Background: Intramedullary astrocytomas
account for about 1% of all CNS tumors and
6–8% of spinal cord tumors. The vast majority
of intramedullary astrocytomas are slowgrowing
lesions.
Objectives: The goal in this study was to
review a series of patients who underwent
surgical removal of intramedullary high-grade
astrocytomas, focusing on the functional
outcome and the effect of multimodality
treatment on the survival of patients with high
grade intramedullary astrocytoma.
Methods: Between June 1999 and June 2004,
22 patients underwent removal of
intramedullary high-grade astrocytomas in four
neurosurgical hospital in Baghdad/ Iraq
(Neurosurgical hospital, Al Shaheed Adnan
Hospital for Surgical Speeialticsa, Nursing
Home Hospital Lesions were located in the
cervical segment of the spinal cord in 12
patients, and patients.
Results: Histological examinations showed
10 Grade III astrocytomas and 12
glioblastomas. Only 2 of the 22 high-grade
astrocytomas could be completely removed. The
clinical postoperative status worsened in
14 patients (63.6%), was unchanged in seven
patients (31.8%), and there was one case of
intraoperative death (4.5%). None of the 22
patients showed improvement in their
neurological status postoperatively. In this series,
excluding the one intra-operative death, all
patients died of the progression of the
malignancy.
Conclusions: Surgical treatment did not
ameliorate the postoperative neurological status;
instead, in the majority of cases, it prompted a
worsening of the deficit. Radiotherapy and
chemotherapy have a little influence on the
length of survival. In this series, multimodality
treatment of intramedullary high-grade
astrocytomas has been shown to increase length
of survival without improving the neurological
status.
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... Show MoreSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with polymorphic expression. B cells have an essential contribution in immune system activation via the production of different cytokines and functioning as potent antigen-presenting cells. Therefore, a drug that particularly targets B cells may represent an ideal therapeutic approach for SLE. Rituximab (RTX), an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody causing transient B-cell depletion, has been used to manage SLE. This study aims to assess Rituximab effects on lupus nephritis (LN) patients when added to conventional immunosuppressants. Twenty four patients, 15-32 years old, with class III/IV/V LN were involved in this study. All were on steroids before lupus nephritis occurrence. They were
... Show MoreTwo different polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinyl chloride (PVA/PVC) hollow fiber composite nanofiltration membranes were prepared after PVC hollow fiber membranes were coated using dip-coating method with PVA aqueous solution, which was composed of PVA, fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (AEO9), and water [PVA/AEO9/water (4:0.5:95.5) wt%]. Effect of two different PVC hollow fiber immersion times in coating solution were studied. Cross-section, internal and external surfaces of the PVC hollow fibers and PVA/PVC composite nanofiltration membranes structures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), pure water permeation flux and solutes rejection. It was found that, the coating layer thickness on the outer surface of the 19 wt% P
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