Narrow band imaging (NBI) during medical thoracoscopy: first impressions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This is the first ever evaluation of narrow band imaging (NBI), an innovative endoscopic imaging procedure, for the visualisation of pleural processes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The pleural cavity was examined in 26 patients with pleural effusions using both white light and narrow band imaging during thoracoscopy under local anaesthesia.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the great majority of the patients narrow band imaging depicted the blood vessels more clearly than white light, but failed to reveal any differences in number, shape or size. Only in a single case with pleura thickened by chronic inflammation and metastatic spread of lung cancer did narrow band imaging show vessels that were not detectable under white light.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It is not yet possible to assess to what extent the evidence provided by NBI is superior to that achieved with white light. Further studies are required, particularly in the early stages of pleural processes.</p

Gemcitabine combined with oxaliplatin in pretreated patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma: an observational study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of oxaliplatin ± gemcitabine in patients with diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) pretreated with pemetrexed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study enrolled consecutive patients with relapsed MPM, all of them pretreated with a platin-pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. Oxaliplatin 80 mg/m²was administered as monotherapy or in combination with gemcitabine 1000 mg/m²given on day 1 and 8. Cycles were repeated every 21 days. The primary endpoints were response rate and disease control rate. Secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), time to tumour progression (TTP), progression-free survival (PFS), time to treatment failure (TTF), and toxicity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Between February 2005 and September 2007 29 patients (median age: 65.0 years, World Health Organisation (WHO) performance status: 0–3) were enrolled. The follow-up period encompassed 5.4 to 97.4 weeks (median: 24.3 weeks). Out of these 29 patients, 15 were treated in second, 10 in third, 3 in fourth and 1 in fifth line, respectively. The majority of the patients received the combination oxaliplatin and gemcitabine (n = 25 vs. 4; 86.2 vs. 13.8%).</p> <p>The median overall survival (OS) was 71.7 weeks (30.6–243.3 weeks), whereas survival from the start of oxaliplatin/gemcitabine-treatment was 24.3 weeks (5.4–97.3 weeks). Median time to tumour progression (TTP) was 9.3 weeks (3.0–67.6 weeks).</p> <p>Partial response (PR) was observed in 2 patients (6.9%), stable disease (SD) for at least three courses of treatment in 11 patients (37.9%). Thus, disease control rate was 44.8%, whereas 16 of 29 patients exhibited progressive disease (55.2%).</p> <p>The toxicity profile was favourable, with no WHO grade 4-toxicities, only few dose-reductions were performed due to non-symptomatic haematotoxicities (neutropenia, thrombopenia). Mild WHO grade 2 neurotoxicity was seen in 6 patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Pemetrexed-pretreated patients with progressive MPM may benefit from a consecutive chemotherapy with oxaliplatin and gemcitabine without significant toxicity.</p

Bilateral Simultaneous Retinal Detachment in Pseudophakia

Cataract surgery is the most frequent surgical intervention, with approximately 700,000 operations per year in Germany alone. One of the most serious complications is retinal detachment, with a reported incidence rate of pseudophakic retinal detachment of 0.75-1.65%. We report the case of a patient who suffered from a simultaneous bilateral pseudophakic retinal detachment. Interestingly, the bilateral detachments in the left and the right eye started with only some hours' delay. He had no acute trigger for the retinal detachment and no risk factors besides the cataract surgery performed on both eyes some weeks earlier. Simultaneous bilateral retinal detachments will be more common, due to increasing numbers of cataract surgeries and the demographic development. We conclude that funduscopy should be regularly performed in mydriasis to avoid sight-threatening simultaneous bilateral retinal detachments

Bilateral Simultaneous Retinal Detachment in Pseudophakia

Cataract surgery is the most frequent surgical intervention, with approximately 700,000 operations per year in Germany alone. One of the most serious complications is retinal detachment, with a reported incidence rate of pseudophakic retinal detachment of 0.75-1.65%. We report the case of a patient who suffered from a simultaneous bilateral pseudophakic retinal detachment. Interestingly, the bilateral detachments in the left and the right eye started with only some hours' delay. He had no acute trigger for the retinal detachment and no risk factors besides the cataract surgery performed on both eyes some weeks earlier. Simultaneous bilateral retinal detachments will be more common, due to increasing numbers of cataract surgeries and the demographic development. We conclude that funduscopy should be regularly performed in mydriasis to avoid sight-threatening simultaneous bilateral retinal detachments

Finite Temperature DMRG Investigation of the Spin-Peierls Transition in CuGeO3_3

We present a numerical study of thermodynamical properties of dimerized frustrated Heisenberg chains down to extremely low temperatures with applications to CuGeO$_3$. A variant of the finite temperature density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) allows the study of the dimerized phase previously unaccessible to ab initio calculations. We investigate static dimerized systems as well as the instability of the quantum chain towards lattice dimerization. The crossover from a quadratic response in the free energy to the distortion field at finite temperature to nonanalytic behavior at zero temperature is studied quantitatively. Various physical quantities are derived and compared with experimental data for CuGeO$_3$ such as magnetic dimerization, critical temperature, susceptibility and entropy.Comment: LaTeX, 5 pages, 5 eps figures include

Soliton Lattices in the Incommensurate Spin-Peierls Phase: Local Distortions and Magnetizations

It is shown that nonadiabatic fluctuations of the soliton lattice in the spin-Peierls system CuGeO_3 lead to an important reduction of the NMR line widths. These fluctuations are the zero-point motion of the massless phasonic excitations. Furthermore, we show that the discrepancy of X-ray and NMR soliton widths can be understood as the difference between a distortive and a magnetic width. Their ratio is controlled by the frustration of the spin system. By this work, theoretical and experimental results can be reconciled in two important points.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures included, Revtex submitted to Physical Review

The record of a high-energy event in a mud entrapment on the inner shelf off the Guadiana river

Recent environmental changes associated with high-energy events and human impacts were investigated in a mud entrapment confined in the paleo-Guadiana incised valley. Those changes were recorded in a gravity core during the last 2500 years. An erosional event seems to have occurred at ca. 500 cal yr BP but it is not clear how much sediment was removed. This event was followed by an increase in river discharges until ca. 465 cal yr BP while the benthic foraminiferal faunas were dominated by species associated with shallow-water sandy sediments. Upward, sedimentological and benthic foraminiferal variations indicated environmental changes, promoted by variable sediment supplies to the shelf.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio