Pain is the insignia of sickle cell disease and the acute painful crisis is the number-one cause of hospital admissions. Tissue damage due to vaso-occlusion releases numerous inflammatory mediators that initiate the transmission of painful stimuli and the perception of pain. The acute sickle cell painful crisis evolves along four distinct phases coupled with changes in certain markers of the di...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to examine the clinical characteristics of adrenal incidentalomas discovered by computed tomography (CT) and to investigate metabolic features of subclinical Cushing's syndrome (SCS) in patients with adrenal incidentalomas in a tertiary hospital in Korea. METHODS This retrospective study examined the clinical aspects of 268 patients with adrenal incidental...

OBJECTIVE We analyzed the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of treating failed back-surgery syndrome using spinal cord stimulation (SCS) versus reoperation. MATERIALS AND METHODS A disinterested third party collected charge data for the first 42 patients in a randomized controlled crossover trial. We computed the difference in cost with regard to success (cost-effectiveness) and mean qualit...

V. NEEL, M.D., PH.D. T HIS REPORT deals with a new inherited abnormality of hemoglobin encountered in American Negroes. The existence of this traitcame to light ill the course of extensive clinical and genetic studies u’egarding the sickling pheuiomenon. Among the individuals examined thei’e were anumber of patients ‘it-h a hemolytic syndrome associated with erythrocytic sickling in whom neithe...

Abstract Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) plays an important role as a life-saving tool for patients with therapy-refractory cardio-respiratory failure. Especially, rare and infrequent indications, scientific data is scarce. The conducted paper focuses primarily on our institutional experience 19-year-old patient suffering acute chest syndrome, pathognomonic pulmonary condition presen...

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has become an established clinical option for treatment of refractory chronic pain. Current hardware and implantation techniques for SCS are already highly developed and continuously improving; however, equipment failures over the course of long-term treatment are still encountered in a relatively high proportion of the cases treated with it. Percutaneous SCS leads...

The kidney of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) is affected by both haemodynamic changes of chronic anaemia and by the consequences of vaso-occlusion which are especially marked within the renal medulla. There are many abnormalities in renal structure and function as a result of these changes. Functional changes occur with increasing age in subjects with sickle cell disease. Proteinuria, ...

Abstract Background Sickle cell disease is a fatal systemic condition characterized by acute painful episodes, persistent anemia, ongoing organ damage, infarction, and markedly shorter average lifetime. It first appeared in the tropics' malarial zones, where carriers benefit from an evolutionary advantage being shielded malaria death. Due to demographic shifts, this crisis now affects people al...

OBJECTIVES Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an effective method of relieving chronic intractable pain, and one of its key indications is failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS). The objective of the current study was to evaluate the cost effectiveness of 10 kHz high-frequency SCS (HF10 SCS) compared to conventional medical management (CMM), reoperation, and traditional nonrechargeable (TNR-SCS) and...

Background Sickle cell patients suffer from many physical, psychological, and social problems that can affect their quality of life. To deal with this chronic condition and manage their disease and prevent complications associated with the disease, they must learn skills and behaviours. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of self-management programs on quality of life in t...