OBJECTIVES To evaluate whether patients with abnormal Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) and Reflux Finding Score (RFS) benefit from proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy. STUDY DESIGN Open, multicenter, prospective longitudinal cohort study. METHODS Patients with suspected reflux-associated laryngologic symptoms were evaluated by 40 community practice otolaryngologists using RSI and RFS. Patients we...

BACKGROUND Current research attention has been moving toward the needs of patients and their consequences for the quality of life (QoL). Self-stigma is a maladaptive psychosocial phenomenon disturbing the QoL in a substantial number of psychiatric patients. In our study, we examined the relationship between demographic data, the severity of symptoms, self-stigma, and QoL in patients with schizo...

Lower urinary tract dysfunction is a common component of virtually every pediatric urologist's practice. Although lower urinary tract dysfunction should be considered more of a social nuisance than a true medical condition, if left unchecked, real comorbidities may occur. A thorough history, physical examination, voiding diary, and noninvasive urodynamic studies, such as flow rate or flow rate ...

BACKGROUND Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is the unique causal treatment for respiratory allergy. As AIT is expensive and of long duration, the availability of a marker predicting AIT responders is of crucial relevance. OBJECTIVE To investigate clinical parameters correlated with effective AIT in allergic rhinitis (AR) patients. METHODS This is a prospective, nonrandomized open study in which...

BACKGROUND Pharmacists play an increasing role in advising on treatment for minor illnesses such as influenza-like illness (ILI) or ear, nose, and throat (ENT) disorders. However, the profile of patients consulting pharmacists with these illnesses, the types of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines recommended by pharmacists, and the effectiveness of these treatments have not been studied. OBJECTI...

Subjective symptom assessment should be a fundamental component of health-related quality of life (HRQL) assessment in end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Unfortunately, no symptom checklist has established reliability or validity in ESRD. We report the validation of a modified Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) in 507 dialysis patients who concurrently completed the Kidney Dialysis Quality ...

PURPOSE Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is increasingly utilized as primary treatment for clinically localized prostate cancer. While acute post-SBRT urinary symptoms are well recognized, the late genitourinary toxicity of SBRT has not been fully described. Here, we characterize the clinical features of late urinary symptom flare and recommend conservative symptom management approach...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of olanzapine with that of chlorpromazine plus benztropine in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. METHOD One hundred three previously treatment-resistant patients with schizophrenia diagnosed according to the DSM-III-R criteria were given a prospective 6-week trial of 10-40 mg/day of haloperidol. Eighty-four of them ...

Background: Topical retinoids are considered the first-line approach in the treatment of comedonal or mild inflammatory acne. However local tolerability of topical retinoids could be a limiting factor regarding their widespread clinical use in this setting. A new topical formulation containing two vitamin A derivatives (retinol and hydroxypinacolone retinoate, carried in a patented glycospheres...