Coronary-artery calcification is common and progressive in young adults with end-stage renal disease who are undergoing dialysis.

Incobotulinum provided non-inferior efficacy and safety for the treatment of periocular rhytides and masseteric hypertrophy compared with classic onabotulinum.

The aim of the present study was to deliver a high internal radiation dose to small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lesions in an attempt to treat this disease. A total of 18 patients with HCC lesions measuring less than 4.5 cm in diameter (25 lesions) were treated with superselective intra-arterial injection of I-131-labeled Lipiodol (370-1,100 MBq in 3-5 ml) using a 5-F or coaxial catheter. All the lesions were nodular, multinodular, or hypervascular on pretreatment angiography. In all, 15 lesions that received over 180 Gy of cumulative radiation decreased in size in proportion to the Lipiodol retention on CT, and no pericapsular recurrence was found on angiography after 14-54 months of follow-up. In five patients who subsequently underwent surgery, 65% to 100% tumor necrosis was detected. No abnormal change in liver function tests or untoward clinical symptom of the lung, thyroid, or bone marrow was detected in patients who survived for more than 3 years after the treatment. Superselective high-dose internal radiation therapy of small HCC offers hope of treatment and long-term local control without complications.

A retrospective medical record review was performed to study the differences in clinical risk profiles and the relationships between test results versus management for suspected pulmonary thromboembolism (TE) in patients undergoing either radionuclide ventilation perfusion (V/Q) scans or pulmonary computed tomographic angiography (CTA), as the initial test. Data of 138 consecutive V/Q patients were compared with that of 149 consecutive CTA patients during equivalent 6-month intervals before and after the introduction of CTA. Information on risk factors, signs and symptoms, all diagnostic test results, and the relationships between the test results and ultimate physician management were collected and analyzed. V/Q results predicted physician management in all patients with high probability scans and 91% with normal to low probability scans. There were 35 patients with indeterminate V/Q scans--43% of these patients were managed without any other diagnostic test. CTA results predicted management in all patients with positive studies and 99% of patients with negative studies. In contrast to the V/Q cohort, only seven CTA studies were inconclusive--additional diagnostic tests determined management in all but one case. Compared with V/Q, CTA has fewer indeterminate results, is more directly reflective of management, and reduces the number of patients managed with inconclusive data.

No statistically significant difference was found between the two techniques in the mean time to thrombolysis, the mean urokinase dose used, or the 60-day patency rate.