Análise da qualidade de vida em pacientes pediátricos com alergia alimentar / Quality of life assessment in pediatric patients with food allergy

Introdução: A alergia alimentar pode afetar o bem-estar dos pacientes e de seus familiares. Esse trabalho busca, por meio de questionário validado, investigar a qualidade de vida desses pacientes, acompanhados em um centro de tratamento multidisciplinar. Métodos: Pacientes entre 0 e 18 anos, monitorados no Ambulatório de Alergia Alimentar do Hospital Infantil João Paulo II entre 2012 e 2017, foram selecionados para responder a um questionário de avaliação de qualidade de vida com coleta de informações acerca do tipo de alergia, sua apresentação clínica, presença de dermatite atópica, prescrição ou não de kit de Adrenalina®, tempo de acompanhamento no serviço e tempo de acompanhamento por nutricionista. Resultados: Foram incluídos 77 pacientes, com idade média de 3,38 anos, em sua maioria revelando qualidade de vida regular (43%) e com acompanhamento no Serviço inferior a seis meses (52%). Daqueles acompanhados por nutricionista, 52,4% o faziam há menos de seis meses. Alergia IgE mediada foi identificada em 51% dos sujeitos da pesquisa, com 66,66% dos mesmos sob prescrição de kit de Adrenalina®. Não houve associação estatisticamente significativa entre qualidade de vida e as variáveis analisadas. Conclusão: O questionário de qualidade de vida é um importante instrumento de avaliação de pacientes com alergia alimentar, permitindo traçar o perfil dos mesmos e atuar individualmente nos quesitos que impactam negativamente o seu dia a dia.

Background: Food allergy can affect the well-being of patients and their families. Objective: To investigate the quality of life of patients with food allergy followed up at a multidisciplinary treatment center using a validated questionnaire. Methods: Patients aged 0 to 18 years followed up at the Food Allergy Outpatient Clinic of João Paulo II Pediatric Hospital between 2012 and 2017 were invited to answer a quality-of-life assessment questionnaire for information on type of allergy, clinical presentation, presence of atopic dermatitis, prescription of an epinephrine kit, duration of follow-up at the clinic, and duration of follow-up with a dietitian. Results: A total of 77 patients were included, with a mean age of 3.38 years. Most participants rated their quality of life as fair (43%) and had less than 6 months of outpatient follow-up (52%). From those meeting with a dietitian, 52.4% had less than 6 months of follow-up. Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergy was identified in 51% of participants, and 66.66% of them required an epinephrine kit. There was no statistically significant association between quality of life and the study variables. Conclusion: A quality-of-life assessment questionnaire is an important tool for evaluating patients with food allergy, allowing us to profile these patients and to act individually on issues that might negatively impact their daily lives.

Ceramic bone graft substitute vs autograft in XLIF: a prospective randomized single-center evaluation of radiographic and clinical outcomes.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The objective of this prospective, parallel, randomized, single-center study is to evaluate the clinical success of a commercial ceramic bone graft substitute (CBGS) for autograft in eXtreme Lateral Interbody Fusion (XLIF) procedures. Please confirm if the author names are presented accurately and in the correct sequence (given name, middle name/initial, family name). Author 1 Given name: [Cristiano Magalhães], Last name [Menezes]. Author 2 Given name: [Gabriel Carvalho], Last name [Lacerda]. Author 5 Given name: [Erica Godinho], Last name [Menezes]. Also, kindly confirm the details in the metadata are correct.yes METHODS: Forty-five adult subjects were consecutively enrolled and randomized into a single-level XLIF procedure using either CBGS or iliac crest bone graft autograft (30 and 15 subjects, respectively). The primary outcome was fusion rate at 12, 18, and 24 months. Secondary outcomes were pain and disability measured by HRQOL questionnaires. Kindly check and confirm whether the corresponding author and his corresponding affiliations is correctly identified.yes RESULTS: The fusion rates for both CBGS and autograft groups at the 24-month follow-up were 96.4% and 100%, respectively. For the CBGS group, mean ODI, mean back pain, and mean worst leg pain significantly improved at the 24-month follow-up by 76.7% (39.9-9.3), 77.6% (7.3-1.6), and 81.3% (5.1-1.0), respectively. For the autograft group, mean ODI, mean back pain, and mean worst leg pain significantly improved during the same time period by 77.1% (35.9-8.2), 75.6% (6.1-1.5), and 86.0% (6.6-0.9), respectively (all time points between groups, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this prospective, randomized study support the use of CBGS as a standalone bone graft substitute for autograft in single-level XLIF surgery. The clinical performance and safety outcomes reported here are consistent with published evidence on CBGS. Improvements in patient-reported back pain, leg pain, and disability outcomes were comparable between the CBGS and autograft groups.

When to Consider Stand-Alone Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion: Is There a Role for a Comeback With New Implants?

OBJECTIVE: To perform a comprehensive review of the literature about the role of stand-alone lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF). METHODS: A MEDLINE review was conducted including studies about stand-alone LLIF for any condition. The opinions of the authors were also considered. Studies that included biomechanical, cadaveric, or clinical aspects of stand-alone cages were revised to obtain data about the pros, cons, and limitations of the technique. Comparative studies with 360° (lateral + posterior) fusions were also analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 36 studies were identified. After reviewing the abstracts, 18 full articles of interest for the objective of this review were analyzed. Recommendations based on the literature were made. Although most of the recommendations in the literature were about augmentation with pedicle screws, there may be a role for stand-alone LLIF in some particular cases. Specific technical aspects should be considered to reduce the failure rate. CONCLUSION: Although there might be some specific indications for stand-alone LLIF, it should be considered an exception rather than the rule.

Strategies for serum chemokine/cytokine assessment as biomarkers of therapeutic response in HCV patients as a prototype to monitor immunotherapy of infectious diseases.

In this study, strategies for serum biomarker assessment were developed for therapeutic monitoring of HCV patients. For this purpose, serum chemokine/cytokine levels were measured by cytometric-bead-array in HCV patients, categorized according to immunotherapy response as: non-responder/NR, relapser/REL and sustained-virologic-responder/SVR. The results demonstrated an overall increase of serum chemokine/cytokine levels in HCV patients. In general, therapeutic failure was associated with presence of a predominant baseline proinflammatory pattern with enhanced CCL5/RANTES, IFN-α, IFN-γ along with decreased IL-10 levels in NR and increased IL-6 and TNF in REL. SVR displayed lower baseline proinflammatory status with decreased CXCL8/IL-8, IL-12 and IL-17 levels. The inability to uphold IFN-α levels during immunotherapy was characteristic of NR. Serum chemokine/cytokine signatures further support the deleterious effect of proinflammatory baseline status and the critical role of increased/persistent IFN-α levels to guarantee the sustained virologic response. The prominent baseline proinflammatory milieu observed in NR and REL yielded a restricted biomarker network with small number of neighborhood connections, whereas SVR displayed a network with integrated cytokine connectivity. Noteworthy was that SVR presented a shift towards a proinflammatory pattern upon immunotherapy, assuming a pattern similar to that observed in NR and REL at baseline. Moreover, the immunotherapy guided REL towards a profile similar to SVR at baseline. Analysis of baseline-fold changes during treatment pointed out IFN-α and TNF as high-performance biomarkers to monitor immunotherapy outcome. This knowledge may contribute for novel insights into the treatment and control of the continuous public health threat posed by HCV infection worldwide.

Therapeutic management of recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation.

Recurrent hepatitis C ranges from minimal damage to cirrhosis developing in a few months or years in a substantial proportion of transplant recipients. Different virus, host and donor factors are involved in the pathogenesis of recurrence, but many are poorly understood. Therapeutic strategies can be utilized in the pre-, peri- or posttransplantation setting. Antiviral therapy using interferon and ribavirin and modifying immunosuppression are the main strategies to prevent progression disease. The efficacy of interferon and ribavirin is limited and side effects, reduction/withdrawal are frequent. Current sustained virological response rates are approximately 28%. An optimal immunosuppression regimen has not been established. The choice of calcineurin inhibitors has not clearly been shown to affect histological hepatitis C virus (HCV) but higher cumulative exposure to corticosteroids to treat acute rejection is associated with more severe recurrence. The manner in which the doses of immunosuppression are modified has more influence on HCV recurrence than the use of a specific drug per se. Debate about the influence of immunosuppressive regimens on HCV recurrence is ongoing. Potential antifibrotic therapy and new agents targeting HCV infection and replication are emerging and are anticipated to be added to our armentarium in battling recurrent HCV post-LT.