Multiple dimensions of caring for a patient with acute necrotizing fasciitis.

Critical care nurses within acute care settings are responsible for providing healthcare to a wide variety of patients and, consequently, knowledge regarding how to care for a patient with acute necrotizing fasciitis is imperative. A case study is presented to evidence the need for a multidisciplinary approach. Necrotizing fasciitis is defined and treatment options are presented. Caring for this patient is very challenging and demands a multidisciplinary team to coordinate all aspects of care to promote better patient outcomes.     

Associations between soil lead and childhood blood lead in urban New Orleans and rural Lafourche Parish of Louisiana.

This study evaluates associations between soil lead concentrations (SPb), age of housing, and blood lead levels (BPb) of children in metropolitan New Orleans and Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. The database includes over 2,600 SPb and 6,000 BPb samples paired by their median values and pre-1940 housing percentages for 172 census tracts. Associations were evaluated with Fisher's exact test and Spearman's rho test and modeled with the least sum of absolute deviations regression. Census tracts with low SPb are associated with new housing, but census tracts with high SPb are evenly split between old and new housing [Fisher's exact test, p = 8.60 X 10(-13) for the percentage of housing built before 1940 (percent pre-1940 housing) versus SPb]. The p-value for SPb versus BPb is 12 orders of magnitude stronger than the p-value for percent pre-1940 housing versus BPb. Census tracts with low BPb are associated with new housing, but census tracts with high BPb are split evenly between old and new housing (Fisher's exact test, p = 1. 67 X 10(-12) for percent pre-1940 housing versus BPb). Census tracts with high SPb are associated with high BPb and census tracts with low SPb are associated with low BPb (Fisher's exact test, p = 3.18 X 10(-24) for BPb versus SPb). The Spearman's rho test of the association of SPb and BPb in Orleans and Lafourche Parishes yielded a p-value of 6.12 X 10(-24). The least sum of absolute deviations regression model of the data is BPb = 1. 845 + 0.7215 (SPb)0.4. A comparison of the modeled BPb versus observed BPb has an r(2) of 0.552 and a p-value of 2.83 X 10(-23) that this relation was due to chance. If blood lead in children is more closely associated to soil lead than to the age of housing, then primary lead prevention should also include soil lead.     

Adult rat seminiferous tubules secrete a fraction greater than 30 kDa to regulate spermatogenesis

The present study was designed to examine the effects of a >30kDa fraction of medium conditioned for 2 days by adult rat seminiferoustubules on inhibin secretion by cultured tubules, and on spermatogenesisand fertility of male rats. Inhibin secretion was assayed byadding the >30 kDa fraction to 5 cm segments of adult ratseminiferous tubules and measuring inhibin by radioimmunoassayat 2 day intervals. Fertility was assayed by injecting malerats daily for up to 45 days with the >30 kDa fraction andthen mating them with a proestrus female, or by injecting for15 days and mating them with two female rats. The assay usedto evaluate the in-vivo effect of the >30 kDa fraction onthe testis involved an assessment of frequencies of seminiferoustubule stages scored by transillumination on intact tubules.The addition of the >30 kDa fraction to the adult rat seminiferoustubules cultured for 2 days resulted in an inhibition of inhibinsecretion into the medium. This effect was reversed when thefraction was removed and changed with fresh medium and culturedfor a further 4 days. The >30 kDa fraction administered i.p.to adult male rats resulted in a low fertilization rate comparedto control rats (67%) (P < 0.05). The assessment of frequenciesof seminiferous tubule stages scored by transillumination showedan increased frequency of stage VI and decreased frequency ofstages VII and VIII after treatment. The results of the presentstudy provide additional evidence that local regulation of Sertolicell function is mediated by a >30 kDa component or componentssecreted by adult seminiferous tubules which could arrest spermatogenesis.     

Long-term assessment of arthroscopic meniscus repair: a two- to six-year follow-up study

The functions of the meniscus and subsequently the importance of meniscus preservation are well known. Thirty-one of 105 patients who underwent (closed) arthroscopic meniscus repair between 1982 and 1986 using an inside-out technique previously described were studied. Evaluations were based on The Hospital for Special Surgery knee rating system. Eighty-eight percent of the study population had a good-to-excellent outcome at an average 4.1 years follow-up. Most of these patients had no Fairbank changes on follow-up radiographs. Factors affecting outcome were analyzed. From this series, the at-risk factor for failure of meniscus repair is chronicity of injury (lasting longer than 2 weeks). Factors not noted to significantly influence results in this series include (a) age of the patient; (b) sex of the patient; (c) rim width up to 6 mm from the synovial meniscal junction; and (d) anterior cruciate ligament insufficiency. History of a reinjury and noncompliance with the postoperative rehabilitation protocol may also adversely influence results, but this is difficult to prove.     

Congenital torticollis: Evaluation by fine-needle aspiration biopsy

Fine-needle aspiration biopsy, used extensively for evaluating head and neck masses in adults, also provides an excellent minimally invasive means of evaluating infants with neck masses and torticollis. Three cases of torticollis involving infants are presented. In each case, fine-needle aspiration revealed a benign fibrous lesion, ruling out malignancy. The remaining cytologic differential diagnosis between infantile fibromatosis, fibromatosis colli, and calcifying aponeurotic fibrosis is discussed, with mention of the possible causes of and treatment for congenital torticollis. We conclude that fine-needle aspiration provides a fast and accurate diagnosis of neck masses in infants who have congenital torticollis, thereby avoiding surgical procedures in this very young age group.     

Neuroimaging in Pineal Tumors

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The authors report radiological findings in 11 tumors in the pineal region, which were histologically diagnosed as germinomas, pineocytomas pineoblastomas, ependymomas, teratomas, and astrocytomas. METHODS: Computed tomography (CT) was performed in seven patients and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed in all patients. RESULTS: CT showed a solid or solid/cystic mass with variable contrast enhancement. MRI showed a heterogeneous mass, with hypointense signal on T1 and iso/hyperintense signal on T2-weighted images (WI) and gadolinium enhancement. Extension to adjacent structures occurred in five patients and spread through the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) in two. CONCLUSIONS: Pineal region tumors have no pathognomonic imaging pattern. MRI and CT are complementary in diagnosis and are important to determine localization, extension, and meningeal spread.