After a standard dose of IVIg treatment, GBS patients show a large variation in pharmacokinetics, which is related to clinical outcome. This may indicate that patients with a small increase in serum IgG level may benefit from a higher dosage or second course of IVIg.

The results of this study showed that the SCORMA Index is a useful tool for evaluating the severity of cutaneous mastocytosis. The correlation between the SCORMA Index and serum tryptase levels underlines the benefit of the SCORMA Index as a clinical tool. Repeated SCORMA Index measurements can provide a rapid impression of changes in the clinical state of mastocytosis. This is particularly relevant in children, because taking blood samples from this group is much more difficult. The well-established methods for evaluation of disease severity may be expanded by the rapid SCORMA Index method.

The clinical effects of topical negative pressure therapy (TNP) on wound healing are well described in numerous articles. While the mechanism(s) of action are not completely understood, it is postulated that reduction of local and interstitial tissue edema, increased perfusion of the (peri-) wound area, changed bacterial composition, and mechanical stimulation of the woundbed contribute to the clinical success. Our hypothesis is that with the removal of excessive fluid, proteolytic enzymes negatively influencing the healing process are removed. Our aim was to assess whether the concentrations of albumin, matrixmetalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP-1) were different between wounds treated with TNP and conventional gauze therapy. We analyzed wound fluid samples of 33 wounds treated with either TNP therapy (n=15) or conventional therapy (n=18) on albumin, pro- and activated MMP-9, TIMP-1, and the ratio of total MMP-9/TIMP-1. Albumin levels were found to increase significantly in acute wounds compared with chronic wounds; however, no difference could be found on comparing TNP with conventional therapy. We did find significantly lower levels of pro-MMP-9 and lower total MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio in TNP-treated wounds during the follow-up of 10 days. These data strongly suggest that TNP therapy influences the microenvironment of the wound.

Measurement of Aspergillus-specific IgG is central to the diagnosis of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA), but manufacturers' guidance on test interpretation is based on unpublished data. We performed the first receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) analysis to identify optimal cut-offs for this test in relation to European controls. Aspergillus-specific IgG levels were measured in sera from British adults with CPA and European healthy controls by ImmunoCAP, Immulite, Serion and Bio-Rad assays. ROC AUC analysis was performed to identify optimal cut-offs. ROC AUC results were; Bio-Rad 0.955, Immulite 0.948, ImmunoCAP 0.956 and Serion 0.944. Optimal diagnostic cut-offs were 1.5 AU/mL for Bio-Rad (93% sensitive, 98% specific), 25 mg/L for Immulite (93% sensitive, 99% specific), 50 mg/L for ImmunoCAP (84% sensitive, 96% specific) and 50 U/mL for Serion (84% sensitive, 91% specific). These cut-offs differ from manufacturers' guidance and from those previously calculated in relation to Ugandan controls.

Both immunochemical FOBTs appear valuable and are sensitive tests for CRC screening. TuM2-PK does not have supplemental value for screening for CRC because of a lower sensitivity and specificity. None of these tests is sensitive enough for detection of advanced adenomas. Patients with inflammatory bowel disease should be excluded from CRC screening when using immunochemical FOBT or TuM2-PK.