Clinical Evaluation of a Polish Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) Scale.

BACKGROUND Nasal obstruction is the most common rhinologic complaint in ear, nose, and throat (ENT) clinical practice and septal deviation is the leading cause. The Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale is a brief, self-administered questionnaire that has been widely used to assess symptoms and quality of life related to nasal obstruction, and is commonly used in clinical outcome studies. The aim of this study was to undertake a clinical evaluation of a Polish translation and cross-cultural modification of the NOSE scale for nasal obstruction. MATERIAL AND METHODS A controlled clinical validation study was conducted in a tertiary referral center. The Polish version of the NOSE scale was developed according to cross-cultural adaptation guidelines. The psychometric properties of the Polish version of the NOSE scale (internal consistency, reproducibility, validity, responsiveness, interpretability) were assessed in 51 patients with nasal obstruction and 51 controls matched according to gender and age. RESULTS Internal consistency of the Polish version of the NOSE scale was 0.80 as assessed by Cronbach's alpha, and an intraclass correlation of the reproducibility was 0.98. Construct inter-item and item-total correlations confirmed validity. Correlation confirmed appropriate criterion validity with a visual analog scale (VAS) and discriminant validity was confirmed between patients and controls. Responsiveness and interpretability were also confirmed. CONCLUSIONS The Polish version of the NOSE scale is a brief and reproducible clinical evaluation tool for use in clinical practice in Polish-speaking patients with nasal obstruction.

Complications in septoplasty based on a large group of 5639 patients.

PURPOSE: Septoplasty is a common surgical procedure used for correction of the nasal obstruction caused by a deviated septum. The aim of the study was to identify complications in septoplasty and analyze incidence depending on the surgical technique, based on the material from 2009 till 2017. METHODS: The material consisted of 5639 medical records from patients aged 16-69, operated in the tertiary referral center. Patients were divided into two groups (2784 exclusively with septoplasty and 2855 with combined septoplasty and turbinoplasty). Z test for the equality of two proportions was made to investigate the assumption that the proportions from two populations are equal, based on two samples, one from each population. RESULTS: Complications were listed according to international standards. Among the whole study group, different types of complications were noted in 193 patients (3.42%). The most frequent complication was excessive bleeding. Significant differences were observed between the two investigated groups. In patients with combined septoplasty and turbinoplasty septal hematoma, hyposmia, prolonged healing due to infection, adhesions and temporary reduced visual acuity were significantly more often encountered. CONCLUSIONS: Meticulous attention to detail in identifying the appropriate anatomy and maintaining good visualization is the key to a safe and effective septoplasty, enabling for very low complication rate.

Dimeric peroxiredoxins are druggable targets in human Burkitt lymphoma.

Burkitt lymphoma is a fast-growing tumor derived from germinal center B cells. It is mainly treated with aggressive chemotherapy, therefore novel therapeutic approaches are needed due to treatment toxicity and developing resistance. Disturbance of red-ox homeostasis has recently emerged as an efficient antitumor strategy. Peroxiredoxins (PRDXs) are thioredoxin-family antioxidant enzymes that scavenge cellular peroxides and contribute to red-ox homeostasis. PRDXs are robustly expressed in various malignancies and critically involved in cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. To elucidate potential role of PRDXs in lymphoma, we studied their expression level in B cell-derived primary lymphoma cells as well as in cell lines. We found that PRDX1 and PRDX2 are upregulated in tumor B cells as compared with normal counterparts. Concomitant knockdown of PRDX1 and PRDX2 significantly attenuated the growth rate of lymphoma cells. Furthermore, in human Burkitt lymphoma cell lines, we isolated dimeric 2-cysteine peroxiredoxins as targets for SK053, a novel thiol-specific small-molecule peptidomimetic with antitumor activity. We observed that treatment of lymphoma cells with SK053 triggers formation of covalent PRDX dimers, accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species, phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and AKT and leads to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Based on site-directed mutagenesis and modeling studies, we propose a mechanism of SK053-mediated PRDX crosslinking, involving double thioalkylation of active site cysteine residues. Altogether, our results suggest that peroxiredoxins are novel therapeutic targets in Burkitt lymphoma and provide the basis for new approaches to the treatment of this disease.