Calcium alginate dressings have been used in the treatment of pressure ulcers and leg ulcers. This study analyzes the effectiveness of a calcium alginate dressing in wound exudate absorption, patient comfort, and ease of application.

Clinical experience with a calcium alginate dressing.

Dermatology Nursing

Hypertensive emergencies cause substantial morbidity and mortality, particularly when acute organ injury is present. Careful and effective strategies to reduce blood pressure and diminish the effects of pressure-mediated injury are essential. While the selection of specific antihypertensive medications varies little across different forms of hypertensive emergencies, the intensity of blood pressure reduction to the target pressure differs substantially. Treatment hinges on balancing the positive effects of lowering blood pressure with the potential for negative effects of organ hypoperfusion in patients with altered autoregulatory mechanisms. When patients do not have acute organ injury in addition to severe hypertension, they benefit from a conservative, outpatient approach to blood pressure management. In all cases, long term control of blood pressure is paramount to prevent recurrent hypertensive emergencies and improve overall prognosis. This review discusses the current evidence and guidelines on the evaluation and management of hypertensive emergency.

Evaluation and management of hypertensive emergency.

BMJ : British Medical Journal

Light chain deposition disease (LCDD) is a rare hematologic disorder characterized by the deposition of non-amyloid monoclonal light chains in several organs. Together with renal impairment is being the primary morbidity associated with this disease. Due to its rarity, randomized clinical trials lack to explore treatment strategies and there are no approved or universally accepted standard of care treatment options. We aimed to provide a systematic summary of histological and clinical aspects of LCDD and treatment options of available literature therapies strategies. Currently, drugs used to treat multiple myeloma are recommended when LCDD patients also presented multiple myeloma. Anyway, in patients with LCDD that is not associated to multiple myeloma, haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) and chemotherapy with thalidomide, dexamethasone, bortezomib are also recommended. In eligible patients, bortezomib-based chemotherapy followed by ASCT appears to be an effective treatment option with durable hematologic remission and organ responses. Although it appears that the patients undergoing ASCT seem to achieve deeper and durable hematologic remissions and organ responses, no statistically significant superiority can be demonstrated over non-transplant or standard chemotherapy-based approaches. As retrieved by our review, bortezomib-based therapy appears to be favorable strategy as long as no dose modification is required for renal impairment, and early hematologic responses as a recovery of renal function. Encouraging data were also demonstrated by treatment lenalidomide or melpalan based. Moreover, new myeloma treatment strategies, as monoclonal antibody Daratumumab, seem to be effective in LCDD. Instead, renal allograft is not recommended, due to high incidence of relapse.

Light chain deposition disease: pathogenesis, clinical characteristics and treatment strategies.

Annals of Hematology

Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is the mainstay to treat patients who need augmentation of ventilation for acute and chronic forms of respiratory failure. The last several decades has witnessed an extension of the indications for NIV to a variety of acute and chronic lung diseases. Evolving advancements in technology and personalised approaches to patient care make it feasible to prioritise patient centered care models that deliver home-based management using telemonitoring and telemedicine systems support. These trends may improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and improve the quality of life for patients who suffer from chronic diseases that precipitate respiratory failure.

Clinical Review of Non-invasive Ventilation.

European Respiratory Journal

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is an uncommon B-cell lymphoid malignancy affecting 8570 new patients annually and representing ~10% of all lymphomas in the United States.

HL is composed of two distinct disease entities: classical HL and nodular lymphocyte predominant HL (also called nodular lymphocyte predominant B-cell lymphoma). Nodular sclerosis, mixed cellularity, lymphocyte depletion, and lymphocyte-rich HL are subgroups of classical HL.

An accurate assessment of the stage of disease in patients with HL is critical for the selection of the appropriate therapy. Prognostic models that identify patients at low or high risk for recurrence, as well as the response to therapy as determined by positron emission tomography (PET) scan, are used to optimize therapy.

Initial therapy for HL patients is based on the histology of the disease, the anatomical stage and the presence of poor prognostic features. Patients with early-stage disease are typically treated with combined modality strategies utilizing abbreviated courses of combination chemotherapy followed by involved-field radiation therapy, whereas those with advanced stage disease receive a longer course of chemotherapy often without radiation therapy. However, newer agents including brentuximab vedotin and anti-PD-1 antibodies are now standardly incorporated into frontline therapy.

High-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) followed by an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) is the standard of care for most patients who relapse following initial therapy. For patients who fail HDCT with ASCT, brentuximab vedotin, PD-1 blockade, non-myeloablative allogeneic transplant or participation in a clinical trial should be considered.

Hodgkin lymphoma: 2025 update on diagnosis, risk-stratification, and management.

American Journal of Hematology

The evaluation of the left atrial (LA) size using the LA volume index (LAVI) is clinically relevant due to its prognostic significance in various conditions. Nonetheless, adding a LA function assessment to the LAVI provides further clinical and prognostic information in different cardiovascular (CV) diseases. The assessment of LA function by echocardiography primarily includes volumetric measurements (LA ejection fraction [LAEF]), tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) (mitral annular late diastolic velocity [a']), and speckle-tracking methods, such as LA longitudinal reservoir strain (LA strain). This review analyzes and discusses the current medical evidence and potential clinical usefulness of these different methods to analyze LA function.

Current and Clinically Relevant Echocardiographic Parameters to Analyze Left Atrial Function.

Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease

Guidelines help physicians to provide optimal care for stroke patients, but implementation is challenging due to the quantity of recommendations. Therefore a practical overview related to applicability of recommendations can be of assistance.

A systematic review was performed on ischaemic stroke guidelines published in scientific journals, covering the whole acute care process for patients with ischaemic stroke. After data extraction, experts rated the recommendations on dimensions of applicability, that is, actionability, feasibility and validity, on a 9-point Likert scale. Agreement was defined as a score of &#x2265;8 by &#x2265;80% of the experts.

Eighteen articles were identified and 48 recommendations were ultimately extracted. Papers were included only if they described the whole acute care process for patients with ischaemic stroke. Data extraction and analysis revealed variation in terms of both content and comprehensiveness of this description. Experts reached agreement on 34 of 48 (70.8%) recommendations in the dimension actionability, for 16 (33.3%) in feasibility and for 15 (31.3%) in validity. Agreement on all three dimensions was reached for seven (14.6%) recommendations: use of a stroke unit, exclusion of intracerebral haemorrhage as differential diagnosis, administration of intravenous thrombolysis, performance of electrocardiography/cardiac evaluation, non-invasive vascular examination, deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis and administration of statins if needed.

Substantial variation in agreement was revealed on the three dimensions of the applicability of recommendations. This overview can guide stroke physicians in improving the care process and removing barriers where implementation may be hampered by validity and feasibility.

Clinical experience with a calcium alginate dressing.

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Clinical experience with a calcium alginate dressing.

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