Tedium vitae in stroke survivors: a comparative cross-sectional study

Objectives: Suicide is best studied by deconstructing the psychological experiences preceding suicidal death. We assessed the characteristics of tedium vitae (feeling tired of life) after first ever stroke in Nigerian survivors.

Methods: Using the Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry, tedium vitae was assessed in 130 stroke survivors attending rehabilitation in a large Nigerian university hospital. Global cognitive and executive dysfunctions were evaluated, respectively, using the Mini Mental State Examination and the modi?ed Indiana University Token test. All participants had their index stroke 3 to 24 months before recruitment into the study. We also examined a comparative group of 130 age, gender, and education matched apparently normal persons who were unrelated to the stroke survivors. Associations were explored using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.

Results: Tedium vitae was experienced by 16 (12.3%) stroke survivors compared with 5 (3.9%) in the comparative group (O. R = 3.5, 95% C. I = 1.3–9.9, p = 0.018). Among stroke survivors, those who were retired were more likely to experience tedium vitae (56.2%, p = 0.045). In analyses adjusting for the effect of systemic hypertension, cognitive dysfunction, retirement and marital separation, there was a 3.5-fold increase in the odds of experiencing tedium vitae after surviving a stroke (O. R = 3.5, 95% C. I = 1.1–11.6, p = 0.042).

Conclusions: Tedium vitae is a common suicidal experience after stroke and may be among the earliest perceptible pointer to impending poststroke suicide. It is easy to assess and may be less costly to obtain an adequate sample size in studies aiming to understand the phenomenon of suicide in the stroke population.     

Paradox of complex diversity: Challenges in the diagnosis and management of bacterial keratitis

Bacterial keratitis continues to be one of the leading causes of corneal blindness in the developed as well as the developing world, despite swift progress since the dawn of the “anti-biotic era”. Although, we have expeditiously developed our understanding about the different causative organisms and associated pathology leading to keratitis, extensive gaps in knowledge continue to dampen the efforts required for early and accurate diagnosis, and management in these patients, resulting in poor clinical outcomes. The ability of the causative bacteria to subdue the therapeutic challenge stems from their large genome encoding complex regulatory networks, variety of unique virulence factors, and rapid secretion of tissue damaging proteases and toxins.In this review article, we provide an overview of the established diagnostic techniques and therapeutics for keratitis caused by various bacteria. We extensively report the recent in-roads through novel tools for accurately diagnosing mono- and poly-bacterial corneal infections. Furthermore, we outline the recent progress by our groups and others in understanding the sub-cellular genomic changes that lead to antibiotic resistance in these organisms. Finally, we discuss in detail, the novel therapies and drug delivery systems in development for the efficacious management of bacterial keratitis.     

常规器械经脐单孔腹腔镜手术在妇科良性疾病中的临床应用

目的:探讨经脐单孔腹腔镜手术(LESS)在妇科良性疾病中的临床价值。方法:选择2018年1月-2019年4月在我院妇科行经脐单孔腹腔镜手术的68例患者为研究组,同期同病种行传统多孔腹腔镜手术的70例患者为对照组,比较2组的术中出血量、术后最高体温、术后肛门排气时间、术后下床活动时间、术后住院时间、术后24 h疼痛视觉模拟评分(VAS)、体象量表BIS评分和切口美观满意度CS评分、手术时间及围手术期并发症的指标。结果:2组患者手术均顺利完成,术中不需要辅助操作,未中转开腹。术中、术后均未出现严重的手术并发症。2组患者在术中出血量、术后最高体温、术后排气时间、术后下床活动时间、术后住院时间差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);手术时间、术后24 h VAS评分、体象量表BIS评分和切口美观满意度CS评分比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:常规器械经脐单孔腹腔镜不需要特殊的器械和设备,符合卫生经济学特点;具有良好的美容效果,以及标本取出方便的优势,LESS应用于妇科良性疾病是安全可行的。     

Impact and Predictors of Noncircular Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Shapes on Estimating Aortic Stenosis Severity by Means of Continuity Equations

Determining aortic stenosis (AS) severity is clinically important. Calculating aortic valve (AV) area by means of the continuity equation assumes a circular left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT). The full impact of this assumption in calculating AV area is unknown. Predictors of noncircular LVOT shape in patients with AS are undefined.In 109 adult patients with AS who underwent multiplanar transesophageal echocardiography, we calculated AV area by means of the standard continuity method and by a modified method involving planimetric LVOT area.We found 54 circular, 37 horizontal-oval, 8 vertical-oval, and 10 irregular LVOTs. Area derived by direct planimetry correlated better with the modified than the standard continuity method (r=0.89 vs r=0.85; both P=0.0001). Valve areas of patients with mild, moderate, or severe AS by planimetry were more often mischaracterized with use of the standard than modified method (29 vs 18; P <0.0001). Horizontal-oval AV area derived by planimetry (1.28 ± 0.55 cm²) was underestimated by the standard method (1.05 ± 0.47 cm²; P=0.001), but not by the modified method. Congenital AV morphology and low cardiac index were the only multivariate predictors of horizontal-oval shape. Low cardiac index was the only predictor of noncircular shape.More than half our patients with AS had noncircular LVOTs. Using the modified method reduces mischaracterizations of AS severity. Congenital AV morphology and low cardiac index predict horizontal-oval or noncircular shape. These data suggest the value of direct LVOT measurement to calculate AS severity in patients who have congenital AV or a low cardiac index.     

Poly(ortho ester) nanoparticles targeted for chronic intraocular diseases: ocular safety and localization after intravitreal injection

Treatment of posterior eye diseases is more challenging than the anterior segment ailments due to a series of anatomical barriers and physiological constraints confronted by drug delivery to the back of the eye. In recent years, concerted efforts in drug delivery have been made to prolong the residence time of drugs injected in the vitreous humor of the eye. Our previous studies demonstrated that poly(ortho ester) (POE) nanoparticles were biodegradable/biocompatible and were capable of long-term sustained release. The objective of the present study was to investigate the safety and localization of POE nanoparticles in New Zealand white rabbits and C57BL/6 mice after intravitreal administration for the treatment of chronic posterior ocular diseases. Two concentration levels of POE nanoparticles solution were chosen for intravitreal injection: 1.5?mg/ml and 10?mg/ml. Our results demonstrate that POE nanoparticles were distributed throughout the vitreous cavity by optical coherence tomography (OCT) examination 14 days post-intravitreal injection. Intraocular pressure was not changed from baseline. Inflammatory or adverse effects were undetectable by slit lamp biomicroscopy. Furthermore, we demonstrate that POE nanoparticles have negligible toxicity assessed at the cellular level evidenced by a lack of glia activation or apoptosis estimation after intravitreal injection. Collectively, POE nanoparticles are a novel and nontoxic as an ocular drug delivery system for the treatment of posterior ocular diseases.     

Modernisation,smoking and chronic disease: Of temporality and spatiality in global health

This article explores the spatio-temporal logics at work in global health. Influenced by ideas of time–space compression, the global health literature argues that the world is characterised by a convergence of disease patterns and biomedical knowledge. While not denying the influence of these temporalities and spatialities of globalisation within the global health and chronic disease field, the article argues that they sit alongside other, often-conflicting notions of time and space. To do so, it explores the spatio-temporal logics that underpin a highly influential epidemiological model of the smoking epidemic. Unlike the temporalities and spatialities of sameness described in much of the global health literature, the article shows that this model is articulated around temporalities and spatialities of difference. This is not the difference celebrated by postmoderns, but the difference of modernisation theorists built around nations, sequential stages and progress. Indeed, the model, in stark contrast to the ‘one world, one time, one health’ globalisation mantra, divides the world into nation–states and orders them along epidemiological, geographical and development lines.