Fatigue in neuromuscular disorders: focus on Guillain–Barré syndrome and Pompe disease

Fatigue accounts for an important part of the burden experienced by patients with neuromuscular disorders. Substantial high prevalence rates of fatigue are reported in a wide range of neuromuscular disorders, such as Guillain–Barré syndrome and Pompe disease. Fatigue can be subdivided into experienced fatigue and physiological fatigue. Physiological fatigue in turn can be of central or peripheral origin. Peripheral fatigue is an important contributor to fatigue in neuromuscular disorders, but in reaction to neuromuscular disease fatigue of central origin can be an important protective mechanism to restrict further damage. In most cases, severity of fatigue seems to be related with disease severity, possibly with the exception of fatigue occurring in a monophasic disorder like Guillain–Barré syndrome. Treatment of fatigue in neuromuscular disease starts with symptomatic treatment of the underlying disease. When symptoms of fatigue persist, non-pharmacological interventions, such as exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy, can be initiated

Successful Pregnancy Outcome with High dose Heparin Therapy in Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome

Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome is an autoimmune disease characterized by thrombosis, both arterial andvenous, recurrent spontaneous abortion and the persistence of positive antiphospholipid antibodies. Placentalthrombosis is believed to be the cause of recurrent abortions, characteristic of the syndrome. We report a pregnantwith antiphospholipid antibody syndrome patient with history of recurrent miscarriages and managed successfullywith high dose heparin.Keywords: Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome; recurrent intra uterine death; HeparinDOI: 10.3329/jom.v11i2.5476J MEDICINE 2010; 11 : 205-206</jats:p

Ascitic fluid lipid profile and albumin level

Serum Ascites Albumin Gradient is the best single test for classifying ascites into portal hypertensive and non–portal hypertensive causes. Like Serum Ascites Albumin Gradient, Serum Ascites Lipid Gradient is also a subtraction of serum and ascitic fluid values of lipid fractions. In this comparative study Serum Ascites Albumin Gradient and Serum Ascites Lipid Gradient of 180 patients with ascites of different etiologies: 75 patients with cirrhosis, 15 patients with noncirrhotic portal hypertension, 45 patients with abdominal tuberculosis, 45 patients with intraabdominal malignancy were assayed. The study showed a statistically significant difference between the portal hypertension and nonportal hypertension group for both Serum Ascites Albumin Gradient and Serum Ascites Lipid Gradient (p&lt;0.0001). The sensitivity, specificity of both were found to be comparable. In conclusion like Serum Ascites Albumin Gradient, Serum Ascites Lipid Gradient is also a useful parameter in differentiating high portal pressure ascites from low portal pressure ascites.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bmrcb.v36i1.4656</jats:p