Health-Related Quality of Life, Pain and Sleep in Patients with HIV Depending on the Clinical Situation: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study.

Introduction: Health-related quality of life (HRQL), pain and sleep have been described as relevant traits in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The aim of this study is to describe and evaluate HRQL, pain and sleep and their interdependence in HIV-positive patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study on HIV-infected patients was conducted. A set of five different questionnaires was used: two questionnaires addressing HRQL (Short Form 36 [SF-36] Health Survey and Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 30 [MOS-SF 30]), one on pain (McGill Pain Questionnaire) and one on sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]). We also collected the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients. Results: The sample included 109 patients (age: 46.08 ± 10.49 years; 68.8% male). The pain experience was independent of HRQL and sleep. Relationships among HRQL, pain and sleep associated to sociodemographic and clinical factors were not detected (p > 0.05). Patients with CDC category A showed moderate to high correlations among HRQL, pain and sleep. In CDC B-type patients, a moderate correlation was observed between pain and mental health. In CDC C patients, moderate correlations were observed between HRQL and sleep and pain and sleep, with no correlations between HRQL and pain. Conclusions: HRQL, pain and sleep are differently correlated in HIV patients depending on their clinical stage. Neither the nadir of CD4-T cells nor the current count of CD4-T cells was found to be related with HRQL, pain or sleep.

Real-life experience of hepatitis C treatment in a Spanish prison / Tratamiento de la hepatitis C en un centro penitenciario Español

Background. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a majorpublic health problem that causes multiple comorbidities. People in prisons who inject intravenous drugs are at increasedrisk of HCV infection, and HCV infection is 15-fold more prevalent among prisoners compared with the community. Theobjective of this study was to analyse the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of residents of a Spanish prison withHCV infection who received antiviral treatment.Material and methods. An observational, descriptiveand retrospective study was performed. All patients with HCVinfection diagnosed or followed up in an Infectious Diseasesattached to a penitentiary were included in this study.Results. Of 81 patients analysed, sixty-nine (83.1%) patients were male. The mean age was 50.1 (SD8.8) years, and 70%of the inmates had a history of injection drug use. Coinfectionwith HIV was detected in 30%. In up to 25% of the sample, therewere data on chronic liver disease in the degree of liver cirrhosis. The diagnosis of HCV infection had been made more than15 years earlier in 28% of those studied. Decompensations fromliver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, or hospital admissionswere exceptional. Most of the inmates with HCV accepted treatment, and approximately 94% of the patients who completedtreatment achieved a sustained virological response without interactions or complications of interest.Conclusions. The availability of direct-acting antiviralsand their exceptional side effects constitute an opportunity toreduce the burden of HCV infection in Spain, particularly inthese high-risk populations. (AU)

Introducción. La infección por el virus de la hepatitis C(VHC) es un importante problema de salud pública con unagran morbimortalidad. El consumo de drogas inyectables es laprincipal vía de transmisión, siendo la infección por VHC 15veces más prevalente en las cárceles españolas respecto a lacomunidad. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar las características clínico-epidemiológicas de los residentes de un centro penitenciario con VHC que recibieron tratamiento.Material y métodos. Estudio observacional, descriptivoy retrospectivo. Se incluyeron en este estudio todos los pacientes con infección por VHC diagnosticados o seguidos enuna Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas adscrito a un centropenitenciario.Resultados. De 81 pacientes analizados, sesenta y nueve(83,1%) pacientes eran varones. La edad media fue de 50,1 (DE8,8) años y el 70% de los internos tenía antecedentes de consumo de drogas inyectables. Se detectó coinfección por VIH en30%. En un 25% presentaban enfermedad hepática en gradode cirrosis. En el 28% de los internos el diagnóstico de VHC sehabía realizado hacia más de 15 años. Las descompensacionespor enfermedad hepática, carcinoma hepatocelular o ingresohospitalario fueron excepcionales. El 94% de los pacientes quecompletaron el tratamiento lograron una respuesta virológicasostenida sin interacciones ni complicaciones de interés.Conclusiones. La disponibilidad de antivirales de accióndirecta y sus excepcionales efectos secundarios constituyenuna oportunidad para reducir la carga de infección por VHCen España, especialmente en estas poblaciones de alto riesgo (AU)

Management of cystic echinococcosis in the last two decades: what have we learned?

Background: Management options for cystic echinococcosis (CE) remain a serious problem. The main aim of this study was to examine the selection and complications of treatment applied in patients with CE. The second aim was to evaluate the mortality rate and causative factors. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study of patients diagnosed with CE between 1998 and 2015 was conducted, according to ICD-9 (code 122·0 to 122·9) criteria in the Complejo Asistencial Universitario of Salamanca, Spain. Results: Four-hundred-ninety-one (491) patients were diagnosed with CE disease and the treatment applied in these patients were: 166 (33.8%) patients received only surgery, 176 (35.8%) surgery and drugs, 17 (3.5%) drugs alone, in 131 (26.7%) patients the strategy was 'watch and wait', and only one patient (0.2%) was applied puncture-aspiration-injection-respiration (PAIR). Thus, a total of 342 patients received surgery, either alone (166) or combined with drugs (176), and a total of 193 (39.4%) patients were medically treated, either alone (17) or combined with surgery (176); 123 (63.7%) patients used albendazole alone; and 70 (36.3%) patients used a combination of albendazole and praziquantel. Sixty-five patients (19.0%) had complications after surgery and seven of them (2%) died. Only 15 (7.8%) cases had side effects from anthelmintics. Throughout the study period, 80 (16.3%) patients died, 14 (2.9%) of them due to CE disease. Conclusions: Complications of CE are one of the most common causes of mortality in CE patients, with size, location, and number of cysts, and the 'watch and wait' treatment strategy being the main factors associated with mortality.

CYP3A4 polymorphism and lopinavir toxicity in an HIV-infected pregnant woman.

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 has been considered to be the most important enzyme system for metabolism of lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r), a widely used HIV protease inhibitor (PI) recommended during pregnancy. Herein we present a clinical case of a pregnant HIV-infected woman who was taking standard doses of LPV/r, 400/100 mg twice daily. The trough plasma concentrations for LPV were fourfold above that recommended for PI-pretreated patients and toxicity associated with LPV/r and PI regimens was observed. These high concentrations continued after delivery in spite of a dosage reduction. The pharmacogenetic analysis revealed a genetic polymorphism in the CYP3A4 gene that encodes a non-functional protein. The pharmacokinetic study could indicate the occurrence of a phenomenon of non-linear pharmacokinetics which would justify why dosage reduction after pregnancy did not proportionally affect the patient's degree of exposure to the drug. In addition, an increment in CYP3A activity during pregnancy could explain lower LPV/r exposure during this period compared to postpartum, despite the impaired activity of CYP3A4 caused by the polymorphism.

Impact of a pharmaceutical care program on clinical evolution and antiretroviral treatment adherence: a 5-year study.

BACKGROUND: Antiretroviral treatments (ART) form the basis of adequate clinical control in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients, and adherence plays a primary role in the grade and duration of the antiviral response. The objectives of this study are: (1) to determine the impact of the implementation of a pharmaceutical care program on improvement of ART adherence and on the immunovirological response of the patients; and (2) to detect possible correlations between different adherence evaluation measurements. METHODS: A 60-month long retrospective study was conducted. Adherence measures used were: therapeutic drug monitoring, a simplified medication adherence questionnaire, and antiretroviral dispensation records (DR). The number of interviews and interventions related to adherence made for each patient in yearly periods was related to the changes in the adherence variable (measured with DR) in these same yearly periods. The dates when the laboratory tests were drawn were grouped according to proximity with the study assessment periods (February-May, 2005-2010). RESULTS: A total of 528 patients were included in the study. A significant relationship was observed between the simplified medication adherence questionnaire and DR over the 60-month study period (P < 0.01). Improvement was observed in the mean adherence level (P < 0.001), and there was a considerable decrease in the percentage of patients with CD4+ lymphocytes less than 200 cells/mm(3) (P < 0.001). A relationship was found between the number of patients with optimum adherence levels and the time that plasma viral load remained undetected. The number of interviews and interventions performed in each patient in the first 12 months from the onset of the pharmaceutical care program (month 6), was related to a significant increase in adherence during this same time period. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the establishment and permanence of a pharmaceutical care program may increase ART adherence, increase permanence time of the patient with undetectable plasma viral loads, and improve patients' lymphocyte count.

Fever of unknown origin as the first manifestation of colonic pathology.

Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is an entity caused by more than 200 diseases. Haematologic neoplasms are the most common malignant cause of FUO. Fever as a first symptom of colonic tumour pathology, both benign and malignant, is a rare form of presentation. Our work is a descriptive study of a series of 23 patients with colonic tumoral pathology who presented with fever of unknown origin. The mean age was 67.6 years; 56.5% of patients were men and 43.5% were women. Primary malignant neoplasia was the most common diagnosis. Blood cultures were positive in 45% of the samples. Coagulase-negative staphylococci were the most common cause of bacteraemia. Nine of 10 faecal occult blood tests performed were positive. Fever secondary to colon neoplasms, both benign and malignant, usually presents with a bacteraemic pattern, with positive results for blood-culture tests in a high percentage of cases.

Spontaneous pneumothorax in Wegener's granulomatosis: case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary manifestations of Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) are present in 45% of cases at the onset of the disease, and they reach 85% of the patients during its evolution. Pulmonary affection usually starts with unspecific symptoms such as cough, dyspnea, hemoptysis, and pleuritis. Pulmonary nodules are 1 of the most common manifestations. The prevalence of pleural affection is 10 to 20%. However, spontaneous pneumothorax is extremely rare. Although its real incidence is unknown, according to different classic series, it ranges between 3 and 5% of the cases. OBJECTIVE: To present a new case of spontaneous pneumothorax in a patient suffering WG and a brief review on this subject. METHODS: We report our experience in a case of spontaneous pneumothorax due to WG. We also review the literature through a PubMed search between 1960 and 2010, using a broad range of keywords related to WG and spontaneous pneumothorax. Publications were evaluated for the demographic features of patients, manifestations of the disease, and outcome. RESULTS: Despite the large prevalence of the respiratory involvement, spontaneous pneumothorax is extremely rare, with only 21 cases reported in the literature. CONCLUSION: Pneumothorax is a rare complication in WG cases, without a clear pathogenic mechanism involved.

Long-term efficacy and safety of efavirenz dose reduction to 200 mg once daily in a Caucasian patient with HIV.

A 48-year-old Caucasian male patient presented with severe adverse drug events (ADEs) while being treated with a standard dose (600 mg/day) of efavirenz. The patient's clinical course was favourable; however, he also described intense nightmares, cramps in his legs and anxiety disturbances that made him highly irritable. Measurement of the patient's efavirenz plasma concentrations revealed a mean minimum steady-state concentration during a dosage interval (C(min,ss)) of 12.7 mg/L, which was much higher than that recommended for this drug (therapeutic range 1-4 mg/L). Consequently, the dose of efavirenz was reduced to 400 mg/day, which resulted in a decrease in the frequency of ADEs. Subsequent genotype testing showed that the patient was homozygous for both the CYP2B6-G516T (T/T) and CYP2B6-A785G (G/G) alleles; these polymorphisms are associated with reduced enzymatic activity and elevated efavirenz plasma concentrations. Because of this and the fact that the patient's mean efavirenz C(min,ss) was still high (4.6 mg/L), a second dosage reduction was undertaken, to 200 mg/day. This also resulted in a reduction in ADEs. At present, the patient's CD4+ levels remain stable, his viral load continues to be undetectable and the mean efavirenz C(min,ss) is within the therapeutic range (2.7 mg/L).

Pancreatitis aguda e ictericia obstructiva secundaria a metástasis de cáncer de pulmón / Acute pancreatitis and obstructive jaundice secondary to metastases from lung cancer

El cáncer de pulmón es una de las neoplasias más frecuentes. La clínica se debe al propio tumor, a su extensión o a los síndromes paraneoplásicos asociados. A pesar de que las metástasis de localización biliopancreática son frecuentes, la afectación en esta región como inicio de una neoplasia pulmonar, tanto en la forma de pancreatitis como en la de ictericia obstructiva, es rara. Exponemos nuestra experiencia clínica mediante la presentación de 2 casos de pancreatitis aguda y uno de ictericia obstructiva como forma de inicio de una neoplasia pulmonar avanzada junto con una breve revisión bibliográfica, que confirma la ausencia de protocolos de actuación en esta situación (AU)

Lung cancer is one of the most frequent neoplasms. The symptoms are due to the cancer itself, its extension, and associated paraneoplastic syndromes. Although biliopancreatic metastases are common, biliopancreatic involvement as the initial symptom of lung cancer—whether as pancreatitis or obstructive jaundice—is rare. We describe our clinical experience, reporting two patients with acute pancreatitis and one patient with obstructive jaundice as the clinical presentation of advanced lung cancer. We also provide a brief review that highlights the absence of guidelines in this situation (AU)

[Acute pancreatitis and obstructive jaundice secondary to metastases from lung cancer]. / Pancreatitis aguda e ictericia obstructiva secundaria a metástasis de cáncer de pulmón.

Lung cancer is one of the most frequent neoplasms. The symptoms are due to the cancer itself, its extension, and associated paraneoplastic syndromes. Although biliopancreatic metastases are common, biliopancreatic involvement as the initial symptom of lung cancer--whether as pancreatitis or obstructive jaundice--is rare. We describe our clinical experience, reporting two patients with acute pancreatitis and one patient with obstructive jaundice as the clinical presentation of advanced lung cancer. We also provide a brief review that highlights the absence of guidelines in this situation.