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Best Treatment Option (best + treatment_option)
Selected AbstractsLetter Regarding: Early Laser Treatment of Periorbital Infantile Hemangiomas May Work, but Is It Really the Best Treatment Option?DERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 9 2010ROY G. GERONEMUS MD No abstract is available for this article. [source] Letter Regarding: Early Laser Treatment of Periorbital Infantile Hemangiomas May Work, but Is It Really the Best Treatment Option?DERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 9 2010JENNIFER D. PETERSON MD No abstract is available for this article. [source] How psychiatrists inform themselves and their patients about risks and benefits of antipsychotic treatmentACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 2 2009R. Mendel Objective:, In order to choose the best treatment option, physicians have to inform themselves and their patients about both the benefits and risks of available treatment options equally. Our study aims to investigate whether psychiatrists actually do conduct such a balanced information search and presentation. Method:, Psychiatrists' information search and information presentation to a patient with schizophrenia were studied using two separate experiments. In both, participants were presented with hypothetical case vignettes and descriptions of fictitious antipsychotics. Results:, When searching for information, psychiatrists looked more for risks than benefits of antipsychotic treatment options (t = ,3.4, df = 74, P = 0.001). However, when informing a patient, they named more benefits than risks (t = 17.1, df = 224, P < 0.001). Conclusion:, The risk-biased information search presumably follows the principle of ,primum non nocere'. The benefit-biased information presentation might be motivated by the wish to persuade patients to accept the proposed therapy. [source] Outcome of late-life depression after 3 years of sequential treatmentACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 4 2009R. M. Kok Objective:, To study the outcome of a sequential treatment protocol in elderly, severely depressed in-patients. Method:, All 81 patients from a 12-week double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing venlafaxine with nortriptyline were asked to participate in a 3 year follow-up study. Thirty-two patients who did not achieve remission during the RCT, entered an open sequential treatment protocol and were treated with augmentation with lithium, switch to a monoamine oxidase inhibitor or ECT. Results:, Seventy-eight of the 81 patients (96.3%) achieved a response [,50% reduction in Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale score) and 68 patients (84%) a complete remission (final MADRS score , 10) within 3 years of treatment. Greater severity and longer duration of the depressive episode at baseline predicted poor recovery. Augmentation with lithium may be the best treatment option in treatment resistant depressed elderly. Only few patients dropped-out due to side-effects. Conclusion:, Our study demonstrates the importance of persisting with antidepressant treatment in elderly patients who do not respond to the first or second treatment. [source] Medical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia: physician and patient preferences and satisfactionINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 10 2010M. Emberton Summary Practice guidelines acknowledge the importance of patient preferences in determining the appropriate treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Recent literature suggests that patient and physician perspectives and satisfaction with BPH treatment management may differ; this may have an impact on clinical outcomes and patient compliance. This review evaluates patients' and physicians' preferred treatment options for managing BPH and patient satisfaction with therapy. A Medline-based systematic review using the terms ,Benign prostatic hyperplasia' + ,Patient preference/perception/satisfaction' or ,Physician/urologist preference/perception' was performed. Patients prefer therapies affecting long-term disease progression over those that provide short-term symptom improvement, which contrasts with the beliefs of their physicians. The prescribing behaviour of urologists and primary care physicians can be very varied. Studies of patient satisfaction with specific treatments generally show a high level of overall satisfaction, but cross-study comparisons are limited because of heterogeneity in study design. The evidence to date suggests that patients' views and beliefs and those of their physician may not always be in agreement. Improved physician,patient communication will help determine the best treatment option for patients with BPH and may ensure greater compliance and treatment success. [source] Pediatric Heart Transplantation: Current Clinical ReviewJOURNAL OF CARDIAC SURGERY, Issue 1 2008D.Sc., F.I.C.S., M.B.A., M.P.H., M.Sc., Yanto Sandy Tjang M.D. Its incidence and prevalence is increasing and imposes substantial burden on the health care system. Despite much progress in development of many new drugs and innovations in palliative surgical strategy, nontransplant cardiac surgical procedures and the use of mechanical assist devices, pediatric heart transplantation remains the best treatment option for patients with end-stage heart failure. So far, more than 6000 pediatric heart transplantations have been performed worldwide. This article reviews some clinical aspects of pediatric heart transplantation, including the history, indications and contraindications, donor evaluation and recipient management, surgical techniques, risk factors of mortality, and survival of pediatric heart transplantation. The short- and long-term outcomes of pediatric heart transplantation are encouraging. However, the lack of donor hearts still hampers its clinical application. [source] Percutaneous ablation procedures in cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma submitted to liver transplantation: Assessment of efficacy at explant analysis and of safety for tumor recurrenceLIVER TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 9 2005Maurizio Pompili Aims of this retrospective study were to analyze the efficacy and safety of percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) submitted to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). We studied 40 patients undergoing OLT in whom 46 HCC nodules had been treated with PEI (13 nodules), RFA (30 nodules), or PEI+RFA (3 nodules). Child-Turcotte-Pugh class was A in 18 cases, B in 18, and C in 4. The mean waiting time for OLT was 9.5 months. The effectiveness of ablation techniques was evaluated by histological examination of the explanted livers. Complete necrosis was found in 19 nodules (41.3%), partial or absent necrosis in 27 nodules (58.7%). Among the 30 nodules treated by RFA, 14 were completely necrotic (46.7%) and 16 demonstrated partial necrosis (53.3%). Considering the 13 neoplasms undergoing PEI, 3 nodules showed complete necrosis (23.1%), 6 partial necrosis (46.1%), and 4 absent necrosis (30.8%). The rate of complete necrosis was 53.1% for nodules smaller than 3 cm and 14.3% for larger lesions (P = 0.033) but increased to 61.9% when considering only the lesions smaller than 3 cm treated by RFA. During the follow up, HCC recurred in 3 patients treated by PEI. No cases of HCC recurrence at the abdominal wall level were recorded. Percutaneous ablation procedures are effective treatments in cirrhotic patients with HCC submitted to OLT and are not associated to an increased risk of tumor recurrence. RFA provides complete necrosis in most nodules smaller than 3 cm, and appears to be the best treatment option in these cases. (Liver Transpl 2005;11:1117,1126.) [source] The Barcelona approach: Diagnosis, staging, and treatment of hepatocellular carcinomaLIVER TRANSPLANTATION, Issue S2 2004Josep M. Llovet Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common neoplasm in the world, and the third most common cause of cancer-related death. It affects mainly patients with cirrhosis of any etiology. Patients with cirrhosis are thus usually included in surveillance plans aiming to achieve early detection and effective treatment. Only patients who would be treated if diagnosed with HCC should undergo surveillance, which is based on ultrasonography and ,-fetoprotein every 6 months. Upon diagnosis, the patients have to be staged to define tumor extent and liver function impairment. Thereafter, the best treatment option can be indicated and a prognosis estimate can be established. The present manuscript depicts the Barcelona-Clínic Liver Cancer Group diagnostic and treatment strategy. This is based on the analysis of several cohort and randomized controlled studies that have allowed the continuous refinement of treatment indication and application. Surgical resection is considered the first treatment option for early stage patients. It is reserved for patients with solitary tumors without portal hypertension and normal bilirubin. If these conditions are not met, patients are considered for liver transplantation (cadaveric or live donation) or percutaneous ablation if at an early stage (solitary , 5 cm or up to 3 nodules , 3 cm). These patients will reach a 5-year survival between 50 and 75%. If patients are diagnosed at an intermediate stage and are still asymptomatic and have preserved liver function, they may benefit from chemoembolization. Their 3-year survival will exceed 50%. There is no effective treatment for patients with advanced disease and thus, in such instances, the patients have to be considered for research trials with new therapeutic options. Finally, patients with end-stage disease should receive only palliative treatment to avoid unnecessary suffering. (Liver Transpl 2004;10:S115,S120.) [source] Kidney transplants for children under 1 year of age , a single-center experiencePEDIATRIC TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 3 2003Khalid Khwaja Abstract: From September 20, 1970 to October 24, 2001, we performed 46 kidney transplants in infants under 1 yr old at the University of Minnesota. This article reviews the preoperative care, surgical technique, and immunosuppression. Recipients included 16 females and 30 males; the youngest recipient was 6 wk old. The mean pretransplant height was 62.8 cm, which increased to 77 cm at 1 yr post-transplant and to 104 cm at 5 yr. We used 40 living donors (all but 1 were related to the recipient) and 6 cadaver donors. The overall actuarial graft survival was 85% at 1 yr and 70% at 5 yr. In the cyclosporine era, graft survival improved to 91% at 1 yr and 80% at 5 yr. Death with function was the most common cause of graft loss (n = 5), followed by biopsy-proven chronic rejection (n = 4), biopsy-proven recurrent disease (n = 3), and graft thrombosis (n = 2). Patient survival was 91% at 1 yr and 86% at 5 yr. In the cyclosporine era, patient survival was 100% at 5 yr and 85% at 10 yr. We concluded that an early transplant is the best treatment option for infants under 1 yr old with chronic renal failure. Whenever possible, adult living kidney donors should be used. [source] Fludarabine combinations for patients with advanced marginal zone lymphomas , best treatment option or too toxic?BRITISH JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY, Issue 6 2009Stefan Peinert No abstract is available for this article. [source] | ||||||||||