Patient satisfaction in the long-term effects of Eustachian tube balloon dilation is encouraging

Object: To investigate the long-term effects of balloon Eustachian tuboplasty (BET) from patient’s perspective and to discover which symptoms of Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) benefit the most from BET.Method: We designed a retrospective postal questionnaire based on the seven-item ETD questionnaire (ETDQ-7). Our questionnaire covered the severity of present ETD symptoms in comparison with the preoperative situation, the severity of current overall ear symptoms, and possible surgical interventions after BET. Forty-six patients treated in our institution between 2011 and 2013 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and 74% (34 patients; total 52 ears treated with BET) returned the questionnaire with a mean follow-up time of 3.1 years (range 1.8-4.6 years).Results: Pain in the ears, feeling of pressure in the ears, and feeling that ears are clogged had reduced in 75% of the ears that suffered from these symptoms preoperatively. Seventy-seven percent of all the responders felt that their overall ear symptoms were reduced. Altogether, 82% of all the patients stated that they would undergo BET again if their ear symptoms returned to the preoperative level.Conclusion: Patient satisfaction in the long-term effects of BET is encouraging. These results may help clinicians in preoperative patient selection and counselling.</p

Hardy's inequality for functions vanishing on a part of the boundary

We develop a geometric framework for Hardy's inequality on a bounded domain when the functions do vanish only on a closed portion of the boundary.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figures, includes several improvements in Sections 6-8 allowing to relax the assumptions in the main results. Final version published at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11118-015-9463-

Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain: an update

A large number of scientists from a wide range of medical and surgical disciplines have reported on the existence and characteristics of the clinical syndrome of pelvic girdle pain during or after pregnancy. This syndrome refers to a musculoskeletal type of persistent pain localised at the anterior and/or posterior aspect of the pelvic ring. The pain may radiate across the hip joint and the thigh bones. The symptoms may begin either during the first trimester of pregnancy, at labour or even during the postpartum period. The physiological processes characterising this clinical entity remain obscure. In this review, the definition and epidemiology, as well as a proposed diagnostic algorithm and treatment options, are presented. Ongoing research is desirable to establish clear management strategies that are based on the pathophysiologic mechanisms responsible for the escalation of the syndrome's symptoms to a fraction of the population of pregnant women

Joint pain may be missed in physician assessment of tender joint count

Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR 2006), Jun 21-24, 2006, Amsterdam, Netherland

Discriminatory effect of anti-Pr-β-hCG-TT antibodies on the neutralization of the biological activity of placental and pituitary gonadotropins

Serum from monkeys and human subjects immunized with an anti-hCG vaccine, Pr-β-hCG-TT, have been analyzed for their capacity to neutralize hCG/LH induced biological effects in two test systems. The monkey antiserum blocked completely the hCG induced ovulation in mice, but the same amount of the antiserum and even two-fold higher concentrations, did not reduce the number of ovulating animals on priming with ovine LH. The immunized monkey and the human sera were competent to neutralise the hCG induced testosterone production in Leydig cells. The monkey and seven out of twelve human sera did not interfere in the hLH action on these cells. Five human sera, however, showed varying degree of inhibition of hLH induced steroidogenesis in this sensitive bioassay. These subjects nevertheless maintained regular menstrual cycles and serum progesterone levels in the luteal phase were consonant with ovulation. In a subject whose serum had shown a fairly high degree of cross-reaction with hLH in Leydig cell bioassay, estradial, hLH and progesterone levels were determined on different days throughout a menstrual cycle. The hormonal profiles were normal