44,697 papers found

The traditional renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is indispensable system in adjusting sodium homeostasis, body fluid volume, and controlling arterial blood pressure. The key elements are renin splitting inactive angiotensinogen to yield angiotensin (Ang-I). Ang-1 is then changed by angiotensin-1 converting enzyme (ACE) i…

Angiogenesis is a biological process with a central role in retinal diseases. The choice of the ideal method to study angiogenesis, particularly in the retina, remains a problem. Angiogenesis can be assessed throughandstudies. In spite of inherent limitations,studies are faster, easier to perform and quantify, and typi…

BACKGROUND: The symptom "delusions" is a central psychopathological symptom in psychiatric diseases. Since the beginning of psychiatry various disciplines have attempted to explain and understand delusions but even now no generally accepted definition of this phenomenon exists. AIM: A comprehensive review of…

INTRODUCTION: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, progressive, disabling autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system. Symptoms and signs of MS vary widely and patients may lose their ability to walk. To date the benefits of aquatic therapy often used for rehabilitation in MS patients have no…

INTRODUCTION: Non-selective β-blockers (NSBBs) are widely prescribed in patients with cirrhosis for primary and secondary prophylaxis of bleeding oesophageal varices. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the clinical benefits of NSBBs may extend beyond their haemodynamic effects. Recently, a potentially harmfu…

Intraventricular cavernomas (IVCs) are extremely infrequent and only occur in 2.8 to 10% of patients with cerebral cavernomas. We describe three IVC cases and briefly review previously documented IVC cases in PubMed. Among 136 IVC cases, the mean age of the patients was 36.5 years; the male-to-female ratio was 0.8. The…

Thrombocytopenia is prevalent in critical care, surgical, and trauma settings. Despite the fact that a significant proportion of these patients receive platelet transfusion during their hospital course, much work remains to be done with regard to development of platelet transfusion guidelines. Given the wide variety of…

Research indicates that clinical guidelines are often not applied. The success of their implementation depends on the consideration of a variety of barriers and the use of adequate strategies to overcome them. Therefore, this scoping review aims to describe and categorize the most important barriers to guideline implem…

Training is an important part of modern European healthcare services and is often cited as a way to improve care quality. To date, various training methods have been used to impart skills relevant to psychological practice in a variety of mental health professionals. However, patient outcomes are rarely used in evaluat…

The aim of this article is to evaluate current literature on investigation and management of traumatic optic neuropathy (TON), propose recommendations for diagnosis and management, and explore novel future treatments. TON, though uncommon, causes substantial visual loss. Without clear guidelines, there is much ambiguit…

INTRODUCTION: Migraine is a common headache disorder that causes significant disability. COX inhibitors (also referred to as NSAIDs) are a frequently used treatment option. AREAS COVERED: A PubMed search provided articles relating to migraine and COX inhibitors. This article reviews the mechanism of action of NSAIDs i…

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review is to reveal the quality of published data and the effect size of DPFs compared to rigid fixation in lumbar spine. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: since 2002, several dynamic pedicle fixation (DPF) systems have been developed with the aim to stabilize the spine without the undesirab…

A central role for T cells and their cytokines in the pathogenesis of psoriasis has been proposed; however, there are controversies over the details of this issue. The goal of this study is to summarise currently available data on the importance of T cells in psoriasis pathogenesis. A systematic review of the English m…

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of amitriptyline as a therapeutic option for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) through a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. METHODS: For the years from 1966 until May 2012, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were s…

INTRODUCTION: Our objective was to perform a systematic review of studies pertaining to the distalization of teeth with appliances reinforced with temporary skeletal anchorage devices. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Knowledge, Ovid, and Scopus were searched until the se…

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature concerning hexetidine-containing mouthwash as a monotherapy or as an adjunct to oral hygiene in the prevention of plaque accumulation and gingival inflammation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed-MEDLINE and the Cochrane-CENTRAL were searched through January 2010 to identify appropriate…

BACKGROUND: Several endogenous factors regulate the perception of pain. Understanding of pain-alleviating mechanisms is increasing, which is useful both for doctors who treat pain-ridden patients and for researchers interested in the physiology of pain. This article provides an overview of such mechanisms. MATERIAL AN…

BACKGROUND: Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is a key regulator of water balance, but its instability makes reliable measurement difficult and precludes its routine use. Co-peptin is the C-terminal part of the AVP precursor which plays an important role in the correct structural formation of the AVP precursor and its efficie…

CONTEXT: Adrenal failure secondary to hypothalamo-pituitary disease is a common clinical problem which has serious repercussions. It is essential to perform validated diagnostic procedures and manage such patients with clear objectives and based on well-established replacement programs. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: PubMed wa…

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on the pathogenesis of chronic urticaria (excluding physical urticaria). DATA SOURCES: PubMed was searched using the keywords urticaria and either chronic or autoimmune or pathogenesis for articles published from January 1972 to June 2007. All searches were limited to the English la…