The pharmacokinetics and effect of single oral doses of carbamazepine (400 mg) were compared in a group of six young volunteers aged between 20 and 25 years, and a second group of five elderly volunteers aged between 66 and 84 years. No age related changes in salivary or plasma pharmacokinetics or in psychomotor function were detected.

Purpose: To give a better understanding of primary AE, the clinical characteristics and the possible therapeutic approaches. Background: Angioedema (AE) is a non-pitting, non-itching swelling of skin or mucosa. The symptom can become life-threatening if located in the airways. Primary (monosymptomatic) AE is a manifestation of several different diseases and the diagnosis is not always straightforward. The aetiological and pathophysiological factors of primary AE are not completely clarified. There is a need for further investigation. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients referred to an outpatient dermatology clinic in a tertiary care hospital for clinical assessment due to primary AE in the period from 1996 to 2014. Results: A total of 315 patients were identified with primary AE. The most frequent subtype was idiopathic AE (42.5%) and the second most common was angiotensin-converting enzymeinhibitor (ACEi)-induced AE (31.1%). Three patients were diagnosed with hereditary AE and one patient was diagnosed with acquired C1-inhibitor deficiency. At least 107 (34.0%) patients had established histaminergic AE. More than 1/3 of the patients were treated in an emergency room or hospitalized due to AE. A 98.1% of patients had experienced AE in the head and neck area. Seven patients were in the need of acute airway intervention. Six of these had ACEi-induced AE. Female sex and smoking were found to be risk factors for developing AE. Conclusion: The most frequent diagnoses were histaminergic-, non-histaminergic idiopathic AE and ACEi-induced AE, whereas complement C1-inhibitor deficiency was rare. Histaminergic AE made up a substantial group of patients with primary AE. Even though there are different pathophysiological causes of AE, many cases have overlapping clinical manifestations, which make diagnosis and treatment difficult.

Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a significant global burden. The development of a diagnostic or recurrence monitoring test could evolve from the exploitation of molecular markers such as tumour-specific DNA alterations in plasma. The aim of this study was to report specific genetic alterations of DNA in plasma from HNSCC patients, report the diagnostic accuracy, and discuss potentials for a diagnostic or recurrence monitoring test based on circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA). Methods: A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library for articles published in English between 1 January 1980 and 24 October 2018. The search terms used were related to ctDNA methylations and mutations in HNSCC patients. Results: We identified 16 studies from four countries (p ¼ 1156 patients, c ¼ 601 controls) examining ctDNA alterations of HNSCC patients. CtDNA methylations were significantly increased in HNSCC patients compared to controls. Five studies investigated ctDNA mutations in HNSCC. The most frequent examined gene mutation was TP53. Eleven studies investigated ctDNA methylations in HNSCC. Nine studies calculated the diagnostic accuracy of ctDNA methylations in HNSCC compared to controls. The most frequent examined gene methylations were CDKN2A, DAPK1, RASSF1, and P15. Conclusion:We found that increasing the number of ctDNA genetic methylations resulted in an increase in diagnostic sensitivity accuracy. No studies investigating ctDNA mutations included a control group. A combination of multiple human ctDNA gene alterations with viral ctDNA are promising tools for developing a ctDNA biomarker for HNSCC.