Vol 24, No 2 (2013)

The paper describes the specific features of the pathogenesis, clinical picture, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of exogenous allergic alveolitis in people of different professions. It gives its major etiological factors of chemical and biological nature, which give rise to this disease. Principles in differential diagnosis are shown.

The paper considers the mechanisms of viral persistence and its role in the etiology of ENT diseases. The authors give the data available in the literature on the mechanisms of viral carcinogenesis in proliferative ENT diseases and the results of their investigations. Current treatments for persistent viral infection in ENT diseases are presented and summarized.

Management tactics was evaluated in patients with late-onset asthma in view of smoking and concomitant cardiovascular diseases in outpatient settings.

The purpose of the investigation was to estimate erythrocytic parameters in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) versus those in the control group (healthy individuals) and reference values. The patients with COPD most commonly showed changes in red blood cells as erythrocytosis and enhanced hemoglobin formation, which reflects an adequate response of hemopoietic organs to hypoxia. Anemia occurs considerably rarely in this disease.

The paper gives data on the mucolytic, antioxidative, and antitoxic properties of acetylcysteine and its use in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic polypous rhinosinusitis (CPR) remains to be a challenge in otorhinolaryngology. The differentiation of CPR using digital volume tomography into 4 groups: inflammatory, allergic, odontogenic, and mixed, as well as the elaboration of their clinical and radiation criteria allow one to become firmly convinced of choosing treatment options.

Background. Acquired cold urticaria (ACU) is an abnormal skin condition, in which exposure to cold results in wheals and itching and sometimes general systemic complications. Cold urticaria considerably worsens the patients quality of life. Second-generation antihistamines are recommended as the first-line treatment, but to date only a few have been scientifically tested in this disease. Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of ebastine in preventing the symptoms of ACU. Methods. Twenty-two adult patients with ACU participated in a double-blind crossover trial of ebastine 20 mg. The safety of ebastine was thoroughly evaluated using a battery of psychometric tests of cognitive performance and mood. After cold challenge, wheal and erythema were assessed by the investigator and the intensities of pruritus and burning were rated by the examinees. Results. Ebastine had no negative effect on any of the parameters of cognitive performance or mood; it dramatically reduced the number of patients who had wheals, pruritus, and burning after the challenge. Conclusion. Ebastine is a safe and effective drug to prevent the symptoms of ACU.

The trial has indicated that respiratory manifestations requiring continuation of therapy using β-agonists, inhaled steroids (in combination or alone), mucoregulators, and antibiotics persist in the majority of patients with isolated thermal inhalation injury after discharge.

Polyarteritis nodosa as a severe systemic disease is characterized by a poor prognosis. Timely therapy with glucocorticosteroids and cytostatics considerably ameliorates clinical symptoms and can result in complete recovery.

The main method for the examination of infertile males is to study the indicators of sperm, such as its concentration and amount, mobility and morphology. Although these indicators are generally higher in fertile men than in infertile ones, there may be their substantial coincidence, suggesting some factors that are ignored during traditional spermiological examination. Complementary tests provide a way of investigating the function of the sperm components responsible for both conception proper and involvement in the epigenetic regulation of early embryogenesis. In the light of the wide introduction of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) into clinical practice, of particular interest is the structure of the genetic material proper - the nucleus of a spermatozoon (structure, DNA fragmentation, anomalies of chromatin and its package), whose abnormalities may give rise to infertility and ART failures.