Cytomegalovirus Infection and Atherosclerosis: A Systematic Review

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is one of the most common infections that affects humans’ cardiovascular system. Although the literature includes controversial evidence for any correlation between CMV infection and arterial atherosclerosis, the majority of studies, especially those with larger patient population and stronger data stand for such a relationship. However, the number of prospective studies was very limited. So, we believe that future studies should be directed towards prospective studies investigating either the impact of CMV infection or antiviral treatment on atherosclerosis formation and advancement in different patient populations including patients undergoing CABG and/or patients with moderate atherosclerosis

A randomized clinical trial comparing hydrocolloid, phenytoin and simple dressings for the treatment of pressure ulcers [ISRCTN33429693]

BACKGROUND: Pressure sores are important and common complications of spinal cord injury. Many preventive and therapeutic approaches have been tried and new trials are evolving. One relatively recent method is application of a hydrocolloid dressing (HD). In this study we compared the therapeutic effects of HD on pressure ulcer healing with two other topical applications, phenytoin cream (PC) and simple dressing (SD). METHODS: Ninety-one stage I and stage II pressure ulcers of 83 paraplegic male victims of the Iran-Iraq war were randomly allocated to three treatment groups. Mean age and weight of the participants were 36.64 ± 6.04 years and 61.12 ± 5.08 kg, respectively. All the patients were managed in long term care units or in their homes for 8 weeks by a team of general practitioners and nurses, and the ulcer status was recorded as "Complete healing", "Partial healing", "Without improvement" and "Worsening". RESULTS: Complete healing of ulcers, regardless of location and stage, was better in the HD group than the PC [23/31(74.19%) vs 12/30(40%); difference: 34.19%, 95% CI = 10.85–57.52, (P < 0.01)] or the SD [23/31(74.19%) vs 8/30(26.66%); difference: 47.53%, 95% CI = 25.45–69.61, (P < 0.005)] groups. Complete healing of stage I ulcers in the HD group [11/13(85%)] was better than in the SD [5/11(45%); difference: 40%, 95% CI = 4.7–75.22, (P < 0.05)] or PC [2/9 (22%); difference: 63%, 95% CI = 29.69–96.3, (P < 0.005)] groups. Complete healing of stage II ulcer in the HD group [12/18 (67%)] was better than in the SD group [3/19(16%); difference: 51%, 95% CI = 23.73–78.26, (P < 0.005)], but not significantly different from the PC group [10/21 (48%); difference: 19%, 95% CI = -11.47–49.47, (P > 0.05)]. We performed a second analysis considering only one ulcer per patient (i.e. 83 ulcers in 83 patients). This "per patient" analysis showed that complete ulcer healing in the HD group was better than in the PC [20/28(71.4%) vs 11/28 (39.3%); difference: 32.1%, 95% CI = 7.4–56.7, (P < 0.01)] or SD [20/28(71.4%) vs 8/27 (29.6%); difference: 41.8%, 95% CI = 17.7–65.8, (P < 0.005)] groups. CONCLUSION: We deduced that HD is the most effective method investigated for treating stage I and II pressure ulcers in young paraplegic men

Characteristics and prognosis of lymphoproliferative disorders post-renal transplantation in living versus deceased donor allograft recipients

In this study, we compared the features and prognosis of post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) occurring in living donor recipients with those of deceased donor kidney transplant patients. A comprehensive search was performed for finding studies reporting data of PTLD in living and deceased donor renal recipients in the Pubmed and Google scholar search engines. Finally, international data from 14 different studies were included in the analysis. Overall, 122 renal recipients with PTLD were entered into this analysis. Chi square test showed that renal recipients from living donors significantly less frequently represented any remission episodes during the course of their disease (41% vs. 63%, respectively; P = 0.05). Living donor renal recipients were significantly more likely to develop metastasis in comparison with deceased donor recipients (64% vs. 23%, respectively; P = 0.035). Histopathological evaluations were comparable between the two patient groups. Survival analysis did not show any difference between the patient groups, even when patients were adjusted for the type of immuno-suppression. The mortality rate of the transplant patients with PTLD was 55.3% and the 1- and 5-year patients survival rates were 50% and 37%, respectively, for the deceased donor renal recipients compared with 60% and 34%, respectively, for the living donors group. We conclude that living donor kidney transplant recipients who develop PTLD have a higher rate of metastasis and a lower rate of remission episodes. Further prospective studies with a large patient population are needed to confirm our results

Small intestinal involvement by lymphoproliferative disorders post-renal transplantation: A report from the post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder international survey

In this study, data on post-renal transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) collected from the existing literature were pooled and analyzed to compare the characteristics, predictors and prognosis of small intestinal PTLDs. We performed a comprehensive search for the available data by Pubmed and Google scholar search engines for reports on this subject. Data from 18 previously published studies, comprising 120 renal allograft recipients, were included in the analysis. Renal transplant recipients with intestinal PTLD were significantly less likely to have Hogkin′s and Hogkin′s-like lesions (P = 0.044) and to be younger at the time of transplan-tation (P = 0.07). Except for Hodgkin′s-like lesions, histopathological evaluations elsewhere were comparable between the group with PTLD in the small intestine and age- and sex-matched renal transplant recipients with PTLD in other sites. The overall mortality was relatively higher in the control group (P = 0.09). When death only due to PTLD was used as the outcome, a trend toward better outcome was seen for the intestinal PTLD group compared with the other localizations (P = 0.1). The 1- and 5-year survival rates for intestinal PTLD patients were 57% and 37%, respectively, compared with 54% and 21%, respectively, for the control group. According to our findings based on analysis of international data, renal transplant patients with small intestinal PTLD are more likely to be of younger age but less frequently represent Hodgkin′s and Hodgkin′s-like lesions. They also have better patient survival compared with transplant recipients with PTLD in other locations. Further multi-center prospective studies are needed to confirm our results

Ultra-early onset post-transplantation Lymphoproliferative disease

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) can present as early as days to as late as several decades after transplantation. This study, however, tries to research PTLD characteristics including histopathological and clinical features, predictors and prognosis of the disease when occurring within the first month post-transplantation. We conducted a comprehensive search for the available data using the Pubmed and Google scholar search engines for reports indicating presentation time in PTLD patients. Data from 25 previously published studies were included in the analysis. Finally, we found 355 recipients of organs presenting with "ultra-early onset PTLD." Transplant recipients with ultra-early onset PTLD were significantly more likely to have kidney allografts (P = 0.032). Transplant recipients with ultra-early onset PTLD were comparable to their counterparts in the control group in their demographics, histopathological findings and survival. Patients with ultra-early onset PTLD were significantly more likely to receive induction therapy (100% vs. 49%, respectively; P = 0.013). Pancreas transplant recipients were at a significantly higher risk for development of ultra-early onset PTLD (20% vs. 1%, respectively; P <0.001). Our findings emphasize the importance of immunosuppression potency as well as the type of allograft transplanted on the incidence of PTLD in the early stages after transplantation. However, we found no histopathological or outcome disparities for patients with ultra-early PTLD compared with controls. Further prospective studies with more comparable approaches to the patients are needed to confirm our findings