Primers and PrimeViews

This PrimeView highlights the pathophysiology of myelodysplastic syndromes and summarizes their epidemiology, diagnosis and management. It accompanies the Primer on this topic by Liang and colleagues.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of blood cancers involving dysregulated haematopoiesis, which may progress to acute myeloid leukaemia. This Primer provides an overview of the epidemiology, diagnosis, pathogenesis and management of MDS.

This PrimeView highlights the management of asplenia and spleen hypofunction and summarizes their epidemiology, diagnosis and mechanisms. It accompanies the Primer on this topic by Lenti and colleagues.

Asplenia and hyposplenism can have multiple and complex causes and lead to morbidity and mortality, especially owing to overwhelming post-splenectomy infections. In this Primer, Lenti and colleagues review epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of these conditions, and discuss patient quality of life and future strategies.

This PrimeView highlights the mechanisms of gallbladder cancer and summarizes its epidemiology, diagnosis and management. It accompanies the Primer on this topic by Roa and colleagues.

Gallbladder cancer is the most common cancer of the biliary tract and often has a very poor prognosis. This Primer by Roa and colleagues summarizes the epidemiology, mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment of gallbladder cancer, and discusses patient quality of life and open research questions for this disease.

Fracture-related infection is a common fracture complication that prolongs healing and can increase morbidity and mortality. This PrimeView highlights the pathophysiology of these infections.

Fracture-related infection, involving infiltration of pathogenic bacteria into a wound that delays bone healing, is a common complication of bone fracture fixation. This Primer reviews the epidemiology, pathobiology, diagnosis and management of these infections and their impact on patient quality of life.

Small round cell sarcomas are aggressive tumours of bone and soft tissue resulting mostly from gene fusions. This PrimeView highlights the diagnosis of these cancers.

Small round cell sarcomas are a group of aggressive tumours of bone and soft tissue that result from specific genetic alterations and fusions, typically involving EWSR1, BCOR or CIC. This Primer reviews the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management of these entities and the effects of the tumour and its treatment on quality of life.

This PrimeView highlights the mechanisms of adult-onset autoimmune diabetes and summarizes its epidemiology, diagnosis, management and outlook. It accompanies the Primer on this topic by Buzzetti and colleagues.

Adult-onset autoimmune diabetes can occur as classic type 1 diabetes but mostly has a slow progression and a long period not requiring insulin; it is often misdiagnosed as type 2 diabetes. This Primer by Buzzetti and colleagues summarizes the epidemiology, mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment of this disorder, and summarizes patient quality of life and open research questions.

This PrimeView highlights the mechanisms or urticaria and summarizes its epidemiology, diagnosis and management. It accompanies the Primer on this topic by Kolkhir and colleagues.

Urticaria is an inflammatory skin disorder that presents with itchy wheals and/or angioedema mediated by skin mast cells and release of histamine and other mediators. This Primer by Kolkhir et al. summarizes the epidemiology, mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment of urticaria, and discusses patient quality of life and open research questions for this condition.

This PrimeView highlights the pathophysiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, management and outlook of frozen shoulder.

Frozen shoulder is a fibroproliferative disorder of the shoulder characterized by pain and progressive loss of shoulder mobility. In this Primer, Millar et al. provide an overview of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of frozen shoulder, as well as how it affects patients’ quality of life.

This PrimeView highlights the underlying mechanism of multiple system atrophy (MSA), a synucleinopathy that affects several regions of the brain. This PrimeView accompanies the Primer on MSA by Poewe and colleagues.

This Primer by Poewe and colleagues summarizes the epidemiology, diagnosis, pathophysiology and treatment of multiple system atrophy. Moreover, this Primer provides an overview of the quality of life issues faced by patients with this disorder and future research avenues.

This PrimeView highlights the pathophysiology of faecal incontinence in adults and summarizes its epidemiology, diagnosis and management. It accompanies the Primer on this topic by Bharucha and colleagues.

Faecal incontinence is defined by the unintentional loss of solid or liquid stool and can markedly impair quality of life. This Primer summarizes the epidemiology, pathophysiology and diagnosis of faecal incontinence in adults as well as its management, patient quality of life and areas for future research.