Impact of onabotulinumtoxinA on quality of life and practical aspects of daily living : a pooled analysis of two randomized controlled trials

Objective: To evaluate the impact of onabotulinumtoxinA on individual domains of the quality of life questionnaires in a pooled analysis of two phase 3 trials in overactive bladder patients with urinary incontinence who were inadequately managed by >= 1 anticholinergic. Methods: Patients received intradetrusor injections of onabotulinumtoxinA 100U (n = 557) or placebo (n = 548). The proportions of patients with a positive response (condition "greatly improved" or "improved") on the Treatment Benefit Scale, and changes in Incontinence Quality of Life scores and King's Health Questionnaire domain scores were analyzed in the overall population and subgroups with clean intermittent catheterization use and urinary tract infection status during the first 12 weeks of treatment. Responses to individual King's Health Questionnaire items were also assessed. Results: Significantly greater proportions of onabotulinumtoxinA-treated patients achieved positive Treatment Benefit Scale response versus placebo (61.8% vs 28.0%; P < 0.001). OnabotulinumtoxinA showed significantly greater improvements versus placebo in Incontinence Quality of Life total (22.5 vs 6.6), Incontinence Quality of Life subscale scores and all domains of the King's Health Questionnaire. Notably, a similar trend was observed regardless of clean intermittent catheterization/urinary tract infection status. Additionally, onabotulinumtoxinA resulted in significantly greater improvements than the placebo in practical aspects of patients daily lives, including pad use, need to change undergarments, sleep, relationship with partner and work life/daily activities. Conclusion: In overactive bladder patients with urinary incontinence, onabotulinumtoxinA 100U demonstrated significant improvements across the individual domains of the quality of life questionnaires, regardless of clean intermittent catheterization or urinary tract infection status, and provided a positive impact on practical aspects of patients' daily lives

Complete right-to-left shunt on lung perfusion SPECT results in the detection of a persistent left vena cava superior draining to the left atrium

In order to exclude acute pulmonary embolism, a lung perfusion scintigraphy was performed in a 53-year-old male, with a history of Fallot’s tetralogy. He had been immobilized because of a tibial fracture and complained of worsening chest pain and dyspnea

Muscle Carnosine Is Associated with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Humans

Background Carnosine is a naturally present dipeptide abundant in skeletal muscle and an over-the counter food additive. Animal data suggest a role of carnosine supplementation in the prevention and treatment of obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease but only limited human data exists. Methods and Results Samples of vastus lateralis muscle were obtained by needle biopsy. We measured muscle carnosine levels (high-performance liquid chromatography), % body fat (bioimpedance), abdominal subcutaneous and visceral adiposity (magnetic resonance imaging), insulin sensitivity (euglycaemic hyperinsulinemic clamp), resting energy expenditure (REE, indirect calorimetry), free-living ambulatory physical activity (accelerometers) and lipid profile in 36 sedentary non-vegetarian middle aged men (45±7 years) with varying degrees of adiposity and glucose tolerance. Muscle carnosine content was positively related to % body fat (r = 0.35, p = 0.04) and subcutaneous (r = 0.38, p = 0.02) but not visceral fat (r = 0.17, p = 0.33). Muscle carnosine content was inversely associated with insulin sensitivity (r = -0.44, p = 0.008), REE (r = -0.58, p<0.001) and HDL-cholesterol levels (r = -0.34, p = 0.048). Insulin sensitivity and physical activity were the best predictors of muscle carnosine content after adjustment for adiposity. Conclusion Our data shows that higher carnosine content in human skeletal muscle is positively associated with insulin resistance and fasting metabolic preference for glucose. Moreover, it is negatively associated with HDL-cholesterol and basal energy expenditure. Intervention studies targeting insulin resistance, metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk factors are necessary to evaluate its putative role in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Port-site metastasis after explorative laparoscopy for an incidental appendiceal mucinous cystadenocarcinoma detected with FDG PET/CT

A 62-year old female with a history of appendix carcinoma came to our department for an 18 F FDG PET/CT to further characterize a subcutaneous fixed small mass in the right fosse detected at clinical examination. Fourteen months earlier, she had undergone a right hemicolectomy because of an appendiceal mucinous cystadenocarcinoma. Since the diagnosis of appendicitis was presumed before she went into surgery, an explorative laparoscopy was performed. An inflammatory mass with loss of all anatomical references was found; hence the laparoscopy was reverted to a laparotomy

The application of predictive modelling for determining bio-environmental factors affecting the distribution of blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) in the Gilgel Gibe watershed in Southwest Ethiopia

Blackflies are important macroinvertebrate groups from a public health as well as ecological point of view. Determining the biological and environmental factors favouring or inhibiting the existence of blackflies could facilitate biomonitoring of rivers as well as control of disease vectors. The combined use of different predictive modelling techniques is known to improve identification of presence/absence and abundance of taxa in a given habitat. This approach enables better identification of the suitable habitat conditions or environmental constraints of a given taxon. Simuliidae larvae are important biological indicators as they are abundant in tropical aquatic ecosystems. Some of the blackfly groups are also important disease vectors in poor tropical countries. Our investigations aim to establish a combination of models able to identify the environmental factors and macroinvertebrate organisms that are favourable or inhibiting blackfly larvae existence in aquatic ecosystems. The models developed using macroinvertebrate predictors showed better performance than those based on environmental predictors. The identified environmental and macroinvertebrate parameters can be used to determine the distribution of blackflies, which in turn can help control river blindness in endemic tropical places. Through a combination of modelling techniques, a reliable method has been developed that explains environmental and biological relationships with the target organism, and, thus, can serve as a decision support tool for ecological management strategies

OC-0145: Preoperative radiotherapy with an integrated boost compared to chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer

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Are BVS suitable for ACS patients? Support from a large single center real live registry

Objectives To investigate one-year outcomes after implantation of a bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) compared to stable angina patients. Background Robust data on the outcome of BVS in the setting of ACS is still scarce. Methods Two investigator initiated, single-center, single-arm BVS registries have been pooled for the purpose of this study, namely the BVS Expand and BVS STEMI registries. Results From September 2012-Octob

Effects of beta-alanine supplementation on brain homocarnosine/carnosine signal and cognitive function: an exploratory study

Objectives: Two independent studies were conducted to examine the effects of 28 d of beta-alanine supplementation at 6.4 g d-1 on brain homocarnosine/carnosine signal in omnivores and vegetarians (Study 1) and on cognitive function before and after exercise in trained cyclists (Study 2). Methods: In Study 1, seven healthy vegetarians (3 women and 4 men) and seven age- and sex-matched omnivores undertook a brain 1H-MRS exam at baseline and after beta-alanine supplementation. In study 2, nineteen trained male cyclists completed four 20-Km cycling time trials (two pre supplementation and two post supplementation), with a battery of cognitive function tests (Stroop test, Sternberg paradigm, Rapid Visual Information Processing task) being performed before and after exercise on each occasion. Results: In Study 1, there were no within-group effects of beta-alanine supplementation on brain homocarnosine/carnosine signal in either vegetarians (p = 0.99) or omnivores (p = 0.27); nor was there any effect when data from both groups were pooled (p = 0.19). Similarly, there was no group by time interaction for brain homocarnosine/carnosine signal (p = 0.27). In study 2, exercise improved cognitive function across all tests (P0.05) of beta-alanine supplementation on response times or accuracy for the Stroop test, Sternberg paradigm or RVIP task at rest or after exercise. Conclusion: 28 d of beta-alanine supplementation at 6.4g d-1 appeared not to influence brain homocarnosine/ carnosine signal in either omnivores or vegetarians; nor did it influence cognitive function before or after exercise in trained cyclists