Rejected

Continuous treatment with drugs is an inevitable prerequisite for many clinical conditions, such as chronic inflammatory diseases, pain, or depression. However, the amount of adverse side effects induced by opioids, antidepressants, or immunosuppressive drugs urges the need for developing alternative or supportive treatment strategies. In this context, conditioned pharmacological effects, obtained by means of associative learning, have been successfully implemented as controlled drug-dose reduction strategies to maintain and strengthen the efficacy of medical treatments. Such approaches have been proven effective in experimental animals, healthy subjects, and patient populations. Thus, a systematic use of conditioned pharmacological effects should be seriously considered as a supportive treatment option to optimize pharmacological treatment effects for the patients benefit.

As a result of the pandemic, many patients with an inflammatory rheumatic disease (IRD) have isolated themselves. The lack of disease management together with fear of infection could lead to changes in physical- and mental health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the social- and health behaviour in patients with an IRD compared with the behaviour of healthy individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was a questionnaire survey answered by patients with an IRD and healthy individuals (HI). The questionnaire contained seven sections with questions regarding COVID-19 and quality of life including SF-36, EQ-5D-5L, and visual analogue scale (VAS) pain, fatigue and global health. Of 1663 invited participants, 661 patients with IRD and 266 HI were included in the analyses. Patients with an IRD felt more isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with HI (IRD: 9.5% (61/644), HI: 3.1% (8/259), p-value = 0.001). More HI (5.4%) had been infected with COVID-19 than patients with an IRD (1.7%). Among patients with an IRD those with worse self-reported disease activity outcomes (VAS pain, fatigue and global health, all p-value < 0.001), worse social functioning and emotional well-being were more isolated than individuals with low disease activity. Patients with an IRD feel more isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to HI. Isolation seems to be most pronounced in patients with worse disease related patient-reported outcomes and lower quality of life.

An ambiguous definition of "asymptomatic" Moyamoya Angiopathy(aMMA) of absence of ischemic/hemorrhagic episodes in MMA patients, has led to its variable adaptation in the limited past-studies.

The goal of this study to summarize the clinical features, treatment and prognosis of children trichobezoar, and to guide the clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Migraine is a common neurologic disorder and has a great influence on medical students' life. This study aims to determine the prevalence of migraine as well as its association with different factors, and its impact on daily activities among medical students in the Lebanese university.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a relatively new syndrome comprising headache, altered mentation, and seizures, associated with neuroimaging findings characteristic of subcortical edema in the posterior regions. As previous studies have reported perioperative development and recurrence of PRES, a cautious anesthetic management of the syndrome is required.

Pain is prevalent among older adults and may result in impairment in physical function. However, little is known about the moderating relationships between pain and physical function in old age. This large and representative study sought to estimate the effect of pain on physical function and evaluate whether physical activity (PA) modifies this association.

: Prosthetic repair is always employed after large abdominal wall tumor resection, while chronic pain is one of the mesh-related complications after traumatic fixation. The objective of this research was to evaluate the outcomes of retromuscular repair with self-gripping mesh after abdominal wall tumor resection.: The study was a monocentric retrospective analysis following STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statements of all patients with abdominal wall tumor >5 cm in diameter undergoing tumor excision and retromuscular repair with self-gripping mesh. Demographic, operative, early postoperative, and follow-up data were noted. Visual Analog Scale, ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (very severe pain), was used to estimate the wound pain.: 24 patients were included in this study, and the defect following tumor resection was 26.9±10.0 cm. There was no tumor recurrence or incisional hernia in median follow-up of 20 months, and the mean VAS score was 0.4. Three had foreign body feeling and no one suffered chronic pain.: Immediate repair with a self-gripping retromuscular mesh can be considered as an effective way to treat an abdominal wall defect after resecting an abdominal wall tumor.

The nematode Onchocerca cervicalis is the most common causative agent of equine onchocerciasis; this condition is characterised by pruritus and dermatitis and is a differential diagnosis for insect bite hypersensitivity. Onchocerciasis is currently presumed of minor importance within the UK, however prevalence may increase if macrocyclic lactone use declines amid concerns about anthelmintic resistance in gastrointestinal nematodes. This survey aimed to establish O. cervicalis awareness and knowledge levels amongst UK equine veterinarians and to determine approximate numbers of UK horses affected with unresponsive cases of dermatoses, including insect bite hypersensitivity. An online survey was distributed to UK equine vets between December 2019 and February 2020. Of 88 respondents, 78% were aware of O. cervicalis, however 49% of these answered less than half the questions presented about the parasite's lifecycle correctly. Approximately 25% of insect bite hypersensitivity cases respondents saw were deemed unresponsive to standard treatments, 84% of respondents had not previously considered onchocerciasis as a differential diagnosis in such cases. Findings suggest knowledge of O. cervicalis amongst UK equine vets is lacking, highlighting a need to raise awareness and consideration of the parasite as a differential when investigating equine dermatoses.

The so-called Helsingborg Disease is an intestinal degenerative neuropathy discovered in a kindred in South Sweden. Affected subjects develop severe intestinal symptoms, the most common being chronic diarrhea, but abdominal pain, constipation and severe vomiting are common. Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction is the end-stage with high mortality from intestinal failure. Two families with affected members were shown by histopathology and genealogy to be one large kindred with the same underlying disease. Genetic analysis shows that this disease, having an autosomal dominant transmission, is strongly linked to a region in the short arm of chromosome 9 and a 1.2 Mb duplication in this region. The duplication includes 22 protein-coding genes, most of them are interferon genes. Family members not carrying the duplication have no increased prevalence of gut diseases. Genetic analysis including gene-dose array should be important for etiologic diagnosis and for genetic guidance in this kindred.