Guided Endodontics: Use of a Sleeveless Guide System on an Upper Premolar with Pulp Canal Obliteration and Apical Periodontitis

Guided endodontics has been used for the treatment of anterior teeth with a successful outcome. This approach is not only limited to anterior teeth because it can also be used for the treatment of premolars and molars. However, in such cases, space may be a limitation because a long bur has to be used in addition to the guide being placed on top of the teeth. The aim of this case report was to present a novel guided endodontics technique using a sleeveless 3-dimensional–printed guide. This design can reduce vertical space, allowing an open view of the tooth and irrigation during drilling. A 46-year-old female patient consulted the endodontic department with intermittent pain around tooth #5. Tooth #5 presented pain upon percussion and responded negative to a cold test. The initial periapical radiograph revealed an apical radiolucency with pulp canal obliteration. Clinically, there was no sinus tract. The tooth was diagnosed with pulp necrosis and symptomatic apical periodontitis. Guided endodontic treatment was performed with a sleeveless 3-dimensional–printed guide and long neck carbide bur with a head diameter of 1 mm to drill a minimally invasive access cavity up to the root canal. A completely healed apical area of tooth #5 was visible after 1 year on periapical radiographs. This technique seems to be a promising alternative in comparison with the conventional guided endodontic guide design for the negotiation of pulp canal obliteration in cases in which vertical space is limited.     

Twenty-year trends in the prevalence of Down syndrome and other trisomies in Europe: impact of maternal age and prenatal screening

This study examines trends and geographical differences in total and live birth prevalence of trisomies 21, 18 and 13 with regard to increasing maternal age and prenatal diagnosis in Europe. Twenty-one population-based EUROCAT registries covering 6.1 million births between 1990 and 2009 participated. Trisomy cases included live births, fetal deaths from 20 weeks gestational age and terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly. We present correction to 20 weeks gestational age (ie, correcting early terminations for the probability of fetal survival to 20 weeks) to allow for artefactual screening-related differences in total prevalence. Poisson regression was used. The proportion of births in the population to mothers aged 35+ years in the participating registries increased from 13% in 1990 to 19% in 2009. Total prevalence per 10 000 births was 22.0 (95% CI 21.7–22.4) for trisomy 21, 5.0 (95% CI 4.8–5.1) for trisomy 18 and 2.0 (95% CI 1.9–2.2) for trisomy 13; live birth prevalence was 11.2 (95% CI 10.9–11.5) for trisomy 21, 1.04 (95% CI 0.96–1.12) for trisomy 18 and 0.48 (95% CI 0.43–0.54) for trisomy 13. There was an increase in total and total corrected prevalence of all three trisomies over time, mainly explained by increasing maternal age. Live birth prevalence remained stable over time. For trisomy 21, there was a three-fold variation in live birth prevalence between countries. The rise in maternal age has led to an increase in the number of trisomy-affected pregnancies in Europe. Live birth prevalence has remained stable overall. Differences in prenatal screening and termination between countries lead to wide variation in live birth prevalence.     

Graft rinse prior to reperfusion in liver transplantation: literature review and online survey within the Eurotransplant community

Graft rinse prior reperfusion in liver transplantation (LT) is believed to reduce the incidence of postreperfusion syndrome and improve clinical outcome. A MEDLINE search was performed to obtain a comprehensive review of the published literature dealing with graft rinse in LT. Moreover, all thirty‐four LT centers in the Eurotransplant (ET) region were invited to participate in an online survey to whether or not graft rinse is performed and whether further research in the field is needed. Seventeen reports have been found to investigate graft rinse protocols in 1894 LT recipients. Eighteen of the thirty centers that participated in the online survey performed graft rinse prior reperfusion in LT. The most commonly used rinse solution was albumin. Nineteen centers stated interest in participating in a multicenter RCT in the field. The published literature does not provide concluding appraisal of the benefit of graft rinse in LT. Graft rinse protocols are not standardized and are based on personal experience. Appropriately designed clinical trials addressing the topic are demanded. The online survey appears to be a helpful tool for the evaluation of clinical practice and future research topics in the transplant community.     

Semi‐xenotransplantation: the regenerative medicine‐based approach to immunosuppression‐free transplantation and to meet the organ demand

Although xenografts have always held immeasurable potential as an inexhaustible source of donor organs, immunological barriers and physiological incompatibility have proved to be formidable obstacles to clinical utility. An exciting, new regenerative medicine‐based approach termed “semi‐xenotransplantation” (SX) seeks to overcome these obstacles by combining the availability and reproducibility of animal organs with the biocompatibility and functionality of human allografts. Compared to conventional xenotransplantation wherein the whole organ is animal‐derived, SX grafts are cleansed of their antigenic cellular compartment to produce whole‐organ extracellular matrix scaffolds that retain their innate structure and vascular channels. These scaffolds are then repopulated with recipient or donor human stem cells to generate biocompatible semi‐xenografts with the structure and function of native human organs. While numerous hurdles must be still overcome in order for SX to become a viable treatment option for end‐stage organ failure, the immense potential of SX for meeting the urgent needs for a new source of organs and immunosuppression‐free transplantation justifies the interest that the transplant community is committing to the field.     

Snapshot quiz – recurrent right iliac fossa pain in the patient with a previous history of appendicitis

A low threshold for computed tomography (CT) scanning in patients with previous appendicectomy and right iliac fossa pain helps facilitate timely diagnosis and exclusion of other differential diagnoses. Here, we present a rare cause which has significant medicolegal ramifications and is accurately diagnosed with CT.