[Standardization of invasive neuromodulatory procedures]. / Standardisierung invasiver neuromodulativer Verfahren. Leitlinie der Stufe I der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften (AWMF-Expertenempfehlung).

The Working Group on Neuromodulation of the German Association for the Study of Pain, composed of representatives from various scientific specialty societies, met on December 9, 2000, March 24, 2001, October 5, 2001, and December 8, 2001. As a result of these discussions grounded in current knowledge, the following guidelines were formulated for the standardization of invasive techniques of neuromodulation intended to serve as a systematic aid in decision-making and to provide recommendations for practice-oriented methods. The guidelines were based on both the clinical and practical experience of the group participants (see information box on the next page) as well as on the current scientific literature and guidance from the consensus report of the European Federation of IASP Chapters (EFIC) [23]. The guidelines serve the purpose of orientation and have no effect on either assumption of liability or discharge from liability. The guidelines were conceived for use by physicians in private practice,doctors in hospitals,and nonmedical personnel concerned with the care of chronic pain patients. The Working Group consists of unsalaried volunteers. The participants received no honorarium and were only reimbursed for normal travel expenses in accordance with customary directives. The guidelines will be revised should new scientific results become available, at the latest in 2 years. The plan exists to further develop the guidelines to stages II and III (AWMF). The Steering Committee of the DGSS appraised the guidelines and authorized the guidelines before publication.

[Treatment of alcoholic toxic fatty liver. A placebo-controlled trial with hepavis (author's transl)]. / Therapie der alkohol-toxischen Fettleber. Plazebo-kontrollierte Doppelblindstudie mit Hepavis.

A placebo-controlled double-blind study of 30 patients with advanced chronic fatty liver was intended to show how far treatment with a liver preparation, in this case Hepavis, is superior to alcohol abstinence alone. Examination of the laboratory parameters, especially of gamma GT shows that treatment with Hepavis with simultaneous withdrawal of alcohol produces a rapid normalization or improvement of the laboratory findings and consequently an accelerated improvement in the course of the disease. This leads to the conclusion that the pathological activity of the liver cell is reduced more quickly by the constituents of Hepavis than without suitable therapy, and that a more favorable prognosis for the fatty liver as a potential precurser of cirrhosis is to be attained. Not only is elimination of the lipogenic factor, alcohol, essential in the treatment of fatty liver, but also treatment with hepatotropic substances.