![]() |
|
|||
|
The prior diagnosis of fatal astrocytoma in a 60-year-old man with Crohn's disease treated with natalizumab, a monoclonal antibody against integrins, was reclassified as JC virus–related progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Analysis of frozen serum samples showed that JC virus DNA had appeared in the serum three months after the initiation of open-label natalizumab monotherapy and two months before the appearance of symptomatic PML. There was staining of the brain lesion for polyomavirus. This case report, along with two others, suggests that anti–integrin therapy can result in JC virus–induced PML. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A 46-year-old woman with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis died from progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) after having received 37 doses of natalizumab (300 mg every four weeks) as part of a clinical trial of natalizumab and interferon beta-1a. PML was diagnosed on the basis of the finding of JC viral DNA in cerebrospinal fluid on polymerase-chain-reaction assay and was confirmed at autopsy. Nearly every tissue section from bilateral cerebral hemispheres contained either macroscopic or microscopic PML lesions. There was extensive tissue destruction and cavitation in the left frontoparietal area, large numbers of bizarre astrocytes, and inclusion-bearing oligodendrocytes, which were positive for JC virus DNA on in situ hybridization. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We describe the clinical course of a patient with multiple sclerosis in whom progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), an opportunistic viral infection of the central nervous system, developed during treatment with interferon beta-1a and a selective adhesion-molecule blocker, natalizumab. The first PML lesion apparent on magnetic resonance imaging was indistinguishable from a multiple sclerosis lesion. Despite treatment with corticosteroids, cidofovir, and intravenous immune globulin, PML progressed rapidly, rendering the patient quadriparetic, globally aphasic, and minimally responsive. Three months after natalizumab therapy was discontinued, changes consistent with an immune-reconstitution inflammatory syndrome developed. The patient was treated with systemic cytarabine, and two months later, his condition had improved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Despite limited evidence from randomized trials, perioperative treatment with beta-blockers is now widely advocated. We assessed the use of perioperative beta-blockers and their association with in-hospital mortality in routine clinical practice. A retrospective cohort study of patients 18 years of age or older who underwent major noncardiac surgery in 2000 and 2001 at 329 hospitals throughout the United States. We used propensity-score matching to adjust for differences between patients who received perioperative beta-blockers and those who did not receive such therapy and compared in-hospital mortality using multivariable logistic modeling. Of 782,969 patients, 663,635 (85 percent) had no recorded contraindications to beta-blockers, 122,338 of whom (18 percent) received such treatment during the first two hospital days, including 14 percent of patients with a Revised Cardiac Risk Index (RCRI) score of 0 and 44 percent with a score of 4 or higher. The relationship between perioperative beta-blocker treatment and the risk of death varied directly with cardiac risk; among the 580,665 patients with an RCRI score of 0 or 1, treatment was associated with no benefit and possible harm, whereas among the patients with an RCRI score of 2, 3, or 4 or more, the adjusted odds ratios for death in the hospital were 0.88 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.80 to 0.98), 0.71 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.63 to 0.80), and 0.58 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.50 to 0.67), respectively. Perioperative beta-blocker therapy is associated with a reduced risk of in-hospital death among high-risk, but not low-risk, patients undergoing major noncardiac surgery. Patient safety may be enhanced by increasing the use of beta-blockers in high-risk patients. |
|
|||
|
Dear passkey
Big sigh, -- whats new? And all these findings have been blissfully ignored. Question: How do we get writ of toxic waste? Answer: Make pills out of it and feed it to the sick and suffering.
__________________
Hans Weitbrecht Consultant Homeopath homeopathy study guide: http://www.homeopathyworldcommunity....hy-study-guide |
![]() |
| Thread Tools | |
| Display Modes | |
|
|