Vol 24, No 11 (2013)

Addition of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection to liver cirrhosis in the outcome of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) was a cause of hepatocellular carcinoma and death in a young female woman (aged 35 years). The probability of primary liver cancer should be excluded in patients with AIH with its impaired stability and the signs of high disease activity. The possibility of seronegative HCV infection determines the need to use a highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction for the detection of the infection in serum and liver tissue.

Medullary thyroid cancer is more frequently identified in its Stages III and IV although effective treatment is possible only for a circumscribed thyroid process. It is necessary to maximally optimize the diagnosis of this pathology by currently available highly informative examination methods.

The paper deals with occupational asthma (OA) that is a common occupational disease among those who are engaged in industry, agriculture, and medicine. It gives leading etiological factors and occupational groups that may develop OA and describes the specific features of its clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention according to current Russian and international guidelines.

The paper gives an update on the pathogenesis and risk factors of chronic obstructive bronchitis, and its pharmacotherapy.

The paper analyzes the efficiency of proposed treatments for locally recurrent prostate cancer.

The paper gives data on the main aspects of the etiology and clinical picture of acute respiratory infection (ARI) in children. It characterizes cough as one of the most common clinical symptoms in ARI and shows the possibilities of phytotherapy for cough syndrome.

The psychosomatic status was studied in 26 patients aged 21 to 60 years with chronic vertebrogenic cochleovestibular impairments. Vestibular disorders, tinnitus, and diminished hearing have a negative impact on these patients. Nondrug correction of postural muscle imbalance promotes a significant reduction in the manifestations of reactive anxiety, which enhances the efficiency of treatment.

Genital papillomavirus infection is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. There is evidence for the role of human papillomavirus in the development of cancer of the cervix uteri and hyperplastic processes in the cervical canal.

The paper provides the clinical and morphological characteristics of serrated colon tumors and estimates the possibility of their endoscopic differential diagnosis.

The nature of the relationship between smoking and a risk for cancer of the cervix uteri (CCU) was studied. The combined impact of smoking and human papillomavirus on the risk of CCU was found to have pronounced potentiating and multiplicative effects.

The paper describes the variants of surgical treatment in patients who have undergone radical ear surgery. Old radical cavity reconstruction with tympanoplasty can restore the natural architectonics of the external ear.

March 1, 2013, marked 57 years since Oriental medicine methods (chen-chiu) were recognized by the USSR Ministry of Health and included into the state health care system. The paper presents a brief history of reflexology in Russia and the role of the Department of Reflexology and Manual Therapy, Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, in setting up a state scientific-and-practical system of reflexology in our country.

The high prevalence of chronic noncommunicable diseases, such as essential hypertension (39.4%), obesity (28.2%), and coronary heart disease (17.8%), with the characteristic high levels of blood pressure and cholesterol during improper control suggests that it is expedient to improve the system for the secondary prevention of chronic noncommunicable diseases at the stage of primary health care.