The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of intramuscular (i.m.) ceftiofur (2.2 mg/kg) on important outcomes of systemically mild clinical mastitis episodes in lactating dairy cattle. Cows with clinical mastitis were randomly assigned to a treatment group: pirlimycin intramammary (i.m.m.) (n = 35), pirlimycin i.m.m. and ceftiofur i.m.m. (n = 36), cephapirin i.m.m. (n = 40), cephapirin i.m. and ceftiofur i.m. (n = 33). Sixty-nine, 22, and 9% of initial cultures were gram-negative, gram-positive, and mixed, respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed no significant associations between treatment groups and loss of quarter, recurrence, or culling. Mixed infections, positive milk culture at 7 d after leaving hospital pen, decreased rumen motility, and absence of udder firmness were associated with increased odds of mastitis recurrence. The results suggest that i.m. ceftiofur treatment has no beneficial effects on the outcome of systemically mild clinical mastitis.

Effect of shisha vs. cigarette smoking on endothelial function by brachial artery duplex ultrasonography: an observational study Brakiyal ABSTRACTObjective: In this study, we sought to investigate the effect of shisha smoking on endothelial function compared to cigarettes, using brachial artery ultrasound (BAUS) imaging in asymptomatic young adults with no other cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: This is an observational case-control study where 30 young shisha smokers, 30 cigarette smokers and 10 healthy, non-smokers, agematched subjects between 25-35 years old with no cardiovascular risk factors were recruited from all around Egypt. Flow-mediated dilation was assessed using brachial artery duplex ultrasonography.Results: FMD% was significantly impaired among shisha smokers compared to cigarette smokers and non-smokers cigarettes (7.9±3.8% vs. 12±3.4% and 21.5±2.5% respectively p<0.001). Conclusion: Shisha smoking has a more hazardous effect on brachial artery endothelial-dependent flow mediated vasodilation compared to cigarette. (Anadolu Kardiyol Derg 2013; 13: 759-65)

Background: Chronic HCV infection is a global health problem causing progressive hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis, and ultimately hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recent advantage of direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAA) with a high sustained virologic response (SVR) reduces overall HCV-related morbidity and mortality, yet recent studies report a high recurrence rate of HCC after DAA; this calls availability of a reliable screening method to properly exclude HCC before DAA treatment. The primary objective of our cohort study was to assess the feasibility of an abbreviated MRI protocol as a screening tool for the detection of hepatic focal lesions/early HCC in patients with HCV-related liver cirrhosis. The study included 41 patients with HCV-related cirrhosis candidates to DAA therapy. All patients underwent routine screening for HCC by combined abdominal ultrasound and serum alfa-fetoprotein. An abbreviated MRI protocol (Abr-MR) including combined T2-weighted image and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) followed by dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (CE-MRI) was performed for all subjects, assessing for presence and characterization of focal lesions. Results: For all included 41patients, no elevation of the alpha-fetoprotein was shown. Ultrasound detected a single focal lesion in one patient. Abbreviated MR demonstrated 15 focal lesions; for detected lesions, 1 lesion shows "shine though" and the rest showing moderate and high degrees of restriction. CE-MRI characterized lesions as 1 lesion = LIRADS-1, 3 lesions = LR-M, and 11 lesions = LR-5.The standard screening using combined ultrasound and alpha-fetoprotein had sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 6.6 % (95% CI = 0.0034-0.29), 100% (95% CI = 0.89-1.000), 100% (95% CI = 0.051-1.000), and 68.8% (95% CI = 0.54-0.80). Abr-MR protocol showed sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 100% for all parameters (95% CI = 0.79-1.000, 0.89-1.000, 0.79-1.000, and 0.89-1.000 respectively). Conclusion: In our study, we demonstrate the superiority of a proposed cost-effective Abr-MR protocol in the detection of hepatic focal lesions and small-sized HCC compared to routine screening using alpha-fetoprotein and ultrasound in HCV-related liver cirrhosis.

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ObjectiveTo evaluate and analyse the efficacy of computed tomography (CT) virtual cystoscopy in comparison to conventional cystoscopy for the follow-up of patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.Patients and methodsThe study was done over 3 years, from April 2010 to June 2013, and included 30 patients who all had non-muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma (Ta, T1). The patients all underwent complete transurethral resection of the tumour and presented for first follow-up check cystoscopy. The examination was performed using a 16-slice multi-detector (MD) CT scanner. The results were compared for sensitivity and specificity in relation to the site, size, and shape of the tumour.ResultsIn all, 20 lesions were detected by CT virtual cystoscopy in 18 patients, whilst the remaining 12 were lesion free. Conventional cystoscopy, detected 23 lesions in 19 patients. The sensitivity of the virtual images was 87%; its specificity in identifying lesions was 100%, with a positive predictive value of 100% and negative predictive value of 78.5%.ConclusionCT virtual cystoscopy is a promising technique for detecting bladder tumours and some other bladder lesions. However, the detection rate for recurrent NMIBC does not appear to be adequate to replace conventional cystoscopy.