Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Alusík.
The authors of this article discuss the pharmacotherapy of pain control in patients with rheumatic diseases, and they describe the relevant groups of drugs available, including their adverse events. They focus on non-steroidal antirheumatic drugs, selectice cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors (coxibs) in particular. They summarise the experience with use of coxibs so far, and also report on drugs soon to be marketed in our country.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The author draws attention to the need of more profound knowledge of geriatrics in the training of specialists in internal medicine. He draws attention to the ageing population, trends in advanced countries and planned enlistment of general specialists in internal medicine into primary care.
The author describes the use of corticosteroids in the treatment of rheumatic diseases. He mentions different indications, incl. controversial vones, the problem of dosage and undesirable effects of treatment.
The author summarized when and how to use steroid-injection therapy. He mentions indications, contraindications, complications and the controversial uses of the local treatment.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The author deals with the causes of increasing polypharmacy in the Czech Republic. He discusses all problems concerned with treatment and analyzes attitudes of drug manufacturers, physicians, patients, the state and its health policy. He mentions also possible ways how to reduce polypharmacy. Attention is drawn to the role of the pharmacist in conjunction with extension of the spectrtum of drugs which can be purchased without restriction.
The author presents a review of contemporary knowledge on the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with minocycline. He analyzes the assumed mechanism of action, dosage and the most frequently encountered undesirable effects of treatment. He informs the reader on the results of the most important studies with minocycline.
The author describes a special inflammatory rheumatic disease in a 48-year-old female patient with Crouzon's syndrome which most probably could be included among seronegative spondarthritis. The author discusses the possible ratio of inborn disease in the atypical course of the rheumatic disease.
In 35 patients with rheumatoid pericarditis the laboratory findings were compared with those of a group of 65 patients with rheumatoid arthritis without a pericardial exudate. The authors assessed the red cell sedimentation rate and serum levels of immunoglobulins G, M, A, semiquantitative values of the rheumatoid factor, circulating immunocomplexes, C3 and C4 complement components, the positivity of antinuclear antibodies and values of C-reactive protein. The authors found significantly elevated values of immunoglobulins M in patients with rheumatoid arthritis without a pericardial exudate. As regards the other investigated parameters the two compared groups did not differ.
From a total of 4,123 hospitalized patients the criteria of fever of unknown origin were met by 81 (2%) who were divided with regard to the evoking cause into five groups: infection, tumors, rheumatic diseases, other diseases, diagnosis not established. The most frequent cause of fever was infection (29 patients, i. e. 35.8%), rheumatic diseases (16 patients, i. e. 19.7%), and the group of other diseases (14 patients, i. e. 17.3%). Tumors as the cause of fever held the fourth place (12 patients, i. e. 14.8%). In a small group of patients (10, i.e. 12.3%) the diagnosis was not established.
The authors describe the case of a 21-year-old female patient where for several months anaemia was the only symptom of subsequently diagnosed coeliac disease. They draw attention to the possibility of a monosymptomatic course of coeliac disease and discuss similar observations reported in the literature.
The authors describe in a 40-year-old woman Still's disease with an adult onset. The activity of the disease was not controlled by large Prednisone doses and therefore pulsed treatment with methylprednisolone with very favourable results was used. The authors discuss the use of pulsed treatment with methylprednisolone in this disease.
The authors assessed the damage of the cardiovascular apparatus in a group of 57 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Arterial hypertension was recorded in 19 patients (33%). The other most frequent defects were damage of the pericardium in 12 patients (21%) incl. 8 (14%) who had a pericardial exudate. Ischaemic heart disease was recorded in six patients. Serious forms of vasculitis were recorded in three patients and haemodynamically significant aortal insufficiency in two patients. Other forms of cardiovascular damage were rare.
The authors describe a case of primary Sjögren's syndrome, which was complicated with severe autoimmune agranulocytosis quite sensitive to immunosuppressive therapy. Agranulocytosis is a very rare complication of this autoimmune rheumatic disease as opposed to leucopenia. A remarkable feature of the presented case is the fact that correct diagnosis of primary Sjögren's syndrome has not been settled for almost 25 years. The disease has manifested only in the form of arthropathy imitating rheumatoid arthritis.
The authors describe a thirty-nine-year-old woman patient presenting with progressive systemic sclerosis and an unusual angiographic picture of an impairment of large arteries, which in their opinion is due to the primary disease. The review literature reports about similar arterial involvement in scleroderma.