FDG-PET imaging in hematological malignancies.

The majority of aggressive lymphomas is characterized by an up regulated glycolytic activity, which enables the visualization by F-18 FDG-PET/CT. One-stop hybrid FDG-PET/CT combines the functional and morphologic information, outperforming both, CT and FDG-PET as separate imaging modalities. This has resulted in several recommendations using FDG-PET/CT for staging, restaging, monitoring during therapy, and assessment of treatment response as well as identification of malignant transformation. FDG-PET/CT may obviate the need for a bone marrow biopsy in patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma and diffuse large B cell lymphoma. FDG-PET/CT response assessment is recommended for FDG-avid lymphomas, whereas CT-based response evaluation remains important in lymphomas with low or variable FDG avidity. The treatment induced change in metabolic activity allows for assessment of response after completion of therapy as well as prediction of outcome early during therapy. The five-point scale Deauville Criteria allows the assessment of treatment response based on visual FDG-PET analysis. Although the use of FDG-PET/CT for prediction of therapeutic response is promising it should only be conducted in the context of clinical trials. Surveillance FDG-PET/CT after complete remission is discouraged due to the relative high number of false-positive findings, which in turn may result in further unnecessary investigations. Future directions include the use of new PET tracers such as F-18 fluorothymidine (FLT), a surrogate biomarker of cellular proliferation and Ga-68 CXCR4, a chemokine receptor imaging biomarker as well as innovative digital PET/CT and PET/MRI techniques.

[Drug therapy follow-up in patients admitted to a Surgery Department]. / Seguimiento del tratamiento farmacológico en pacientes ingresados en un Servicio de Cirugía.

INTRODUCTION: Patients admitted to surgery departments receive multiple drugs before, during and after surgical procedures. Anti-infectious therapy, anesthetics, anti-embolic agents, and analgesics stand out amongst others. Our objective was to implement pharmacotherapeutic follow-up as a means to detect, prevent, and solve medication-related problems (MRPs) in inpatients, and to establish consensus strategies to solve avoidable MRPs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An observational prospective study of 22 patients hospitalized in a Surgery Department, Hospital Infanta Margarita, Cabra (Córdoba) was conducted. Dader methodology was adapted for drug therapy follow-up in the hospital setting. RESULTS: In all, 108 MRPs were detected; 22.04% were associated with medication needs (MRP1:13.6% and MRP2: 8.5%), 40.68% with ineffectiveness (MRP3: 22.0% and MRP4: 18.6%), and 37.28% with lack of safety (MRP5: 10.2% and MRP6: 27.1%). Out of 108 MRPs found, 64 (59.3%) were avoidable; 97 pharmaceutical interventions were carried out (89.8% of cases), acting in 63 (58%) MRPs detected in cooperation with physicians, while 46 MRPs were solved (42%). We found 1 MRP in each 2.6 patients -- admission days, and 1 MRP per 4.5 patients -- admission days occurred after pharmaceutical intervention during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: The use of pharmacotherapeutic follow-up in patients admitted to this department has improved the quality of health care.

[Infected urachal cyst in adults]. / Quiste uracal infectado en adultos.

A case of infected urachal cyst in a 42 years old women is described. Cystography shows the spontaneous drainage to the bladder through the vesical extremity of the urachus. Review of the Literature is included.

Protein sorting in yeast: the localization determinant of yeast vacuolar carboxypeptidase Y resides in the propeptide.

We have isolated cis-acting mutations in the gene encoding the yeast vacuolar protein carboxypeptidase Y (CPY) that result in missorting and aberrant secretion of up to 95% of newly synthesized CPY. The CPY polypeptides synthesized by these mutants use the late secretory pathway to exit the cell, since the late-acting sec1 mutation prevents their secretion. The mutant versions of CPY are secreted as the proCPY zymogen and are enzymatically activatable in vivo and in vitro. All the mutations, including small deletions and an amino acid substitution, map to the amino-terminal propeptide region and define a discrete yeast vacuolar localization domain whose integrity is required for efficient sorting of the CPY zymogen. Thus, the N-terminal propeptide of CPY carries out at least three functions: it mediates translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum, renders the enzyme inactive during transit, and targets the molecule to the vacuole.