Position statement on the use of biosimilars in inflammatory bowel disease

A biosimilar is a biological medicine highly similar to another, already approved medicine. Physicians should be aware of definition, approval process, and biochemical and clinical features that distinguish biosimilars from the reference product.

Vulnerability to relapse under stress: insights from affective neuroscience

Decades of research in affective neuroscience have been devoted to identifying the underlying neuropsychological mechanisms that can lead to compulsive reward-seeking behaviours where the amount of effort mobilised to obtain an outcome is no longer justified by its value.

Secondary hyperparathyroidism: recurrence after total parathyroidectomy with autotransplantation

If drug therapy for secondary hyperparathyroidism (sHPTH) fails, total parathyroidectomy with autotransplantation of parathyroid tissue into the forearm (PTX-AT) is the most widely used procedure, but high recurrence rates are reported.

Incidental findings during computed tomographic angiography diagnostic work-up in patients with arteriogenic erectile dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction (ED) has recently been identified as a predictor of generalised vascular disease and, besides the functional sexual impairment, symptoms of ED may be indicative of underlying risk factors or cardiovascular comorbidities.

Immunosuppressant therapeutic drug monitoring and trough level stabilisation after paediatric liver or kidney transplantation

Immunosuppressive therapy must be guided by therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in paediatric liver (LT) and kidney transplantation (KT) patients to prevent under- and overdosing, which have clinical consequences.

Impact of treatment decision algorithms on treatment costs in recurrent glioblastoma: a health economic study

Recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) is a disease with poor prognosis for which there is no established standard therapy. A recent survey among Swiss neuro-oncology centres has shown considerable differences in treatment recommendations.

Outcomes during and after the use of the wearable cardioverter-defibrillator in a tertiary-care and a regional hospital in Switzerland

Careful patient selection for wearable cardioverter-defibrillator (WCD) use is crucial, but unfortunately very little information from randomised controlled trials is available to guide clinical decision-making.

Describing adverse events in medical inpatients using the Global Trigger Tool

Improving patient safety in hospitals demands effective and reliable monitoring of adverse events (AEs). The most common method of assessing AEs is retrospective chart review; the Global Trigger Tool is a promising chart review method.

Toxicity associated with PD-1 blockade after allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation

The programmed death-1 (PD-1) pathway serves as a checkpoint to limit T-cell mediated immune responses. Blocking the PD-1 receptor on T cells with monoclonal anti­bodies results in T-cell activation and proliferation and can induce a potent immuno­therapeutic antitumour effect.

Reply to comment by Poppe C on: Novosel D. Setting as informed consent in psychotherapy. Swiss Med Wkly.2019;149:w20028