Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Selected Individuals (selected + individual)
Selected AbstractsUrinary iodine and thyroid volume in a Swedish populationJOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 5 2004M. Milakovic Abstract. Objective., To evaluate the present efficacy of an iodine supplementation programme working in Sweden since 1936 by studying the iodine excretion in urine and determining the thyroid volume in a population in a semi-rural community. Design., A cross-sectional population screening comprising three age groups with randomly selected individuals: group 1 (children): 7,9 years, n = 61 (invited 70); group 2 (teenagers): 15,17 years, n = 61 (invited 63), and group 3 (adults): 60,65 years; n = 57 (invited 73). Main measurements., Urinary iodine was measured spectrophotometrically; thyroid volume by ultrasonography. Results., The median values for urinary iodine concentration in the three age groups were 194 ,g L,1, 246 ,g L,1 and 190 ,g L,1, respectively, indicating an adequate iodine intake. In the 7,9 year olds, the median value of the thyroid volume was 4.7 mL, which coincides with the recently established upper limit of normal children of that age, 4.0,4.8 mL (ICCIDD, International Council for control iodine deficiency disorders). One eight-year-old boy had a pronounced goiter. Four teenagers and one adult were found to have an enlarged thyroid gland according to earlier established reference volumes (15 years >16 mL; adults > 25 mL). Conclusion., We conclude that the iodine intake in our region is sufficient in age groups ranging from young children to pre-retirement adults. [source] Liver transplantation for incidental cholangiocarcinoma: Analysis of the Canadian experienceLIVER TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 11 2005Peter Ghali Cholangiocarcinoma is a biliary tumor, which not infrequently complicates primary sclerosing cholangitis. It carries a poor prognosis and, with the exception of carefully selected individuals in research protocols, contraindicates orthotopic liver transplantation. There has been some suggestion that cholangiocarcinomas incidentally discovered at the time of transplantation carry a better prognosis. The goal of this retrospective study was to perform a national review of outcomes after liver transplantation in Canadian recipients found to have incidental cholangiocarcinoma in their explanted native liver. Six of the seven liver transplant centers in Canada provided clinical and follow-up information on all liver transplant recipients found to have incidental cholangiocarcinoma in their explants. The diagnosis or suspicion of cholangiocarcinoma prior to transplantation were exclusion criteria for this study. Ten individuals with cholangiocarcinoma were transplanted between 1996 and 2003. The median duration of follow-up was 28 months. Eight of the 10 had PSC. All of the tumors were stage I or II. The 3-year survival for these patients was 30%. The median time to recurrence was 26 months (95% confidence interval 13uu-uu37), and the median time to death was 30 months (95% confidence interval 28uu-uu53). In conclusion, although early survival of patients transplanted for incidental cholangiocarcinoma appears good, intermediate- and long-term survival rates are not better than for individuals historically transplanted with known cholangiocarcinoma. Aggressive investigation for cholangiocarcinoma is mandated. Incidentally found tumours remain a difficult treatment problem, and prospective adjuvant chemo-, radio-, and immunotherapies should be investigated. (Liver Transpl 2005;11:1412,1416.) [source] A Phase II intra-patient dose-escalation trial of weight-based darbepoetin alfa with or without granulocyte-colony stimulating factor in myelodysplastic syndromes,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEMATOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Jason Gotlib This Phase II study evaluated darbepoetin alfa (DA) in 24 patients with predominantly low or intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Intra-patient dose escalation of DA was undertaken in three 6-week dose cohorts until a major erythroid response was achieved: 4.5 mcg/kg/week, 9 mcg/kg/week, and 9 mcg/kg/week plus granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) 2.5 mcg/kg twice weekly. Patients with refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts (RARS) commenced DA at 9 mcg/kg/week. The weight-based dosing regimen translated into a median starting DA dose of 390 mcg/week. Erythroid responses were observed in 16/24 patients (67%; 12 major and 4 minor), with a median response duration of 11 months in major responders. Addition of G-CSF generated a major erythroid response in 7/15 patients (47%) who suboptimally responded to DA alone. DA was well tolerated, except for worsening of baseline mild hypertension and renal insufficiency in one patient with diabetes. IPSS score <0.5 and RBC transfusions <2 units/month increased the probability of an erythroid response. A minority of subjects (12%) developed low-level non-neutralizing anti-DA antibodies. Our data indicate that weekly weight-based dosing of DA, with the addition of G-CSF in selected individuals, can be an effective erythropoietic option in a high proportion of lower-risk MDS patients. Am. J. Hematol, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Adult Living Liver Donors have Excellent Long-Term Medical Outcomes: The University of Toronto Liver Transplant ExperienceAMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 2 2010L. Adcock Right lobe living donor liver transplantation is an effective treatment for selected individuals with end-stage liver disease. Although 1 year donor morbidity and mortality have been reported, little is known about outcomes beyond 1 year. Our objective was to analyze the outcomes of the first 202 consecutive donors performed at our center with a minimum follow-up of 12 months (range 12,96 months). All physical complications were prospectively recorded and categorized according to the modified Clavien classification system. Donors were seen by a dedicated family physician at 2 weeks, 1, 3 and 12 months postoperatively and yearly thereafter. The cohort included 108 males and 94 females (mean age 37.3 ± 11.5 years). Donor survival was 100%. A total of 39.6% of donors experienced a medical complication during the first year after surgery (21 Grade 1, 27 Grade 2, 32 Grade 3). After 1 year, three donors experienced a medical complication (1 Grade 1, 1 Grade 2, 1 Grade 3). All donors returned to predonation employment or studies although four donors (2%) experienced a psychiatric complication. This prospective study suggests that living liver donation can be performed safely without any serious late medical complications and suggests that long-term follow-up may contribute to favorable donor outcomes. [source] Power of Linkage Disequilibrium Mapping to Detect a Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) in Selected Samples of Unrelated IndividualsANNALS OF HUMAN GENETICS, Issue 6 2003A. Tenesa Summary We considered a strategy to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) using linkage disequilibrium (LD) when the QTL and marker locus were multiallelic. The strategy involved phenotyping a large number of unrelated individuals and genotyping only selected individuals from the two tails of the trait distribution. Power to detect trait-marker association was assessed as a function of the number of QTL and marker alleles. Two patterns of LD were used to study their influence on power. When the frequency of the QTL allele with the largest effect and that of the marker allele linked in coupling were equal, power was maximum. In this case, increasing the number of QTL alleles reduced the power. The maximum difference in power between the two LD patterns studied was ,30%. For low QTL heritabilities (h2QTL < 0.1) and single trait studies we recommend selecting around 5% of the upper and lower tails of the trait distribution. [source] | ||||||||||