82 research outputs found

    Clinical characteristics and outcomes of thymoma-associated myasthenia gravis

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    [Background and purpose] Prognosis of myasthenia gravis (MG) in patients with thymoma is not well established. Moreover, it is not clear whether thymoma recurrence or unresectable lesions entail a worse prognosis of MG.[Methods] This multicenter study was based on data from a Spanish neurologist-driven MG registry. All patients were aged >18 years at onset and had anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies. We compared the clinical data of thymomatous and nonthymomatous patients. Prognosis of patients with recurrent or nonresectable thymomas was assessed.[Results] We included 964 patients from 15 hospitals; 148 (15.4%) had thymoma-associated MG. Median follow-up time was 4.6 years. At onset, thymoma-associated MG patients were younger (52.0 vs. 60.4 years, p < 0.001), had more generalized symptoms (odds ratio [OR]: 3.02, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.95–4.68, p < 0.001) and more severe clinical forms according to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) scale (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.15–2.21, p = 0.005). Disease severity based on MGFA postintervention status (MGFA-PIS) was higher in thymomatous patients at 1 year, 5 years, and the end of follow-up. Treatment refractoriness and mortality were also higher (OR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.43–3.63, p = 0.001; hazard ratio: 2.46, 95% CI: 1.47–4.14, p = 0.001). Myasthenic symptoms worsened in 13 of 27 patients with recurrences, but differences in long-term severity were not significant. Fifteen thymomatous patients had nonresectable thymomas with worse MGFA-PIS and higher mortality at the end of follow-up.[Conclusions] Thymoma-associated MG patients had more severe myasthenic symptoms and worse prognosis. Thymoma recurrence was frequently associated with transient worsening of MG, but long-term prognosis did not differ from nonrecurrent thymoma. Patients with nonresectable thymoma tended to present severe forms of MG.This work is supported by Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (FIS) grant FIS19/01774, Instituto de Salud Carlos III and cofunded by the European Union (ERDF/ESF, A Way to Make Europe/Investing in Your Future). Rodrigo Álvarez-Velasco was supported by a PhD for Medical Doctors grant from the Pla Estratègic de Recerca i Innovació en Salut (PERIS), Generalitat de Catalunya (SLT008/18/00207). Elena Cortés-Vicente was supported by a Juan Rodés grant (JR19/00037) from the Fondo de Investigación en Salud, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministry of Health (Spain).Peer reviewe

    Mortality and biochemical recurrence after surgery, brachytherapy, or external radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer: a 10-year follow-up cohort study

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    To compare the effectiveness at ten years of follow-up of radical prostatectomy, brachytherapy and external radiotherapy, in terms of overall survival, prostate cancer-specific mortality and biochemical recurrence. Cohort of men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer (T1/T2 and low/intermediate risk) from ten Spanish hospitals, followed for 10 years. The treatment selection was decided jointly by patients and physicians. Of 704 participants, 192 were treated with open radical retropubic prostatectomy, 317 with I-125 brachytherapy alone, and 195 with 3D external beam radiation. We evaluated overall survival, prostate cancer-specific mortality, and biochemical recurrence. Kaplan-Meier estimators were plotted, and Cox proportional-hazards regression models were constructed to estimate hazard ratios (HR), adjusted by propensity scores. Of the 704 participants, 542 patients were alive ten years after treatment, and a total of 13 patients have been lost during follow-up. After adjusting by propensity score and Gleason score, brachytherapy and external radiotherapy were not associated with decreased 10-year overall survival (aHR = 1.36, p = 0.292 and aHR = 1.44, p = 0.222), but presented higher biochemical recurrence (aHR = 1.93, p = 0.004 and aHR = 2.56, p < 0.001) than radical prostatectomy at ten years of follow-up. Higher prostate cancer-specific mortality was also observed in external radiotherapy (aHR = 9.37, p = 0.015). Novel long-term results are provided on the effectiveness of brachytherapy to control localized prostate cancer ten years after treatment, compared to radical prostatectomy and external radiotherapy, presenting high overall survival, similarly to radical prostatectomy, but higher risk of biochemical progression. These findings provide valuable information to facilitate shared clinical decision-making. Study identifier at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01492751

    ¿Necesitamos un asistente virtual para apoyo y formación permanente de profesores, alumnos y egresados en nuestra página web?

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    Se trata de identificar las necesidades no resueltas y otras cuestiones de interés, y proponer la utilización del asistente virtual como herramienta de apoyo en el acceso, la formación presente y futura, con carácter permanente, al alumno y al profesor; ello supone su utilidad en el momento presente y en el futuro, como herramienta de formación y acceso permanente. La originalidad del Proyecto estriba precisamente en el planteamiento de la incorporación de la asistencia virtual e inteligencia artificial para la asistencia y apoyo a los alumnos y profesores. El uso de la tecnología es cada vez más mayor, y puede revertir en beneficio al alumno desde una perspectiva más amplia de la que un profesor individualmente puede ofrecerle; se lograría así el acceso a la información con una intervención humana mínima, en cualquier momento y en cuestiones generales de amplio espectro, al que cada profesor en su especialidad no llega a abarcar, y los programas voluntarios de mentorías tampoco

    Ultrasmall manganese ferrites for in vivo catalase mimicking activity and multimodal bioimaging

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    Manganese ferrite nanoparticles display interesting features in bioimaging and catalytic therapies. They have been recently used in theranostics as contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and as catalase-mimicking nanozymes for hypoxia alleviation. These promising applications encourage the development of novel synthetic procedures to enhance the bioimaging and catalytic properties of these nanomaterials simultaneously. Herein, a cost-efficient synthetic microwave method is developed to manufacture ultrasmall manganese ferrite nanoparticles as advanced multimodal contrast agents in MRI and positron emission tomography (PET), and improved nanozymes. Such a synthetic method allows doping ferrites with Mn in a wide stoichiometric range (MnxFe3-xO4, 0.1 ≤ x ≤ 2.4), affording a library of nanoparticles with different magnetic relaxivities and catalytic properties. These tuned magnetic properties give rise to either positive or dual-mode MRI contrast agents. On the other hand, higher levels of Mn doping enhance the catalytic efficiency of the resulting nanozymes. Finally, through their intracellular catalase-mimicking activity, these ultrasmall manganese ferrite nanoparticles induce an unprecedented tumor growth inhibition in a breast cancer murine model. All of these results show the robust characteristics of these nanoparticles for nanobiotechnological applications.The authors thank M. Jeannin from Lasie Laboratory (La Rochelle University) for the Raman studies. S.C.R. is supported by the grant PID2019-106139RA-100 funded by MCIN. J.R.-C. is supported by grants from the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MEIC) (SAF2017-84494-C2-R). J.R.C. received funding from the BBVA Foundation (PR [18]_BIO_IMG_0008) and La Caixa (HR18-00052). Y.F.-A. received funding from the Santander-Universidad Zaragoza Fellowship program. L.G. acknowledges financial support from the Ramón y Cajal program (RYC-2014-15512). CIC biomaGUNE is supported by the Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Program from the Spanish State Research Agency (MDM-2017-0720). The authors acknowledge the use of Servicio General de Apoyo a la Investigación-SAI, Universidad de Zaragoza. H.G. is supported by the Ligue contre le Cancer (CD16, CD17) and Région Nouvelle Aquitaine (Projet “Nanovect”). J.A.E. is supported by RTI2018-099357-B-I00, HFSP (RGP0016/2018), CIBERFES16/10/00282 and RED2018-102576-T. The CNIC is supported by the Pro-CNIC Foundation and by the Severo Ochoa of Excellence Program.Peer reviewe

    Patient preferences and treatment safety for uncomplicated vulvovaginal candidiasis in primary health care

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Vaginitis is a common complaint in primary care. In uncomplicated candidal vaginitis, there are no differences in effectiveness between oral or vaginal treatment. Some studies describe that the preferred treatment is the oral one, but a Cochrane's review points out inconsistencies associated with the report of the preferred way that limit the use of such data. Risk factors associated with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis still remain controversial.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This work describes a protocol of a multicentric prospective observational study with one year follow up, to describe the women's reasons and preferences to choose the way of administration (oral vs topical) in the treatment of not complicated candidal vaginitis. The number of women required is 765, they are chosen by consecutive sampling. All of whom are aged 16 and over with vaginal discharge and/or vaginal pruritus, diagnosed with not complicated vulvovaginitis in Primary Care in Madrid.</p> <p>The main outcome variable is the preferences of the patients in treatment choice; secondary outcome variables are time to symptoms relief and adverse reactions and the frequency of recurrent vulvovaginitis and the risk factors. In the statistical analysis, for the main objective will be descriptive for each of the variables, bivariant analysis and multivariate analysis (logistic regression).. The dependent variable being the type of treatment chosen (oral or topical) and the independent, the variables that after bivariant analysis, have been associated to the treatment preference.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Clinical decisions, recommendations, and practice guidelines must not only attend to the best available evidence, but also to the values and preferences of the informed patient.</p

    Conviviendo en Positivo: Educación en salud, Atención Consciente, Compasión activa y Resiliencia

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    Proyecto de innovación docente enfocado en valores nucleares y convivencia en una sociedad serodiscordante, es continuidad del P89/2018, titulado “competencias intra e interpersonales, sexo consciente, fármacos y mindfulness”. Durante el primer semestre, desde el paradigma de aprendizaje cooperativo, basado en resolución de proyectos, se desarrolló la investigación documental, reflexión y debate sobre estos centros de interés: valores nucleares & VIH: abordaje de la seropositividad; adherencia terapéutica; estudio PARTNER indetectable es igual a intransmisible; profilaxis pre-exposición (PrEP); convivir en serodiscordancia; encuestas sobre estigmatización y discriminación social y sanitaria; riesgos globales de la discriminación terapéutica; relaciones interpersonales y emociones aflictivas; mindfulness y compasión basado en la evidencia; psicología positiva y resiliencia. En el segundo semestre, durante la fase cero del estado de alerta sanitaria, se desarrolló una intervención psicoeducativa, dirigida a facilitar estrategias que ayudasen a gestionar mejor el impacto emocional generado por la incertidumbre, la restricción de movilidad territorial, el confinamiento, y el miedo al contagio de la COVID-19. Perpetuar el estigma ante VIH, es una violación de los derechos humanos. Como antídoto a la indiferencia, se integró en nuestra intervención el fomento de la compasión activa, entendida como un sentido básico de cuidado, sensibilidad y apertura hacia el sufrimiento propio y de los demás, y la intención genuina de intentar aliviarlo y prevenirlo. La pandemia generada por el SARS-CoV-2 es una oportunidad para entender que ante este virus, aquí y ahora, la única opción es prevenirlo, detectarlo mediante pruebas y confinarlo, es decir no transmitirlo y no reinfectarse. Si de forma transversal somos capaces de interiorizarlo y normalizar la convivencia en serodiscordancia, si normalizamos las pruebas diagnósticas rutinarias, podremos entre todas y todos reducir hasta un 90% la transmisión activa otra pandemia de la que hoy no se habla, del VIH, de este modo conseguiríamos minimizar la aparición de nuevos casos, frenar su avance y vencer definitivamente al SIDA
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