Use of a Parathyroid Hormone Peptide (PTH1−34)‐enriched Fibrin Hydrogel for the Treatment of a Subchondral Cystic Lesion in the Proximal Interphalangeal Joint of a Warmblood Filly

To describe the treatment of a subchondral bone cyst in the proximal phalanx with parathyroid hormone peptide‐enriched fibrin hydrogel in a warmblood filly. The cyst was localized with computer‐assisted orthopaedic surgery, then curetted and finally filled with parathyroid hormone fragment peptide 1–34 (PTH₁₋₃₄) covalently attached to a fibrin hydrogel. The cyst healed quickly without any complications. This result supports the hypothesis that PTH₁₋₃₄ delivered locally in a fibrin hydrogel may improve the postoperative prognosis of surgical management of subchondral bone cysts in horses. Subchondral bone cysts are fairly common in horses. Especially in older horses, the prognosis is poor, even after surgical curettage. Therefore, different management protocols have been investigated in conjunction with surgical curettage to improve prognosis. Locally delivered PTH₁₋₃₄ seems to be a new method in the treatment of subchondral bone cysts.     

Cat-301 immunoreactivity in the lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex of the strabismic amblyopic cat

Purpose: It was investigated whether alterations in neuronal structure and function occasioned by strabismic amblyopia also may be reflected in alterations in the expression on Y type neurons of a Cat-301 antibody sensitive antigen in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and cortex of our cat model of strabismic amblyopia. Methods/Results: The percentage of positively labelled cells was reduced in LGN laminae that received input from the deviated eye in strabismic amblyopic cats compared with normal cats. In the strabismic cortex, the density of immunopositive neurons was significantly reduced compared with normal, the effect being most pronounced in layer IV Conclusions: Despite previous physiological recordings indicating a decrease in X-cell associated acuity in strabismic amblyopia, the present findings imply that the changes in the early visual experience occasioned by strabismus also produce specific molecular changes in theY neuronal class.     

Aortopulmonary window with patent ductus arteriosus and interrupted aortic arch: A case report

Indian Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery -     

Excitotoxic mechanisms, and age-related susceptibility to brain damage in ischemia, hypoglycemia and toxic mussel poisoning.

Initial research by Olney, investigating the toxicity of glutamate as a food additive, demonstrated that irreversible (necrotic) changes could be produced in the CNS by glutamate. Subsequently, it became clear that the release of excitatory amino acids into the extracellular space of nervous tissue may play a role in CNS ischemia, and, later hypoglycemia. Experiments utilizing excitatory amino acid antagonists at the N-methyl-d-aspartate and other subtypes of excitatory receptor have shown neuronal protection, in both ischemia and hypoglycemia. The protection is robust enough to produce a detectable improvement in neurologic deficit on neurobehavioral testing, in addition to significantly reducing the number of necrotic cells in the brain. A third condition where excitotoxicity plays a role is toxic mussel poisoning. In contrast to ischemia and hypoglycemia, an excitotoxin which is exogenous to the brain plays a role. Domoic acid is contained in mussels which have filter-fed large quantities of domoate-rich phytoplankton, and when contaminated mussels are ingested in large quantities, serious and irreversible CNS effects, accompanied by necrosis, may result. In contrast to ischemia and hypoglycemia, however, damage is mediated at a different excitatory CNS receptor, namely the kainate receptor. In all three conditions, a constant aspect of the excitotoxic pathology is an increased susceptibility to excitotoxic damage with increasing age. This may be due to the dendritic location of excitatory receptors, and the richer branching of neuronal dendritic trees in aged animals, leading to enhanced susceptibility of the neuron to excitotoxic necrosis with age.     

Peribursal fat plane of the shoulder: anatomic study and clinical experience

A comprehensive anatomic and radiographic analysis of the peribursal fat plane in 12 cadavers confirmed that the fat plane seen on radiographs represents extrasynovial fat lining the subacromial bursa and documented the anatomic relations of the bursa. A three-part retrospective clinical evaluation of rotator cuff tears, calcific tendinitis, and rheumatoid arthritis was performed. Two osteoradiologists blindly graded the appearance of the peribursal fat plane with the shoulder in external versus internal rotation in 21 patients with arthrographically intact rotator cuffs and 21 patients with disrupted rotator cuffs. The peribursal fat plane was seen better with disrupted rotator cuffs. The peribursal fat plane was seen better with the shoulder in internal rotation and was seen in 60% of control subjects but only 21% of patients with rotator cuff tears. Partial or complete obliteration of this fat plane is a sensitive (79%) but less specific (60%) indicator of rotator cuff tears. Obliteration of the peribursal fat plane by inflammatory processes in adjacent tissues, including calcific tendinitis and rheumatoid arthritis, occurred with a high frequency.