Overview of Dravet syndrome and an update in therapeutics

2024-07-16T19:56:08+07:00

Dravet syndrome is a developmental epileptic encephalopathy characterized by early onset drug-resistant seizures and other clinical features, including intellectual disability and impairments in behavior, motor, and sleep which cause poor quality of life and impact the long-term course. The pathogenesis of Dravet syndrome is strongly connected to the dysfunction of the voltage-gated sodium channel, more specifically, to mutations in SCN1A gene. Epilepsy in Dravet syndrome is very refractory and seizures remain poorly controlled even with multiple conventional anti-epileptic drugs. Therapeutic approaches in Dravet syndrome have undergone tremendous changes in the lastest years and the current consensus of seizure management strategy in Dravet syndrome consists of a combination of conventional drugs and three recently approved drugs including stiripentol, cannabidiol, and fenfluramine. This review article aims to update recent changes to the therapeutic landscape for Dravet syndrome by summarizing the most key data from the clinical development of stiripentol, cannabidiol, and fenfluramine. This article also reviews and discusses the latest findings of other pharmacotherapies in development, including serotonergic agents, soticlestat, verapamil as well well strategies to treat the underlying cause of Dravet syndrome, including gene therapy and antisense oligonucleotides.

The characteristics of clinical, microbiological and antibiotic resistance profile in patients with bacterial keratitis at Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital in 2020

2024-07-14T19:56:45+07:00

Purpose: To investigate the epidemiological, clinical, microbiological characteristics and antibiotic resistance profile in patients with bacterial corneal ulcers at Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital in 2020. Methods: An observational retrospective study was conducted on 242 cases diagnosed with bacterial corneal ulcers examined at Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital from January 2020 to December 2020. Information about patients’ medical history, clinical symptoms, and test results was collected from medical records. Results: Bacterial keratitis was more often seen in males and in middle-age group. Injury as a risk factor accounted for a considerable proportion of cases (24,4%). Self-treatment was common (23,1%). The culture results were mainly Gram-positive (56,6%), in which coagulase-negative staphylococci (49,2%) predominates. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (26,9%) was the most common Gram-negative pathogen. The resistance rate of coagulase-negative staphylococci to common antibiotics, including fluoroquinolones group, was relatively high (50,0 – 100,0%). Meanwhile, P.aeruginosa was sensitive to many fluoroquinolones, as well as to tobramycin and ceftazidime. Notably, we recorded twelve cases of resistance to all tested antibiotics. The rate of visual acuity improvement at the time of discharge was still unfavorably low (5,8%). There were 43,0% of patients experiencing at least one serious complication: increased intraocular pressure, endophthalmitis, impending perforation and perforation of the cornea. Up to 11,6% of patients had to resort to enucleation. Conclusions: Corneal ulceration related to trauma accounted for a significant percentage. Self-medication was still common. The high rate of antibiotic resistance along with the appearance of numerous multi-drug resistance cases is very worrying. Severe consequences were left upon patients’ eyesight.

Science and Technology Development Journal: Health Sciences

Overview of Dravet syndrome and an update in therapeutics

The characteristics of clinical, microbiological and antibiotic resistance profile in patients with bacterial keratitis at Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital in 2020