Transient left bundle branch block after posture change to the prone position during general anesthesia: A case report

Rationale:The prone position is commonly used in spinal surgery. There have been many studies on hemodynamic changes in the prone position during general anesthesia. We report a rare case of transient left bundle branch block (LBBB) in a prone position.Patient concern:Electrocardiogram (ECG) of a 64-year-old man scheduled for spinal surgery showed normal sinus rhythm change to LBBB after posture change to the prone position.Diagnosis:Twelve lead ECG revealed LBBB. His coronary angio-computed tomography results showed right coronary artery with 30% to 40% stenosis and left circumflex artery with 40% to 50% stenosis. The patient was diagnosed with stable angina and second-degree atrioventricular block of Mobitz type II.Intervention:Nitroglycerin was administered intravenously during surgery. Adequate oxygen was supplied to the patient. After surgery, the patient was prescribed clopidogrel, statins, angiotensin II receptor blocker, and a permanent pacemaker was inserted.Outcome:Surgery was completed without complications. After surgery, the transient LBBB changed to a normal sinus rhythm. The patient did not complain of chest pain or dyspnea.Lesson:The prone position causes significant hemodynamic changes. A high risk of cardiovascular disease may cause ischemic heart disease and ECG changes. Therefore, careful management is necessary.     

Diffusion-weighted MRI and PET/CT reproducibility in epithelial ovarian cancers during neoadjuvant chemotherapy

PurposeTo investigate the reproducibility of diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI and ¹⁸F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG)-Positron emission tomography/CT (PET/CT) in monitoring response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in epithelial ovarian cancer.Materials and methodsTen women (median age, 67 years; range: 41.8–77.3 years) with stage IIIC-IV epithelial ovarian cancers were included in this prospective trial (NCT02792959) between 2014 and 2016. All underwent initial laparoscopic staging, four cycles of carboplatine-paclitaxel-based chemotherapy and interval debulking surgery. PET/CT and DW-MRI were performed at baseline (C0), after one cycle (C1) and before surgery (C4). Two nuclear physicians and two radiologists assessed five anatomic sites for the presence of ≥ 1 lesion. Target lesions in each site were defined and their apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), maximal standardized uptake value (SUV-max), SUV-mean, SUL-peak, metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were monitored (i.e., 10 patients × 5 sites × 3 time-points). Their relative early and late changes were calculated. Intra/inter-observer reproducibilities of qualitative and quantitative analysis were estimated with Kappa and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs).ResultsFor both modalities, inter- and intra-observer agreement percentages were excellent for initial staging but declined later for DW-MRI, leading to lower Kappa values for inter- and intra-observer variability (0.949 and 1 at C0, vs. 0.633 and 0.643 at C4, respectively) while Kappa values remained > 0.8 for PET/CT. Inter- and intra-observer ICCs were > 0.75 for SUV-max, SUL-peak, SUV-mean and their change regardless the time-point. ADC showed lower ICCs (range: 0.013–0.811). ANOVA found significant influences of the evaluation time, the measurement used (ADC, SUV-max, SUV-mean, SUV-max, SUL-peak, MTV or TLG) and their interaction on ICC values (P = 0.0023, P< 0.0001 and P =0.0028, respectively).ConclusionWhile both modalities demonstrated high reproducibility at baseline, only SUV-max, SUL-peak, SUV-mean and their changes maintained high reproducibility during chemotherapy.     

A discussion of the unresolved 2016/17 plans for regulating the Polish dietary supplements market

The Polish dietary supplement market is growing steadily. However, even though these products may have an impact on health they are not as strongly regulated as pharmaceuticals. In 2016/17 the introduction of new regulations covering the marketing of dietary supplements in Poland was proposed. This article briefly describes the Polish market for dietary supplements and assesses the benefits and risks associated with its development. A range of potential legislative changes, such as a total ban on dietary supplements, a ban on using the images and recommendations of authoritative entities, increased fines for breaking the law, and other measures are under consideration. We describe the advantages (e.g., better customer protection, and the limitation of inappropriate, misleading advertising) and disadvantages (e.g., a decrease in product innovation, deterioration in product offerings, and rises in product prices) of the proposed changes. As a European Union member, Poland adopts EU law, but EU directives have only harmonized some issues relating to dietary supplement marketing, other key aspects remaining within the competence of member states, but it is noted that some proposed changes in Polish law (e.g., an advertising ban) are so strict that they are unlikely to be acceptable to the EU.     

Serial MRI findings of acute flaccid myelitis during an outbreak of enterovirus D68 infection in Japan

Objecive

To clarify the neuroimaging findings of children with acute flaccid myelitis during an outbreak of EV-D68 infection.

不同切口白内障联合青光眼手术对眼表的影响

目的：探讨单切口和双切口白内障超声乳化联合小梁切除术治疗闭角型青光眼合并年龄相关性白内障术后眼表的影响。

方法：随机抽取在我院行单切口和双切口白内障超声乳化吸除、人工晶状体植入联合小梁切除术患者各26例26眼，对临床资料进行回顾性分析。比较两组病例术前1d和术后1wk，1、3mo时的泪膜破裂时间(break up time，BUT)，泪液分泌试验Ⅰ(SchirmerⅠ time，SⅠt)，角膜荧光素染色程度(corneal fluorescein staining，FL)等，并对结果进行统计学分析。

结果：所有入选的病例均在局部麻醉下行手术治疗，术后随访3mo。两组患者术后1wk，1mo的BUT，FL，SⅠt指标数值与术前相比均有明显差异(P<0.01)，术后3mo基本恢复术前水平。术后1wk，1mo双切口组BUT，SⅠt均明显短于单切口组(P<0.05)； FL双切口组术后1wk明显高于单切口组(P<0.05)，而术后1mo两组差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。术后3mo，两组患者的BUT，FL，SⅠt相比差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)。

结论：单切口和双切口的白内障超声乳化联合显微小梁切除术术后均对术眼眼表有影响，双切口组影响更大，且相关指标异常的高峰期出现在术后1mo之内。     

Dramatic improvement in innominate artery compression syndrome with only postural changes in a bedridden elderly patient

We present the case of a bedridden elderly patient who demonstrated dramatic improvement in innominate artery compression syndrome with postural changes alone. A 94-year-old woman presented with dyspnea. Physical findings revealed stridor in the right-sided decubitus position. Her symptoms did not improve with conventional asthma treatment. Plain computed tomography revealed tracheal compression by the bent innominate artery. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography with postural changes altered the compression sites of the organs, resolving the tracheal stenosis. The number of similar bedridden elderly patients will increase in an aging society. We report this case to aid physicians in managing such patients.