A retrospective chart review of 312 patients tested for HIT at an academic hospital was conducted. 170 patients met inclusion criteria. Patients were excluded if the 4Ts score was less then 4. The 4Ts score is a pretest probability for HIT based on thrombocytopenia degree, timing, alternative causes and presence of thrombosis. Included patients were divided according to management groups and compared with logistic regression analysis. Bleeding risk significantly differed between management groups (p = 0.002). Despite adjustment for bleeding risk, fondaparinux was associated with increased AE, (p = 0.03, OR = 5.81), while argatroban was not. There was no difference in AE based on time to initiation of empiric treatment and no advantage to reduced dosing with either anticoagulant. These findings challenge assumptions surrounding empiric HIT management.Working as a researcher is very satisfying. However, it comes with a price. This is a story about growing up as a scientist in the field of molecular biology. Starting as a young, rather naive researcher, I learned, step by step, not only the facts about my favorite RNA molecules but also the demands and downsides of academia. Going through my recent “scientific awakening,” I fully acknowledged the rules of the game to write, to publish, to patent, to apply for grants and awards, and finally, to engage in all forms of coscientific endeavors. After going through a divorce, single parenting, immigration, and being scooped, I became a scientist who finally takes her career in her own hands and navigates through, but does not succumb to, the difficulties in science. This is my monument to resilience.

In this study, we aimed to determine whether neutrophil / lymphocyte ratio (NLR), obtained by dividing the number of neutrophils by the number of lymphocytes, and uric acid (UA) levels in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients vary compared with healthy controls and to establish correlations among these changes themselves as well as between such changes and MS subtypes, immunomodulatory drug use, the duration of the disease and prognosis.

150 patients who presented to our hospital and were diagnosed with MS and 150 healthy volunteers were retrospectively included in our study. EDSS score (Expanded Disability Status Scale) was used to assess the disability of the patients.

Compared to healthy volunteers, MS patients had lower UA levels (p < 0.001) and higher NLR values (p = 0.02). In addition, UA levels were higher in patients with a low EDSS score or those on immunomodulating drugs (p < 0.001, p = 0.04, respectively). NLR value was lower in patients with a low EDSS score (p < 0.001). There was a negative correlation between NLR value and UA (r = ‒0.23, p = 0.003). Similarly, UA level decreased with increasing EDSS score and duration of disease (r = ‒0.38, p < 0.001; r = ‒0.17, p = 0.02, respectively).

Evaluating the NLR value, recognized as a new marker for inflammation in MS, together with the UA value, thought to be protective in MS, might be more effective than evaluating these parameters alone in demonstrating disability in patients (Tab. 4, Ref. 28). Text in PDF http://www.elis.sk Keywords neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, uric acid, multiple sclerosis, inflammation, Expanded Disability Status Scale.

Evaluating the NLR value, recognized as a new marker for inflammation in MS, together with the UA value, thought to be protective in MS, might be more effective than evaluating these parameters alone in demonstrating disability in patients (Tab. 4, Ref. 28). Text in PDF http://www.elis.sk Keywords neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, uric acid, multiple sclerosis, inflammation, Expanded Disability Status Scale.

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of water load test (WLT) on heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure variability (BPV), hemodynamic parameters and gastric myoelectric activity in gastrointestinal (GI) cancer patients.

WLT activates gastrointestinal mechanoreception and osmoreception, and hence, can indirectly modulate autonomic activity.

Eighty patients (mean age 61.2 years) were enrolled, along with the group of healthy controls. HRV, BPV and electrogastrography (EGG) were recorded at rest (in a fasted state) and after water uptake at 100 ml/min.

WLT contributed to an increase in the percentages of normogastria time, from 37.3 % to 50.0 % (p=0.02) and from 42.3 % to 47.7 % (p=0.01), respectively in colon and rectal cancer. NSC 23766 clinical trial Cancer patients presented lower values of HRV indices determined on linear analysis at rest and after WLT.

A slight predominance of the sympathetic component was observed in response to WLT, which was reflected by changes in hemodynamic parameters. The respons, blood pressure variability, gastrointestinal cancer.

To assess how laparoscopy has altered the presentation of patients with gallbladder cancer and determine whether radical resection in patients with gallbladder cancer is beneficial.

47 patients underwent surgery because of suspected gallbladder cancer. Cancer was found incidentally in 29 patients (61.7 %) during routine laparoscopic cholecystectomy using frozen biopsy. Gallbladder cancer had been diagnosed preoperatively in the other 18 patients (38.3 %).

Patients in whom carcinoma was found incidentally at laparoscopic cholecystectomy had a significant increase in survival when compared with those who were admitted electively with a known diagnosis. All patients who presented with a known diagnosis had stage II or higher, and 38.3 % of these were in stage IV. However, 58.6 % of those patients who were found incidentally were in stage I or II. The overall 2-year survival for all patients was 45 %; those discovered incidentally at laparoscopic cholecystectomy (Tis-T2) had a 2-year survival of 87 %.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy resulted in an earlier discovery of gallbladder cancer in some patients, resulting in increased probability of survival. Adjunctive radical surgical resection, either at the time of cholecystectomy or subsequently, increases survival significantly in early stage disease (Tab.2, Fig. 2, Ref. 24). Text in PDF http://www.elis.sk Keywords gallbladder carcinoma, laparoscopic approach.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy resulted in an earlier discovery of gallbladder cancer in some patients, resulting in increased probability of survival. Adjunctive radical surgical resection, either at the time of cholecystectomy or subsequently, increases survival significantly in early stage disease (Tab.2, Fig. 2, Ref. 24). Text in PDF http://www.elis.sk Keywords gallbladder carcinoma, laparoscopic approach.