1 mg/dL) was significant (p = 0.037). No significant changes in high-or low-density lipoproteins or triglycerides were demonstrated. Two of the 8 patients randomized to the niacinamide treatment arm had to withdraw from the study due to drug-related adverse effects. Adverse effects may limit the use of niacinamide in PD patients.

Conclusion: Niacinamide, when added to standard

phosphorus-lowering therapies, resulted in a modest yet statistically significant reduction in plasma phosphorus levels at 8 weeks. [ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00508885 (ClinicalTrials. gov)]“
“Sildenafil is used to treat pulmonary hypertension (PAH) in infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). However, data to guide sildenafil dosing and weaning are limited. IPI-145 This is concerning in light of a see more recent report describing increased risk associated with high-dose sildenafil regimens in non-CDH PAH. A retrospective cohort study of sildenafil usage, dosing, and weaning in infants with CDH was conducted at the authors’ institution. The findings show that 17 % (19/122) of infants were discharged receiving sildenafil at a median dose of 8 mg/kg/day (range 2.91-5.78 mg/kg/day). The weaning rate was 0.1 mg/kg/week (range 0.01-0.5 mg/kg/week). The infants ceased therapy after a median of 343 days. At the age of 1 year, 29 % were receiving sildenafil

at a dose higher than 1.5 mg/kg/day. One infant died of severe PAH. Sildenafil therapy at discharge is common in severe CDH. Variation in dosing and weaning rates highlights the need for standardized assessment and treatment of PAH after discharge to optimize the benefits and minimize the adverse effects of sildenafil.”
“Background:

Several tools have been created to assess competence in bronchoscopy. However, educational guidelines still use an arbitrary number of performed procedures to decide when basic competency is acquired. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to define pass/fail scores for two bronchoscopy assessment tools, and investigate how these scores relate to physicians’ experience Selleck H 89 regarding the number of bronchoscopy procedures performed. Methods: We studied two assessment tools and used two standard setting methods to create cut scores: the contrasting-groups method and the extended Angoff method. In the first we compared bronchoscopy performance scores of 14 novices with the scores of 14 experienced consultants to find the score that best discriminated between the two groups. In the second we asked an expert group of 7 experienced bronchoscopists to judge how a borderline trainee would perform on each item of the test. Results: Using the contrasting-groups method we found a standard that would fail all novices and pass all consultants. A clear pass related to prior experience of 75 procedures. The consequences of using the extended Angoff method were also acceptable: all trainees who had performed less than 50 bronchoscopies failed the test and all consultants passed.