A recent study has shown that adjuvant intravenous tirofiban before stenting may lead to a decreased likelihood of acute stent thrombosis (AST) during stent angioplasty in patients experiencing symptomatic high-grade intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS). This study’s findings were published in the journal, Neurology.

In this prospective, multicenter, randomized clinical trial, patients with symptomatic high-grade ICAS scheduled for stent angioplasty were randomly assigned to either receive intravenous tirofiban before stenting or not, in a 1:1 ratio. The study included 100 participants in the tirofiban group and 100 participants in the control group. Primary outcomes measured were the incidence of AST within 30 minutes post-stenting, periprocedural new-onset ischemic stroke, and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage.

At the end of the study, there was a lower incidence of AST in the tirofiban group when compared to the control group (4.0% vs 14.0%).

The above study demonstrated that the use of adjuvant intravenous tirofiban prior to stenting could potentially reduce the occurrence of AST in patients with symptomatic high-grade ICAS undergoing stent angioplasty.

According to a recent study, the utilization of tamsulosin therapy and semirigid ureteroscopy for dilation prior to flexible ureteroscopy enhanced the success of primary flexible ureteroscopy advancement to the renal collecting system. This study's findings were published in the World journal of urology.

This prospective study included 170 patients who were randomly divided into two groups who had renal stones < 2 cm and underwent retrograde flexible ureteroscopy and laser lithotripsy. Group A (n=85), was administered a placebo for a duration of one week before the flexible ureteroscopy. On the other hand, group B (n=85), received a daily dosage of 0.4 mg tamsulosin for one week prior to the surgery. Additionally, they underwent active dilatation using semirigid ureteroscopy before the flexible ureteroscopy procedure. The ability of the flexible ureteroscope to reach the collecting system in both groups was evaluated during the same operative session. The operative outcomes and complications for both groups were also collected and analyzed.

The flexible ureteroscope demonstrated successful access to the kidney in 61 patients within group B, while in group A, it was only successful in 28 cases (71.4% vs 32.9%). Within group A, 33 patients (38.8%) reported lower urinary tract symptoms, while only 17 patients (20.2%) in group B experienced the same.

It can be concluded that using tamsulosin therapy and semirigid ureteroscopy as dilatation methods prior to flexible ureteroscopy may improve the success of primary flexible ureteroscopy in advancing to the renal collecting system.

According to a recent study, a propensity score analysis indicated an overall survival benefit for tebentafusp compared to nivolumab plus ipilimumab (N+I) in patients with untreated metastatic uveal melanoma (mUM). This study’s findings were published in the journal, Annals of oncology.

In this study, the overall survival (OS) of patients with untreated mUM were compared between those treated with tebentafusp or pembrolizumab (IMCgp100-202) and those treated with N+I (GEM1402) using propensity scoring methods. The analyses were adjusted using propensity score-based inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW), balancing age, baseline lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), sex, baseline alkaline phosphatase, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group status, disease location, and time from primary diagnosis to metastasis. The OS was evaluated using Cox proportional hazard models and IPT-weighted Kaplan-Meier.

In the primary IPTW analysis, a total of 240 patients out of 252 who were assigned to receive tebentafusp from IMCgp100-202 were included, and 45 out of the 52 patients who underwent N+I treatment from GEM-1402 were also considered. After adjusting for IPTW, tebentafusp showed a favorable OS, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.52. The one-year OS for tebentafusp was 73%, while it was 50% for the N+I group. Sensitivity analyses consistently demonstrated a superior OS for tebentafusp, with all IPTW HRs ≤0.61.

Based on the above results, a propensity score analysis determined that tebentafusp provided  a similar  OS benefit compared to N+I in patients with untreated mUM.