Brucellosis: a retrospective evaluation of 99 cases and review of brucellosis treatment

This retrospective study was performed in two university hospitals between January 2002 and 2006. Ninety-nine brucellosis patients were included in the study. These patients were classified as acute (91), chronic (4) and relapse (4) according to their clinical presentations and serological tests. Brucella bacteria were isolated in the blood of 17 (17.2%) cases. The most frequent symptom and clinical sign was fever. The osteoarticular complications were found in 17 patients (17.2%). Four of them were complicated with epidural abscess the same time. Two (2.2%) had meningitis, two (2.2%) had epididymoorchitis, three (3.3%) had skin rashes and one (1.1%) had hepatitis. Three of the acute brucellosis patients were pregnant. Rifampin and doxycycline combination therapy had been administered to most of the patients with acute and relapse brucellosis. However, complicated and chronic brucellosis cases were given different treatment combinations. This study reviews brucellosis therapy choices.

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Clinical Differences between COVID-19 and a COVID-Like Syndrome

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10112519 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 2519

Author(s):

Pierpaolo Di Micco ◽

Giuseppe Camporese ◽

Vincenzo Russo ◽

Giuseppe Cardillo ◽

Egidio Imbalzano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

False Negative ◽

Nasopharyngeal Swab ◽

Similar Group ◽

Risk Of Infection ◽

Hospital Workers ◽

Serological Tests ◽

Clinical Presentations ◽

The World ◽

Lung Failure ◽

The Difference

COVID-19 is an infection due to SARS-CoV-2; this virus has been identified as the cause of the present pandemic. Several typical characteristics are present in this infection, in particular pneumonia with possible lung failure, but atypical clinical presentations are being described daily by physicians around the world. Ground-glass opacities with pneumonia are the most common and dangerous presentations of the COVID-19 disease, and they are usually associated with positive nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) tests with detectable SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA. Compared to the general population, hospital workers have been at a greater risk of infection ever since the first patients were hospitalized. However, hospital workers have also been reported as having COVID-like symptoms despite repeated negative swab tests but having tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with serological tests. We can postulate that a COVID-like syndrome is possible, in particular in hospital workers, that is characterized by symptoms similar to those of COVID-19, but with repeated negative nasopharyngeal swabs. These repeated negative NSPs make the difference in daily clinical management with people that experienced a single false negative nasopharyngeal swab; furthermore, a clear clinical differentiation of these situations is still lacking in the literature. For this reason, here, we report our main findings from a cohort of patients with a COVID-like syndrome compared to a similar group affected by typical COVID-19.

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Clinical Presentations and Causative Organisms in Children and Adolescents with Osteoarticular Infections: A Retrospective Study

Pediatric Infection & Vaccine ◽

10.14776/piv.2015.22.3.154 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 154

Author(s):

Soyoung Lee ◽

Han Wool Kim ◽

Hye-Kyung Cho ◽

Yoe Hon Yun ◽

Kyung Ha Ryu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Retrospective Study ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Osteoarticular Infections ◽

Clinical Presentations

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Effect of donepezil and kamikihito combination therapy on cognitive function in Alzheimer's disease: Retrospective study

Traditional & Kampo Medicine ◽

10.1002/tkm2.1045 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 94-99 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kazuyuki Ishida

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Retrospective Study ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Combination Therapy

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Treatment of notalgia paresthetica with low dose pregabalin: Retrospective evaluation of 13 patients

Our Dermatology Online ◽

10.7241/ourd.20214.9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 395-397

Author(s):

Sertaç Şener ◽

Fadime Kilinç ◽

Ayşe Akbaş

Keyword(s):

Neuropathic Pain ◽

Retrospective Study ◽

Low Dose ◽

Disease Duration ◽

Symptomatic Treatment ◽

Good Option ◽

Pain Medicine ◽

Retrospective Evaluation ◽

The Mean ◽

Notalgia Paresthetica

Background: Notalgia paresthetica (NP) is a sensory neuropathic syndrome characterized by chronic itching of the unilateral mid-back. Topical and systemic symptomatic treatments have been used to date. In recent years, neuropathic pain medicine has been used to relieve the symptoms of the disease. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of pregabalin in notalgia paresthetica. Materials and Methods: In this study, the files of the patients with a diagnosis of NP and treated with pregabalin for at least one month in the period between 2016 and 2018 were evaluated retrospectively. Results: Thirteen cases of NP treated with low-dose (up to 150 mg/day) pregabalin were evaluated, and 9 (70%) patients exhibited a good response in this retrospective study. All patients were female and the mean age was 53.5 (31–71) ± 10.3 years. The mean disease duration was 6.1 (1–10) ± 4.1 years. Conclusion: Treatment with low-dose pregabalin may be a good option for the symptomatic treatment of NP.

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The Effect of Systemic Methotrexate and Cyclosporine Combination Therapy inPsoriasis Vulgaris Patients in Bandung, Indonesia

Berkala Ilmu Kesehatan Kulit dan Kelamin ◽

10.20473/bikk.v33.3.2021.200-204 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 200

Author(s):

Oki Suwarsa ◽

Fatima Aulia Khairani ◽

Syawalika Ulya Isneny ◽

Erda Avriyanti ◽

Hartati Purbo Dharmadji ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Retrospective Study ◽

Side Effects ◽

Adverse Effects ◽

Combination Therapy ◽

Combination Treatment ◽

Psoriasis Vulgaris ◽

Severity Index ◽

Dermatology Clinic ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Pasi Score

Background: Methotrexate (MTX) and cyclosporine have been used as effective systemic mono-therapy for psoriasis. Several factors are considered to switch monotherapy to combination therapy because monotherapy is no longer effective and has higher side effects. Hence,clinicians have avoided systemic therapy combinations due to its toxicity. However, some studies showed that this combination therapy could be usedeffectively for psoriasis patients. Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the efficacy and adverse effects of systemic MTX and cyclosporine combination therapy in Indonesian psoriasis vulgaris patients. Methods: The retrospective study assessed the effectiveness of 3 monthsmono-therapyand combination therapy of systemic MTX and cyclosporine in psoriasisvulgaris patients from 2016–2017 in Dermatology Clinic, Dr. Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Result: Psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score 90 were achieved in the group MTX (50%) and cyclosporine group (50%), while none in the combination group.However, eight patients (50%) in group MTX and cyclosporine reached the primary endpoint of PASI 50. One patient in cyclosporine group had adverse effects on kidney profiles. Nonetheless, other patients had no biochemical changes. But, there was no significant difference in the change of PASI between each group (p=0.102). Conclusion: We propose that combination therapy of MTX and cyclosporine is relatively safe and efficacious in treating Indonesian psoriasis vulgaris patients. This combination treatment isas effective as MTX or cyclosporinemono-therapy.

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Necrotizing sarcoid granulomatosis with clinical presentations of recurrent acute abdomen. Case report and literature review

Terapevticheskii arkhiv ◽

10.17116/terarkh2017891160-68 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 89 (11) ◽

pp. 60-68 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

V I Vasilyev ◽

S G Palshina ◽

B D Chaltsev ◽

S G Radenska-Lopovok ◽

T N Safonova

Keyword(s):

Acute Abdomen ◽

Clinical Laboratory ◽

Morphological Changes ◽

Abdominal Cavity ◽

High Dose ◽

Drug Induced ◽

Serological Tests ◽

Surgical Interventions ◽

First Case ◽

Clinical Presentations

The authors have described the world’s first case of necrotizing sarcoid granulomatosis (NSG) in a 22-year-old woman with the clinical presentations of acute abdomen, which are associated with abdominal lymph nodal infiltration and necrosis, obvious constitutional disturbances (fever, nocturnal sweats, and significant weight loss), high inflammatory activity (anemia, leukocytosis, high erythrocyte sedimentation rates and C-reactive protein levels), the gradual appearance of splenic and hepatic necrotic foci, and infiltration into the lung and lacrimal glands with the development of unilateral uveitis. The patient underwent five surgical interventions, several needle biopsies for recurrent abdominal syndrome, and long-term antibiotic treatment for presumed sepsis, which had caused drug-induced hepatitis. Bacteriological examination of blood, puncture samples, and removed abdominal cavity tissues, serological tests, and immunomorphogical study of biopsy samples and removed tissues yielded negative results for the presence of bacterial, fungal, and tuberculosis infections. NSG was diagnosed on the basis of the systemic nature of the lesion, the presence of granulomas with severe abdominal lymph nodal necrosis and necrotizing granulomatous/lymphocytic vasculitis in the mesentery and removed spleen, as well as the absence of granulomas in the spleen, appendix, and biopsy materials of the liver, colonic mucosa, and parotid gland. Fludarabine therapy was first used in world practice due to the inefficient treatment with high-dose glucocorticoids and cyclophosphamide and to a disease relapse when reducing their doses. The paper gives a detailed review of the literature on the clinical, laboratory, radiological, and morphological manifestations of the disease, which allow the differential diagnosis of NSG with different variants of granulomatous lesions. Based on the 5-year follow-up of the patient and on the analysis of clinical, laboratory, radiological, and morphological changes, the authors uphold the concept that the disease is an independent nosological entity: necrotizing angiitis with sarcoid reactions, rather than the entity of nodular or classic sarcoidosis.

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