Giant-cell arteritis (GCA) has been considered a paradigm of glucocorticoid-responsive disease because the majority of patients experience substantial relief of their symptoms with high-dose glucocorticoids (GC). However, GC may not completely suppress crucial immunopathogenic pathways, eventually leading to disease recurrence1,2. GCA has been largely recognized as a relapsing disease. However,...

Nephrotic syndrome is an important chronic disease in children, characterized by minimal change disease in the majority. Research on pathogenesis has emphasized the importance of T lymphocyte dysregulation and vascular permeability factors that might alter podocyte function and permselectivity. While mutations in genes that encode important podocyte proteins have also been identified, a hypothe...

OBJECTIVES To analyze the role of the capsular type in pneumococci causing relapse and reinfection episodes of acute exacerbation in COPD patients. METHODS A total of 79 patients with 116 recurrent episodes of acute exacerbations caused by S. pneumoniae were included into this study (1995-2010). A relapse episode was considered when two consecutive episodes were caused by the same strain (ide...

The objective of this study was to identify predictors of relapse and determine the predictive score for relapse in steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome. Ninety-nine children with nephrotic syndrome visiting the pediatric nephrology outpatient clinic of Soetomo Hospital from 1983 to 2001 were studied. There were 63 children with relapses (50 infrequent relapses, 13 frequent relapses) and 36 chi...

Radiation-induced organizing pneumonia (RIOP) is an important complication of postoperative radiotherapy for breast cancer. Unfortunately, conventional corticosteroid therapy is frequently associated with relapses. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the outcomes of steroid treatment in patients with RIOP. In total, 26 patients diagnosed with RIOP from among 2404 women who recei...

Four women with childhood-onset steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) had 5 pregnancies. Their age at onset of SSNS was between 4 and 10 years, and age at pregnancy was between 21 and 31 years. Three patients with frequent relapsing nephrotic syndrome (NS) continued to relapse after 20 years of age. Two of them had relapses during 6-32 gestational weeks of pregnancy and were treated with ...

Sir, Minimal change disease (MCNS) accounts for 70–90% of the cases of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome in children. Most patients respond to steroid therapy. However, the relapse rate is high and 50% of patients are steroiddependent or frequent-relapsers [1]. These patients are often treated with other immunosuppressive agents, such as cyclophosphamide or ciclosporin (CsA). Ultimately 75% of thes...

BACKGROUND Extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma is a subtype of lymphoma that is derived from NK cells. It is considered as an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma because of frequent relapses and resistance to treatment. Relapsed NK/T-cell lymphoma often follows a fulminant course that is refractory to conventional chemotherapy treatment. METHODS Several patients with extranod...

Caustic strictures of the gastrointestinal tract are often difficult to treat, since relapses are frequent after medical or endoscopic treatment. Thus, novel approaches are needed. We report here our experience with self-expandable metallic stents (SEMS) as a new endoscopic approach in three patients with corrosive strictures of the upper gastrointestinal tract.