Endoscopic full thickness resection for gastric tumors originating from muscularis propria

AIM: To do systematic review of current literature for endoscopic full thickness resection(EFTR) technique for gastric tumors originating from muscularis propria.METHODS: An extensive English literature search was done till December 2015; using Pub Med and Google scholar to identify the peer reviewed original and review articles using keywords-EFTR, gastric tumor, muscularis propria. Human only studies were included. The references of pertinent studies were manually searched to identify additional relevant studies. The indications, procedural details, success rates, clinical outcomes, complications and limitations were considered. For the purpose of review, data from individual studies was combined to calculate mean. No other statistical test was applied.RESULTS: A total of 9 original articles were identified. Four articles were from same institute and the time frames of these studies were overlapping. To avoid duplication of data, only the study with patients over the longest time interval was included and other three were excluded. In total six studies were included in the final review. In our systematic review, the mean success rate for EFTR of gastric tumors originating from muscularis propria was 96.8%. The mean procedure time varied from a minimum of 37 min to a maximum of 105 min. There was no reported mortality from the technique itself. The most common histological diagnosis was gastrointestinal stromal tumors and leiomyoma. Gastric wall defect closure by either metallic clips or over the scope clip(OTSC) had similar outcomes although experience with OTSC was limited to smaller lesions(3cm).CONCLUSION: EFTR is a minimally invasive technique to resect gastric submucosal tumors originating from muscularis propria with a high success rate and low complication rate.     

Wrapping newborn infants in cloth and newspaper after delivery led to higher temperatures on arrival at the neonatal intensive care unit

Aim

Neonatal hypothermia is a preventable cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity, and wrapping neonates in newspaper sandwiched between cotton sheets is a simple intervention. This 2017 Indian pilot study tested the heat insulating property of sandwiched sheets.

Methods

At birth, we randomised 100 neonates who were more than 32 weeks of gestation and needed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) observation or care without a ventilator or bilevel positive airway pressure support into two groups of 50. The intervention and control groups were wrapped in two prewarmed sheets at birth that did or did not contain a layer of newspaper. Their axillary temperatures on arrival at the NICU and one hour after arrival were measured. Other environmental factors were similar.

Results

The neonates wrapped in the sandwiched sheets showed significantly higher temperatures on arrival at the NICU than the control group (35.9°C versus 35.4°C, p < 0.01) and after one hour (36.5°C versus 36.3°C, p < 0.01). No change in behaviour or training was required for the healthcare staff to implement this initiative.

Conclusion

Wrapping newborn infants in two cloth sheets with a newspaper layer resulted in a higher body temperature on arrival at the NICU and after one hour.     

Role of Niacin in Current Clinical Practice: A Systematic Review

Background

Niacin, a potent high-density lipoprotein cholesterol-raising drug, seems an attractive approach to reduce cardiac events in patients with or at risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. However, previous evidence for niacin has been challenged recently by negative outcomes in 2 large, randomized, controlled trials comparing niacin to placebo with background statin therapy. We studied the currently available evidence for the role of niacin treatment for reducing the risk of cardiovascular events in current practice.

Histomorphological and immunofluorescence evaluation of bimanual and coaxial phacoemulsification incisions in rabbits

PURPOSE: To compare the changes in the histomorphology and immunofluorescence of collagen type I in clear corneal incisions (CCIs) at the end of bimanual and coaxial phacoemulsification in rabbits. SETTING: Iladevi Cataract and IOL Research Centre, Ahmedabad, India. METHODS: In this randomized study, the left eye of 30 rabbits had bimanual phacoemulsification through 1.2 mm CCIs for phaco tip access accompanied by an additional 1.4 mm incision for irrigating chopper access or coaxial phacoemulsification through a 2.6 mm single-plane CCI. The right eyes acted as controls. Samples collected at the end of surgery were processed for histomorphology using periodic acid-Schiff-hematoxylin staining and immunofluorescence localization of type I collagen. RESULTS: Incisions exposed to bimanual phacoemulsification had loss of epithelium, stromal fiber shrinkage, keratocyte nuclei fragmentation and condensation, ragged tunnel margins, and Descemet membrane and endothelial cell loss. The changes were minimal or absent in incisions exposed to coaxial phacoemulsification. Immunofluorescence showed a loss of parallel arrangement of type I collagen fibers in bimanual phacoemulsification incisions, while the fibers were well preserved in coaxial phacoemulsification incisions. The changes were more prominent in the roof of the incision tunnel than in the floor. CONCLUSIONS: Corneal incisions for bimanual phacoemulsification were more prone to damage than those for coaxial phacoemulsification. This may be attributed to the absence of a sleeve, which places the incision tunnel in direct contact with the metal phaco tip.     

DisCoVisc versus the soft-shell technique using Viscoat and Provisc in phacoemulsification: randomized clinical trial

PURPOSE: To compare the effects and outcomes of DisCoVisc (hyaluronic acid 1.6%-chondroitin sulfate 4.0%) with those of the soft-shell technique using Viscoat (sodium hyaluronate 3.0%-chondroitin sulfate 4.0%) and Provisc (sodium hyaluronate 1.0%) in phacoemulsification. SETTING: Iladevi Cataract & IOL Research Centre, Ahmedabad, India. METHODS: This prospective randomized clinical trial comprised 100 eyes having phacoemulsification by the same surgeon using a standardized technique. Eyes were randomly assigned to DisCoVisc (Group 1) or Viscoat and Provisc (Group 2). Preoperative and postoperative examinations included absolute change in pachymetry, percentage difference in endothelial cell density (ECD) and coefficient of variation (CV), and anterior segment inflammation. RESULTS: The mean postoperative central corneal thickness (CCT) in Group 1 and Group 2 was 590.96+/-46.05 microm and 586.94+/-50.57 microm, respectively, at 1 day; 554.14+/-35.45 microm and 551.65+/-37.69 microm, respectively, at 7 days; and 533.74+/-29.12 microm and 536.44+/-35.59 microm, respectively, at 1 month. The between-group differences in CCT were not statistically significant. At 3 months, the mean ECD was 2427.06+/-243.26 cells/mm2 and 2475.30+/-222.83 cells/mm2, respectively, and the mean CV, 42.38+/-7.94 cells/mm2 and 41.66+/-7.71 cells/mm2, respectively. There was no significant difference in the mean ECD between preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively or in corneal thickness between preoperatively and 1, 7, and 30 days postoperatively. CONCLUSION: A single injection of DisCoVisc was effective, and its postoperative outcomes were comparable to those of combined Viscoat and Provisc.     

Advancement of deep learning in pneumonia/Covid‐19 classification and localization: A systematic review with qualitative and quantitative analysis

Around 450 million people are affected by pneumonia every year, which results in 2.5 million deaths. Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid‐19) has also affected 181 million people, which led to 3.92 million casualties. The chances of death in both of these diseases can be significantly reduced if they are diagnosed early. However, the current methods of diagnosing pneumonia (complaints + chest X‐ray) and Covid‐19 (real‐time polymerase chain reaction) require the presence of expert radiologists and time, respectively. With the help of deep learning models, pneumonia and Covid‐19 can be detected instantly from chest X‐rays or computerized tomography (CT) scans. The process of diagnosing pneumonia/Covid‐19 can become faster and more widespread. In this paper, we aimed to elicit, explain, and evaluate qualitatively and quantitatively all advancements in deep learning methods aimed at detecting community‐acquired pneumonia, viral pneumonia, and Covid‐19 from images of chest X‐rays and CT scans. Being a systematic review, the focus of this paper lies in explaining various deep learning model architectures, which have either been modified or created from scratch for the task at hand. For each model, this paper answers the question of why the model is designed the way it is, the challenges that a particular model overcomes, and the tradeoffs that come with modifying a model to the required specifications. A grouped quantitative analysis of all models described in the paper is also provided to quantify the effectiveness of different models with a similar goal. Some tradeoffs cannot be quantified and, hence, they are mentioned explicitly in the qualitative analysis, which is done throughout the paper. By compiling and analyzing a large quantum of research details in one place with all the data sets, model architectures, and results, we aimed to provide a one‐stop solution to beginners and current researchers interested in this field.