Vol 24, No 5 (2013)

The paper discusses some issues on the classification of systemic vasculitides and their names. It considers the recommendations of the American College of Rheumatology, American Society of Nephrology, European League Against Rheumatism, and 2nd International Chapel Hill Consensus Conference (2012) for the nomenclature of systemic vasculitides and the replacement of their eponyms, the names of the diseases after the authors, who were the first to described them, by current terms.

The paper considers the fundamental principles of efficient treatment for chronic pain. It compares data on the medical application of morphine and opioids in European and former USSR countries. Information on inefficient therapy for chronic pain with potent opioids is given.

The paper describes a clinical case of adult-onset Still-s disease proceeding with the clinical and laboratory signs of severe hepatitis. All manifestations of the disease, including liver damage, rapidly regressed as a result from active immunosuppressive therapy. The aspects of differential diagnosis are given.

To understand the phenomenon of pain, it is essential to identify its 2 types -acute and chronic. The bulk of researches and publications, the subject of which is pain, deal with the comprehensive study of the epidemiology, clinical picture, diagnosis, and treatment of this pathological condition in adults whereas the pediatric aspects of this problem receive much less attention. Among the pain syndromes, headache (up to 42%) and neck and back pains (up to 60%) are most common. Back pain is a symptom of the multitude of spinal and visceral diseases. Its treatment is considered to be one of the priorities, as considered by the World Health Organization.

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a cerebral small vessel disease associated with old age. It is characterized by progressive amyloid deposition in the small and middle-sized arteries and capillaries. Sporadic amyloid angiopathy is a cause of recurrent cerebral hemorrhage and cognitive impairments in the elderly. The diagnosis and therapy of the neurological manifestations of CAA are considered.

The investigation of 70 patients with knee osteoarthrosis and comorbid obesity demonstrated that the functional outcomes of 3-month intake of chondroitin sulfate, diacerein, and zinaxin were comparable.

Drugs based on angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have individual pharmacokinetic properties that may determine differences in the tissue concentration of ACE inhibitors and their different clinical effects.

Background: Quality of life (QL) of patients with scalp psoriasis is substantially decreased due to itch and scaling. To control the disease requires long-term therapy; treatment success is greatly dependent on compliance. Patients and methods: In a prospective, non-interventional trial of German dermatological practices 721 patients with scalp psoriasis received Xamiol® gel (calcipotriol 50 mg/g, betamethasone 0,5 mg/g) topically for 4 weeks. Severity was assessed by a physician’s global assessment (PGA) and quality of life by using a scalp-specific questionnaire at the beginning of the study and after 4 weeks of treatment. Results: The mean disease severity of scalp psoriasis (according to PGA) reduced from 4,26 to 2,49 (-41,8%; p < 0,0001) after 4 weeks of treatment and quality of life improved from 10,57 to 3,22 (-69,5%; p < 0,0001). Among patients with pre-treatment, 89,5% of the examinees and 87,9% of dermatologists judged treatment response to Xamiol® gel as better/much better compared to previous therapy. Tolerability of Xamiol® gel was rated good/very good by 98% of the dermatologists and patients, respectively. The use of Xamiol® gel was found easy/ very easy by 90,4% of the patients Conclusions: Due to the major improvement of quality of life and quick onset of improvement together with the high acceptance by most patients, Xamiol® gel may be regarded as the topical treatment of choice for scalp psoriasis

The non-lipid effects of rosuvastatin (Mertinil) were studied in patients after heart transplantation, which were evaluated from the time course of changes in the levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and biomarkers for a risk of graft vasculopathy. In cardiac recipients, rosuvastatin (Mertinil) was found to produce both lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory effects (a reduction in CRP levels); its intake promotes a decrease in the biomarkers (PAPP-A and sCD40L) of a risk for cardiac graft vasculopathy.

Human immunodeficiency infection (HIV) is a slowly progressive systemic disease. Besides its main targets - T lymphocytes, it affects practically all vital systems: vascular, central nervous systems, and others. The mouth is one of the organs, in which is the first to show the impact of HIV and related opportunistic infections (candidiasis, herpes virus, cytomegalovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus infections). Any physician who is well informed about the essentials of clinical examination can suspect from dentofacial anomalies that a patient has evolving immunodeficiency, including HIV/AIDS.