Reviews on Recent Clinical Trials - Volume 5, Issue 3, 2010

Vascular calcification is associated with poor prognosis in hemodialysis (HD) patients. It can be assessed with computed tomography (CT) but simple in-office techniques may provide useful information. We compared the results obtained with a simple non-invasive technique with those obtained using multi-detector CT (MDCT) for aortic arch calcification volume (AoACV) in chronic HD patients. The aortic arch calcification score (A Read More

Although self monitoring of blood glucose is accepted to be effective in lowering Hb A1c levels in insulin-treated diabetic patients, any benefit in non-insulin-treated patients remains controversial. Observational studies cannot answer this question because of either patient self selection (individuals with healthier life styles chose to perform more SMBG) or physician self selection (patients in poorer control are asked to per Read More

Background: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a complex clinical scenario, which affects 15% of women. The published literature lacks a consistent definition of CPP. However according to Vercillini et al., CPP is defined by the duration and type of pelvic pain [1]. CPP is present if the pelvic pain persists for more than 3 months duration and is constant or intermittent, cyclical or noncyclical in nature. Four types of pelvic pain have Read More

Recent experimental and clinical studies have shown that chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection causes insulin resistance. Since insulin resistance decreases response to antiviral treatments, promotes inflammatory and fibrogenic reactions and increases a risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), amelioration of insulin resistance may be a novel therapeutic target, which could improve the prognosis in patients with HCV-rela Read More

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects millions of people world-wide, and chronic infection can result in end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. Conventional therapy to date has involved combination antiviral therapy including alpha-interferon and ribavirin; response rates with these drugs are variable based on both viral and host factors, such as HCV viral load, HCV genotype, HIV co-infection, host genetic poly Read More

Objectives: Gabapentin was initially developed as an antiepileptic drug but was later discovered to be an effective treatment of neuropathic pain. Gabapentin has been successfully used for the treatment of multiple neuropathic pain syndromes such as diabetic neuropathy and postherpetic neuralgia. However, limited data exist about its efficacy for other pain syndromes. The objective of the current review is to describe, fro Read More

Disease modifying therapy (DMT) first became available for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) fifteen years ago with the development of the moderately effective injectable agents interferon (IFN)-β and glatiramer acetate (GA). The subsequent licensure of mitoxantrone (MX) and natalizumab (NZ) has allowed for better control of refractory disease at the expense of potentially life-threatening side effects in a mino Read More

Progress has been made towards the development of agents targeting tyrosine kinase receptors and other molecules involved in signalling pathways important for cell proliferation, motility, and apoptosis. Inhibitor molecules designed to be highly specific with the aim of decreasing toxicity have proven to be generally well tolerated. However, the efficacy of targeted agents may be impacted by cross-talk between pa Read More

Due to an oversight on the part of the author, unfortunately the manuscript entitled “A critical reappraisal of off-label indications for topical photodynamic therapy with aminolevulinic acid and methylaminolevulinate” submitted for publication in the journal Reviews on Recent Clinical Trials- Volume 5, Issue 2 (pg. 112-116) has been published with names in a reverse order (first names are mentioned before the surnam Read More