Although cough is a highly frequent motive for visiting the doctor among both adults and children in primary care [1, 2], it usually resolves spontaneously within a few days or weeks. Conversely, chronic cough, broadly defined as cough persisting for more than 8 weeks, is often a more difficult clinical situation from both diagnostic and therapeutic perspectives [3]. In many patients, the anato...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS To describe the findings and therapeutic role of salivary endoscopy for idiopathic chronic sialadenitis. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective case series. METHODS The records of 258 patients who underwent salivary endoscopy between November 2008 and May 2012 were reviewed. Included cases presented with recurrent inflammation and swelling of a single major salivary gland, without...

intradermal injection of autologous serum and plasma elicit a cutaneous reactivity in almost 45-60% of patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria (ciu).   this reactivity is associated with the presence of auto antibodies against ige or ige receptors. this study was carried out to compare the cutaneous reactivity of autologous serum and plasma skin tests in a series of patients with ciu for dia...

Ablation of a mitral annulus (MA)-ventricular tachycardia (VT), a rare form of idiopathic left VT, has not yet been described in patients <2 years of age. We describe a case of a toddler with an incessant, poorly tolerated idiopathic VT (190 bpm) refractory to medical therapy, which was successfully ablated in the left ventricle at the infero-posterior part of the MA. Different diagnostic and a...

The laboratory diagnosis of acute bacterial prostatitis is straightforward and easily accomplished in clinical laboratories. Chronic bacterial prostatitis, and especially chronic idiopathic prostatitis (most often referred to as abacterial prostatitis), presents a real challenge to the clinician and clinical microbiologist. Clinically, the diagnosis of chronic idiopathic prostatitis is differen...

Cutaneous vasculitis can be classified as primary or idiopathic; or secondary, when it presents as a manifestation of connective tissue diseases, infections, drug reactions or malignancies. Although most of the idiopathic cases are self-limited and responsive to supportive measures and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, potent immunosuppressants are sometimes required for the management of t...

Cough is among the most common complaints for which patients worldwide seek medical attention. Thus, the evaluation and treatment of cough result in tremendous financial expenditure and consumption of health care resources. Yet, despite the clinical significance of cough, research efforts aimed at improving diagnostic capabilities and developing more effective therapeutic agents have been, to d...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The purpose of the review is to review the pathophysiology, available data, and our current recommendations for calcineurin inhibitor (cyclosporine and tacrolimus) treatment in antihistamine refractory chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) patients. RECENT FINDINGS Low-dose cyclosporine (<5  mg/kg per day) may have unique immunological modulating properties beyond mast cell and...

OBJECTIVE To measure the frequency, persistence, isoform specificity, and clinical correlates of neurofascin antibodies in patients with peripheral neuropathies. METHODS We studied cohorts of patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) or chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) (n = 59), genetic neuropathy (n = 111), and idiopathic neuropathy (n = 43) for immunoglobulin (Ig) ...