PURPOSE:Following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), patients may experience alterations in vitamin D status, muscle strength, and nutritional status. This prospective cohort study investigated the effect of vitamin D replacement therapy on the nutritional status and muscle strength of allo-HSCT patients, as well as its relationship with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) characteristics. METHODS:Vitamin D levels, nutritional status, and muscle strength were assessed in 65 cGVHD and 37 non-cGVHD patients before and after vitamin D replacement therapy, which was prescribed based on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels. RESULTS:Malnutrition was observed in approximately 40 %, low muscle strength in approximately 50 %, and vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency in roughly 50 % and 30 % of patients, respectively, regardless of cGVHD status. A strong correlation between nutritional status and muscle strength was found (P < 0.0005). Gastrointestinal cGVHD was identified as a risk factor for malnutrition. Both malnutrition and the severity of cGVHD were independent risk factors for low handgrip strength (HGS). Myeloablative conditioning was identified as an independent risk factor for vitamin D deficiency. Low vitamin D levels were associated with liver cGVHD (P < 0.05). Increase in serum vitamin D after vitamin D replacement was more significant in patients with vitamin D deficiency. No association between serum vitamin D levels and nutritional status or muscle strength was observed. CONCLUSIONS:The results indicate that allo-HSCT patients exhibit impaired nutritional status, low muscle strength, and vitamin D deficiency. Although vitamin D replacement therapy improved serum vitamin D levels, no association was observed with changes in nutritional status or muscle strength.

Background and Objectives: To assess refractive and visual outcomes following phacoemulsification using a novel algorithm for toric intraocular lens (IOL) surgery. Setting: Private practice, Spain. Design: Prospective observational study. Materials and Methods: The algorithm was designed to control the topographic position of the principal meridians (flat and steep) after cataract surgery in eyes without associated corneal pathology or previous corneal surgery. It is well known that a toric IOL must be positioned along the steep meridian. Therefore, it is crucial to predict both the postoperative position of the steep meridian and its magnitude. Data from patients who were planned for refractive lens exchange or cataract surgery using the Pešić-Barraquer algorithm and implantation of a toric IOL in eyes with different degrees of astigmatism were used to assess the effect of residual astigmatism on 6-month postoperative monocular uncorrected and corrected distance logMAR visual acuity values (UDVA and CDVA). Vector analysis was performed with J0 and J45 evaluations, and centroid errors in postoperative refractive astigmatism prediction error were calculated in the spectacle plane using the “Astigmatism Double-Angle Plot Tool”. Results: Three hundred and six eyes of 250 patients with a mean age of 69.0 years ± 8.6 were enrolled in the study. The mean preoperative corneal astigmatism measured with Pentacam was 1.43 D ± 0.83 (SD). One hundred and eighty-four eyes (60.13%) had “against-the-rule” (ATR) astigmatism, 67 (21.90%) had “with-the-rule” (WTR) astigmatism, and 55 (17.97%) eyes had “oblique” corneal (OBL) astigmatism preoperatively. The mean absolute astigmatic prediction error in residual astigmatism was 0.31 D ± 0.28. Eyes with preoperative ATR corneal astigmatism had lower mean absolute errors compared to the eyes with WTR astigmatism (0.29 D ± 0.26 and 0.34 D ± 0.31, respectively). Centroid error in predicted residual astigmatism was 0.08 D ± 0.41 @4°. All eyes achieved residual refractive astigmatism within the 1.00 D range, and 55.23% had no residual astigmatism in the spectacle plane. Mean postoperative refractive astigmatism at the spectacle plane was 0.24 D ± 0.29. There were no postoperative complications. Additional statistical analysis of 310 eyes confirmed that when the main incision is not placed on one of the three meridians (flat, steep, or 45-degree bisector), the axis of astigmatism induced by the incision is significantly altered. Exploratory subgroup analyses demonstrated comparable prediction accuracy across incision positions, preoperative astigmatism types, and surgeons, further supporting the robustness of the proposed algorithm. Conclusions: In addition to enabling more accurate prediction of postoperative refractive residual astigmatism in patients undergoing toric IOL implantation, our newly proposed algorithm provides surgical pearls to facilitate preoperative and intraoperative management of corneal astigmatism, highlighting the importance of precise incision placement for optimal refractive outcomes.

The identification of biomarkers of chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease (cGvHD) remains an unmet clinical need. Elevated von Willebrand factor (VWF) and factor VIII (FVIII) reflect inflammation and endothelial activation and might be interesting candidates for biomarkers of cGvHD. This prospective study evaluated 83 cGvHD patients and 39 allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants recipients without cGvHD. VWF antigen (VWF:Ag), VWF activity (VWF:Ac), and FVIII activity were significantly elevated in cGvHD patients (p < 0.001), with the highest levels observed in active disease. Higher VWF:Ag and VWF:Ac were associated with liver and oral cGvHD. In multivariate analysis, lower albumin was the strongest predictor of both higher VWF:Ag (R² = 0.576) and higher VWF:Ac (R² = 0.540), followed by older age, higher LDH, and number of affected organs. For higher FVIII, systemic immunosuppressive therapy emerged as the main predictor (R² = 0.247). Longitudinal analysis showed declining levels of these factors with cGvHD remission and persistent elevation in active disease. ROC analysis demonstrated diagnostic potential for early cGvHD of VWF:Ag >246.3% (AUC = 0.733) and VWF:Ac >271.4% (AUC = 0.728). These results show the potential of VWF and FVIII as novel biomarkers for diagnosis and disease activity in cGvHD. Additional validation in independent cohorts is warranted.

Cervical cancer (CC) is a complex, multistep process involving various viral, molecular, cellular, endogenous, and environmental events that transform normal cervical epithelium into a malignant tumor through a cascade of events. The contribution of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) to cancer is significant but involves many additional mechanisms such as oxidative stress (OS), arrested apoptosis of non-functional intraepithelial neoplastic cells, senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), and the final epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cervical epithelial neoplasia (CIN) cells. While high-risk HPV oncoproteins E6 and E7 are widely recognized as the primary triggers of CC, the critical role of E6 in degrading the p53 regulatory protein, thereby inhibiting the apoptosis of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-damaged neoplastic cells, is frequently underappreciated in the gynecological literature. Arrested apoptosis of non-functional neoplastic intraepithelial cells is a key event in cervical carcinogenesis and the biological basis of CIN progression via SASP senescence and ultimately EMT. While recent reviews touched upon each of the reviewed aspects, this review aims to provide a general understanding of all links in this complex molecular-biological chain, from HPV infection, oxidative stress, arrested apoptosis, SASP, and EMT. Beyond providing an encompassing primer for clinical researchers, we additionally review potential oxidative stress-related markers for shifting the classic diagnostic and therapeutic paradigms of CIN and cervical cancer.

Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common malignancy worldwide, with the relatively low 5-year survival rate, mainly because it is diagnosed at a late stage. Infection with HPV is a well known aetiology, which affects the nature of these cancers and patients' survival. Besides, it is considered that the main driving force for this type of cancer could be epigenetics. In this study we aimed to find potential epigenetic biomarkers, by integrating miRNome, methylome, and transcriptome analyses. From the fresh head and neck cancer tissue samples, we chose a group for miRNome, methylome and transcriptome profiling, in comparison to adequate control samples. Bioinformatics analyses are performed in R v4.2.2. Count normalisation and group differential expression for mRNA and the previously obtained miRNA count data was performed with DESeq2 v1.36. Gene set enrichment analysis was performed and visualised using gProfiler2 v0.2.1 Identification of miRNA targets was performed by querying in miRTarBase using multiMiR v1.18.0. Annotation of CpG sites merging into islands was obtained from RnBeads.hg19 v1.28.0. package. For the integrative analysis we performed kmeans clustering using stats v4.2.2 package, using 8-12 clusters and nstart 100. We found that transcriptome analysis divides samples into cancers and controls clusters, with no relation to HPV status or cancer anatomical location. Differentially expressed genes (n = 2781) were predominantly associated with signalling pathways of tumour progression. We identified a cluster of genes under the control of the transcription factor E2F that are significantly underexpressed in cancer tissue, as well as T cell immunity genes and genes related to regulation of transcription. Among overexpressed genes in tumours we found those that belong to cell cycle regulation and vasculature. A small number of genes were found significantly differentially expressed in HPV-positive versus HPV-negative tumours (for example NEFH, ZFR2, TAF7L, ZNF541, and TYMS). In this comprehensive study on an overlapping set of samples where the integration of miRNome, methylome and transcriptome analysis were performed for head and neck cancer, we demonstrated that the majority of genes were associated exclusively with miRNome or methylome and, to a lesser extent, under the control of both epigenetic mechanisms.

Cervical cancer (CC) is the fourth most common malignant tumor in women worldwide. Detecting different biomarkers together on single cells by novel method mass cytometry could contribute to more precise screening. Liquid-based cytology (LBC) cervical samples were collected (N = 53) from women categorized as normal and precancerous lesions. Human papillomavirus was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction, while simultaneous examination of the expression of 29 proteins was done by mass cytometry (CyTOF). Differences in cluster abundances were assessed with Spearman's rank correlation as well as high dimensional data analysis (t-SNE, FlowSOM). Cytokeratin (ITGA6, Ck5, Ck10/13, Ck14, Ck7) expression patterns allowed determining the presence of different cells in the cervical epithelium. FlowSOM analysis enabled to phenotype cervical cells in five different metaclusters and find new markers that could be important in CC screening. The markers Ck18, Ck18, and CD63 (Metacluster 3) showed significantly increasing associated with severity of the precancerous lesions (Spearman rank correlation rho 0.304, p = 0.0271), while CD71, KLF4, LRIG1, E-cadherin, Nanog and p53 (Metacluster 1) decreased with severity of the precancerous lesions (Spearman rank correlation rho -0.401, p = 0.0029). Other metaclusters did not show significant correlation, but metacluster 2 (Ck17, MCM, MMP7, CD29, E-cadherin, Nanog, p53) showed higher abundance in low- and high-grade intraepithelial lesion cases. CyTOF appears feasible and should be considered when examining novel biomarkers on cervical LBC samples. This study enabled us to characterize different cells in the cervical epithelium and find markers and populations that could distinguish precancerous lesions.

PURPOSE:To investigate the functional and structural daily variations in eyes with a mild form of Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD). METHODS:This prospective study included 30 eyes with the mild form of FECD. Subjects underwent functional and structural testing at 8 AM, 2 PM, and 8 PM. Testing included measurement of uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), best corrected twilight vision (TV), and contrast sensitivity function (CSF) testing (Vista Vision Far-Pola, DMD MedTech charts). Corneal epithelial and stromal parameters were evaluated with anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AngioVue, AvantiRTVue-XR; Optovue, CA, USA). RESULTS:UDVA, TV, and CSF for spatial frequencies B, C, and F showed significant changes during the day, with the lowest values in the morning ( P < 0.0001 for UDVA, P = 0.0109 for TV, and P < 0.0001, P = 0.0126, and P = 0.0471 for the three spatial frequencies, respectively). There was no significant change in epithelial parameters between visits. Central corneal thickness showed significant decrease during the day ( P < 0.0001), as did the central stromal thickness on the 5- and 7-mm maps ( P = 0.0002 and P < 0.0001, respectively), stromal thickness in the superior section of the 5-mm map ( P = 0.0107), stromal thickness in the inferior section of the 7-mm map ( P = 0.0002), and minimal stromal thickness on both maps ( P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION:A significant negative correlation was found between central stromal thickness and TV, implying that simultaneous evaluation of corneal layers and visual quality may be useful in assessing FECD.

Treatment outcomes and long-term survival of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) in a real-world setting are difficult to assess, especially for species other than Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC).This was a retrospective cohort study on all Croatian residents with respiratory NTM isolates from 2006 to 2015, with follow-up to 2020.Therapy was started in 98/137 (71.5%) of patients, significantly more often in patients with fibrocavitary disease and/or sputum smear positivity. Unsuccessful treatment outcomes were recorded in 39/98 (39.8%) patients (14 deaths and 25 treatment failures). One-year and 5-year all-cause mortality were respectively 18.2% and 37.6%. Guideline-based treatment (GBT) was started in 50/98 (51%) of treated patients and followed for the recommended duration in 35.7% (35/98). This resulted in a higher chance of cure (OR 3.79, 95% CI 1.29 to 11.1; P = 0.012) than inadequately treated/untreated patients. For Mycobacterium xenopi disease, high cure rates (>80%) were achieved both with GBT and non-GBT treatment regimens.Guideline-based therapy resulted in a four-time higher chance of being cured. The impact of GBT on treatment outcomes was clear for MAC disease, but no apparent effect was observed for patients with M. xenopi disease.

The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a 12-week doxycycline treatment for thyroid eye disease (TED), an autoimmune condition associated with thyroid dysfunction. In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 82 patients were randomly assigned at a 1:1 ratio to receive doxycycline (50 mg) or to undergo no treatment. Various metrics, including margin reflex distance (MRD1 and MRD2), eyelid aperture, levator muscle function, lagophthalmos, proptosis, ocular motility, diplopia, and Graves’ ophthalmopathy-specific quality-of-life (GO-QOL) scale scoring were assessed. Exclusion criteria were uncontrolled systemic diseases, tetracycline allergies, pregnancy, lactation, or age below 18. The mean age was 51.6 years (SD), 87.8% of participants were female, and all were Caucasians. By week 12, the doxycycline group exhibited a significant improvement rate based on MRD2 (from 4 to 15 participants with physiological findings), clinical activity score (from 7 to 35 participants with non-active disease), and GO-QOL (from 51.22% to 70.73% of participants with a good life quality). Doxycycline showcased anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects in treating TED, suggesting its potential efficacy for TED and other orbit inflammatory conditions. However, these results warrant further validation through future research involving extended follow-up periods and larger cohorts.

Head and neck cancers rank as the sixth most prevalent cancers globally. In addition to traditional risk factors such as smoking and alcohol use, human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are becoming a significant causative agent of head and neck cancers, particularly among Western populations. Although HPV offers a significant survival benefit, the search for better biomarkers is still ongoing. In the current study, our objective was to investigate whether the expression levels of three PDZ-domain-containing proteins (SCRIB, NHERF2, and DLG1), known HPV E6 cellular substrates, influence the survival of HNSCC patients treated by primary surgery (n = 48). Samples were derived from oropharyngeal and oral cancers, and HPV presence was confirmed by PCR and p16 staining. Clinical and follow-up information was obtained from the hospital database and the Croatian Cancer registry up to November 2023. Survival was evaluated using the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional hazard regression. The results were corroborated through the reanalysis of a comparable subset of TCGA cancer patients (n = 391). In conclusion, of the three targets studied, only SCRIB levels were found to be an independent predictor of survival in the Cox regression analysis, along with tumor stage. Further studies in a more typical Western population setting are needed since smoking and alcohol consumption are still prominent in the Croatian population, while the strongest association between survival and SCRIB levels was seen in HPV-negative cases.

IntroductionChronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD) is a serious late complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT).MethodsThis multicenter analysis determined the cumulative incidence (CI) of cGvHD and late acute GvHD (laGvHD) and its impact on transplantation-related mortality (TRM), relapse (R), and overall survival (OS) in 317 patients [296 adults, 21 pediatrics (<12 years of age)] who underwent their first allo-HSCT in 2017.ResultsThe CI of laGvHD was 10.5% in adults and 4.8% in pediatrics, and the CI of cGvHD was 43.0% in all adult transplant patients and 50.2% in the adult at-risk cohort at the study end. The onset of cGvHD was de novo in 42.0% of patients, quiescent in 52.1%, and progressive in 5.9%. In adults, prophylactic use of antithymocyte globulin or posttransplant cyclophosphamide was associated with a significantly lower incidence of cGvHD (28.7%) vs. standard prophylaxis with calcineurin inhibitors (30.6%) and methotrexate/mycophenolate mofetil (58.4%) (all p < 0.01). TRM was significantly higher in patients with aGvHD (31.8%) vs. cGvHD (12.6%) and no GvHD (6.3%) (all p = 0.0001). OS in the adult at-risk cohort was significantly higher in patients with cGvHD (78.9%) vs. without (66.2%; p = 0.0022; HR 0.48) due to a significantly lower relapse rate (cGvHD: 14.5%; without cGvHD: 27.2%; p = 0.00016, HR 0.41). OS was also significantly higher in patients with mild (80.0%) and moderate (79.2%) cGvHD vs. without cGvHD (66.2%), excluding severe cGvHD (72.7%) (all p = 0.0214).DiscussionThe negative impact of severe cGvHD on OS suggests a focus on prevention of severe forms is warranted to improve survival and quality of life.

The incidence and mortality rate of cervical cancer in Croatia remains a health challenge despite screening efforts. Besides the persistent infection with HPV, the development of cancer is also associated with some cofactors. The goal of this study was to assess circulating HPV genotypes and risk factors for the development of cervical precancer after almost 16 years from the onset of HPV vaccination in Croatia. In this study, a total of 321 women attending gynecological care were evaluated. Relevant medical and demographic information, including cytology, were collected. HPV genotyping was performed by PCR. Comparing the HPV types found in circulation in the pre-vaccination (1999–2015) and post-vaccination periods (2020–2023), a statistically significant reduction in HPV 31 was noted, while the overall prevalence increased in the post-vaccination period. Besides the expected HPV positivity as a risk factor, the history of smoking was associated with LSIL or worse cytology at enrollment. For the first time, this population study revealed a statistically significant shift in the HPV genotype in the post-vaccination period, as well as the confirmation of risk factors for the development of abnormal cytology among Croatian women.

The aim of this study was to investigate leachable components (monomers) in high and low viscosity dental bulk-fill resin composites and conventional resin composite materials after polymerization. Six bulk-fill and six conventional dental resin composite materials were used in this study. The samples of each material (three sets of triplicates) were cured for 20 s with irradiance of 1200 mW/cm2 with a LED curing unit and immersed in a 75% ethanol solution at 37 °C. The eluates from each triplicate set were analyzed after 24 h, 7 days or 28 days using liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Detectable amounts of 2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) were found in both Gradia materials and the amount observed across different time points was statistically different (p ˂ 0.05), with the amount in solution increasing for Gradia and decreasing for Gradia Direct flo. Bisphenol A diglycidildimethacrylate (BIS GMA) was found in Filtek and Tetric materials. Triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) was detected in all materials. On the other hand, there were no statistically significant differences in the amounts of TEGDMA detected across different time points in either of the tested materials. Monomers HEMA, TEGDMA, 4-dimethylaminobenzoic acid ethyl ester (DMA BEE) and BIS GMA in bulk-fill and conventional composites (high and low viscosity) can be eluted after polymerization. The good selection of composite material and proper handling, the following of the manufacturer’s instructions for polymerization and the use of finishing and polishing procedures may reduce the elution of the unpolymerized monomers> responsible for the possible allergic and genotoxic potential of dental resin composites.

CONTEXT:Evaluation of visual quality in soft and rigid gas-permeable contact lens wearers, with an emphasis on twilight vision. PURPOSE:To assess the visual acuity and visual performance at dusk before and after soft and rigid gas-permeable contact lens (CL) correction in healthy subjects. SETTINGS AND DESIGN:This prospective study was conducted in a tertiary eye-care center. METHODS:Sixty eyes corrected with soft contact lenses (SCLs) and 30 eyes with rigid gas-permeable contact lenses (RGPCLs) were enrolled in this study. Patients underwent corrected distance visual acuity with spectacles (CDVAs), corrected distance visual acuity with contact lenses (CDVAcl), and twilight vision (TV) testing (Vista Vision Far-Pola, DMD MedTech charts). Parameters were evaluated before and after the CL fitting and repeated 3 months after the baseline visit. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED:MedCalc for Windows, version 11.4 (MedCalc Software, Ostend, Belgium). RESULTS:Rigid gas-permeable CL wear showed significant improvement in CDVAcl compared to wearing spectacles on both visits ( P = 0.0039 and P = 0.0003, respectively). TV with CLs was significantly better in both groups compared to the TV with spectacles at the baseline visit ( P = 0.0011 in SCL group; P = 0.0001 in RGPCL group), and at the follow-up visit, this significance was proven for the RGPCL group ( P = 0.001). Also, spectacle TV showed a significant improvement on the follow-up visit ( P = 0.0022 in SCL group; P = 0.0269 in RGPCL group). CONCLUSION:Contact lens wear improves visual performance compared to spectacles. TV results showed superiority of CLs compared to the spectacles, without a statistical difference regarding the CL type.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyse the postoperative corneal cross-linking results of corneal parameters and the ABCD grading system, depending on the cone location.Methods: Thirty eyes of 25 patients with keratoconus (KC), who received the corneal cross -linking (CXL) treatment, were included in this study. The exclusion criteria were: patients under 18 years of age, corneal pachymetry less than 400 mm, corneal scarring, history of ocular trauma, history of ocular surgery, and corneal pathology other than KC. Patients were examined at the baseline visit, and followed-up at three, six, and twelve months after the CXL. All patients underwent visual acuity and Scheimpflug tomography at all visits. Progression parameters, keratometries, and ABCD grading were compared between the visits. Patients were classified into two groups: central and paracentral cones group (within the central 5 mm corneal zone) and peripheral cones group (outside the central 5 mm corneal zone), based on X-Y coordinates of maximal keratometry (Kmax).Results: Parameter A remained relatively stable throughout the follow-up period in both groups. Parameter B and parameter C showed a significant increase in both groups postoperatively. Parameter D showed stability at the 6-month post-CXL visit in the peripheral KC group, while the central and paracentral KC group showed improvement at the 12-month post-CXL visit.Conclusion: There was no significant difference in the postoperative response between different cone locations in the ABCD grading system, when classifying according to the Kmax, except an earlier recovery of the parameter D in peripherally located cones.(c) 2021 Spanish General Council of Optometry. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/).

BACKGROUND: The most commonly used topical hemostatic agents during flexible bronchoscopy (FB) are cold saline and adrenaline. Data on use of other agents such as tranexamic acid (TXA) for this purpose are limited. RESEARCH QUESTION: Is TXA effective and safe in controlling iatrogenic bleeding during FB compared with adrenaline? STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted a cluster-randomized, double-blind, single-center trial in a tertiary teaching hospital. Patients were randomized in weekly clusters to receive up to three applications of TXA (100 mg, 2 mL) or adrenaline (0.2 mg, 2 mL, 1:10000) after hemostasis failure after three applications of cold saline (4 degrees C, 5mL). Crossover was allowed (for up to three further applications) before proceeding with other interventions. Bleeding severity was graded by the bronchoscopist using a visual analog scale (VAS; 1 = very mild, 10 = severe). RESULTS: Atotal of 2,033 FBswere performed and 130 patients were randomized successfully to adrenaline (n = 65) or TXA (n = 65), whereas 12 patients had to be excluded for protocol violations (two patients from the adrenaline armand 10 patients from TXA arm). Bleeding was stopped in 83.1% of patients (54/65) in both groups (P = 1). The severity of bleeding and number of applications needed for bleeding control were similar in both groups (adrenaline: mean VAS score, 4.9 +/- 1.3 [n = 1.8 +/- 0.8]; TXA: mean VAS score, 5.3 +/- 1.4 [n = 1.8 +/- 0.8]). Both adrenaline and TXA were more successful in controlling moderate bleeding (86.7% and 88.7%, respectively) than severe bleeding (40% and 58.3%, respectively; P =.008 and P =.012, respectively) and required more applications for severe bleeding (3.0 +/- 0 and 2.4 +/- 0.5, respectively) than moderate bleeding (1.7 +/- 0.8 and 1.7 +/- 0.8, respectively) control (P =.006 and P =.002, respectively). We observed no drug-related adverse events in either group. INTERPRETATION: We found no significant difference between adrenaline and TXA for controlling noncatastrophic iatrogenic endobronchial bleeding after cold saline failure, adding to the body of evidence that TXA can be used safely and effectively during FB.

Background:Thyroid eye disease (TED; also known as thyroid - associated orbitopathy, Graves ophthalmopathy) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease which presents in typical signs and symptoms such as deep orbital pain, chemosis with or without caruncular edema, unilateral or bilateral proptosis, eyelid retraction, eyelid edema or erythema, restrictive strabismus and compressive optic neuropathy.Objective:The aim of this study was to investigate the role of thermal camera in the assessment of thyroid eye disease (TED) activity compared to the Clinical Activity Score (CAS) scale, exophthalmometry values, and thyroid hormone and antibody levels.Methods:A total of 50 patients participated in this cross-sectional study of whom 29 were in the active phase of TED according to the sum on CAS scale and 21 patients in the inactive phase. The Flir E8® thermal camera was used to measure the temperature of the orbital area and the values were compared with the CAS scale, exophthalmometry values and thyroid hormone and antibody levels.Results:Higher values of temperature (p>0.0001), CAS score (p>0.0001), exophthalmometry (p=0.022), FT4 (p=0.0176) and TRAb (p=0.0091) were found in patients in the active phase of TED. Temperature of orbital area showed statistically significant positive correlation with CAS scale (p=0.0001), exophthalmometry values (p=0.0022) and anti-TPO levels (p=0.019).Conclusion:Thermal camera showed higher values of the temperature of the orbital area in patients in the active phase of the disease and positively correlated with the CAS scale, exophthalmometry findings and anti-TPO levels.

Head and neck cancers (HNC) are a heterogeneous group of tumours mainly associated with tobacco and alcohol use and human papillomavirus (HPV). Over 90% of all HNC are squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Sample material from patients diagnosed with primary HNSCC (n = 76) treated with surgery as primary treatment at a single centre were assessed for HPV genotype, miR-9-5p, miR-21-3p, miR-29a-3p and miR-100-5p expression levels. Clinical and pathological data were collected from medical records. Patients were enrolled between 2015 and 2019 and followed-up until November 2022. Overall survival, disease-specific survival and disease-free survival were assessed and correlated with clinical, pathological, and molecular data. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard regression was used to assess different risk factors. In the study, male gender, HPV-negative HNSCC (76.3%) mostly located in the oral region (78.9%) predominated. Most patients had stage IV cancer (47.4%), and the overall survival rate was 50%. HPV was found not to affect survival, indicating that in this population, classic risk factors predominate. The presence of both perineural and angioinvasion was strongly associated with survival in all analyses. Of all miRNAs assessed, only upregulation of miR-21 was consistently shown to be an independent predictor of poor prognosis and may thus serve as a prognostic biomarker in HNSCC.