Grading Facial Nerve Function Following Combined Static and Mimetic Surgical Techniques

Objective To present a grading scale to assess the functional recovery of the facial nerve in patients who have undergone mimetic and static surgical techniques for facial reanimation. Study design This is a proposed new facial nerve grading system that will be demonstrated with specific case presentations. All patients underwent a variety of neural grafting, microvascular free-flap reconstruction, or surgical static procedures. Results The proposed facial nerve grading scale is one that has not been described previously in the literature and is applicable to a unique patient population. Its ease of use in this patient population will allow otolaryngologists to assess facial recovery accurately and quickly in cases where the facial nerve is not anatomically intact. Conclusion The proposed facial recovery grading scale provides an efficient means of grading facial recovery for a unique group of patients who previously could not be followed. The proposed scale is practical and easy to use in a clinical setting.     

Phenotypic and genetic features of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli isolates from diarrheal children in the Ribeirão Preto metropolitan area,São Paulo State,Brazil

This study was designed to characterize a collection of 60 enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) isolates from diarrheic feces of patients in the Ribeirão Preto metropolitan area regarding different phenotypic and molecular features. We examined antibiotic resistance profiles, occurrence of virulence factors‐encoding genes, intimin subtypes and the correlation of serotypes among typical (tEPEC) and atypical (aEPEC) EPEC isolates. The results demonstrated that atypical EPEC was more heterogeneous than typical EPEC concerning the characteristics investigated and 45.2% do not belong to classical EPEC serogroups. Intimin subtype β was the most frequent among the EPEC isolates (46.7%), being detected in both tEPEC and aEPEC. The majority of aEPEC isolates presented localized adherence‐like (LAL) pattern to HEp‐2 cells, although aEPEC isolates displaying diffuse adherence (DA) or non‐adherent were also detected. High prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was found for ampicillin, cephalothin, sulfonamide and tetracycline. In general, tEPEC isolates were more resistant to the antimicrobials tested than aEPEC isolates.