Kristensenstout5943

Tuberculosis (TB), the world's deadliest bacterial infection, afflicts more human males than females, with a male/female (M/F) ratio of 1.7. Sex disparities in TB prevalence, pathophysiology, and clinical manifestations are widely reported, but the underlying biological mechanisms remain largely undefined. This review assesses epidemiological data on sex disparity in TB, as well as possible underlying hormonal and genetic mechanisms that might differentially modulate innate and adaptive immune responses in males and females, leading to sex differences in disease susceptibility. We consider whether this sex disparity can be extended to the efficacy of vaccines and discuss novel animal models which may offer mechanistic insights. A better understanding of the biological factors underpinning sex-related immune responses in TB may enable sex-specific personalized therapies for TB.Peripheral arterial disease is a condition associated with high rates of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, increased risk of adverse limb events, including development of critical limb ischemia and amputation, and also with decreased quality of life. This manuscript provides an overview of the medical management of patients with peripheral arterial disease. We discuss contemporary therapies that decrease major adverse cardiovascular and limb events among patients with peripheral arterial disease, and also therapies that improve the patient's ability to walk and quality of life in general.In the management of patients with critical limb ischemia endovascular revascularization plays a crucial role improving amputation-free survival, ischemic rest pain, and wound healing. Endovascular standard of care of peripheral arterial occlusive disease involves angioplasty and/or stent placement. The following discussion is intended to familiarize interventional physicians with the rationale, physiological concepts, and technical approach to developing endovascular procedures-percutaneous femoropopliteal bypass and percutaneous deep vein arterialization. Percutaneous arterial bypass procedure is designed to treat long complex Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus C and D hemodynamically significant superficial femoral artery lesions by redirecting the flow of blood from the diseased arterial segment through a femoral vein conduit. Percutaneous deep vein arterialization is used for selected "no-option" critical limb ischemia patients who cannot undergo or have failed conventional endovascular and/or surgical revascularization due to extensive occlusion of the outflow arteries. It involves creation of an arteriovenous fistula between a tibial artery and a tibial vein, disruption of venous valves, and elimination of venous collaterals. The consequent arterialization of the distal venous bed enables delivery of oxygenated pressurized arterial blood to the ischemic tissues, stimulating angiogenesis and increasing flow in the existent collateral vessels, which in turn will improve limb salvage and amputation free survival.Patient evaluation is critical to identify and quantitate patient's disease. Aside from the patient's history and physical examination, imaging can help confirm and determine the extent of disease. Imaging can aid in treatment planning once the decision to proceed to intervention has been made. This chapter will discuss the role of imaging before and after peripheral arterial interventions and how it may improve intervention outcomes. It will discuss the value of the arterial noninvasive examinations (ankle-brachial index, toe-brachial index, pulse volume recordings, and arterial duplex ultrasound), computed tomographic angiograms, magnetic resonance angiogram, and intravascular ultrasound.The field of Interventional Radiology is said to have begun in 1964, when Dotter successfully restored circulation to an 82-year-old woman's leg with critical limb ischemia and gangrene by percutaneously dilating a localized stenosis of the superficial femoral artery using a Teflon catheter. The dilation catheter was revolutionary in the inception of angioplasty, and progress evolved with the development of angioplasty balloons. As angioplasty became more widely utilized, the focus turned to improving its results. Several factors are important to consider with regards to maximizing angioplasty results in peripheral interventions. These factors include vessel size, lesion length, lesion location, and the anatomic vascular bed. Operators must make thoughtful decisions regarding balloon choice, diameter, length, inflation pressures, inflation time, and employ these devices with excellent technique to optimize outcomes. Complications from angioplasty include elastic recoil, vessel dissection, vessel rupture, distal embolization, and neointimal hyperplasia. The most widely recognized limitation of angioplasty is the longevity of treatment effect. In order to improve long-term outcomes, different specialty balloons have been developed to address lesions resistant to plain balloon angioplasty and combat neointimal hyperplasia to improve outcomes. Ultimately the goal is to maximize vessel patency for the longest duration possible, and many exciting new technologies are on the horizon.Multiple or alternate arterial accesses are often required when tackling more challenging peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Knowledge and familiarity in performing antegrade femoral, popliteal, tibial, and upper extremity access can improve the success rate of complex PAD interventions. This article provides a detailed review of indications, technical how-tos, and outcomes of these alternative accesses.Arterial calcification (AC) is a common complication among patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). AC presents various challenges to PAD treatment including an increased likelihood of vessel rupture and dissection, and by acting as a physical barrier to drug delivery by angioplasty balloons. Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) is a novel intervention that specifically targets AC by emitting sonic pressure waves that introduce microfractures in target calcified lesions to increase arterial compliance. Preliminary data has demonstrated the safety and efficacy of IVL in PAD treatment. The present article provides a technical overview of S-IVL, as well as a case series of the treatment of AC in common iliac, common femoral, superficial femoral, aortoiliac, and peroneal arterial lesions. Each case resulted in marked improvement of luminal patency, exhibiting the efficacy IVL.Chronic total occlusions are a common cause of both claudication and critical limb ischemia. Currently, 40%-50% of all individuals undergoing lower extremity interventions will have a chronic total occlusion. Endovascular specialist should be familiar with the different treatment algorithms and classifications systems. Many different techniques have been shown to be successful in crossing the lesion and for re-entry when needed. The vascular access obtained to cross the lesion is frequently dictated by lesion location, lesion length, and the distal runoff in the affected limb.Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a progressive vascular disease affecting millions of individuals and is a considerable cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. While balloon angioplasty remains the cornerstone option for endovascular management of arterial stenosis, advances in percutaneous endovascular stent technology have broadened the toolbox of therapeutic options for PAD and have significantly improved function and quality of life. Indeed, covered stents, bioabsorbable stents and drug eluting stents are several of the innovations in stent technology made since the advent of nitinol bare metal stents in the 1980s. Domatinostat ic50 The indications for use, technical considerations, treatment outcomes, and current concerns regarding current stent devices will herein be discussed in this review.Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common condition, which significantly impacts the quality and length of life. In recent years, drug-eluting devices have demonstrated improved clinical effectiveness for treating peripheral arterial disease in the femoropopliteal arteries compared to traditional stents and angioplasty balloons. However, recent controversial studies have called the safety of this technology into question, leading to confusion as to if, when, and how these devices should be used. This article focuses on the underlying pathophysiology and pharmacology, the clinical benefits and potential harms, as well as expected future developments affecting the use of these drug-eluting technologies in treating peripheral arterial disease of the superficial femoral arteries.

Outcomes after the introduction of surgical innovations can be impaired by learning periods. The aim of this study is to compare the short-term outcomes of a recently implemented RATS approach to a standard VATS program for anatomical lung resections.

Retrospective review of consecutive patients undergoing pulmonary anatomical resection through a minimally invasive approach since RATS approach was applied in our department (June 01, 2018, to November 30, 2019). Propensity score matching was performed according to patients' age, gender, ppoFEV1, cardiac comorbidity, type of malignancy, and type of resection. Outcome evaluation includes overall morbidity, significant complications (cardiac arrhythmia, pneumonia, prolonged air leak, and reoperation), 30-day mortality, and length of hospital stay. Data were compared by two-sided chi-square or Fisher's exact test for categorical and Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables.

A total of 273 patients (206 VATS, 67 RATS) were included in the study. After propensity score matching, data of 132 patients were analyzed. The thirty-days mortality was nil. Overall morbidity (RATS 22.4%, VATS 29.2%; p=0.369), major complications (RATS 9% vs VATS 9.2%; p=0.956) and the rates of specific major complications (cardiac arrhythmia RATS 4.5%, VATS 4.6%, p=1; pneumonia RATS0%, VATS4.6%, p=0.117; prolonged air leak RATS 7.5%; VATS 4.6%, p=0.718) and reoperation (RATS 3%, VATS 1.5%, p=1) were comparable between both groups. The median length of stay was 3 days in both groups (p=0.101).

A RATS program for anatomical lung resection can be implemented safely by experienced VATS surgeons without increasing morbidity rates.

A RATS program for anatomical lung resection can be implemented safely by experienced VATS surgeons without increasing morbidity rates.Interleukin 31 (IL-31) is a neurocytokine that stimulates sensory neurons involved in pruritus. It contributes to skin barrier inflammation, dysfunction, and remodeling. As the immune and nervous systems are interrelated, IL-31 has a key role in the treatment of atopic dermatitis and prurigo nodularis. Nemolizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks the α subunit of the IL-31 receptor, modulates the neuroimmune response, and rapidly alleviates itching by directly blocking signaling. It reduces inflammation and lesion severity in atopic dermatitis and prurigo nodularis by restoring epithelial function and promoting skin barrier integrity. This review synthesizes the latest information on the functions of IL-31 and presents the current evidence, including clinical trial results, on the use of nemolizumab in the treatment of atopic dermatitis and prurigo nodularis.