A decade of infliximab: The Austrian evidence based consensus on the safe use of infliximab in inflammatory bowel disease.

Infliximab (IFX) has tremendously enriched the therapy of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and other immune mediated diseases. Although the efficacy of IFX was undoubtedly proven during the last decade numerous publications have also caused various safety concerns. To summarize the immense information concerning adverse events and safety issues the Austrian Society of Gastroenterology and Hepatology launched this evidence based consensus on the safe use of IFX which covers the following topics: infusion reactions and immunogenicity, skin reactions, opportunistic infections (including tuberculosis), non-opportunistic infections (bacterial and viral), vaccination, neurological complications, hepatotoxicity, congestive heart failure, haematological side effects, intestinal strictures, stenosis and bowel obstruction (SSO), concomitant medication, malignancy and lymphoma, IFX in the elderly and the young, mortality, fertility, pregnancy and breast feeding. To make the vast amount of information practicable for routine application the consensus was finally condensed into a checklist for a safe use of IFX which consists of two parts: issues to be addressed prior to anti-TNF therapy and issues to be addressed during maintenance. Both parts are further divided into obligatory and facultative items.

Indice de captación de 99mTc-MIBI en el ventrículo derecho como marcador indirecto de isquemia en los estudios de perfusión miocárdica / Right ventricular uptake index of 99mTc-MIBI in myocardial perfusion studies

Se describe un nuevo método para cuantificar la captación relativa del ventrículo derecho en los estudios de perfusión miocárdica. Se demuestra que el índice de captación propuesto está en relación con el grado de isquemia miocárdica en el ventrículo izquierdo.

A new method for quantification of relative right ventricular uptake in myocardial perfusion Studies is described. A direct relationship between the proposed uptake index and the degree of left ventricular myocardial ischemia is demonstrated.

[Regional cerebral blood flow changes in Parkinson's disease: correlation with disease duration]. / Cambios de la perfusión cerebral en la enfermedad de Parkinson: relación con la duración de los síntomas.

INTRODUCTION: Changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) have been reported in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Nonetheless, their typical pattern still remains controversial regarding some features, such as basal ganglia involvement and the main cortical regions affected. Functional neuroimaging makes it possible to identify the brain dysfunctions of the neural circuits underlying the disease. Voxel-based analysis methods make it possible to increase the reliability of the results. OBJECTIVE: To assess the rCBF changes in patients with PD and their relation with disease duration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty PD adult patients without dementia underwent evaluation with (99m)Tc-ECD SPECT. SPM5 was used for statistical comparison with 25 normal controls of similar ages. The disease course duration in years was added as a covariate. Additionally, patients with a 6-year evolution or less and those with more than 6 years were compared separately with normal controls. RESULTS: Significant hypoperfusion was detected in bilateral premotor and posterior parietal cortex and increase of perfusion was present in the cerebellum. These changes correlated with the years of evolution of the illness. Patients with longer evolution also presented thalamic, subthalamic and basal ganglia hypoperfusion. CONCLUSIONS: We describe rCBF changes in PD in neural circuits related with control of movements. These changes are more manifest in patients with a longer duration of the disease.

Cambios de la perfusión cerebral en la enfermedad de Parkinson: relación con la duración de los síntomas / Regional cerebral blood flow changes in Parkinson's disease: correlation with disease duration

Introducción: En la enfermedad de Parkinson idiopática (EP) se han observado alteraciones del flujo sanguíneo cerebral regional (FSCr) cuyo patrón característico aún presenta aspectos controvertidos, como la existencia de alteraciones gangliobasales y las áreas corticales más afectadas. La neuroimagen funcional permite observar las disfunciones de circuitos neuronales existentes en estos pacientes. Los métodos de análisis estadístico basado en vóxeles permiten incrementar la validez de los resultados. Objetivo: Investigar los cambios de la perfusión cerebral existentes en pacientes con EP y su relación con la duración de los síntomas. Materiales y métodos: Treinta pacientes adultos con EP sin demencia fueron estudiados mediante SPECT cerebral con 99mTc-ECD. Se utilizó SPM5 para su comparación estadística con un grupo control de 25 sujetos sanos de edades similares. Se introdujo, como covariable en dicha comparación, el tiempo de evolución en años y se analizaron por separado los pacientes con 6 años o menos de evolución y aquellos con más de 6 años. Resultados: Se detectó hipoperfusión significativa en la corteza premotora y parietal posterior bilateral y aumento del flujo en el cerebelo. Estas alteraciones se correlacionaron con los años de evolución de la enfermedad. Los pacientes con evolución más prolongada presentaron además hipoperfusión talámica, subtalámica y gangliobasal. Conclusiones: Describimos alteraciones del FSCr en la EP que se relacionan con los circuitos implicados en el control del movimiento. Las mismas son más evidentes en los pacientes con evolución más prolongada de la enfermedad(AU)

Introduction: Changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) have been reported in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Nonetheless, their typical pattern still remains controversial regarding some features, such as basal ganglia involvement and the main cortical regions affected. Functional neuroimaging makes it possible to identify the brain dysfunctions of the neural circuits underlying the disease. Voxel-based analysis methods make it possible to increase the reliability of the results. Objective: To assess the rCBF changes in patients with PD and their relation with disease duration. Materials and methods: Thirty PD adult patients without dementia underwent evaluation with 99mTc-ECD SPECT. SPM5 was used for statistical comparison with 25 normal controls of similar ages. The disease course duration in years was added as a covariate. Additionally, patients with a 6-year evolution or less and those with more than 6 years were compared separately with normal controls. Results: Significant hypoperfusion was detected in bilateral premotor and posterior parietal cortex and increase of perfusion was present in the cerebellum. These changes correlated with the years of evolution of the illness. Patients with longer evolution also presented thalamic, subthalamic and basal ganglia hypoperfusion. Conclusions: We describe rCBF changes in PD in neural circuits related with control of movements. These changes are more manifest in patients with a longer duration of the disease(AU)

Effect on hearing of ganciclovir therapy for asymptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection: four to 10 year follow up.

BACKGROUND: Congenital cytomegalovirus infection is the leading identified nongenetic cause of congenital sensorineural hearing loss. Most of the infections are asymptomatic but may be detected from umbilical cord vein and/or newborn serum positivity for human cytomegalovirus immunoglobulin M, and from urine positivity (on polymerase chain reaction) for human cytomegalovirus deoxyribonucleic acid in the newborn period. Children infected by cytomegalovirus may later develop sensorineural hearing loss. In symptomatically infected infants, ganciclovir therapy administered in the neonatal period prevents hearing deterioration. However, preventative therapy of asymptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus disease with ganciclovir is controversial, as side effects such as severe neutropenia may occur during treatment. METHODS: The study population consisted of 23 asymptomatic children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection. Twelve children were treated just after diagnosis of cytomegalovirus infection in the newborn period, with ganciclovir 10 mg/kg bodyweight for 21 days. The other 11 children were observed without therapy. Over a four to 10 year follow-up period, we evaluated all the children's hearing status using pure tone audiometry. RESULTS: All 23 children had normal sensorineural hearing at one year follow up. Five of the 23 children (21.7 per cent) were lost to follow up over the four to 11 year follow-up period. Of the remaining 18 children, sensorineural hearing loss occurred in two (11.1 per cent). Neither child had been treated with ganciclovir in the newborn period. An eight-year-old boy showed bilateral high frequency loss and a 10-year-old girl showed severe unilateral sensorineural hearing loss. In the ganciclovir-treated group (nine children), none showed sensorineural hearing loss. During ganciclovir therapy, moderate neutropenia occurred as a side effect in two out of 12 (16.6 per cent) treated children. Speech and general development were normal in all children. CONCLUSION: Asymptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection is likely to be a leading cause of sensorineural hearing loss in young children. Intravenous ganciclovir therapy seems to offer a medical option to prevent subsequent sensorineural hearing loss. Further studies including a greater number of children are needed. Cytomegalovirus screening models are mandatory if medical therapy is to be implemented in time.

Prospective analysis of factors related to migraine attacks: the PAMINA study.

Migraine is related to numerous factors such as hormones, stress or nutrition, but information about their actual importance is limited. Therefore, we analysed prospectively a wide spectrum of factors related to headache in migraineurs. We examined 327 migraineurs recruited via newspapers who kept a comprehensive diary for 3 months. Statistical analysis comprising 28 325 patient days and 116 dichotomous variables was based on the interval between two successive headache attacks. We calculated univariate Cox regression analyses and included covariables with a P-value of <0.05 in two stepwise multivariate Cox regression analyses, the first accounting for a correlation of the event times within a subject, the second stratified by the number of headache-free intervals. We performed similar analyses for the occurrence of migraine attacks and for the persistence of headache and migraine. Menstruation had the most prominent effect, increasing the hazard of occurrence or persistence of headache and migraine by up to 96%. All other factors changed the hazard by <35%. The two days before menstruation and muscle tension in the neck, psychic tension, tiredness, noise and odours on days before headache onset increased the hazard of headache or migraine, whereas days off, a divorced marriage, relaxation after stress, and consumption of beer decreased the hazard. In addition, three meteorological factors increased and two others decreased the hazard. In conclusion, menstruation is most important in increasing the risk of occurrence and persistence of headache and migraine. Other factors increase the risk less markedly or decrease the risk.