Open Access DOI:10.23937/2643-4059/1710017

Efficacy and Tolerability of Quetiapine Extended Release (XR) as Monotherapy in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder

Ozden Arisoy, MD, Michelle Murphy, MD, Edwin Meresh, MD and Angelos Halaris, MD, PhD

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: November 25, 2019

The aim of this study was to confirm the efficacy and tolerability of Quetiapine XR as monotherapy in the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and determine the optimal dosing regimen to maximize efficacy and reduce non-compliance due to side effects. This was a 12-week study with MDD subjects. The primary outcome measure was the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) total score comparing baseline to end of treatment at week 12. Other assessments included the Hamilton Rating Scale ...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5742/1510065

Retzius Sparing (RS) Robotic Assisted Radical Prostatectomy (RARP) and Retzius Space Reconstruction Technique after RARP Improve Urinary Continence Compared to Conventional RARP (C-RARP): Systematic Review and Metanalysis

William Pertuz Genes, Maria Claudia bicudo, Pablo Miranda Machado, Pericles Rios Auad, Liseth Echavez Pacheco, Hamilton de Campos Zampolli, Igor Nunes da Silva, Daniel Coser Gomes and Marcos Tobias-Machado

Article Type: Research article | First Published: November 25, 2019

Several parameters are important to evaluate good oncological and functional results after robotic prostatectomy. We hypothesize that preservation or reconstruction of Retzius space can be valuable for better results outcomes, especially in terms of early continence recovery. In October 2018, electronic searches were conducted in the following databases: Cochrane, EMBASE, PubMed and Google Scholar. Manual searches in the reference lists of all the reviews and the relevant studies were identified...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3656/1410291

Phase Change Biological Switch: A New Hypothesis on the Mechanism of Cancer Formation

G Di Donna, MD, PhD and R. Di Muro, MD

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: November 25, 2019

The Authors hypothesize that, when in the presence of a chronic inflammatory process, the organism, while attempting to solve it, goes through a mechanism that the Authors define as Phase Change Biological Switch: the cell line regression, which differentiated in that organ with the purpose of reprogramming to overcome the chronic inflammatory process, but regression involves loss of connections with the surrounding tissues and provokes the cancerous degeneration....

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5807/1510104

Bone Marrow Necrosis and Fat Embolism in a Patient with Sickle Cell Crisis, a Fatal Complication

Gagandeep Kaur, Oluwaseyi Olayinka and Gunjan Gupta

Article Type: Case Report | First Published: November 22, 2019

Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited disorder due to substitution of valine for glutamic acid at position 6 of beta globin chain of hemoglobin leading to sickling of red blood cells. It is most common in African ancestry. The sickled RBC’s can cause vaso-occlusive crisis leading to dreadful complications. We report a case of a 56-year-old female with past medical history of sickle cell disease, atrial fibrillation and prior history of stroke. She presented to the emergency department wi...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-2951/1410162

Progressive First Degree AV Block Indicates the Need for Permanent Pacing

Han B Xiao, Waleed Arshad, Arvinder Kurbaan and Timothy J Bowker

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: November 27, 2019

First-degree AV block, though considered benign, has been reported to be associated with an increased risk for atrial fibrillation, permanent pacing, heart failure and allcause mortality. It is possible that the extent of PR prolongation indicates the severity of adverse outcome. This study investigated whether the length of PR and its change with heart rate can predict the need for permanent pacing. We retrospectively studied 21 patients with a PR over 270 ms. Nine patients underwent permanent ...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-2951/1410161

Spontaneous Hemopericardium as an Adverse Effect of Rivaroxaban Administration

Asif Surani, MD, Beatriz Martinez Quintero, MD, David Brual, MD, Hadi Elias, MD, Fahad Uddin Ahmed, MD and Matthew Peters, MD

Article Type: Case Report | First Published: November 25, 2019

Rivaroxaban is a direct oral anticoagulant with a favorable safety profile when compared to warfarin in respect to bleeding. During post-marketing surveillance, intracranial and retroperitoneal bleedings have been reported; however, hemopericardium has not been frequently described. In this case series, we present three cases of spontaneous hemopericardium where rivaroxaban was thought to be the causative agent. Predisposing factors for rivaroxaban induced hemopericardium might include impaired ...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2643-4466/1710021

Peripheral Neuropathy as Initial Manifestation of Churg- Strauss Syndrome

Antonio Villa, MD

Article Type: Case Report | First Published: November 23, 2019

Peripheral neuropathies are well-known complications of primary systemic vasculitides. Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated small vessel systemic vasculitides and medium-sized vessel vasculitis are known to frequently damage the peripheral nervous system. A 47-year-old man had a fifteen day history of pain in his lower and upper limbs associated to paresthesias and hypostenia. His medical history revealed no history of asthma, but in the last year some episodes of obstructive- c...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2474-3658/1510100

Host-Related Predictors of Persistence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Engy Mohamed El-Ghitany and Azza Galal Farghaly

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: November 16, 2019

Spontaneous clearance occurs in varying proportions in individuals infected by hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, the factors associated with this clearance are debatable. Their recognition may lead to a better understanding of HCV natural history and eventually improve associated prediction and management models. Aim: This study was conducted to determine the host-related factors associated with persistence of HCV infection. Among 1059 HCV-antibody-positive individuals who denied receiving HCV a...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2474-3658/1510098

Statistical Behavior of Hospital Admissions for Respiratory Diseases by Probability Distribution Functions

Amaury de Souza, Flavio Aristone, Widinei A Fernandes, Zaccheus Olaofe, Marcel Carvalho Abreu, Jose Francisco de Oliveira Junio, Guilherme Cavazzana and Cícero Manoel dos Santos

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: November 04, 2019

Climate change has a high impact on health and morbidity/ mortality in respiratory system diseases and remains poorly investigated in probability distribution modeling. The objective of this study was to analyze the adjustments of Burr (Bu), Inv Gausian 3P (IG3P), Lognormal (LN), Pert (Pe), Rayleigh 2P (Ra 2P) and Weibull 3P (W3P) distributions of the historical series of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases (total hospital admissions) for the period from 2004 to 2018, in Campo Grande, MS. ...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3648/1410047

Cytogenetics of Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus as Bioindicator of Environmental Pollution from Two Polluted Lagoons, South- Western Nigeria

Bassey OB, Chukwu LO and Alimba GC

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: November 14, 2019

Pollution of aquatic ecosystems from anthropogenic activities has heightened in recent times and this has elicited national and international concern on the impacts on aquatic biota. This study investigated the genotoxic effects in C. nigrodigitatus from two polluted lagoons. Micronuclei (MN) test, as an index of chromosomal damage, is widely applied in field studies. The peripheral erythrocytes from C. nigrodigitatus were subjected to MN analysis and physicochemical parameters were evaluated fo...