This technique is easy to use in any ICU. The concerning paper proves it’s beneficial effects if applied immediately after extubation in patients suffering from chronic respiratory disease and high indicators of disease severity. Complications after extubation drop in over 30% of the cases and 90 days survival was increased in 20%. The conclusions of the study will cause the adaptation of the international clinical practice.
The Lancet is expected to publish the paper today, but it only will be available online. The conclusions of this review state that correct application of non-invasive ventilation after extubation increases survival of critical chronic respiratory patients in 20%. The study included 106 patients who were admitted in Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and it was performed by a group of investigators belonging to the Applied Research in Respiratory Infectious Diseases, Critical patients and Lung Cancer team, who were altogether lead by Dr. Miquel Ferrer and Dr. Antoni Torres, as Chief of Pneumology at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and project leader at the IDIBAPS. The outstanding results have definitely ended the controversy about the beneficial effects of non-invasive ventilation in these types of patients and it is most likely that future clinical practice around the world will be adjusted to the protocol described in this paper.
The genetic study includes 1650 patients and 4336 control subjects from Europe and Australia. Of the three regions of the genome with small variations identified as risk factors for melanoma, one is new and two are associated with pigmentation. These risk factors are shared despite genetic variability and differences in exposure to sunlight in the countries represented in the study. IDIBAPS - Hospital Clínic is the only Spanish center in this project, which is led by Leeds University.
The Gamida Cell-Teva Joint Venture announced today that five prestigious cord blood transplantations centers in Spain, three in Barcelona and two in Valencia, have joined the ExCell study.
Oxaliplatin is a drug that is widely used to treat colon cancer, but its efficacy is limited by the development of resistance to chemotherapy of the tumor cells. The chemoresistant cells undergo molecular changes that protect them from the cell death induced by the drugs, thus re-establishing the processes of tumor progression. An article published in PLoS Oneanalyzes the role of the metalloproteinase, MMP7, in the resistance mechanisms of these cells and its effect on the Fas receptor involved in promoting cell death by apoptosis. This study was directed by Dr. Vanessa Almendro of the department of medical oncology at Hospital Clínic-IDIBAPS and by Dr. Pere Gascón, and involved the collaboration of Dr. Elisabet Ametller, among others. The results show that, in colon cancer cell lines, MMP7 is directly related to the acquisition of resistance to oxaliplatin and its inhibition re-establishes sensitivity to the drug due to an increase in the Fas receptor. Furthermore, the authors observed that, surprisingly, the Fas receptor undergoes changes in functionality in cells resistant to oxaliplatin, leading it to induce survival signals instead of apoptotic signals. Read the rest of this entry »
The new center will be managed by the Eixample Primary Health Care Consortium (CAPSE), a body composed of the Catalan Health Care Institute and Hospital Clínic, Barcelona. The center will house the Primary Care Team (EAP) of Barcelona Area 2-C, currently located in the outpatient building of Hospital Clínic, on C/. Roselló. It will have more space in which to provide quality health care in the catchment area. Special attention will be paid here to disease prevention and health promotion.
A study carried out in the United States has managed to introduce into the muscle cells of macaque monkeys the DNA necessary to produce an antibody-like molecule that is effective against SIV, the virus that causes AIDS in simians. The strategy consists of injecting an adenovirus that introduces the necessary DNA sequence into the nucleus of the muscle cells of the macaques. The researcher, Eloísa Yuste is one of the authors of the study and currently works on the IDIBAPS-Hospital Clínic team led by Dr. Josep Maria Gatell, co-director of HIVACAT(*).
