13 research outputs found
High patient doses in interventional cardiology due to physicians' negligence: How can they be prevented?
Interventional cardiology procedures are usually associated with high patient doses and even deterministic radiation effects may occur. Expensive digital flat panels are preferably used to lower doses, and Athens General Hospital has recently installed one. However, this study shows that it is the cardiologists' practice that lowers patients' doses. Doses delivered to patients during two time periods (pre and after radiation protection training) on a total of 1196 coronary angiographies and 506 percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasties were measured and analysed per cardiologist. Local reference levels (LRLs) were assessed and compared with the preliminary RLs provided by the European Research Program DIMOND. Results showed that although after the training patients' dose area product, fluoroscopy time, cumulative dose and number of images acquired were lowered, the situation remained unchanged for the cardiologist who delivered the highest doses. The question to answer next is how this bad practice can be prevented since no dose constraints apply to diagnostic or therapeutic procedures using ionising radiation. © The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved
Isepamicin versus amikacin for the treatment of acute pyelonephritis in children
In this study we compared the efficacy and safety of isepamicin versus
amikacin at a dose of 7.5 mg/kg i.v. q12h for 10-14 days in children
with pyelonephritis. Sixteen children were enrolled in the study; ten
received isepamicin and six amikacin. Urine cultures grew Escherichia
coli in all patients. All patients were treated successfully with either
isepamicin or amikacin. Clinical and bacteriological response rates were
100% for both groups. No adverse events occurred. Peak serum levels
ranged from 9.05 to 30.70 mg/l (median: 16.165) and from 12.20 to 25.90
mg/l (median: 19.05) for isepamicin and amikacin, respectively. Trough
serum levels ranged from 0.11 to 3.20 mg/l (median: 0.75) and from 0.1
to 2.1 mg/l (median: 0.655), respectively. Isepamicin was shown to be as
effective and safe as amikacin in the treatment of children with
pyelonephritis and might prove an advantageous alternative in areas with
high incidence of resistance to other aminoglycosides. (C) 2000 Elsevier
Science B.V. and International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights
reserved
Impact of influenza infection in healthy children examined as outpatients and their families
Decisions regarding the introduction of influenza immunization in
healthy children require an accurate evaluation of influenza disease
burden not only in the inpatient but also in the outpatient setting. We
prospectively examined the impact of virologically confirmed influenza
in 1462 outpatient children (> 6 months to < 14 years) and their
families, during two consecutive influenza seasons. Influenza was
documented in 573/1462 (39%) outpatients with febrile respiratory
illness and accounted for 13.5% of all outpatient visits during the 14
weeks of each season. Acute otitis media (AOM) was the most common
complication (18.5%) and about 40% of influenza positive patients
received antibiotics. AOM and antibiotic use were more common in
children younger than 5 years of age who accounted for 58% of all
patients. For each child sick with influenza a mean of 1.34 workdays
were lost by the parents. Family members of influenza positive children
were more likely to develop a secondary respiratory illness and to
require medical visits and antibiotic prescriptions. Influenza is
associated with a heavy morbidity burden in the community that may be
reduced considerably with the implementation of immunization in children
younger than 5 years of age. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
An In Vitro Study of Saffron Carotenoids: The Effect of Crocin Extracts and Dimethylcrocetin on Cancer Cell Lines
Crocus sativus L. has various pharmacological properties, known for over 3600 years. These properties are attributed mainly to biologically active substances, which belong to the terpenoid group and include crocins, picrocrocin and safranal. The aim of the current work was to examine the effects of crocins (CRCs) and their methyl ester derivate dimethylcrocetin (DMCRT) on glioblastoma and rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines, in terms of cytotoxicity and gene expression, implicated in proapoptotic and cell survival pathways. Cell cytotoxicity was assessed with Alamar Blue fluorescence assay after treatment with saffron carotenoids for 24, 48 and 72 h and concentrations ranging from 22.85 to 0.18 mg/mL for CRCs and 11.43 to 0.09 mg/mL for DMCRT. In addition, BAX, BID, BCL2, MYCN, SOD1, and GSTM1 gene expression was studied by qRT-PCR analysis. Both compounds demonstrated cytotoxic effects against glioblastoma and rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines, in a dose- and time-dependent manner. They induced apoptosis, via BAX and BID upregulation, MYCN and BCL-2, SOD1, GSTM1 downregulation. The current research denotes the possible anticancer properties of saffron carotenoids, which are considered safe phytochemicals, already tested in clinical trials for their health promoting properties
Clinical Application of the Novel Cell-Based Biosensor for the Ultra-Rapid Detection of the SARS-CoV-2 S1 Spike Protein Antigen: A Practical Approach
The availability of antigen tests for SARS-CoV-2 represents a major step
for the mass surveillance of the incidence of infection, especially
regarding COVID-19 asymptomatic and/or early-stage patients. Recently,
we reported the development of a Bioelectric Recognition Assay-based
biosensor able to detect the SARS-CoV-2 S1 spike protein expressed on
the surface of the virus in just three minutes, with high sensitivity
and selectivity. The working principle was established by measuring the
change of the electric potential of membrane-engineered mammalian cells
bearing the human chimeric spike S1 antibody after attachment of the
respective viral protein. In the present study, we applied the novel
biosensor to patient-derived nasopharyngeal samples in a clinical
set-up, with absolutely no sample pretreatment. More importantly,
membrane-engineered cells were pre-immobilized in a proprietary
biomatrix, thus enabling their long-term preservation prior to use as
well as significantly increasing their ease-of-handle as test
consumables. The plug-and-apply novel biosensor was able to detect the
virus in positive samples with a 92.8% success rate compared to RT-PCR.
No false negative results were recorded. These findings demonstrate the
potential applicability of the biosensor for the early, routine mass
screening of SARS-CoV-2 on a scale not yet realized