Background: It is estimated that more than 50% of patients with voice disorders who come fortreatment are caused by laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). LPR has been implicated in the etiology ofmany laryngeal disorders including subglottic stenosis, laryngeal carcinoma, laryngeal contact ulcer,laryngospasm and vocal nodule on the vocal cords. Ambulatory 24 hour double-probe (pharyngeal andesophageal) pH monitoring is the gold standard examination for diagnosing LPR, but it is still far fromideal criteria.The assessment of pepsin in airway secretions could be used as a sensitive diagnosticmarker of LPR because pepsin is not synthesized by any type of airway cells. Purpose: The aim ofthis study was to detect the presence of pepsin on laryingopharyngeal reflux patients which diagnosedbased on reflux symptom index (RSI) dan reflux finding score (RFS) at Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital,Makassar. Methods: This is a comparative quantitative study. We performed RSI and RFS examinationson 51 samples, followed by saliva pepsin detection using ELISA method on 48 samples, then analyzed withSpearman’s Rho test. Result: RSI score >13 was found in 48 samples (94,12%)  and RFS score >7 wasin 51 samples (100%).    Pepsin was detected on all sputum samples, however there was no significant relationship betwen RSI and RFS scoring with the level of pepsin in saliva (p>0.01). Conclusion: Pepsin was detected on saliva of patients with laringopharyngeal reflux who was diagnosed based on RSI andRFS. We concluded that RSI and RFS can be used as diagnostic tools for LPR. Keywords: laringopharyngeal reflux, reflux symptom index, reflux finding score, pepsin Abstrak :  Latar belakang: Diperkirakan lebih dari 50% pasien dengan gangguan suara yang datang berobatke dokter THT diakibatkan oleh refluks laringofaring (RLF). Diduga RLF berperan pada patogenesissejumlah kelainan pada laring, termasuk stenosis subglotik, karsinoma laring, laryngeal contact ulcers,laringospasme dan vokal nodul pada pita suara. Pemeriksaan ambulatory 24 hour double-probe pHmonitoring merupakan gold standard untuk mendiagnosis RLF, namun pemeriksaan ini masih jauh darikriteria ideal. Menentukan adanya pepsin pada sekret saluran napas merupakan petanda diagnostik yangsensitif untuk RLF karena pepsin tidak dihasilkan oleh sel apapun dalam saluran napas. Tujuan: Penelitianini bertujuan mendeteksi keberadaan pepsin pada penderita refluks laringofaring yang didiagnosisberdasarkan refluks symptom index (RSI) dan reflux finding score (RFS). Metode: Jenis penelitian iniadalah komparatif kuantitatif. Dilakukan pemeriksaan RSI dan RFS pada 51 percontoh dan dilanjutkandengan pemeriksaan pepsin saliva menggunakan metode ELISA pada 48 percontoh lalu dilakukan ujiSpearman’s Rho. Hasil: Skor RSI >13 sebanyak 48 percontoh (94,12%) dan skor RFS >7 sebanyak 51percontoh (100%). Pepsin terdeteksi pada saliva semua percontoh. Tidak ada hubungan yang bermaknaantara skoring RSI dan RFS dengan kadar pepsin pada saliva (p>0,01). Kesimpulan: RSI dan RFS dapatdigunakan dalam menegakkan diagnosis RLF. Kata kunci: refluks laringofaring, reflux symptom index, reflux finding score, pepsin

Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a squamous cell malignancy derived from the nasopharyngeal epithelial layer. This study aimed to calculate the IL-6 levels in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma before and after radiotherapy, in the week I and week 3 during the radiotherapy, and 2 weeks after the radiotherapy. Methods:The study was conducted in a prospective cohort on 16 people suffering from nasopharyngeal carcinoma and undergoing radiotherapy, i.e. 9 patients were in stage I of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and 7 people were in stage II of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Each sample underwent the examination of IL-6 before the week I and week 3 during the radiotherapy, and 2 weeks after the radio¬therapy.Results: The more they received the treatment with radiotherapy the greater was the decrease of serum IL-6. The percentages of the decrease of the levels of serum IL-6 was greater in those receiving the 3-week duration of radiotherapy (24.59%) compared to those who just received 1-week duration of radiotherapy (6.44%). The decrease of serum IL-6 would continue, although radio-therapy had ended; 2 weeks after the radio-therapy, the percentage of serum IL-6 decreased to 42.43% from the level of serum IL-6 before the radio-therapy. Conclusions:The research results indicated that there happened a significant decrease of serum IL-6 (p<0.05) after the treatment with the radio-therapy

BACKGROUND: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth anomalies in the 1st year of life. The incidence of CHD in developed and developing countries is varied, between 6 and 10 cases per 1000 live birth. Some factors contribute to the nutritional status of CHD patients, such as nutrient inputs, energy requirements, and dietary components. Irrespective of the nature of the cardiac defect and the presence or absence of cyanosis, malnutrition is a common finding in children with congenital heart anomalies. Recent studies have tried to investigate malnutrition development based on the type or category of CHD. AIM: This study aims to investigate the association between cyanotic and acyanotic CHD with nutritional status. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to March 2018 in the pediatric cardiology outpatient clinic of the Haji Adam Malik General Hospital, Medan, Indonesia. RESULTS: During the study period, 58 children were admitted, consisting of 31 (53.4%) males and 27 (46.6%) females, with a mean age of 57 months. There was no significant sex predilection found in the study (p = 0.207). The proportion of patients who developed malnutrition was 70.7% (mild-moderate = 48.3% and severe = 22.4%). There was an association between cyanotic and acyanotic CHD with nutritional status (p = 0.015). Wasting was found in 33 children (56.8%) that had a significant association with the type of heart defects (p = 0.001). Patients with cyanotic CHDs were found to have a lower risk for malnutrition compared to the acyanotic group (prevalence odds ratio = 0.218, and prevalence risk = 0.661; p = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: There is an association between cyanotic and acyanotic CHD with nutritional status.

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