Lundgreensalazar9379

PURPOSE To investigate the efficacy of Permacol™, a decellularized porcine dermal-derived membrane, as a spacer in the management of lower eyelid retraction. The efficacy of sizing and insertion was investigated, as well as complications. The literature was also reviewed to compare this material with other porcine-derived grafts in use for the management of lower eyelid retraction. METHODS This was a retrospective case series observing all patients who received lower eyelid Permacol implants by the two senior authors (AAM, TGH) for the management of lower eyelid retraction. Patient demographics, indications for surgery, graft size, degree of postoperative lid advancement, and complications were reviewed. RESULTS A total of 12 patients (16 eyelids) received Permacol implants for correction of lower eyelid retraction during the study period of 18 months (January 2015 to July 2017). Ten procedures were related to thyroid eye disease, 3 for reconstruction, 2 postcosmetic lower lid blepharoplasty, and one acquired anophthalmic socket. The average preoperative inferior scleral show (ISS) was 1.74 mm, and the average postoperative ISS was 0.82 mm. There was a mean lower eyelid elevation of 0.91 mm (p  less then  0.005, Wilcoxon signed rank test) and mean ratio of graft heightpreoperative ISS was 3.81 over a median of 8 months follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Permacol is a safe and effective alternative to autologous tissues for use as a spacer in patients with lower eyelid retraction of varying etiologies. It does undergo some resorption with time, however this can be predicted and incorporated into surgical planning; we recommend an implant heightISS ratio of 41.Burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of melioidosis, a disease with high morbidity that is endemic in South East Asia and northern Australia. An unusual feature of the bacterium is its ability to induce multinucleated giant cell formation (MNGC), which appears to be related to bacterial pathogenicity. The mechanism of MNGC formation is not fully understood, but host cell factors as well as known bacterial virulence determinants are likely to contribute. Since members of the tetraspanin family of membrane proteins are involved in various types of cellcell fusion, their role in MNGC formation induced by Burkholderia thailandensis, a mildly pathogenic species closely related to B. pseudomallei, was investigated. The effect of antibodies to tetraspanins CD9, CD81, and CD63 in MNGC formation induced by B. thailandensis in infected mouse J774.2 and RAW macrophage cell lines was assessed along with that of recombinant proteins corresponding to the large extracellular domain (EC2) of the tetraspanins. B. thailandensis-induced fusion was also examined in macrophages derived from CD9 null and corresponding WT mice, and in J774.2 macrophages over-expressing CD9. Antibodies to CD9 and CD81 promoted MNGC formation induced by B. thailandensis, whereas EC2 proteins of CD9, CD81, and CD63 inhibited MNGC formation. learn more Enhanced MNGC formation was observed in CD9 null macrophages, whereas a decrease in MNGC formation was associated with overexpression of CD9. Overall our findings show that tetraspanins are involved in MNGC formation induced by B. thailandensis and by implication, B. pseudomallei, with CD9 and CD81 acting as negative regulators of this process.Luliconazole is a new antifungal that was primarily used for the treatment of dermatophytosis. However, some studies have shown that it has excellent efficacy against Aspergillus and Candida species in vitro. The present study aimed to evaluate of luliconazole activity against some Fusarium species complex isolates. In this study, 47 isolates of Fusarium were tested against several antifungals including luliconazole. All species were identified using morphology features, and PCR sequencing and antifungal susceptibility were performed according to CLSIM38 A3 guideline. Our results revealed that luliconazole has a very low minimum inhibitory concentration value (0.0078-1 µg/ml) in comparison with other tested antifungals. Amphotericin B had a poor effect with a high MIC90 (64 µg/ml), followed by terbinafine (32 µg/ml), posaconazole (16 µg/ml), caspofungin (16 µg/ml), voriconazole (4 µg/ml), and itraconazole (4 µg/ml). Overall, our findings indicated that luliconazole has great activity against environmental and clinical Fusarium species complexes in comparison to tested antifungals.Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) sometimes occurs in immune-compromised hosts or patients with autoimmune diseases. Some cohort studies have previously reported an increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), while some cases of PCNSL in patients with SLE were reported. We present the case of PCNSL which developed in a patient with the active phase of neuropsychiatric SLE (NPSLE). Furthermore, we reviewed published English articles to confirm the characteristics of PCNSL related to SLE. To our knowledge, this is the first report of PCNSL occurring in NPSLE. Histology demonstrated B-cell lymphoma with a positive Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA. This patient recovered following surgical resection of the lymphoma, whole brain radiation therapy, intravenous infusion of rituximab (RTX), and administration of belimumab after RTX. Given the series of reviews, our report suggests that the persistence of damage in the central nervous system (CNS) and long-term exposure to immunosuppressants may impact oncogenic immune responses within the CNS, leading to PCNSL development.The objective of the study is to assess the disease course and associated healthcare costs in a cohort of established rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in Turkey. The study cohort consisted of 75 RA patients from our outpatient clinic who took part in a previous multicenter study assessing RA-related healthcare costs 6 years ago. In March 2018, we attempted to re-evaluate these patients with the same questionnaire of the previous study enabling us to get information on medication use, comorbidities, and RA-related healthcare costs. We used RAPID-3 for assessing disease activity, HAQ-DI for functional status and EQ-5D for quality of life. Sixty-two (83%) patients were re-evaluated, seven (9.3%) had died and three (4%) were receiving palliative care following major cardiovascular events. Forty-seven (76%) patients had used at least one biologic agent during 79.1 ± 3.3 months after the previous study. At the last evaluation, 34 patients (55%) were on biologics, 22 (35%) were on csDMARDs and 6 (9.6%) were off RA treatment.