Biomedical subjects

Małgorzata Wiszniewska

Publications and source records attributed to Małgorzata Wiszniewska.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

[Antiphospholipid syndrome--interdisciplinary problem].

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a systemic autoimmune disorder, where the essence of the matter is the existence of antiphospholipid antibodies. The typical symptoms of APS are: venous thrombo-embolic disease and artery thrombosis in a brain. The authors present 5 patients (2 females and 3 males) at the age of 36-54 with ischemic stroke and one 26-year-old women with thrombosis of central retinal vein caused by APS. In 4 cases in secondary prevention anticoagulant (acenocumarol) was used and in 2--antiplatelet drug (aspirin). In 2 cases congenital disturbances of coagulation were also discovered. We suggest that in ischemic stroke and visual disturbances of not-well-known origin it is useful to make examinations concerning APS, as well as congenital thrombophilias.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Exposure to moulds in flats and the prevalence of allergic diseases--preliminary study.

The presented study concerned mycological analysis of buildings in Lódź and evaluation of the role between filamentous fungi contaminated flats and inhabitants health (allergic airway diseases). 49 inhabitants of 20 flats with signs of moulds contamination were examined. Air samples were collected in houses and outdoors. In all inhabitants skin prick tests (SPT) to common allergens and to standardized particular fungal extracts were performed. Moreover, total and serum specific IgE to moulds, rest spirometry were measured in all subjects. Level of moulds contamination in the air of flats was high and in 75% cases exceed accepted limits. The most frequent species isolated from examined rooms were: Penicillium, Cladosporium, Aspergillus, Acremoniu and Alternaria. The most frequent symptoms reported by examined subjects were rhinitis (N = 29, 59.2%), conjunctivitis (N = 29, 59.2%), chronic cough (N = 24, 49%), dyspnea (N = 15, 30.6%) and skin symptoms (N = 24, 49%). Elevated IgE level was found in 12 subjects (24.5%) and in three patients (6.1%) mould specific serum IgE were detected. Nineteen out of all subjects (38.8%) had positive SPT to common allergens (house dust mites, grass and tree pollens). Eight out of these patients (16.3% of the group) were sensitized to moulds (Candida albicans, Alternaria alternata, Botrytis cinerea, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Helminthosporium halodes, Aspergillus). In all cases sensitisation to moulds was accompanied by allergy to other common allergens. No isolated hypersensitivity to moulds was found. Although the frequency of self-reported symptoms was high, the prevalence of atopy and allergic diseases seems to be similar to that found in general population, but that statement must be confirmed by comparison of the control group.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Prognostic factors in the acute phase of haemorrhagic stroke].

The aim of the study was establishing which parameters play a significant prognostic role in acute haemorrhagic stroke in its acute phases (during 30 days from stroke onset). The material included 110 patients with haemorrhagic stroke (HS) treated in the years 1997-1999 at the II Neurology Department, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw or at the Neurology Department, Hospital in Piła. The analysis of risk factors, fitness before stroke and on the first day of the disease was based on history data. On the first day of the disease the assessment included state of consciousness, brain stem signs, vomiting, stroke type on the basis of clinical condition (according to Oxford classification, OCSP), blood pressure, body temperature measurements, intensity of neurological signs according to Scandinavian scale (SSS). In the blood glucose level, fibrinogen, leucocyte count and ESR were determined. In the first week consciousness state, blood pressure and miction were checked repeatedly. It was found that serious consciousness disturbances, stroke type TACS, POCS and severe not classified stroke, presence of brain stem involvement, low SSS score, high body temperature, high leucocyte count and glucose level were more frequent in patients who died within 30 days after stroke onset. Prognostically important were also instability of blood pressure and urinary incontinence in the first week. All clinical observation and laboratory analyses of prognostic importance in the acute phase of HS can be done in typical hospital settings.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Can a cutaneous-muscular biopsy be helpful in the diagnosis of vasculitis in the stroke?].

Vasculitis includes a heterogeneous group of multisystemic disorders characterized pathologically by inflammation of blood vessels. The diagnosis of vasculitis is difficult and more often than not, it is made indirectly after eliminating other causes of the stroke. Vasculitis is an infrequent disorder and a rare cause of the stroke. This is a case report of a 41-year-old man who had the first-ever stroke with vasculitis diagnosed histologically in a cutaneous-muscular biopsy from the place not changed by the disease. After corticosteroid therapy the hemiparesis disappeared. The patient has continued the treatment with immunosuppressive drugs.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Guillain-Barré syndrome in a course of early cutaneous type of Lyme borreliosis: diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties].

A case is reported of a 33-year-old man in whom Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBs) developed three weeks after a tick's sting. At the sting site typical for an early cutaneous type of Lyme borreliosis -- erythema migrans -- appeared. The demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy of GBs occurred after disappearance of erythema migrans, and was manifested by progressive neuropathic symmetrical limb weakness with distal numbness and pain, and bilateral facial paralysis. The GBs was confirmed by electrophysiological examination and elevated protein concentration with a normal range of cells in the cerebrospinal fluid. Antibodies IgM and IgG against Borrelia burgdorferi in the blood serum and cerebrospinal fluid assessed using immunoenzymatic assay, MEIA, were negative on account of their early search. The above findings suggested that the GBs appearance after the probable Borrelia burgdorferi infection was in fact due to that infection. The patient recovered after treatment with plasma-phoresis and corticosteroid therapy followed by intravenous immunoglobulin, and physiotherapy. This is the first case in the Polish neurological literature of GBs with an early skin form of borreliosis which developed after the tick's sting.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Alternative methods of treatment used by multiple sclerosis patients in Poland.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Despite the great progress that has been made in medicine, treatment of many chronic diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), remains hardly effective. It has been reported that more and more MS patients worldwide are using alternative methods (AM). The aim of the present study is to evaluate this phenomenon in the Polish MS population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To obtain more data about use of AM in Poland we distributed questionnaires among 210 MS patients treated in 3 hospitals in different regions of our country: Warsaw, Gdansk and Pila. RESULTS: 210 patients (136 females and 74 males) took part in the study. 68.5% (144 of 210 questioned) declared use of AM now or in the past. The most popular (56%) was Oenothera seed oil, followed by vitamins (49%), and the third most common was massage (34%). There were no significant demographic differences between users and non-users. Neither disease duration nor disability had any impact on the decision to use AM. CONCLUSIONS: The phenomenon of use of AM by MS patients is not fully understood, but it seems that limited access to so-called immunomodulators, e.g. interferon-b or glatiramer acetate, and limited long-term efficacy are reasons why patients seek other therapies.

Complementary Therapies↗