No abstract

The authors postulate that the OAG and oral hygiene care regimen may be clinically useful in improving oral assessment and hygiene in children with cancer during and after chemotherapy, thus decreasing associated infection and enhancing patient comfort.

Based on these results, it is suggested that the inhibition of NO and prostaglandin E(2) over-production through suppressing iNOS and COX-2 induction and attenuation of TNF-alpha formation and neutrophil infiltration into inflammatory sites by C-PC may contribute, at least in part, to its antihyperalgesic activity.

the occurrence of haemophagocytic syndrome and Langerhans' cell histiocytosis, although genetically based, can be triggered by environmental agents and viruses, in particular Epstein-Barr virus.

Cleaning with 95% alcohol did not reduce umbilical cord separation time. This traditional method is not necessary for routine cord management, even in a subtropical country.

Introduction Intra‐articular platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) injection therapy has been extensively applied in clinical practice to treat musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoarthritis, but the treatment for haemophilic arthropathy is rarely reported. Aims This study aimed to compare the efficacy of intra‐articular PRP vs hyaluronic acid (HA) injections in treating haemophilic arthropathy of knee joints. Patients Twenty‐two haemophilia patients (mean age, 41.1 ± 1.7 [range, 20‐50] years) with painful haemophilic arthropathy of the knee were enrolled for this open‐label and observer‐blind study. Methods Eleven patients were treated with a single intra‐articular injection of PRP and the other 11 received five consecutively weekly intra‐articular injections of HA. Outcome assessment included pain by visual analogue scale (VAS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) Chinese Version and synovial change determined by ultrasonography. Results Platelet‐rich plasma and HA intra‐articular injection showed statistically significant reduction in VAS, WOMAC total score and hyperaemia score from baseline to 6‐month post‐treatment. Inter‐group comparison showed statistically significant difference in the change in VAS score, WOMAC pain score, physical function score and total score at 6 months, wherein PRP group showed sustained beneficial effect than HA group at 6 months. Conclusion Our study demonstrates that, in comparison with five weekly injections of HA, a single PRP injection resulted in better improvement in pain relief and knee joint function, and greater reduction in synovial hyperaemia for up to 6 months. Our results suggest that PRP may be practical and effective for haemophilic knee arthropathy, and further investigation is warranted.

Vocal process granuloma is an uncommon occurrence which is possibly related to endotrachial intubation. Despite its infrequent occurrence, intubation vocal granuloma has received considerable attention in the literature on account of its versatile clinical managements and various results. We presented a series of cases afflicted with intubation vocal granuloma and documented the promising effect of potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) laser ablation. Twelve patients of intubation vocal granuloma had been retrospectively reviewed at Tri-Service General Hospital from January 1999 to June 2006. Detailed history taking, physical examination, and voice analysis were conducted in all patients before and after this surgical intervention. They all underwent KTP laser ablation of vocal granuloma. Patients were 7 females and 5 males with a mean age of 46.8 years. The grade of hoarseness, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, and strain (GRBAS) scale and maximum phonation time (MPT) showed significant different before and after this surgical intervention (P < 0.05). There was no recurrence in all patients for at least 14 months in the follow-up. We have found that KTP laser microlaryngosurgery can be a useful therapy and can lead avoidance of repetitive surgical procedures.

Haemophilia A (HA) is an X-linked bleeding disorder caused by mutations in the factor VIII (FVIII) gene. Identification of these mutations is becoming increasingly important in a variety of clinical settings. The purpose of this report is to describe our experience of FVIII gene mutation analysis in the largest cohort of patients in Taiwan including the discovery of 21 novel mutations. We tested 115 HA patients from 91 unrelated families, including 79 severe, 15 moderate and 21 mild types starting with an assay for the intron 22 inversion by long range-PCR followed if necessary by additional genetic studies. Intron 22 inversion accounted for 27.8% of the total and 36.7% of severe HA patients respectively while intron 1 inversion comprised 7.6% of severe patients. These were clearly different from the known data in caucasian populations. Of 75 patients without intron 22 or 1 inversion, 70 from 62 unrelated families revealed 56 different mutations by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC), of which 21 were novel. Also, the only female patient with severe HA was found to have heterozygous non-sense mutation (c.6683G>A) of exon 24. Seven patients, including five without amplified PCR product and two without encoded DNA defect turned out to have exon(s) deletion or insertion by reverse transcript PCR (RT-PCR). In our study, the combination of various molecular techniques including LR-PCR, multiplex PCR, DHPLC and RT-PCR analysis enabled definitive detection of the causative FVIII gene defects in 112 of 113 (99%) HA patients.