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- Gustavsson, Anders, 1964-, et al.
(author)
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Smoking is a risk factor for recurrence of intestinal stricture after endoscopic dilation in Crohn's disease
- 2013
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In: Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0269-2813 .- 1365-2036. ; 37:4, s. 430-437
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Endoscopic balloon dilation is an efficacious and safe alternative to surgery as treatment of short intestinal strictures in Crohn's disease (CD). Factors predicting outcome of the procedure are not well described.AIM: To evaluate whether smoking at diagnosis, treatment with azathioprine, or other clinical variables may affect clinical outcome after endoscopic dilation. The endpoint was requirement of a new intervention such as dilation or surgery with intestinal resection or strictureplasty.METHODS: Retrospective study of 83 patients with CD who underwent endoscopic balloon dilation of an intestinal stricture between 1987 and 2009.RESULTS: After index dilation 55/83 patients underwent a new intervention. Among current smokers, 31/32 (97%) underwent another intervention compared to 18/33 (55%) among never smokers (adjusted HR: 2.50, 95% CI: 1.14-5.50, P = 0.022). After 5 years, cumulative probability of new intervention was 0.81 in smokers compared to 0.52 in never smokers; difference 0.29 (95% CI: 0.07-0.52, P = 0.01). In 16 patients, therapy with azathioprine was initiated before or shortly after the index dilation; 7/16 underwent a new intervention compared to 48/67 of those without azathioprine (HR: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.21-1.03, P = 0.06). After adjustment for other variables, the association was even weaker (HR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.29-2.18, P = 0.668). Sex, age at diagnosis, age at first dilation, balloon size, location of stricture, and treatment period did not influence outcome.CONCLUSIONS: Smoking doubles the risk of recurrent stricture formation requiring a new intervention after index dilation. Maintenance therapy with azathioprine did not influence the subsequent course and need for a new intervention.
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- Sjöberg, Mats, 1965-, et al.
(author)
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Infliximab or cyclosporine as rescue therapy in hospitalized patients with steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis : a retrospective observational study
- 2012
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In: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1078-0998 .- 1536-4844. ; 18:2, s. 212-218
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Cyclosporine (CsA) or infliximab (IFX) are used as rescue therapies in steroid-refractory, severe attacks of ulcerative colitis (UC). There are no data comparing the efficacy of these two alternatives. Methods: Outcome of rescue therapy was retrospectively studied in two cohorts of patients hospitalized due to steroid-refractory moderate to severe UC: 1) a Swedish-Danish cohort (n 49) treated with a single infusion of IFX; 2) an Austrian cohort (n 43) treated with intravenous CsA. After successful rescue therapy, maintenance immunomodulator treatment was given to 27/33 (82%) of IFX patients and to 31/40 (78%) of CsA patients. Endpoints were colectomy-free survival at 3 and 12 months. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression models were used to evaluate the association between treatment groups and colectomy. Results: At 15 days, colectomy-free survival in the IFX cohort was 36/49 (73%) versus 41/43 (95%) in the CsA cohort (P = 0.005), at 3 months 33/49 (67%) versus 40/43 (93%) (P = 0.002), and at 12 months 28/49 (57%) versus 33/43 (77%) (P = 0.034). After adjusting for potential confounding factors, Cox regression analysis yielded adjusted hazard ratios for risk of colectomy in IFX-treated patients of 11.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.4-53.1, P = 0.002) at 3 months and of 3.0 (95% CI 1.1-8.2, P = 0.030) at 12 months in comparison with CsA-treated patients. There were no opportunistic infections or mortality. Conclusions: Colectomy frequencies were significantly lower after rescue therapy with CsA than with a single infusion of IFX both at 3 and 12 months' follow-up. The superiority of CsA was seen principally during the first 15 days.
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3. |
- Dumitrescu, Mihail, et al.
(author)
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10 Gb/s uncooled dilute nitride optical transmitters operating at 1300 nm
- 2009
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In: 2009 Conference on Optical Fiber Communication, OFC 2009; San Diego, CA; United States; 22 March 2009 through 26 March 2009. - Washington, D.C. : OSA. - 9781557528650
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Dilute-nitride lasers with record performances have been used to build uncooled transceivers and failure free 10 Gb/s optical transmission was achieved over 815 m of multimode Corning InfiniCor fiber under the LRM standard.
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4. |
- Eriksson, Carl, 1981-, et al.
(author)
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Hepatotoxicity by bosentan in a patient with portopulmonary hypertension : a case-report and review of the literature
- 2011
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In: Journal of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases. - Cluj : Medical University Press. - 1841-8724 .- 1842-1121. ; 20:1, s. 77-80
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bosentan is an endothelin receptor antagonist approved for treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Mild liver reactions occur in about 10% of treated patients but severe hepatotoxicity is rare. We present clinical data and treatment outcome of a severe drug induced liver injury due to bosentan in a patient with non-cirrhotic portopulmonary hypertension. After 18 months of uncomplicated therapy with bosentan 125 mg b.i.d., the patient developed a severe mixed hepatic injury. Serum levels of bilirubin were 316 µmol/l (ref. value <20 micromol/l), AST 14 µkat/l (ref. value < 0.9 µkat/l), ALT 10 µkat/l (ref. value < 0.9 µkat/l), ALP 8 µkat/l (ref. value <1.8 µkat/l) and INR 1.8 (ref. value 0.9-1.1). Complete diagnostic work-up disclosed no other cause of hepatotoxicity. Treatment with prednisolone 40 mg/day in tapering doses was ultimately added and the patient made a full recovery. Subsequent treatment with sildenafil and ambrisentan for pulmonary arterial hypertension was well tolerated and liver function tests have remained normal during 12 months' follow-up. A review of the literature revealed three other women with severe hepatotoxicity due to bosentan. Bosentan may cause severe liver injury, even after long uneventful therapy, and current recommendations on regular monitoring of liver function tests are reinforced. Ambrisentan may be a therapeutic alternative in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and hepatotoxicity by bosentan.
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- Gunnarsson, Mattias, 1969, et al.
(author)
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Personality traits and their associations with substance use among adolescents
- 2008
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In: Personality and Individual Differences. - : Elsevier BV. - 0191-8869. ; 45:5, s. 356-360
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is an association between personality traits and self-reported risk consumption of substances among adolescents. A further aim was to evaluate whether the personality questionnaire Health relevant Personality Inventory (HP5i) can be used in a population of adolescents. The study participants included 3419 male and female adolescents with a median age of 18years. The results showed that the respondents with risk consumption of substances had significantly higher levels of antagonism and impulsivity and lower levels of hedonic capacity, alexithymia and negative affectivity compared to those with no risk consumption of substances. The HP5 inventory could potentially be a valuable complementary instrument for investigating future health development among adolescents.
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6. |
- Gustavsson, Anders, 1964-, et al.
(author)
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Endoscopic dilation is an efficacious and safe treatment of intestinal strictures in Crohn's disease
- 2012
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In: Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. - Hoboken, USA : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0269-2813 .- 1365-2036. ; 36:2, s. 151-158
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Bowel strictures are a major cause of morbidity, hospitalisation and surgery in Crohn's disease.Aim: We report short- and long-term efficacy and safety of endoscopic balloon dilation of strictures due to Crohn's disease.Methods: Retrospective study of patients who underwent endoscopic balloon dilation between 1987 and 2009.Results: We performed 776 dilations, of which 621 (80%) were on anastomotic strictures, in 178 patients (94 women) with Crohn's disease. At first dilation, median (IQR) age of patients was 45 (37-56) years and disease duration 16 (8-22) years. Technical success rate was 689/776 (89%). A subset of 75 patients from the primary catchment area, with >5-year follow-up, underwent a total of 246 dilations. At 1-year follow-up, 60/75 (80%) patients had undergone no further intervention or one additional dilation only. At 3 and 5 years, corresponding figures were 43/75 (57%) and 39/75 (52%). Cumulative proportions of patients undergoing surgery at 1, 3 and 5 years were 13%, 28% and 36%. Complication rate per procedure for all 178 patients was 41/776 (5.3%), bowel perforation (n = 11, 1.4%), major bleeding requiring blood transfusion (n = 8, 1.0%), minor bleeding (n = 10, 1.3%) and abdominal pain or fever (n = 12, 1.5%). Ten patients underwent surgery due to complications (perforation n = 8, bleeding n = 2). There was no procedure-related mortality.Conclusion: Endoscopic balloon dilation is an efficacious and safe alternative to surgical resection of intestinal strictures in Crohn's disease. At 5-year follow-up, 52% of patients required no further or one additional dilation only, whereas 36% had undergone surgical resection. Complication frequency was low.
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8. |
- Gustavsson, Anders, 1964-
(author)
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Therapy in inflammatory bowel disease
- 2012
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The aim of this thesis is to study treatment of inflammatory bowel disease with respect to an acute severe attack of ulcerative colitis and endoscopic balloon dilation in stricturing Crohn’s disease.A retrospective follow-up was made in 158 patients who were given intensive intravenous corticosteroid treatment due a severe, moderate, or mild attack of ulcerative colitis between 1975 and 1982. After 10 years, the colectomy frequency in the severe disease group was 64%, and 49% and28% in the moderate and mild groups, respectively. Severity of the original attack did not influence the subsequent clinical course with respect to colectomy.In 2005, a controlled Swedish–Danish trial of infliximab as rescue therapy in an acute severe attack of steroid refractory ulcerative colitis showed that colectomy frequencies after 3 months were lower in infliximab-treated patients (29%) compared to placebo-treated patients (67%). After 3 years, a statistically significantly lower colectomy frequency remained in patients treated with infliximab (50%) compared to placebo (76%).Between 1989 and 2009, 178 patients underwent endoscopic balloon dilation due to intestinal strictures in Crohn’s disease. Seventy-five patients,with a follow-up of 5 years or longer, underwent dilations due to symptomatic strictures only. After 5 years of follow-up, 39/75 (52%) of the patients had undergone no further intervention or one additional dilation only, and 36% had had surgery. The complication frequency was 5.3%, of which 10 patients (1.3%) required surgery. In 83 patients, we studied whether smoking at diagnosis affected the outcome after index dilation. In the group of active smokers, 31/32 (97%) underwent another intervention compared to 18/33 (55%) in never smokers (HR 2.18, 95% CI: 1.22-3.93,p = 0.01). Clinical parameters such as sex, age at diagnosis, age at first dilation, balloon size, localisation of stricture, treatment with azathioprine and treatment period did not influence outcome.
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10. |
- Gustavsson, Leif, 1954-, et al.
(author)
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Climate change effects of forestry and substitution of carbon-intensive materials and fossil fuels
- 2017
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In: Renewable & sustainable energy reviews. - : Elsevier. - 1364-0321 .- 1879-0690. ; 67:January, s. 612-624
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We estimate the climate effects of directing forest management in Sweden towards increased carbon storage in forests with more land set-aside for protection, or towards increased forest production for the substitution of carbon-intensive materials and fossil fuels, relative to a reference case of current forest management. We develop various scenarios of forest management and biomass use to estimate the carbon balances of the forest systems, including ecological and technological components, and their impacts on the climate in terms of radiative forcing. The scenario with increased set-aside area and the current level of forest residue harvest resulted in lower cumulative carbon emissions compared to the reference case for the first 90 years, but then showed higher emissions as reduced forest harvest led to higher carbon emissions from energy and material systems. For the reference case of current forest management, increased harvest of forest residues gave increased climate benefits. The most climatically beneficial alternative, expressed as reduced cumulative radiative forcing, in both the short and long terms is a strategy aimed at high forest production, high residue recovery rate, and high efficiency utilization of harvested biomass. Active forest management with high harvest levels and efficient forest product utilization will provide more climate benefit, compared to reducing harvest and storing more carbon in the forest.
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