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Deep Learning Technology: Sebastian Arnold, Betty van Aken, Paul Grundmann, Felix A. Gers and Alexander Löser. Learning Contextualized Document Representations for Healthcare Answer Retrieval. The Web Conference 2020 (WWW'20)
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For "T. b. gambiense" the combination of nifurtimox and eflornithine (NECT) or eflornithine alone appear to be more effective and result in fewer side effects. These treatments may replace melarsoprol when available with the combination being first line. NECT has the benefit of requiring less injections of eflornithine.
Intravenous melarsoprol was previously the standard treatment for second-stage (neurological phase) disease and is effective for both types. Melarsoprol is the only treatment for second stage "T. b. rhodesiense"; however, it causes death in 5% of people who take it. Resistance to melarsoprol can occur.
The current treatment for first-stage disease is intravenous or intramuscular pentamidine for "T. b. gambiense" or intravenous suramin for "T. b. rhodesiense".
Identifying and treatment the underlying malignancy constitutes an uptime approach. Topical 5-fluorouracil may occasionally be help, as may oral retinoids, topical steroids, vitamin A acid, urea, salicylic acid, podophyllotoxin, and cryodestruction employing liquid.
Winterbottom's sign is seen in the early phase of African trypanosomiasis, a disease caused by the parasites "Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense" and "Trypanosoma brucei gambiense" which is more commonly known as African sleeping sickness. Dr. Anthony Martinelli describes Winterbottom's sign as the swelling of lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy) along the back of the neck, in the posterior cervical chain of lymph nodes, as trypanosomes travel in the lymphatic fluid and cause inflammation.
It may be suggestive of cerebral infection.
Improvement usually parallels that of the cancer, whether surgical or chemotherapeutic. Generalization of the associated visceral malignancy may worsen the eruption.
Treatment for Nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (JNA) is primarily surgical. The tumor is primarily excised by external or endoscopic approach. Medical treatment and radiation therapy are only of historical interest.
External approaches:
- transpalatine approach
- transpalatine + sublabial (Sardana's) Approach
- infratemporal Approach
- nasal endoscopic Approach
- transmaxillary Approach
Endoscopic approach is an excellent tool in primary and recurrent JNA, it allows visualisation and precise removal of the lesion. Preoperative embolisation of tumour may be of some use in reducing intraoperative bleeding.
Direct visualization is not common.
The term Winterbottom's sign derives from descriptions of the posterior cervical lymphadenopathy associated with African trypanosomiasis made by a slave trader using the sign to weed out the ill.
If the splenomegaly underlies hypersplenism, a splenectomy is indicated and will correct the hypersplenism. However, the underlying cause of the hypersplenism will most likely remain; consequently, a thorough diagnostic workup is still indicated, as, leukemia, lymphoma and other serious disorders can cause hypersplenism and splenomegaly. After splenectomy, however, patients have an increased risk for infectious diseases.
Patients undergoing splenectomy should be vaccinated against "Haemophilus influenzae", "Streptococcus pneumoniae", and "Meningococcus". They should also receive annual influenza vaccinations. Long-term prophylactic antibiotics may be given in certain cases.
In cases of infectious mononucleosis splenomegaly is a common symptom and health care providers may consider using abdominal ultrasonography to get insight into a person's condition. However, because spleen size varies greatly, ultrasonography is not a valid technique for assessing spleen enlargement and should not be used in typical circumstances or to make routine decisions about fitness for playing sports.
Treatment depends on the underlying cause and the severity of the heart impairment. Pericardial effusion due to a viral infection usually goes away within a few weeks without the treatment. Some pericardial effusions remain small and never need treatment. If the pericardial effusion is due to a condition such as lupus, treatment with anti-inflammatory medications may help. If the effusion is compromising heart function and causing cardiac tamponade, it will need to be drained, most commonly by a needle inserted through the chest wall and into the pericardial space called pericardiocentesis. A drainage tube is often left in place for several days. In some cases, surgical drainage may be required by cutting through the pericardium creating a pericardial window.
Corticosteroids and other immunosuppressive medications have historically been employed to reduce pemphigus symptoms, yet steroids are associated with serious and long-lasting side effects and their use should be limited as much as possible. Intravenous immunoglobulin, mycophenolate mofetil, methotrexate, azathioprine, and cyclophosphamide have also been used with varying degrees of success.
An established alternative to steroids are monoclonal antibodies such as rituximab, which are increasingly being used as first-line treatment. In numerous case series, many patients achieve remission after one cycle of rituximab. Treatment is more successful if initiated early on in the course of disease, perhaps even at diagnosis. Rituximab treatment combined with monthly IV immunoglobulin infusions has resulted in long-term remission with no recurrence of disease in 10 years after treatment was halted. This was a small trial study of 11 patients with 10 patients followed to completion.
Fremitus is a vibration transmitted through the body. In common medical usage, it usually refers to assessment of the lungs by either the vibration intensity felt on the chest wall ("tactile fremitus") and/or heard by a stethoscope on the chest wall with certain spoken words ("vocal fremitus"), although there are several other types.
In addition, people should be given antibiotics, such as second- or third-generation cephalosporins, either alone or in combination with penicillin or ampicillin for streptococcal coverage. If allergy to penicillins is present, Co-trimoxazole or clindamycin is an alternative.
Epiglottitis may require urgent tracheal intubation to protect the airway, though this is not always the case. A surgical airway opening (cricothyrotomy) may be required if intubation is not possible.
Topical and intralesional (injected into the affected areas) corticosteroid drugs may be used, such as fluocinonide, clobetasol propionate or triamcinolone acetonide. Oral candidiasis may develop with long term topical steroid use, and sometimes antimycotics such as miconazole gel or chlorhexidine mouthwash are used to prevent this. Topical ciclosporin is sometimes used.
Dapsone is sometimes used as a steroid sparing agent. The dose is often increased very slowly in order to minimize side effects. Systemic steroids, such as prednisone or prednisolone may be needed in severe cases. Many other drugs have been used to treat mucous membrane pemphoid, including azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, thalidomide, mycophenolate mofetil, leflunomide, sulphasalazine, sulphapuridine, sulphamethoxypiridazine, tetracyclines (e.g. minocycline, doxycycline) and nicotinamide.
Simple measures that can be taken include avoidance of hard, sharp or rough foods, and taking care when eating. Good oral hygiene is also usually advised, and professional oral hygiene measures such as periodontal scaling.
When a person speaks, the vocal cords create vibrations ("vocal fremitus") in the tracheobronchial tree and through the lungs and chest wall, where they can be felt ("tactile fremitus"). This is usually assessed with the healthcare provider placing the flat of their palms on the chest wall and then asking a patient to repeat a diphthong such as "blue balloons" or "toys for tots" (the original diphthong used was the German word Neunundneunzig but the translation to the English 'ninety nine' was not a diphthong and thus not as effective in eliciting fremitus). An increase in tactile fremitus indicates denser or inflamed lung tissue, which can be caused by diseases such as pneumonia. A decrease suggests air or fluid in the pleural spaces or a decrease in lung tissue density, which can be caused by diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma.
Lymphadenopathy or adenopathy is disease of the lymph nodes, in which they are abnormal in size, number, or consistency. Lymphadenopathy of an inflammatory type (the most common type) is lymphadenitis, producing swollen or enlarged lymph nodes. In clinical practice, the distinction between lymphadenopathy and lymphadenitis is rarely made and the words are usually treated as synonymous. Inflammation of the lymphatic vessels is known as lymphangitis. Infectious lymphadenitides affecting lymph nodes in the neck are often called scrofula.
The term comes from the word lymph and a combination of the Greek words , "adenas" ("gland") and , "patheia" ("act of suffering" or "disease").
Lymphadenopathy is a common and nonspecific sign. Common causes include infections (from minor ones such as the common cold to dangerous ones such as HIV/AIDS), autoimmune diseases, and cancers. Lymphadenopathy is also frequently idiopathic and self-limiting.
The Sign of Hertoghe or Queen Anne's sign is a thinning or loss of the outer third of the eyebrows, and is a classical sign of hypothyroidism or dermatitis atopica, but it can also be detected in lepromatous leprosy. The sign is named after Eugene Hertoghe of Antwerp, a pioneer in thyroid function research.
Research into using genetically modified T-cells to treat pemphigus vulgaris in mice was reported in 2016. Rituximab indiscriminately attacks all B cells, which reduces the body's ability to control infections. In the experimental treatment, human T cells are genetically engineered to recognize only those B cells that produce antibodies to desmoglein 3.
Lymph node enlargement is recognized as a common sign of infectious, autoimmune, or malignant disease. Examples may include:
- Reactive: acute infection ("e.g.," bacterial, or viral), or chronic infections (tuberculous lymphadenitis, cat-scratch disease).
- The most distinctive sign of bubonic plague is extreme swelling of one or more lymph nodes that bulge out of the skin as "buboes." The buboes often become necrotic and may even rupture.
- Infectious mononucleosis is an acute viral infection caused by Epstein-Barr virus and may be characterized by a marked enlargement of the cervical lymph nodes.
- It is also a sign of cutaneous anthrax and Human African trypanosomiasis
- Toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease, gives a generalized lymphadenopathy ("Piringer-Kuchinka lymphadenopathy").
- Plasma cell variant of Castleman's disease - associated with HHV-8 infection and HIV infection
- Mesenteric lymphadenitis after viral systemic infection (particularly in the GALT in the appendix) can commonly present like appendicitis.
Less common infectious causes of lymphadenopathy may include bacterial infections such as cat scratch disease, tularemia, brucellosis, or prevotella.
- Tumoral:
- Primary: Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma give lymphadenopathy in all or a few lymph nodes.
- Secondary: metastasis, Virchow's Node, neuroblastoma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
- Autoimmune: systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis may have a generalized lymphadenopathy.
- Immunocompromised: AIDS. Generalized lymphadenopathy is an early sign of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). "Lymphadenopathy syndrome" has been used to describe the first symptomatic stage of HIV progression, preceding a diagnosis of AIDS.
- Bites from certain venomous snakes such as the pit viper
- Unknown: Kikuchi disease, progressive transformation of germinal centers, sarcoidosis, hyaline-vascular variant of Castleman's disease, Rosai-Dorfman disease, Kawasaki disease, Kimura disease
There is no evidence to support the use of acupuncture, low-level laser therapy, to treat PFPS. Most studies touting the benefits of alternative therapies for PFPS were conducted with flawed experimental design, and therefore did not produce reliable results.
Patients with uncomplicated acute pericarditis can generally be treated and followed up in an outpatient clinic. However, those with high risk factors for developing complications (see above) will need to be admitted to an inpatient service, most likely an ICU setting. High risk patients include the following:
- subacute onset
- high fever (> 100.4 F/38 C) and leukocytosis
- development of cardiac tamponade
- large pericardial effusion (echo-free space > 20 mm) resistant to NSAID treatment
- immunocompromised
- history of oral anticoagulation therapy
- acute trauma
- failure to respond to seven days of NSAID treatment
Pericardiocentesis is a procedure whereby the fluid in a pericardial effusion is removed through a needle. It is performed under the following conditions:
- presence of moderate or severe cardiac tamponade
- diagnostic purpose for suspected purulent, tuberculosis, or neoplastic pericarditis
- persistent symptomatic pericardial effusion
NSAIDs in "viral" or "idiopathic" pericarditis. In patients with underlying causes other than viral, the specific etiology should be treated. With idiopathic or viral pericarditis, NSAID is the mainstay treatment. Goal of therapy is to reduce pain and inflammation. The course of the disease may not be affected. The preferred NSAID is ibuprofen because of rare side effects, better effect on coronary flow, and larger dose range. Depending on severity, dosing is between 300–800 mg every 6–8 hours for days or weeks as needed. An alternative protocol is aspirin 800 mg every 6–8 hours. Dose tapering of NSAIDs may be needed. In pericarditis following acute myocardial infarction, NSAIDs other than aspirin should be avoided since they can impair scar formation. As with all NSAID use, GI protection should be engaged. Failure to respond to NSAIDs within one week (indicated by persistence of fever, worsening of condition, new pericardial effusion, or continuing chest pain) likely indicates that a cause other than viral or idiopathic is in process.
Colchicine, which has been essential to treat recurrent pericarditis, has been supported for routine use in acute pericarditis by recent prospective studies. Colchicine can be given 0.6 mg twice a day (0.6 mg daily for patients <70 kg) for 3 months following an acute attack. It should be considered in all patients with acute pericarditis, preferably in combination with a short-course of NSAIDs. For patients with a first episode of acute idiopathic or viral pericarditis, they should be treated with an NSAID plus colchicine 1–2 mg on first day followed by 0.5 daily or twice daily for three months. It should be avoided or used with caution in patients with severe renal insufficiency, hepatobiliary dysfunction, blood dyscrasias, and gastrointestinal motility disorders.
Corticosteroids are usually used in those cases that are clearly refractory to NSAIDs and colchicine and a specific cause has not been found. Systemic corticosteroids are usually reserved for those with autoimmune disease.
In terms of treatment for this condition the individual may be advised to do the following: "raise" the affected area to decrease swelling, and relieve pressure off of the affected area so it will encounter less pain. In certain circumstances drainage of the clot might be an option. In general, treatment may include the following:
The association with Anne of Denmark is based on portraiture, although history does not suggest that she suffered an underactive thyroid. The eponym is disputed by some, though it has been suggested that Anne of France, Anne of Brittany, Anne of Austria, Anne Boleyn and Anne of Cleves may all be eliminated as candidates.
The scientific consensus is that surgery should be avoided except in very severe cases in which conservative treatments fail. The majority of individuals with PFPS receive nonsurgical treatment.