Clinical, Morphological Justification and First Experience in the Use of Radiofrequency as Well as Microwave Ablation Treatment Methods of Liver Echinococcosis

Background

The current study considers a new direction of surgical treatment of liver echinococcosis - the use of minimally invasive treatment methods of parasitic cysts.

Methods

After clinical and morphological substantiation of the very possibility of carrying out such procedures, 9 microwave ablations (MWA) and 3 radiofrequency ablations (RFA) of cysts were performed in patients with liver echinococcosis from 2017 to 2021 in the surgical clinic of Botkin Hospital, Moscow, Russia. A comparative analysis of treatment results of patients with echinococcal liver cysts (12 patients who underwent "percutaneous puncture, aspiration, injection and reaspiration" (PAIR) procedure and 12 patients - MWA and RFA) was carried out.

Results

The number of complications according to Clavien-Dindo classification was as follows: 8 after PAIR procedure, 3 after RFA and 3 after MWA. The median hospital length of stay (LOS) after PAIR procedure was 6.46 days versus 4.7 and 4 in the groups of patients who underwent RF and MW ablation, respectively. The frequency of relapses within the first year after PAIR procedure was 25%. The patients who underwent ablation procedures had no relapses of liver echinococcosis during observation.

Conclusion

The presented clinical and morphological substantiation and the experience of using various types of ablation techniques on echinococcal cysts, as well as a comparative analysis with a commonly used PAIR treatment method, demonstrated the safety of RFA and MWA for the patient and efficacy in relation to the hydatid process.

Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of a cream containing the Stryphnodendron adstringens (Martius) Coville bark extract for suppressing terminal hair growth

BACKGROUND

Excess of terminal hair can be defined as excessive hair that appears in male-like pattern in women. Some experts consider this condition as a result of an atypical relationship between levels of circulating androgens and sensitivity of androgen receptors in hair follicles to circulating androgens.

AIMS

The aim of this research work was to evaluate the efficacy of a topical treatment for suppressing terminal hair growth of a cream containing 6.0% of the Stryphnodendron adstringens bark extract.

STUDY DESIGN AND SUBJECTS

Study was randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled. Subjects with excess of terminal hair were randomized to placebo and to the active treatment (cream with 6.0% of the extract). Evaluation was performed before and after 6 months, and subjects were photographed in each time. Clinical examination was carried out with the same physicians and in accordance with the Ferriman-Gallwey (FG) score.

RESULTS

Benefits of the cream containing S. adstringens bark extract was observed in 60.98% (P < 0.001) of the subjects. FG score changed from 4 to 3 in the placebo group compared to 4-2 in the active. The cream suppressed the terminal hair growth and diminished the number of terminal hair. Subjects also described the reduction of skin hyperpigmentation, folliculitis and acne. Adverse events were not verified by physicians or patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The cream with 6.0% of the S. adstringens bark extract was effective on the reduction and on the reversion of the terminal hair excess, being considered a new promissory product for such finality.

[Creating a local collection of professional reports. A stake in the engineering of diploma education and research in continuing education]

The question of the dissertation written during the training is tackled through the entry key offered by the professional dissertations written during the training courses leading to qualification in the framework of a university department of vocational training. 72 professional dissertations, defended between 1993 and 1996, were analysed on the basis of observation sheets filled out by the directors. In reference to the semiotic approach which provides relevant theoretical and methodological materials for the problem posed, we shall show the interest of considering that these documents are, above all, "object-speeches" and must therefore be studied as such. According to the demands to be determined, related to the types of speeches to deliver, the professional dissertations considered as written traces reconstituting the practices and praxis which found them, as well on the professional as on the scientific level, can provide indications for training, in the area of research as well as in the one of praxeology. The written document is thought of as an object of transition from practice to professional praxis, rallying the scientific praxis which is expressed particularly in the writing work.