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News About Sartans: An Overview with Consideration of Their Position in the Current Coronavirus Situation

Sartans, or AT1 receptor blockers for angiotensin II (ARBs), are among the first-line antihypertensives, along with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi). These are well-tested drugs with a good safety profile. We offer a brief overview of the position of sartans in the current therapeutic strategy, including comments on their possible association with COVID-19, based on the state of knowledge as of early May 2020.

Source: Sartans in the Treatment of Hypertension 26. 5. 2020

News Economic Burden and Loss of Quality of Life as a Consequence of Dry Eye Syndrome

Canadian authors evaluated the direct and indirect financial costs associated with dry eye syndrome (DED −⁠ dry eye disease) and the impact of this condition on the quality of life (QoL) of patients. The results were stratified according to the severity of the condition. The most significant was the loss of work productivity, highlighting the need for adequate solutions for DED.

Source: Treatment of Glaucoma 1. 4. 2024

News Metformin and Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease

Diabetes mellitus is a serious chronic disease that, due to its ever-increasing prevalence, poses a significant problem for society in developed countries. The main cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes is cardiovascular disease, and the likelihood of their occurrence is increased by concomitant chronic kidney disease. In current diabetes treatment, antidiabetic agents are thus preferred, as they also provide cardioprotective and nephroprotective effects.

Source: Modern Treatment of Diabetes 19. 2. 2020

News Long-term Benefit of Sotorasib for Survival of Patients with Pre-treated Advanced/Metastatic NSCLC with G12C Mutation of KRAS Oncogene

Sotorasib is indicated as monotherapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with the KRAS^G12C gene mutation, if there has been progression after ≥ 1 prior line of systemic therapy. The 2-year analysis of data from the CodeBreaK 100 study published in April 2023 demonstrated the long-term benefit of sotorasib for this patient population in terms of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), regardless of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) receptor expression, including patients with a poor prognosis. In the Czech Republic, sotorasib has been reimbursed by public health insurance for this indication since September 2023.

Source: Lung Cancer 10. 10. 2023

News Interactive Case Study of a Patient with Severe Hemophilia A -⁠ Experience from Slovenia

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Irena Preložnik Zupan (University Medical Centre Ljubljana) describes an interactive case study of a patient with severe hemophilia A and progressive cataracts in both eyes.

Source: Quality Life Even with Hemophilia 24. 3. 2021

News CYP Enzyme? Cytochrome P450 2D6 and Drug Metabolism

The CYP2D6 isoenzyme of cytochrome P450 participates in the metabolism of approximately 20% of commonly used drugs. Genetic variants of this enzyme are very common, leading to significant inter-individual variability in drug metabolism rates. Let’s take a closer look at one of the reasons why the same drug may work very well in one patient, not at all in another, and may cause serious side effects in a third.

Source: Genetics 5. 5. 2023

News Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis –⁠ A Common Accompanying Infection in Patients with Severe or Critical Course of COVID-19

Findings based on a literature review conducted and published in September 2020 show the occurrence of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in 19.6–33.3% of patients with a severe or critical course of COVID-19. The authors provide several important insights for clinical practice, including recommended management of therapy for these patients.

Source: Anti-Infectives 8. 2. 2021

News Impact of Smoking on Postoperative Wound Healing

Modern surgery aims to shorten postoperative hospitalization by providing faster recovery from surgical consequences. Due to principles of asepsis and antisepsis, wound healing has significantly improved and the occurrence of infectious complications has decreased. However, smoking significantly prolongs recovery. We present new study results comparing wound healing in smokers and non-smokers.

Source: Wound Healing 1. 4. 2020

News Proton radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma increases chances of successful treatment

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma mainly affects younger people. It tends to be aggressive but responds very well to treatment –⁠ up to 85% of patients with this diagnosis can achieve long-term tumor disappearance with proton radiotherapy, and a significant portion of patients even completely recover. The two-year treatment results for patients with very advanced nasopharyngeal tumors, which confirmed these conclusions, were published 2 years ago by a team from Prague's Proton Therapy Center (PTC).

Source: Proton Radiotherapy 20. 9. 2023

News Advances in the Treatment of Myasthenia Gravis on the Horizon

The research of new drugs for the generalized form of myasthenia gravis has made significant progress in recent years. How is the new specific therapy performing? And are we heading towards a radical change in treatment strategy?

Source: Rare Diseases in Neurology 28. 3. 2024

News Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Can This Disease Be Named More Precisely?

Much about idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is still unknown. Some experts would like to reclassify this disease. What classification options are available? What would a focus on the "progressive fibrotic phenotype" in research mean? And what would a change in classification mean for patients?

Source: Progressive Interstitial Pulmonary Processes 9. 9. 2021

News Can the Fixed Combination of Tramadol/Acetaminophen Significantly Reduce Back Pain Uncontrolled by NSAIDs?

One way to prevent drug-related complications in the treatment of lower back pain (LBP) while improving patients' functioning in daily activities is the prescription of the weak opioid agonist tramadol in combination with acetaminophen. A smaller Japanese observational study focused on the effectiveness of this treatment in reducing the disability of patients with chronic LBP, improving their daily activities, and the occurrence of adverse events.

Source: Pharmacotherapy of Pain 9. 10. 2020

News Glucagon for Intranasal Application Newly Available Also in the Czech Republic

Intramuscular administration of glucagon was until recently the only option for acute treatment of hypoglycemia with impaired consciousness at home. However, since July this year, the Baqsimi product –⁠ glucagon for intranasal application –⁠ is newly available in the Czech Republic.

Source: Modern Treatment of Diabetes 15. 9. 2020

News Pegylated Liposomal Irinotecan + 5-FU/LV in the Treatment of mPDAC in Czech Clinical Practice –⁠ Results from the VILP Registry

At last year's annual congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and this year's 15th PragueONCO, results from the Czech VILP registry were presented. This registry collected data on patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) treated with pegylated liposomal irinotecan (nal-IRI) in combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin (LV). The efficacy and safety of nal-IRI + 5-FU/LV in patients with mPDAC after failure or intolerance to gemcitabine-based chemotherapy, as found in the randomized controlled study NAPOLI-1, are thus confirmed in real clinical practice in the Czech Republic.

Source: Treatment of Gastrointestinal Carcinomas 25. 3. 2024

News Traveling with MS –⁠ Is Vaccination a Limitation?

What about the need for vaccination when traveling abroad? Which vaccines should you be cautious about? And how to time vaccination concerning disease activity and the individual medications used in multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy?

Source: Multiple Sclerosis 5. 6. 2023