Review of recent research on hepatitis C therapy for 54th annual meeting of the American association for the study of liver diseases

[Crohn's disease].

Objective: The aim was to formulate clinical practice guidelines for pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL). Participants: The Task Force included a chair selected by the Endocrine Society Clinical Guidelines Subcommittee (CGS), seven experts in the field, and a methodologist. The authors received no corporate funding or remuneration. Evidence: This evidence-based guideline was developed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system to describe both the strength of recommendations and the quality of evidence. The Task Force reviewed primary evidence and commissioned two additional systematic reviews. Consensus Process: One group meeting, several conference calls, and e-mail communications enabled consensus. Committees and members of the Endocrine Society, European Society of Endocrinology, and Americal Association for Clinical Chemistry reviewed drafts of the guidelines. Conclusions: The Task Force recommends that initial biochemical testing for PPGLs shou...

/pdf/pheochromocytoma-and-paraganglioma-an-endocrine-society-4ij7m1t7fo.pdf

Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma: An endocrine society clinical practice guideline

https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/00000227t

ACC/AHA/ASNC guidelines for the clinical use of cardiac radionuclide imaging--executive summary: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (ACC/AHA/ASNC Committee to Revise the 1995 Guidelines for the Clinical Use of Cardiac Radionuclide Imaging)

ContextFocal pulmonary lesions are commonly encountered in clinical practice,
and positron emission tomography (PET) with the glucose analog 18-fluorodeoxyglucose
(FDG) may be an accurate test for identifying malignant lesions.ObjectiveTo estimate the diagnostic accuracy of FDG-PET for malignant focal pulmonary
lesions.Data SourcesStudies published between January 1966 and September 2000 in the MEDLINE
and CANCERLIT databases; reference lists of identified studies; abstracts
from recent conference proceedings; and direct contact with investigators.Study SelectionStudies that examined FDG-PET or FDG with a modified gamma camera in
coincidence mode for diagnosis of focal pulmonary lesions; enrolled at least
10 participants with pulmonary nodules or masses, including at least 5 participants
with malignant lesions; and presented sufficient data to permit calculation
of sensitivity and specificity were included in the anaylsis.Data ExtractionTwo reviewers independently assessed study quality and abstracted data
regarding prevalence of malignancy and sensitivity and specificity of the
imaging test. Disagreements were resolved by discussion.Data SynthesisWe used a meta-analytic method to construct summary receiver operating
characteristic curves. Forty studies met inclusion criteria. Study methodological
quality was fair. Sample sizes were small and blinding was often incomplete.
For 1474 focal pulmonary lesions of any size, the maximum joint sensitivity
and specificity (the upper left point on the receiver operating characteristic
curve at which sensitivity and specificity are equal) of FDG-PET was 91.2%
(95% confidence interval, 89.1%-92.9%). In current practice, FDG-PET operates
at a point on the summary receiver operating characteristic curve that corresponds
approximately to a sensitivity and specificity of 96.8% and 77.8%, respectively.
There was no difference in diagnostic accuracy for pulmonary nodules compared
with lesions of any size (P = .43), for semiquantitative
methods of image interpretation compared with qualitative methods (P = .52), or for FDG-PET compared with FDG imaging with a modified
gamma camera in coincidence mode (P = .19).ConclusionsPositron emission tomography with 18-fluorodeoxyglucose is an accurate
noninvasive imaging test for diagnosis of pulmonary nodules and larger mass
lesions, although few data exist for nodules smaller than 1 cm in diameter.
In current practice, FDG-PET has high sensitivity and intermediate specificity
for malignancy.

Accuracy of Positron Emission Tomography for Diagnosis of Pulmonary Nodules and Mass Lesions: A Meta-analysis

Forty patients (38 men and 2 women, mean age 56 +/- 9 years) with angiographic evidence of coronary artery disease underwent 201Thallium myocardial scintigraphy and two-dimensional echocardiography. 201Thallium uptake and echocardiographic regional ventricular function were studied in corresponding myocardial segments. On exercise-redistribution 201Thallium imaging, 308 segments (51% of the total) had normal Thallium uptake, 48 (8%) exhibited reversible defects and 244 (41%) irreversible defects. Of the latter 244 segments with irreversible defects, 114 (47%) exhibited increased tracer uptake (Re+) and 130 (53%) remained unchanged (Re-) after 201Thallium reinjection at rest. Regional ventricular function was significantly better in the segments with normal Thallium uptake than in the segments with reversible or irreversible defects (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the segments with irreversible defects Re- had impaired regional function compared to the segments with irreversible defects Re+ (p < 0.001). Coronary artery stenosis was significantly more severe in the segments with irreversible defects Re- (93 +/- 16%) than in those with reversible defects (81 +/- 20%) and with irreversible Re+ defects (80 +/- 20%) (both p < 0.001). In conclusion, in coronary artery disease patients, exercise-redistribution 201Thallium cardiac imaging with reinjection at rest can identify severely ischemic but still viable myocardium and may be particularly useful in the prognosis of such patients.

[Morpho-functional diagnostic imaging in the assessment of viable myocardium in patients with ischemic heart disease. Correlations between myocardial perfusion and regional function of the left ventricle].

Chemotherapy and uptake of technetium-99m sestamibi in breast cancer: reply.

Giant Epithelioid Angiomyolipoma: An Imaging-related Differential Diagnosis Among Fat-containing Renal Masses

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), can trigger autoimmunity in genetically predisposed individuals through hyperstimulation of immune response and molecular mimicry. Here we summarise the current knowledge about auto-immune liver diseases (AILDs) and SARS-CoV-2, focusing on: (1) The risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the course of COVID-19 in patients affected by AILDs; (2) the role of SARS-CoV-2 in inducing liver damage and triggering AILDs; and (3) the ability of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 to induce autoimmune responses in the liver. Data derived from the literature suggest that patients with AILDs do not carry an increased risk of SARS-Cov-2 infection but may develop a more severe course of COVID-19 if on treatment with steroids or thiopurine. Although SARS-CoV-2 infection can lead to the development of several autoimmune diseases, few reports correlate it to the appearance of de novo manifestation of immune-mediated liver diseases such as autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) or AIH/PBC overlap syndrome. Different case series of an AIH-like syndrome with a good prognosis after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination have been described. Although the causal link between SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and AIH cannot be definitively established, these reports suggest that this association could be more than coincidental.

Simone Maurea

Papers

[Morpho-functional diagnostic imaging in the assessment of viable myocardium in patients with ischemic heart disease. Correlations between myocardial perfusion and regional function of the left ventricle].

Chemotherapy and uptake of technetium-99m sestamibi in breast cancer: reply.

Giant Epithelioid Angiomyolipoma: An Imaging-related Differential Diagnosis Among Fat-containing Renal Masses

Autoimmune liver diseases and SARS-CoV-2

biosimilar infliximab ct p13 remsima is effective in the healing of fistulizing crohns disease