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• Evaluation and Treatment of Nail Disease in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis

  Luigi Scarpato, MD, Luisa Costa, MD, Maria Maddalena Aquino, MD, and Raffale Scarpa, MD

  Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Rheumatology Research Unit, Early Psoriatic Arthritis Clinic, University Federico II, Naples, Italy
  
  Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory arthropathy that is associated with psoriasis and belongs to the group of seronegative spondyloarthropathies. In patients with an uncertain diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis, it is important to look for nail psoriasis to confirm or exclude the diagnosis.

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  Categories: Autoimmune Disease, Dermatology, Rheumatology

  Temozolomide for the Treatment of Malignant Gliomas

  Paola Gaviani, MD, Antonio Silvani, MD, and Andrea Salmaggi, MD

  Neuro-Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy
  
  Malignant gliomas are the most common and malignant brain tumors in adults. The prognosis of patients with malignant glioma is poor, with a median survival time of 12–18 months for patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) receiving a combination of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, and a median survival time of 2–3 years for patients with anaplastic astrocytoma.

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  Categories: Neurology, Oncology

  Newborn Screening for Cystic Fibrosis: From Experiment to Routine Procedure

  Jeannette E Dankert-Roelse, MD, PhD

  Atrium Medisch Centrum Parkstad, Heerlen, The Netherlands
  
  Since the early 1970s, newborn screening for cystic fibrosis (NBSCF) has been possible, but, for a long time, expanding routine NBS programs with screening for CF has led to much debate. Several arguments have been used against adding screening for CF to routine NBS programs. One important reason is that there is currently no approved treatment directed against the harmful effects of the underlying genetic defect in CF.

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  Categories: Genetic Diseases, Pediatrics, Respiratory Medicine

  Osteoporosis in Men: An Update

  Robert A Adler, MD

  McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
  
  Screening versus case finding of men at risk of osteoporosis Osteoporosis is an important disorder in men, even though little attention has been paid to it. Approximately 25–33% of hip fractures occur in men, and the likelihood of full recovery is much lower in men than in women [1]. At 50 years of age, a man has a lifetime risk of osteoporotic fracture of between 13% and 25%, and with life expectancy increasing for men the higher value may be more likely.

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  Categories: Orthopaedics, Rheumatology
  Risk Factors Common to Arterial and Venous Thrombosis

  Francesco Dentali, MD, Walter Ageno, MD, and Paolo Prandoni, MD

  Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Insubria, Varese and Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Sciences, Thromboembolism Unit, University Hospital of Padua, Padua, Italy
  
  Until recently, venous and arterial thrombosis were considered to be two distinct entities. However, an increasing body of evidence now suggests a link between these conditions. They share a number of risk factors such as increased age, obesity, acute infections, and presence of the metabolic syndrome.

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  Categories: Cardiology, Hematology, Respiratory Medicine
  Smoking, Schizophrenia, and the Self-Medication Hypothesis

  Renaud de Beaurepaire, MD

  Groupe Hospitalier Paul Guiraud, Villejuif, France
  
  Tobacco addiction is a major cause of preventable death and health-related economic loss [1]. Despite extensive use of mass media campaigns, warnings, policies, and stop-smoking programs, there remains a high number of smokers in the general population, and studies converge in finding particularly high rates of smoking among people with mental illnesses. One way to understand why so many people smoke despite the well-established dangers of smoking is to investigate the psychobiological basis of tobacco addiction. In patients with mental illnesses, particularly schizophrenia, this is the principal type of investigation that has been conducted.

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  Categories: Psychiatry

  Targeted Therapy in Philadelphia Chromosome-Negative Chronic Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

  Alessandro M Vannucchi, MD, Lisa Pieri, MD, Elisabetta Antonioli, MD, PhD, and Paola Guglielmelli, MD, PhD

  Section of Hematology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
  
  The Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-negative classic myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are clonal disorders that originate at the level of a multipotent hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell, and are characterized by exaggerated proliferation of terminally differentiated myeloid cells [1].

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  Categories: Hematology, Oncology

  52nd Annual Meeting of the British Society for Haematology

  Ali Boden, MBChB, MRCP, and Caroline Harvey, BMedSci, BMBS, MRCP, FRCPath

  Department of Haematology, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
  Glasgow, UK, April 16–18, 2012
  
  This year’s British Society for Haematology’s Annual Scientific Meeting, entitled “Moving from age to biologically directed care”, took place in Glasgow, UK, on April 16–18, 2012. “Recent advances in myelodysplastic syndrome” was one of four education sessions that opened the meeting.

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  Categories: Hematology, Oncology