CENTRAL CORNEAL THICKNESS IN BLACK AND WHITE BRAZILIAN PA-TIENTS

Purpose: Considering the importance of central corneal thickness (CCT) in the IOP assessment and the lack of these data in a Brazilian population, this study was conducted to compare the corneal thickness of black and white patients in Brazil. Methods: A retrospective analysis was done and the of CCT of 24 black and 21 white Brazilian patients were compared. The CCT

CENTRAL CORNEAL THICKNESS IN WHITE AND YELLOW PATIENTS IN BRAZIL

Purpose: To determine if there is a difference in central corneal thickness (CCT) of white and yellow Brazilian patients. Methods: We retrospectively compared the CCT data of yellow patients living in Brazil and white Brazilian patients. CCT was measured with an ultrasound pachymeter (Compuscan P Ultrasonic Pachymeter System model UPC 1000 ). One eye of each patient was randomly selected for statistical analysis. A two sample t

咪喹莫特治疗毛细血管淋巴管畸形的初步报告

该文报道1例14岁男性白人患者，临床诊断为毛细血管淋巴管混合畸形，应用咪喹莫特进行治疗。旨在评价局部应用咪喹莫特治疗毛细血管淋巴管混合畸形的作用机制及效果。治疗4周后肿物变平，治疗2个月后肿物缩小，皮肤颜色接近正常。治疗结束后1个月，肿物完全消失，无复发迹象。由于表浅的病变不适合破坏性干预，该病例提示，咪喹莫特局部应用是治疗表浅毛细血管淋巴管混合畸形的有效方法。

充血性心力衰竭预后及治疗效果的种族差异

Background: In congestive heart failure(CHF), it is unknown whether race affects mortality and whether the effect of treatments differs by race. Methods: This study was a post hoc analysis of data from the DIG study that evaluated the effect of digoxin on morbidity and mortality in CHF. Results: Investigators followed 897 black and 6660 white participants for a mean of 37 months. Compared with whites, blacks were younger(60± 13 vs 65± 11 years). Total mortality was 34.2% in blacks and 33.6% in whites; hospitalization for worsening CHF occurred in 39% of blacks and 28% of whites. Cox regressions with race as the only covariate showed no effect of race on risk for death(relative risk=1.04, 95% CI 0.93- 1.18, P=.49)but an increase in CHF hospitalization in blacks(relative risk=1.52, 95% CI 1.35- 1.70, P=.0001). Multivariate Cox regression showed no difference by race in risk for death or death/hospitalization for CHF and no difference in the effect of digoxin on either end point. Conclusion: Race is not an independent predictor of mortality in CHF. The effect of digoxin on morbidity and mortality in CHF does not differ in blacks and whites.

Plasma fibrinogen levels are associated with epidermal growth factor receptor gene mutation in Chinese patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Objective： The plasma fibrinogen levels had not only been used as an independent prognostic parameter for the patients with non-small cell lung cancer （NSCLC）, but also as a promising biomarker for evaluating the efficacy of chemotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the plasma fibrinogen levels and epidermal growth factor receptor （EGFR） gene mutation and clinical-pathological characteristics of Chinese patients with NSCLC. Methods： In this retrospective study, NSCLC specimens collected from 352 patients between November 2009 and November 2011 were selected to detect EGFR gene mutation with real-time polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR）. In these specimens, 308 ones were also detected EGFR gene copy number with fluorescence in situ hybridization （FISH）. Coagulation makers were examined prior to the operations. The association between the plasma fibrinogen levels and EGFR gene mutation and clinical-pathological characteristics were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 software. Results： The median pre-operation plasma fibrinogen level was 3.55 g/L （109/352） patients with higher plasma fibrinogen level （〉 4.0 g/L）. The lower plasma fibrinogen levels correlated significantly with EGFR gene mutations （P 〈 0.001）, the similar result was seen in platelet counts （P = 0.026）. A linear correlation was found between the plasma fibrinogen levels and the platelet counts in NSCLC patients （R^2 = 0.209, P 〈 0.001）. Pre-peration plasma fibrinogen levels correlated with gender （P 〈 0.001）, smoking status （P 〈 0.001 ）, and histology （P 〈 0.001 ）. There were significant link between the above clinical-pathological characteristics and EGFR gene mutations. In addition, EGFR gene mutation was correlated with FISH-positive status （P 〈 0.001）. Moreover, both plasma fibrinogen level （P = 0.024） and the EGFR gene copy number （P = 0.040） had significant relationships with the pathological TNM stage. Conclusion： This study showed that a significant relevance between plasma fibrinogen levels and EGFR gene mutations. The plasma fibrinogen level might be as a clinical decision parameter for evaluating the efficacy of anti-EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors （TKIs） in NSCLC. The patients of NSCLC had higher indicate have poor benefits from anti-EFGR TKIs. In addition, pre-operation plasma fibrinogen level could be used as an indepedent prognostic biomarker for the patients with NSCLC.