Women with de novo PE have higher risks of liver impairment and delivery by cesarean section. On the other hand, women with superimposed PE have higher risks of poorer fetal outcome.
End-stage renal disease patients maintained on regular hemodialysis who have bilateral internal jugular vein obstruction and non-functioning arteriovenous fistula/graft is a daily scenario in nephrology practice. Our study showed that there is a variety of approaches for the insertion of cuffed hemodialysis catheters other than occluded internal jugular veins. Interventional nephrologists have a major role in solving the problem of poor hemodialysis vascular access. These alternative approaches can conserve the anatomically limited number of percutaneous access sites in each patient.
Objective: The primary objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of brucellosis and the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of local Brucellae isolates in the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Kuwait. Subjects and Methods: A single serum sample was collected from each of 1,836 patients of different nationalities from January 2000 to December 2001. Any patient with a provisional diagnosis of fever or brucellosis had a standard tube agglutination (STA) test for the quantitation of Brucella antibodies. Blood cultures were done in 166 of 455 patients with significant STA titers, using the Bactec system. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of 123 isolates of Brucella spp. was done against 8 antimicrobial agents. Results: A total of 455 serum samples (24.8%) having an STA titer of ≧1:160 were presumptively diagnosed as cases of brucellosis. The peak isolation was in April and May. Brucella spp. were isolated from 123 blood cultures (74.1%). The blood culture isolation rate was significantly higher in patients with an STA titer of ≧1:1,280 than in those with an STA titer of ≤1:160 (p < 0.05). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed good in vitro activity of tetracycline, gentamicin, amikacin, streptomycin and ciprofloxacin against all isolates. Azithromycin had good anti-Brucella activity against only 42% of the isolates, while rifampicin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole showed low in vitro anti-Brucella activity against 8 and 25% of the isolates, respectively. Conclusion: Brucellosis is quite common in Kuwait. Kuwaiti and Bangladeshi nationals were most affected. Significant titers on the STA test were detected in 24.8% of serum samples. Good in vitro activity against all isolates was found with tetracycline, gentamicin, amikacin, ciprofloxacin and streptomycin, and low activity with azithromycin, rifampicin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.
Males have higher incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than females. Sex hormones may be a risk factor. The aim was to determine the levels of sex hormones in male and female patients with HCC and cirrhosis versus controls and its possible relationship with HCC. This study was conducted on 90 subjects divided into 40 patients with HCC, 30 patients with liver cirrhosis and 20 apparently healthy subjects complete blood picture, liver function tests. Determination of AFP levels and hormonal assay of oestrogen, progesterone, total testosterone, prolactin, FSH and LH were performed on all subjects. Total testosterone levels were significantly decreased in the two patients groups compared with controls. While oestrogen levels were significantly decreased in the HCC group in comparison with other two groups, prolactin levels were significantly decreased in the HCC group compared with the liver cirrhosis group and increased in the liver cirrhosis group when compared to controls. FSH and LH levels were significantly increased in the HCC group when compared to controls. There is no significant correlation between sex hormones assay and both the size of HCC and degree of cirrhosis in both patient groups. It is concluded that there is no strong relation between sex hormones and HCC when the study was carried out on the levels of sex hormones in patients with HCC.
Earlier splenectomy in patients with ITP may have a beneficial impact on obstetric outcome and should be explained to patients wishing to get pregnant. Further larger multicenter studies are warranted to confirm or refute our findings.
Second trimester MPV and serum uric acid alone or in combination could be used as a useful biochemical markers for prediction of PE based on their validity, simplicity, and availability.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.