIPS success are shunt dysfunction and hepatic encephalopathy. Because shunt stenosis is the most important cause of recurrent complications of portal hypertension, a surveillance program to monitor shunt patency is mandatory. The MELD score may be useful in predicting post-TIPS survival, and also in counseling patients and their families. [source]