To investigate the effi cacy of a posterior sub-Tenon's capsule triamcinolone injection for treating eyes with non-infectious posterior and intermediate uveitis. A total of 31 eyes from 20 patients with non-infectious posterior uveitis and 18 eyes from 10 patients with non-infectious intermediate uveitis that inadequately responded to treatment with systemic corticosteroids and second-line immunosuppressive agents were enrolled in the study. All patients received a posterior sub-Tenon TRACT o investigate the effi cacy of f f f a a a a p p p posteri ri rior or or sub-Ten en en enon's capriamcinolone injection f f f fo o or tre e eat at at ati in i g eye es wit t th h h h non-infecposterior and interm m m media a a ate te te te uveitis. total of 31 eyes s s f f from m m m 2 2 20 patients wit th n non-infectious rior uveitis an n n nd d d d 18 8 8 8 eyes from 10 patie ents w w with non-inus intermedi di di d ate e e uveitis that inadequately re re re esponded to ment with h h h sys s st t te t mic corticosteroids and d second nd nd nd-line imosuppre e es s s ssive e e e agents were enrolled in th he study. A A A All pas receiv v ved a a a posterior sub-Tenon`s injec ction of 20 mg/m / / / l l l mcinol ol ol olone e e e. Th e parameters we examin ned included the wing g: g g be e es e t corrected visual acuity, y, central f foveal thickfl u u uo u rescein angiography score and intra aocular pressure. The e e mean b b bes es est t correcte te te t d d d visual acuity was signifi cantly ov v v ved f f f fr r ro r m m m m th th the control l l l vi v v v si si si it, t, t, t 0.15±0.30 0 logMAR (Snelq q quiva va va vale e e ent n n 0.7), compared to to to o the h h h baseline measurements, ± ± ±0 ± .3 3 3 30 0 0 0 logMAR (Snellen equ u ui u va a alent 0.2 25; P<0.05). Th e n c c cen n ntral f foveal thickness (C ( FT F FT F ) ) ) ) and th he mean score for esc c c cein angiography (FA) were e e signific cantly decreased t t t the e e e baseline (CFT: 320±34 μm; m; m; FA mea an score: 5.9±1.9) a ared ed ed ed to the twelve-week cont t t tr r ro r l visit (C CFT: 235±30 μm; e e ean sc c c cor o o o e: 1.2±1.1; P<0.00 0 00 001 1) 1 1 . Five eyes s had intraocular ur r re spikes th th that a at a req q equi ui ui uire re red d d d a topical an nti-glaucomatous men en ent. po o os st s s er r rio i i i r sub-Tenon`s injection of tr riamcinolone can ficantl tl tl tly im m m mprove visual acuity and decr rease macular oea in pati t t t ents ts ts ts with non-infectious posterio or and interme edi di di d ---veitis. C C C Com o o o pl pl pl p ications were minimal, an nd there w w were no that requir ir ir ired e e s s s sur u u u gical treatment for elev vated i i in nt n raocular ure. Th e resu u ult l l l s su su u ugg g g est that the posterio or sub b b-Tenon`s inn of triamcino o olo lo lo l ne i i is an important for rm of of of o therapy for nfectious posterior or or r and nd d i intermediate uv veitis. s s eywords: Intermedi di di d at a a a e uv uv uv veitis, poste erior r r uveitis, trinolone, fl uorescein an...

Background/Aim. Diabetic neuropathy (DN) is the basic complication of diabetes, associated with impared glucoregulation, metabolic distrurbances, microvascular vessel damage and increased cardiovascular risk. We monitored the impact of glucoregulation on the efficacy of painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) treatment, when all pharmaceutical treatment options were exhausted. Methods. Patients (n = 53, both gender, average age 68.3 ? 12.6) with PDN resistant to the pharmacotherapy were treated with the ultrasound- guided local anesthetic (0.5% procaine hydrochloride, 1% lidocaine, 0.25% levobupivacaine) blocks. Neuropathy was confirmed in accordance with the applicable European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) criteria. Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) and blood glucose levels were monitored before and after therapy and one month after the treatment. Neuropathic pain was confirmed by Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS) or Douleur neuropathique (DN4) or pain DETECT scales. The pain intensity was assessed by Visual analog scale, Neuropathic pain symptom and Neuropathic pain symptom inventory (VAS, NPS and NPSI, respectively) scales before and after therapy and one month after the treatment. The efficacy of the therapy was assessed as: excellent result (> 50% of pain loss), good result (30%?49% of pain loss and the therapy does not work (< 30% of pain loss). The correlation between glucoregulation and the outcome was examined. Results. Because the values of glycenia and HbA1c were not different among patients treated with different local anesthetics, they were presented together. All patients had elevated blood glucose and HbA1C levels before (8.23 ? 2.77 mmol/L and 8.53% ? 2.48% respectively), after (8.43 ? 2.461 mmol/L and 8.85% ? 2.87%, respectively) and one month after the treatment (8.49 ? 2.22 mmol/L and 8.51% ? 2.09%, respectively). The loss of the pain was not result of the decrease in blood glucose and HbA1C blood levels. VAS, NPS, NPSI values were the following before the therapy: 81.53 ? 11.62 mm; 62.00 ? 13.04; 53.40 ? 17.63, respectively; after the therapy: 29.00 ? 9.23 mm; 13.79 ? 6.65; 11.83 ? 7.93, respectively; and one month later: 26.15 ? 8.41 mm; 12.68 ? 6.03; 9.81 ? 7.64, respectively]. There was no correlation between glucoregulation and excellent outcome. Conclusion. Even though the disturbance of glucose control is the key factor for the progression of PDN, it is not significant for the outcome of the pain treatment. New investigations are required.

Background/Aim. The neuropathic pain (NP) treatment is a big medical and socioeconomical problem. The new sorts of the NP treatment was developed and are applied in case of a medical treatment failure. The aim of this work was to investigate the efficacy of the ultrasound-assisted treatment of the resistant and chronic peripheral neuropathic pain with the local anesthetic nerve blocks. Due to the inefficacy of conventional treatment, three local anesthetics (shortacting, medium-term and long-acting) were administered in a series of the same minimal dose on a daily basis. Complications, side effects, the execution time of procedure and the onset time of local anesthetic were also investigated. Methods. In this prospective, randomized and doubleblinded study, 108 patients (of which 53 were diagnosed with diabetes and 55 with radiculopathy) with the resistant and chronic peripheral neuropathic pain in the lower extremities were treated with a series of ultra-sound assisted peripheral nerve blocks. The conventional treatment was exhausted. The presence of this neuropathic pain was confirmed by, at least, one of the three scales -the Leeds Assesment of Neuropathic Simptoms and Signs (LANSS) scale, the Dolour Neuropathic 4 questions (DN4) scale and the pain DETECT(PD-Q) scale. Other therapies were not applied. The nerve blocks were administered on a daily basis until the relief of pain (visual analogue scale -VAS < 30), and after that, two additional nerve blocks were given. The three local anesthetics of the different duration of therapeutic effect were given at the same minimal dose: the schortacting (1% procaine-chloride solution), medium-term (1% lidocaine-chloride solution) and long-acting (0.25%

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in most countries, with every year's increasing incidence. At present, surgical resection of early stage disease presents the only treatment associated with a high likelihood of 5-year survival. On the other hand, patients with advanced disease have 5-year survival less than 5%. This poor prognosis is attributable largely to lack of efficient diagnostic methods for early detection and the inability to cure metastatic disease. Therefore, efforts aimed at early identification and interventions in lung cancer are of the highest importance. Mutations in ras oncogenes appear to play a significant role in the development of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Thus, the aim of our study was to determine the incidence of H-ras and K-ras mutations in patients with NSCLC of different histological subtypes: adenocarcinomas (AC), squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), large cell carcinomas (LCC), and adenosquamous carcinomas (AC-SCC). METHODS: We analyzed 41 patients with stage I, II and III of histologically confirmed NSCLC (histological grade 2 and 3). DNA was isolated from frozen tumors by standard phenol-chloroform extraction. Mutations in exon 1 H-ras and K-ras gene were detected by PCR-SSCP method. RESULTS: Mutations in the H-ras gene were found in only 2 of 41 analyzed tumors (4.9%). The both mutations were found in SCC making the overall incidence in this histological subtype 10.5% (2 of 19). K-ras mutations were detected in 31.7% (13 out of 41) of tumors, with higher incidence in tumors of clinical stage I - 45% (9 out of 20). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that H-ras mutations apparently play an inferior role in lung carcinogenesis. However, mutations in K-ras gene probably present an early event in genesis of NSCLC, and not only in adenocarcinomas, as the majority of previous reports indicate, but also in squamous cell carcinomas as well

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