Background A tenth of patients with involuntary weight loss (IWL) have gastrointestinal cancer. Ferritin is the first parameter to be modified during the process leading to iron deficiency anaemia, therefore it should be the most sensitive. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of ferritin to rule out gastrointestinal cancer in patients with involuntary weight loss. Methods All consecutive patients with IWL admitted in a secondary care

BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor alpha; (TNF-alpha), interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta), and IL-6 may be associated with involuntary weight loss in patients with and without cancer. However, results of previous studies have been conflicting. We evaluated patients who had involuntary weight loss to determine cytokine levels and the correlation of these cytokines with weight loss, the association with inflammation, and the potential for use in cancer diagnosis.

AIM: To investigate the small bowel of seronegative spondyloarthropathy (SpA) patients in order to ascertain the presence of mucosal lesions. METHODS: Between January 2008 and June 2010, 54 consecutive patients were enrolled and submitted to avideo capsule endoscopy (VCE) examination. History and demographic data were taken, as well as the history of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) consumption. After reading each VCE recording, a capsule

Introduction A quarter of patients with involuntary weight loss (IWL) have cancer. Inflammation and anemia are associated with cancer, and recent studies showed that red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a predictor of mortality, including cancer-related death. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of routine hematological and inflammation parameters to diagnose cancer in patients with IWL. Material and methods 253 consecutive patients

AIM: To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging as a noninvasive method for the assessment of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. METHODS: We performed a prospective blind comparison of ARFI elastography, APRI index and FibroMax in a consecutive series of patients who underwent liver biopsy for CHC in University Hospital Bucharest. Histopathological staging of liver fibrosis according

Whenever a study finds a statistical significance for the difference between treatment and placebo, we must always ask ourselves if the difference is clinically important, too. In order to do this, we need to know at least how large the scale is, and to compare the size of the scale with the size of the effect. Sometimes, the effect of placebo is greater than the intrinsic effect of the drug. The results of these studies are expressed as averages

Objective To examine the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) resistance mutations in the reverse transcriptase gene of HIV-1 F1 subtype strains isolated from heavily treated adolescents. Methods Three hundred and fifty reverse transcriptase (RT) genotypes with at least three NRTI resistance mutations were included in this study; the corresponding strains were isolated from adolescents with a complex history of antiretroviral treatment.

Idiopathic chronic fatigue is an exclusion diagnosis established when no chronic disease is found. Spirulina platensis is an alga with a rich content of proteins, vitamins, minerals and amino acids and is considered as a bioactive additive with multiple effects, among them being effects against fatigue. However, despite the worldwide utilization of Spirulina, there are only a few quality studies with it and none concerning fatigue. The N-of-1 randomized