scholarly journals A retrospective study on long-term efficacy of intranasal lysine-aspirin in controlling NSAID-exacerbated respiratory disease

Author(s):  
Alfonso Luca Pendolino ◽  
Glenis K. Scadding ◽  
Bruno Scarpa ◽  
Peter J. Andrews

Abstract Purpose Aspirin treatment after desensitization (ATAD) represents an effective therapeutic option suitable for NSAID-exacerbated respiratory disease (N-ERD) patients with recalcitrant disease. Intranasal administration of lysine-aspirin (LAS) has been suggested as a safer and faster route than oral ATAD but evidence for its use is less strong. We investigated nasal LAS therapy long-term efficacy based on objective outcomes, smell function, polyp recurrence and need for surgery or rescue therapy. Clinical biomarkers predicting response to intranasal LAS, long-term side effects and consequences of discontinuing treatment have been evaluated. Methods A retrospective analysis of a database of 60 N-ERD patients seen between 2012 and 2020 was performed in March 2021. They were followed up at 3-months, 1-, 2- and 3-years with upper and lower airway functions assessed at each follow-up. Results Higher nasal airflow and smell scores were found at each follow-up in patients taking LAS (p < 0.001 and p = 0.048 respectively). No influence of LAS on pulmonary function measurements was observed. Patient on intranasal LAS showed a lower rate of revision sinus surgery when compared to those who discontinued the treatment (p < 0.001). None of the variables studied was found to influence LAS treatment response. Conclusion Our study demonstrates the clinical effectiveness of long-term intranasal LAS in the management of N-ERD in terms of improved nasal airflow and olfaction and a reduced need for revision sinus surgery. Intranasal LAS is safe, being associated with a lower rate of side effects when compared to oral ATAD. However, discontinuation of the treatment at any stage is associated with a loss of clinical benefit.

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. ar.2015.6.0104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Janisiewicz ◽  
Jivianne T. Lee

Achieving long-term, successful outcomes with endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) can be challenging in patients with recalcitrant chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Local complications, including scar formation and ostial stenosis, can lead to recurrent blockage and subsequent relapse. The frontal sinus is particularly vulnerable to surgical failure given its narrow outflow and inaccessibility to topical therapies. The advent of steroid-eluting sinus implants has enhanced ESS outcomes, with significant reductions in synechiae, inflammation, and secondary postoperative interventions when placed in the ethmoid cavity. However, use of this technology in the frontal sinus has yet to be described. The purpose of this report is to present two cases, in which in-office frontal placement of a mometasone furoate (MF)-eluting implant facilitated maintenance of ostial patency after revision ESS. The clinical presentation, in-office intervention, and treatment outcomes were examined. Two patients (male, 63 and 68 years of age) with a history of multiple ESS presented with recurrent unilateral frontal headache refractory to medical therapy. Nasal endoscopy/imaging revealed frontal sinus outflow obstruction. Both declined revision ESS under general anesthesia and underwent endoscopic frontal sinustomy/ostial dilation in the clinic. A MF-eluting implant was placed in the frontal sinus at the end of the procedure, with preservation of ostial patency upon last follow-up at 3 and 11 months, respectively. In-office placement of a MF-eluting implant successfully maintained frontal ostial patency in patients with a history of multiple ESS. Additional randomized trials are necessary to determine statistical significance, cost-effectiveness analysis, and long-term efficacy of frontal sinus implantation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Stefanie Bruschke ◽  
Uwe Baumann ◽  
Timo Stöver

Background: The cochlear implant (CI) is a standard procedure for the treatment of patients with severe to profound hearing loss. In the past, a standard healing period of 3–6 weeks occurred after CI surgery before the sound processor was initially activated. Advancements of surgical techniques and instruments allow an earlier initial activation of the processor within 14 days after surgery. Objective: Evaluation of the early CI device activation after CI surgery within 14 days, comparison to the first activation after 4–6 weeks, and assessment of the feasibility and safety of the early fitting over a 12 month observation period were the objectives of this study. Method: In a prospective study, 127 patients scheduled for CI surgery were divided into early fitting group (EF, n = 67) and control group (CG, n = 60). Individual questionnaires were used to evaluate medical and technical outcomes of the EF. Medical side effects, speech recognition, and follow-up effort were compared with the CG within the first year after CI surgery. Results: The early fitting was feasible in 97% of the EF patients. In the EF, the processor was activated 25 days earlier than in the CG. No major complications were observed in either group. At the follow-up appointments, side effects such as pain and balance problems occurred with comparable frequency in both groups. At initial fitting, the EF showed a significantly higher incidence of medical minor complications (p < 0.05). When developing speech recognition within the first year of CI use, no difference was observed. Furthermore, the follow-up effort within the first year after CI surgery was comparable in both groups. Conclusions: Early fitting of the sound processor is a feasible and safe procedure with comparable follow-up effort. Although more early minor complications were observed in the EF, there were no long-term wound healing problems caused by the early fitting. Regular inspection of the magnet strength is recommended as part of the CI follow-up since postoperative wound swelling must be expected. The early fitting procedure enabled a clear reduction in the waiting time between CI surgery and initial sound processor activation.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1760
Author(s):  
Novella Pugliese ◽  
Marco Picardi ◽  
Roberta Della Pepa ◽  
Claudia Giordano ◽  
Francesco Muriano ◽  
...  

Background: Nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) is a rare variant of HL that accounts for 5% of all HL cases. The expression of CD20 on neoplastic lymphocytes provides a suitable target for novel treatments based on Rituximab. Due to its rarity, consolidated and widely accepted treatment guidelines are still lacking for this disease. Methods: Between 1 December 2007 and 28 February 2018, sixteen consecutive newly diagnosed adult patients with NLPHL received Rituximab (induction ± maintenance)-based therapy, according to the baseline risk of German Hodgkin Study Group prognostic score system. The treatment efficacy and safety of the Rituximab-group were compared to those of a historical cohort of 12 patients with NLPHL who received Doxorubicin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine, Dacarbazine (ABVD) chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy (RT), if needed, according to a similar baseline risk. The primary outcome was progression-free survival (PFS) and secondary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and side-effects (according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, v4.03). Results: After a 7-year follow-up (range, 1–11 years), PFS was 100% for patients treated with the Rituximab-containing regimen versus 66% for patients of the historical cohort (p = 0.036). Four patients in the latter group showed insufficient response to therapy. The PFS for early favorable and early unfavorable NLPHLs was similar between treatment groups, while a better PFS was recorded for advanced-stages treated with the Rituximab-containing regimen. The OS was similar for the two treatment groups. Short- and long-term side-effects were more frequently observed in the historical cohort. Grade ≥3 neutropenia was more frequent in the historical cohort compared with the Rituximab-group (58.3% vs. 18.7%, respectively; p = 0.03). Long-term non-hematological toxicities were observed more frequently in the historical cohort. Conclusion: Our results confirm the value of Rituximab in NLPHL therapy and show that Rituximab (single-agent) induction and maintenance in a limited-stage, or Rituximab with ABVD only in the presence of risk factors, give excellent results while sparing cytotoxic agent- and/or RT-related damage. Furthermore, Rituximab inclusion in advanced-stage therapeutic strategy seems to improve PFS compared to conventional chemo-radiotherapy.


2021 ◽  
pp. 263246362097804
Author(s):  
Vanita Arora ◽  
Pawan Suri

Anatomy and physiology are the basis of human body functioning and as we have progressed in management of various diseases, we have understood that physiological intervention is always better than an anatomical one. For more than 50 years, a standard approach to permanent cardiac pacing has been an anatomical placement of transvenous pacing lead at the right ventricular apex with a proven benefit of restoring the rhythm. However, the resultant ventricular dyssynchrony on the long-term follow-up in patients requiring more than 40% ventricular pacing led to untoward side effects in the form of heart failure and arrhythmias. To counter such adverse side effects, a need for physiological cardiac pacing wherein the electrical impulse be transmitted directly through the normal conduction system was sought. His bundle pacing (HBP) with an intriguing alternative of left bundle branch pacing (LBBP) is aimed at restoring such physiological activation of ventricles. HBP is safe, efficacious, and feasible; however, localization and placement of a pacing lead at the His bundle is challenging with existing transvenous systems due to its small anatomic size, surrounding fibrous tissue, long-learning curve, and the concern remains about lead dislodgement and progressive electrical block distal to the HBP lead. In this article, we aim to take the reader through the challenging journey of HBP with focus upon the hardware and technique, selective versus nonselective HBP, indications and potential disadvantages, and finally the future prospects.


2021 ◽  
pp. 014556132098603
Author(s):  
Anni Koskinen ◽  
Marie Lundberg ◽  
Markus Lilja ◽  
Jyri Myller ◽  
Matti Penttilä ◽  
...  

Objectives: The aim of this controlled follow-up study was to compare the need for revision surgery, long-term efficacy, and satisfaction in chronic rhinosinusitis patients who had undergone maxillary sinus operation with either balloon sinuplasty or traditional endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) technique. Methods: Thirty-nine ESS patients and 36 balloon patients of our previously described cohort, who had been primarily operated in 2008 to 2010, were contacted by phone. Symptoms, satisfaction, and need for revision surgery were asked. In addition, we collected data of patients who had undergone primary maxillary sinus balloon sinuplasty in the Helsinki University Hospital during the years 2005 to 2019. As a control group, we collected data of patients who had undergone primary maxillary sinus ESS at 3 Finnish University Hospitals, and 1 Central Hospital in years 2005, 2008, and 2011. Results: Altogether, 77 balloon patients and 82 ESS patients were included. The mean follow-up time was 5.3 years in balloon group and 9.8 years in ESS group. Revision surgery was performed on 17 balloon patients and 6 ESS patients. In the survival analysis, the balloon sinuplasty associated significantly with a higher risk of revision surgery compared to ESS. According to the phone interviews, 82% of ESS patients and 75% of balloon patients were very satisfied with the primary operation. Conclusion: Although the patient groups expressed equal satisfaction and change in symptoms after the operations, the need for revision surgery was higher after balloon sinuplasty than after ESS. This should be emphasized when counselling patients regarding surgical options.


Author(s):  
Dan-Yu Lin ◽  
Donglin Zeng ◽  
Peter B Gilbert

Abstract Large-scale deployment of safe and durably effective vaccines can curtail the COVID-19 pandemic.1−3 However, the high vaccine efficacy (VE) reported by ongoing phase 3 placebo-controlled clinical trials is based on a median follow-up time of only about two months4−5 and thus does not pertain to long-term efficacy. To evaluate the duration of pro- tection while allowing trial participants timely access to efficacious vaccine, investigators can sequentially cross participants over from the placebo arm to the vaccine arm according to priority groups. Here, we show how to estimate potentially time-varying placebo-controlled VE in this type of staggered vaccination of participants. In addition, we compare the per- formance of blinded and unblinded crossover designs in estimating long-term VE.


2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (06) ◽  
pp. 484-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Telaranta ◽  
Tuomo Rantanen

Background Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS) is an effective treatment for primary hyperhidrosis. However, compensatory sweating (CS) may occur in many patients. Sympathetic nerve reconstruction (SNR) can be used to counteract severe CS, but the studies on the effects of SNR are few. Patients and Methods Nineteen out of 150 SNR patients were contacted by employing a long-term questionnaire. In this questionnaire, different kinds of sweating were evaluated using a four-graded symptom analysis and the visual analog scale before ETS, after ETS, and after SNR. Results The mean age of the 16 male and 3 female patients at the SNR was 32 years. The mean follow-up was 87 months. According to the long-term questionnaire, the benefit was either excellent (4 patients, 21%), good (3 patients, 15.8%), or reasonable (7 patients, 36.8%) in 14 patients (73.8%), while the benefit was questionable in 1 patient (5.3%). For three patients (15.8%), no benefit was found, and in one patient (5.3%), the situation had deteriorated. Conclusions Improvement in the side effects of ETS after SNR was found in nearly 75% of the patients. This indicates that SNR can be considered as an alternative treatment for patients with severe CS after ETS that is unresponsive to conservative treatment.


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