Hearing screening of school children in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland

IntroductionHearing screening is an important part of prevention. It allows early detection of hearing disorders, thus the treatment may begin early, and eliminates or minimises negative consequences. Children with hearing impairment often experience delayed speech development and cognitive abilities, which can result in learning disabilities and reduce school progress. Since 1999, the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing in Poland has provided a hearing screening program for school-age children in the country. The main aim of the program is the early detection of hearing disorders in children starting school, and increase in the awareness among parents of hearing problems.Materials and MethodsPure-tone air-conduction hearing thresholds were obtained at 0.5–8 kHz. The results of the hearing screening examination were regarded as positive if pure-tone thresholds were higher than 20 dB HL in one or both ears at one or more of the test frequencies. The audiometric results were supplemented by questionnaires completed by the parents. There were 8,091 first-grade children from the Podkarpackie Voivodeship enrolled in the program.ResultsBased on the audiogram, screening showed that hearing impairment was found in 1618 children (20% of the examined children).ConclusionOur study yielded a large group of children with hearing problems. We recommend that hearing screening in primary schools should be a routine procedure within a general framework of preventive pediatric health care

Anti-TNF antibodies do not induce the apoptosis of lamina propria mononuclear cells in uninflamed intestinal tissue in patients with Crohn’s disease

It is not known if anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agents provoke only apoptosis of lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMC) engaged in inflammatory processes or whether it’s a general phenomenon concerning all LPMC. In this study we carried out an immunohistochemical analysis of the expression of several apoptosis-related proteins (active caspase-3, Bax, Bcl-2, Fas, TNFR1, CD4, and CD8) in uninflamed mucosa in Crohn’s disease (CD) patients treated with anti-TNF agents. 16 CD patients (mean age 34 ± 11, mean disease duration 7 ± 5 years) were included in the study. 10 patients were treated with infliximab and 6 — with adalimumab. The expression of active caspase 3, Bax, Bcl-2, Fas, TNFR1 and CD8 in LPMC did not change significantly after the therapy. We concluded that anti-TNF antibodies did not promote LPMC apoptosis in uninflamed tissues. This is in contrast to the phenomena observed in inflamed tissues. These data show that anti-TNF antibodies rather restore the susceptibility to apoptosis of LPMC in inflamed areas of the gut in CD, than directly induce LPMC apoptosis; otherwise the anti-TNF antibodies should have also induced apoptosis in the uninflamed mucosa

The influence of anti-TNF therapy on CD31 and VEGF expression in colonic mucosa of Crohn’s disease patients in relation to mucosal healing

Introduction. Immune-mediated angiogenesis may play an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory lesions in Crohn’s disease (CD). The study aimed to assess the influence of anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy on the angiogenesis in relation to microscopic and endoscopic healing in CD patients. Material and methods. Colonic tissue samples from 17 CD patients were taken during colonoscopy before and after anti-TNF therapy. Endoscopic and microscopic severities were estimated using validated scores. Immunohistochemical expression of CD31 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were assessed in parallel. Results. The expression of CD31 and VEGF decreased significantly after the anti-TNF therapy in parallel to endoscopic improvement; however, the microscopic activity did not change significantly. There was a correlation between the change in CD31 and VEGF expression (p = 0.01; r = 0.6), as well as endoscopic healing (p = 0.04; r = 0.4). CD31 immunoexpression correlated with the number of poly- and mononuclear cells in the infiltrates in the mucosal lamina propria before the therapy (p = 0.02; r = 0.5). Conclusions. We suggest that modulation of vascular proliferation can be a novel option to increase the efficacy of biological therapy in CD.

Zaćma jako powikłanie przewlekłej steroidoterapii stosowanej w leczeniu choroby Leśniowskiego-Crohna

In this article we present a case of 49-year-old patient hospitalizated in the Department of Gastroenterology, Human Nutrition and Internal Diseases of Clinical Hospital in Poznan due to Lesniowski-Crohn’s disease. In order to the remission of ongoing inflammation and control of relapses, patient used an intense steroid therapy for period of 5 years. In the discussion we describe shortly Lesniowski-Crohn’s disease, one of the inflammatory bowel diseases, including gastrointensinal and parenteral symptoms. The authors focused on multi-organ complications of chronic steroid therapy. In the article we watch out for ocular symptoms and the development of posterior subcapsular cataract which was diagnosed in patient. It is a problem present in a large group of patients, including the side effects of long-term steroid therapy. It should be stressed that steroid-induced cataract is a major problem in the population of patients with long-term treatment, and might impact the quality of life. This article includes above all clinical symptoms, pathological mechanism and risk factors inducing cataract. We present also medical indications qualifying for surgical implantation of intraocular lenses (IOLs). It came out that discontinuation of steroid therapy does not cure cataract and does not prevent further side effects of the management, so long treatment and clinical supervision of the patient are necessary. The study highlights complications that can occur after ophthalmic surgery. The role of the physician who prescribes steroid therapy is very significant because he is in charge of implementation of prevention steps and treatment of complications. The aim is to underline that only interdisciplinary approach in patients with Lesniowski-Crohn’s disease can benefit and it concerns both specialist as well general practitioner.W artykule przedstawiono przypadek 49-letniego pacjenta leczonego w Klinice Gastroenterologii, Żywienia Człowieka i Chorób Wewnętrznych w Poznaniu z powodu choroby Leśniowskiego-Crohna. W celu remisji toczącego się stanu zapalnego oraz opanowania rzutów choroby u pacjenta stosowano intensywną steroidoterapię przez okres pięciu lat. W poniższym omówieniu zawarto krótką charakterystykę choroby Leśniowskiego-Crohna, należącej do nieswoistych chorób zapalnych jelit oraz poszczególnych objawów pozajelitowych, występujących w jej przebiegu. Autorzy skupili się na licznych wielonarządowych powikłaniach wynikających z przewlekłej steroidoterapii. W artykule zwrócono uwagę na objawy oczne i rozwój zaćmy podtorebkowej tylnej, którą rozpoznano u przedstawionego pacjenta podczas konsultacji okulistycznej. Stanowi ona problem obecny u sporej grupy pacjentów, u której opisano skutki uboczne wieloletniego leczenia glikokortykosteroidami. Należy zatem podkreślić, że zaćma posteroidowa stanowi istotny problem w populacji dłu­gotrwale leczonych pacjentów, wpływający na jakość życia oraz chęć dalszej współpracy z lekarzem. W pracy uwzględniono przede wszystkim objawy kliniczne, patomechanizm oraz czynniki predysponujące do rozwoju zaćmy posteroidowej. Omówiono wskazania kwalifikujące pacjenta do zabiegu operacyjnego wszczepienia sztucznych soczewek. Okazuje się, że samo odstawienie glikokortykosteroidów nie powoduje wyleczenia zaćmy, co dodatkowo komplikuje postępowanie z pacjentem oraz wydłuża konieczność postępowania terapeutycznego i obserwacji. W pracy wyróżniono również powikłania mogące wystąpić po przeprowadzonym zabiegu okulistycznym. Zwrócono uwagę na rolę lekarza zlecającego leczenie glikokortykosteroidami — jego rolę we wdrażaniu odpowiednich kroków w profilaktyce oraz w leczeniu powikłań, przed ich dalszym rozwinięciem. Celem pracy jest podkreślenie konieczności wieloaspektowego i wielodyscyplinarnego podejścia do pacjenta z chorobą Leśniowskiego-Crohna zarówno przez lekarza specjalistę, jak i lekarza medycyny rodzinnej

A globally applicable “triple A” risk model for essential thrombocythemia based on Age, Absolute neutrophil count, and Absolute lymphocyte count

: We examined the individual prognostic contribution of absolute neutrophil (ANC), lymphocyte (ALC), and monocyte (AMC) counts, on overall (OS), leukemia-free (LFS), and myelofibrosis-free (MFFS) survival in essential thrombocythemia (ET). Informative cases (N = 598; median age 59 years; females 62%) were retrospectively accrued from a Mayo Clinic database: JAK2 59%, CALR 27%, triple-negative 11%, and MPL 3%; international prognostic scoring system for ET (IPSET) risk high 21%, intermediate 42%, and low 37%; 7% (37/515) had abnormal karyotype and 10% (21/205) adverse mutations (SF3B1/SRSF2/U2AF1/TP53). At median 8.4 years, 163 (27%) deaths, 71 (12%) fibrotic, and 20 (3%) leukemic transformations were recorded. Multivariable analysis resulted in HR (95% CI) of 16.5 (9.9-27.4) for age > 70 years, 3.7 (2.3-6.0) for age 50-70 years, 2.4 (1.7-3.3) for ANC ≥8 × 109 /L, and 1.9 (1.4-2.6) for ALC <1.7 × 109 /L. The corresponding HR-based scores were 4, 2, 1, and 1, resulting in an new 4-tiered AgeAncAlc (AAA; triple A) risk model: high (5-6 points; median survival 8 years; HR 30.1, 95% CI 17.6-54), intermediate-2 (4 points; median 13.5 years; HR 12.7, 95% CI 7.1-23.0), intermediate-1 (2-3 points; median 20.7 years; HR 3.8, 95% CI 2.3-6.4) and low (0-1 points; median 47 years). The AAA model (Akaike Information Criterion [AIC] 621) performed better than IPSET (AIC 647) and was subsequently validated by an external University of Florence ET cohort (N = 485). None of the AAA variables predicted LFS while ALC <1.7 × 109 /L was associated with inferior MFFS (p = .01). Adverse mutations (p < .01) and karyotype (p < .01) displayed additional prognostic value without disqualifying the prognostic integrity of the AAA model. This study proposes a simple and globally applicable survival model for ET, which can be used as a platform for further molecular refinement. This study also suggests a potential role for immune-related biomarkers, as a prognostic tool in myeloproliferative neoplasms