*Splenectomy is a time-honoured well established approach for patients with steroid-resistant immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). However, due to the more recent availability of therapeutic options alternative to splenectomy, such as rituximab and agonists of the thrombopoietin-receptor, the choice of second-line therapy is challenging. Platelet kinetics has been widely used to predict response to splenectomy. We describe the outcome of 70 chronic ITP patients who performed a platelet kinetic study after failure of frontline corticosteroids and subsequently underwent open splenectomy. After a median follow-up from surgery of 20 years, 62 (88.5%) patients responded to splenectomy and 9 patients (13%) relapsed. Achieving a complete response (CR) significantly predicted a higher probability long-term stable response. The pattern of platelet sequestration was predominantly splenic in 52 patients (74%), predominantly hepatic in 12 patients (17%), and diffuse in 6 (9%). Patients with nonsplenic (diffuse and hepatic) sequestration showed significantly lower overall responses compared to patients with splenic captation (P 5 0.002). A nonsplenic sequestration significantly correlated with lower CR rate and, among CR patients, predicted an increased risk of relapse. Also, the probability of stable responses in nonsplenic uptake patients was substantially lower than in patients with splenic uptake (85% vs. 50%, P 5 0.0083). Platelet life span and platelet turnover did not correlate with response and relapse rate. Overall, splenic sequestration was able to predict not only a better quality, but also a higher durability of the responses. However, it should be enphasized that the response rate and duration of response even in patients with nonsplenic uptake were similar or even superior to those reported in patients treated with rituximab as first option.
In patients with heart failure and wide QRS complex, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is associated with improvement of symptoms and cardiac function. This study examined the effects of a 3-month period of CRT on left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) ejection fraction (EF) and on LV volumes, both at rest and during exercise. A CRT system was implanted in 15 patients with severe heart failure and wide QRS. Before implant and 3 months later, all patients underwent assessment of cardiac performance with equilibrium Tc(99) radionuclide angiography with imaging in the best septal left anterior oblique view. Exercise was performed on a bicycle ergometer. At 3 months, a significant improvement in New York Heart Association functional class was observed, and radionuclide angiography showed a significant decrease in LV volumes and a significant increase in LVEF at rest, as well as a significant increase in LVEF during exercise. The remodeling processes associated with CRT did not appear to include RV function, since RVEF did not improve, and changes in RVEF did not correlate with changes in LVEF, neither at rest nor during exercise.
The aim of this study was to compare the results obtained with an indium-111 scan with those obtained with less expensive and harmless ultrasonography to evaluate the location and inflammatory activity of Crohn's disease. Thirty-one patients previously studied with x-ray underwent abdominal 111In scans and ultrasonography (US). Sensitivity and specificity of US in detecting lesions seen with 111In scan were 77% and 92.8%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of 111In scan in detecting x-ray-defined lesions were 69.2% and 92.7%; the figures for US were 73% and 93.3%, respectively. Considering the evaluation of disease activity, ultrasonographic bowel wall thickness was significantly related to scintigraphic intensity of emission (r = 0.75 P < 0.01). Our experience suggests that US provided information about the location and inflammatory activity of lesions similar to that obtained from 111In scan.
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