Summary. Participants in an international conference on prophylactic therapy for severe haemophilia developed a consensus summary of the findings and conclusions of the conference. In the consensus, participants agreed upon revised definitions for primary and secondary prophylaxis and also made recommendations concerning the need for an international system of pharmacovigilance. Considerations on starting prophylaxis, monitoring outcomes, and individualizing treatment regimens were discussed. Several research questions were identified as needing further investigation, including when to start and when to stop prophylaxis, optimal dosing and dose interval, and methods for assessment of long-term treatment effects. Such studies should include carefully defined cohorts, validated orthopaedic and quality-of-life assessment instruments, and cost-benefit analyses.
Skin integrity is essential for the normal usage of a stoma appliance. There is little published on the prevalence, prevention or management of stoma skin problems. Allergic contact dermatitis is often cited as the cause, usually without evidence from formal investigations. The authors approached, by postal questionnaire, 525 patients who had had a stoma formation in the last 10 years. A total of 325 responded. All those who described a skin problem were invited to attend a multidisciplinary clinic for further investigations and appropriate treatment of their peristomal skin. This may be severe and debilitating as well as socially restricting. However, with a multidisciplinary approach a number of conditions can be recognized and easily treated, thus improving the quality of life for stoma patients.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.