Epilepsia do lobo temporal: é possível curar? / Temporal lobe epilepsy: it is possible to cure?

Objetivos: O tratamento inicial de pacientes com epilepsia do lobo temporal é feito com drogas antiepilépticas, porém grande parte destes apresenta epilepsia refratária aos medicamentos e, portanto, devem ser avaliados para cirurgia de ressecção. Para tanto, este artigo fornece informações para avaliação cirúrgica e uma análise do tratamento cirúrgico nestes casos refratários da doença. Métodos: As buscas foram realizadas na base de dados MEDLINE. A estratégia de busca foi desenvolvida utilizando-se os seguintes termos de pesquisa: "temporal lobe epilepsy" AND "epilepsy surgery". Cada termo foi revisado individualmente e sinônimos de cada termo foram combinados. Os critérios de elegibilidade foram estudos realizados em humanos e com texto disponível, publicados em português ou inglês, atualizado. Resultados: De um total de 1330 artigos que foram encontrados na base de dados, 6 artigos foram incluídos nessa revisão, além das referências de livros-texto do tema. Conclusões: Surgical evaluation requires the identification of the early focus of seizures, and if that focus is in an area of the brain that can be removed with a low risk of new neurological deficits. The surgical treatment has been shown to be beneficial, allowing potentially curative ducts in patients who previously would be resistant to pharmacological treatment.

Aims: The initial treatment of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy is made with antiepileptic drugs, but a large part of these presents refractory to drugs and therefore should be evaluated for resection surgery. For both, this article provides information for surgical evaluation and an analysis of surgical treatment in these cases of refractory disease. Methods: The searches were conducted on MEDLINE database. The search strategy was developed using the following search terms: "temporal lobe epilepsy" AND "epilepsy surgery". Each term has been reviewed individually and each term synonyms were combined. The eligibility criteria were studies in humans and with text available, published in Portuguese or English, updated. Results: From 1330 articles found in the database, 6 articles were included in this review, in addition to the references to textbooks. Conclusions: Surgical evaluation requires the identification of the early focus of seizures, and if that focus is in an area of the brain that can be removed with a low risk of new neurological deficits. The surgical treatment has been shown to be beneficial, allowing potentially curative ducts in patients who previously would have been by the failure of chronic drug therapy.

Post-occupational health surveillance of asbestos workers.

BACKGROUND: Italian law requires an extensive health surveillance of workers after cessation of their employment status in the case of occupational exposure to carcinogens, including asbestos. Nonetheless, Italian law does not specify the timeframe of these clinical checks, nor who has financial and organizational responsibility for this surveillance. A literature search confirmed a lack of consensus around the objectives and methods to follow up workers with past occupational exposure to asbestos. OBJECTIVES: To develop an updated evidence-based methodology for an appropriate health surveillance programme. METHODS: We present an overview of the field experience developed by the Veneto Region from 2000 to 2011, and new studies that could contribute to establishing a national policy for the medical surveillance of workers with past asbestos exposure. RESULTS: There were three specific topics: (1) definition of a reliable method to identify asbestos workers (through multiple sources and procedures that meet current confidentiality regulations); (2) detection of asbestos fibres in biological media (to support the etiological diagnosis of asbestos-related diseases); (3) creation of a national protocol of health surveillance (through the assessment of policies developed by other Regions in this field, and recruiting from these regions a cohort of past-exposed workers: the epidemiological study should offer relevant suggestions for specific surveillance approaches, based on either estimated cumulative asbestos exposure or detection of x-ray patterns of pleural plaques and/or asbestosis). CONCLUSIONS: These studies will support the Regions in setting up health care policies directed at workers with past asbestos exposure.

[Feasibility of a screening programme for lung cancer among workers previously heavily exposed to asbestos]. / Valutazione di un programma per la diagnosi precoce di cancro polmonare negli ex esposti ad asbesto.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the feasibility and costs of a screening programme with spiral CT for the early diagnosis of lung cancer among workers previously heavily exposed to asbestos. METHODS: We invited 2000 workers, 1165 (58%) of whom accepted. Women and individuals with incomplete information were excluded; 1119 subjects (mean age, 57 years) entered the main analysis. Subjects with non-calcified lung nodules and/or dubious pleural plagues (No=338) entered a post-screening diagnostic protocol based on radiological follow-up. RESULTS: Twenty-five biopsies were performed (13 pulmonary, 9 pleural, 3 combined) revealed 5 cases of lung cancer (including 1 in stage IA). The positive predictive value of the screening test was low (31%) despite its known high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (99%). Incidence of lung cancer was similar to that registered among male residents of the Veneto Region aged 55 to 59 years. The cost of the programme was Euro 1,000 per screened subject and Euro 245,000 per diagnosis (total cost, Euro 1,181,310). The total radiation dose administered to healthy subjects was about 1,100 mSv (220 mSv per lung cancer diagnosis). CONCLUSIONS: This screening programme was ineffective due to the low participation rate, the small number of diagnoses, low predictive value, and high costs.