Effectiveness of chemotherapy in advanced differentiated thyroid cancer: a systematic review.

In differentiated thyroid carcinoma refractory to radioactive iodine (CDT-RTI), chemotherapy has been considered for decades to be the only systemic therapy with palliative purpose. Phase II studies assessing the efficacy of different chemotherapy outlines have been published. Nevertheless, phase III studies in these tumours have not been performed. Our objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of chemotherapy in patients with CDT-RTI by a systematic review of published studies. Systematic research of the literature in Medline and Embase databases (among others) was carried out. The full texts of selected references were analysed by two independent reviewers and then assessed for risk of bias in each study. We also extracted data using specifically designed questionnaires. Later, a qualitative synthesis of results was performed and pooled data were calculated. We found that 16 studies with 473 patients published in the last 40 years were included out of 509 identified references in databases. Thirteen studies (176 patients) included data on response to treatment and histology. Four studies included 70 patients only with well-differentiated non-medullary tumours. Response rate (RR) was 22.1% (0-57%) for 13 studies, 25% for the 176 patients and 27.1% for the 70 patients, with 2.5, 3.4 and 2.8% complete responses respectively. Survival times could not be assessed or pooled due to the lack of data and heterogeneity of the studies, and was determined to have a high risk of bias. Although it has not been possible to find solid evidence about the efficacy of chemotherapy, the results shown indicate that it may have some effectiveness, although this should be proven with well-designed studies using modern drugs.

[Quality of life after brachytherapy or robot-assisted radical prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer]. / Evaluación de la calidad de vida de la braquiterapia vs prostatectomia robotizada en pacientes con carcinoma prostático localizado. Revisión sistemática.

OBJECTIVES: To perform a systematic bibliographic review of the literature assessing the quality of life and complications of robotic prostatectomy (RP) versus low-dose rate brachytherapy (LDR-BT) in patients with localized prostate cancer (PCa). PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, Emergency Care Research Institute, Web of Knowledge, Technology Evaluation Center, Clinical Evidence, Uptodate, Hayes and Drug Effectiveness Review Project. Systematic reviews and prospective studies comparing RP to LDR-BT in men with localized PCa were included. The primary outcome was quality of life and the secondary endpoint complications rate. RESULTS: Three systematic reviews and four prospective studies were included. RP showed better results than LDR-BT for SF-12-physical domain (p<0.01) and faster recovery to pre-operative scores. LDR-BT improved scores for UCLAPCI questionnaire-urinary and sexual domains compared to RP during the first three years of follow-up (p<0.001). First postoperative year urinary incontinence rate was favorable for LDR-BT (88.0% vs 84.5%, p<0.001). No differences for intestinal function scores for the first three post-intervention years (p = 0.02) were found. Major complications of LDR-BT were gastrointestinal and genitourinary toxicity, although pooled weighted events rate of the studies was not analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: LDR-BT improves quality of life in terms of urinary and sexual function in patients with localized PCa vs RP during the first three years post-intervention.

Candidiasis (vulvovaginal).

INTRODUCTION: Vulvovaginal candidiasis is estimated to be the second most common cause of vaginitis after bacterial vaginosis. Candida albicans accounts for 85% to 90% of cases. METHODS AND OUTCOMES: We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of drug treatments for acute vulvovaginal candidiasis in non-pregnant symptomatic women? What are the effects of alternative or complementary treatments for acute vulvovaginal candidiasis in non-pregnant symptomatic women? What are the effects of treating asymptomatic non-pregnant women with a positive swab for candidiasis? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to October 2013 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). RESULTS: We found 23 studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions. CONCLUSIONS: In this systematic review, we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: alternative or complementary treatments; douching; drug treatments; garlic; intravaginal preparations (nystatin, imidazoles, tea tree oil); oral fluconazole; oral itraconazole; and yoghurt containing Lactobacillus acidophilus (oral or intravaginal).

Guía de práctica clínica de atención en el embarazo y puerperio / Clinical practice guide for pregnancy and puerperal care

El objetivo de esta guía es establecer un conjunto de recomendaciones basadas en la evidencia científica de mayor calidad disponible para mejorar la salud de las mujeres embarazadas y puérperas, así como la salud de los y las recién nacidos.

Guía para el uso apropiado de artroplastia de rodilla en pacientes con artrosis en el SSPA: documento completo / Guide for the appropriate use of knee arthroplasty in patients with osteoarthritis in the SSPA: full document

La guía tiene por objetivo ofrecer a los profesionales implicados en el manejo de la artroplastia de rodilla un conjunto de recomendaciones basadas en la mejor evidencia científica disponible, como herramienta de ayuda a la toma de decisiones, con el fin último de optimizar los resultados en salud, disminuir la variabilidad de la práctica clínica y maximizar la eficiencia. Como objetivos específicos se formulan los siguientes: valorar la efectividad de la artroplastia de rodilla para disminuir el dolor, la rigidez y la limitación funcional de los pacientes con artrosis en dicha articulación, así como para mejorar su calidad de vida; valorar la seguridad de la artroplastia de rodilla -en términos de complicaciones incluyendo mortalidad- en pacientes con artrosis; determinar las características de los pacientes con artrosis de rodilla, en los que la artroplastia de rodilla ha resultado efectiva en la disminución del dolor y complicaciones, así como en la mejora de la rigidez, limitación funcional y calidad de vida.