Acute pancreatitis in patients with acute hepatic failure

The incidence of acute pancreatitis has been studied in 42 patients with acute liver failure, the majority due to short-incubation hepatitis. The diagnosis of pancreatitis was based on autopsy findings, and classified as severe, moderate, or mild. Fourteen patients (33%) had evidence of pancreatitis-severe in 4, moderate in 5, and mild in 5. It is suggested that this pancreatitis was due either to the virus causing infectious hepatitis or to the blood coagulation changes accompanying acute liver failure. Acute pancreatitis should be considered as one of the possible causes of sudden clinical deterioration in patients with acute liver failure.This work was supported in part by the Clinical Liver Research Fund of The Prince Henry Hospital.     

Toward Personalized Sexual Medicine (Part 3): Testosterone Combined with a Serotonin1A Receptor Agonist Increases Sexual Satisfaction in Women with HSDD and FSAD,and Dysfunctional Activation of Sexual Inhibitory Mechanisms

IntroductionAmong other causes, low sexual desire in women may result from dysfunctional activation of sexual inhibition mechanisms during exposure to sex. Administration of sublingual 0.5 mg testosterone (T) increases the sensitivity of the brain to sexual cues, which might amplify sexual inhibitory mechanisms further in women already prone to sexual inhibition. Sexual stimulation might elicit a prefrontal cortex (PFC)-mediated phasic increase in sexual inhibition, in which activity of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, serotonin) is involved. A single dose of 5-HT_1A receptor agonist (5-HT_1Ara) might reduce the sexual stimulation induced PFC-mediated sexual inhibition during a short period after administration. Consequently, treatment with a single dose of T+5-HT_1Ara might enhance sexual responsiveness, particularly in women exhibiting sexual inhibition.AimTo investigate if treatment with a single dosage of T+5-HT_1Ara will produce improvement in sexual functioning in women with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) as the result of dysfunctional high sexual inhibition.MethodsFifty-four women were divided on the basis of their excitatory or inhibitory responses during T+phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) in low (N = 26) and high inhibitors (N = 28). Physiological and subjective indices of sexual functioning were measured in a participant-controlled ambulatory psychophysiological experiment at home (the first week of each drug treatment). In a bedroom experiment (the subsequent 3 weeks), sexual functioning was evaluated by event, week, and monthly diaries.Main Outcome MeasuresSubjective: sexual satisfaction, experienced genital arousal, sexual desire. Physiological: vaginal pulse amplitude.ResultsWomen with high inhibition show a marked improvement in sexual function in response to treatment with T+5-HT_1Ara relative to placebo and relative to T+PDE5i.ConclusionsThe present study demonstrated that on-demand T+5-HT_1Ara is a potentially promising treatment for women with HSDD, particularly for those women who are prone to sexual inhibition. van Rooij K, Poels S, Bloemers J, Goldstein I, Gerritsen J, van Ham D, van Mameren F, Chivers M, Everaerd W, Koppeschaar H, Olivier B, and Tuiten A. Toward personalized sexual medicine (part 3): Testosterone combined with a serotonin_1A receptor agonist increases sexual satisfaction in women with HSDD and FSAD, and dysfunctional activation of sexual inhibitory mechanisms. J Sex Med 2013;10:824–837.     

Challenges to Research and Innovation to Optimize Deceased Donor Organ Quality and Quantity

Solid organ transplantation is encumbered by an increasing number of waitlisted patients unrequited by the current organ supply. Preclinical models suggest that advances in deceased donor management and treatment can increase the quantity and quality of organs available for transplantation. However, the science of donor intervention and the execution of high quality, prospective, multi‐center, randomized‐controlled trials are restricted by a myriad of logistical challenges mired in regulatory and ethical ambiguity. By highlighting the obstacles to conducting research in deceased donors, this report endeavors to stimulate the creation of a multi‐disciplinary framework to facilitate the design, implementation and supervision of innovative trials that increase the quantity and/or quality of deceased donor organs.     

Quantitative analysis of lateral osteotomies in rhinoplasty

OBJECTIVE: To statistically analyze the long-term results of osteotomy after rhinoplasty. DESIGN: In a consecutive series of 51 patients who underwent reduction rhinoplasty from May 1, 2000, through September 30, 2003, all underwent the same method of bilateral lateral osteotomies, performed by one of us. Twenty patients agreed to participate in this study. The follow-up ranged from 7 to 36 months (mean, 12.6 months). By using preoperative and postoperative photographs, comparisons were made of the change in the dorsal width of the nose (the anterior junction of the nasal bones) and of the ventral width of the nose (where the nasal processes of the maxilla meet the body of the maxilla). RESULTS: There was a significant change (P = .003) in the ventral width of the nose after nasal bone osteotomy. There was no significant change (P = .24) in the dorsal width of the nose. CONCLUSIONS: By using this technique of osteotomy, it is possible to narrow the ventral width of the nose with statistical significance. The dorsal width of the nose is maintained in reduction rhinoplasty. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to quantify the amount of narrowing achieved after nasal osteotomies.     

External validation of the RENAL nephrometry score nomogram for predicting high-grade renal cell carcinoma in solid, enhancing, and small renal masses

Purpose

To confirm predictive accuracies of the RENAL nephrometry score (RNS) nomogram for identifying malignancy and high-grade renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in an external cohort of small renal masses (SRMs).

Methods

A total of 1,129 patients who underwent extirpative renal surgery for solid and enhancing cT1 renal tumors between 2005 and 2012 at a single institution were included in the validation cohort. A single uro-radiologist utilized computed tomography image reconstruction to classify tumors according to the RNS. The area under the curve (AUC) and calibration plots were used to determine predictive accuracies of malignancy and high-grade models of the RNS nomogram.

Results

Malignant and high-grade tumors were identified in 1,012 (89.6 %) and 389 (38.4 %) patients with cT1 tumors, and in 658 (87.3 %) and 215 (32.6 %) patients with cT1a tumors, respectively. Predictive performances of the nomogram for malignancy and high-grade models revealed AUCs of 0.722 and 0.574 for cT1 tumors, and 0.727 and 0.495 for cT1a tumors, respectively. The predictive value of the malignancy model was comparable to that of the model-development cohort (AUC = 0.76); however, the predictive value of the high-grade model was inferior to that of the model-development cohort (AUC = 0.73).

Conclusions

Unlike previous validation studies, we report inferior predictive performance of the RNS nomogram for discriminating high-grade RCC in solid and enhancing SRMs. This suggests that the RNS nomogram may be unreliable for preoperatively predicting high-grade RCC in SRMs, in which tumor size, the key determinant of high-grade RCC, is a limiting factor.     

Peripheral nerve stimulation during MRI: Effects of high gradient amplitudes and switching rates

The application of high gradient amplitudes and switching rates for MRI and spectroscopy, resulting in short rise times for the gradient field and high changes of the magnetic flux density in the patient, is known to possibly evoke peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) in patients. These effects have been studied on 20 volunteers under different experimental circumstances. The results of these measurements are partially in line with earlier findings reported in the literature. New information is found for the dependence of the PNS threshold level as a function of the rise time of the gradient waveform. The PNS threshold level, expressed in terms of dB/dt, is found to be proportional with t^?05, where t is the switch time for the gradients. Indications are found that |B|, the modulus of the gradient vector field, is more closely related to the PNS threshold level than B_z, the imaging component of the gradient field. From the experiments, it is furthermore concluded that only for the imaging protocols characterized by the application of long bipolar repetitive gradient pulse trains, such as echo-planar imaging, PNS is expected at the reported threshold levels. For the protocols based on spin echo, turbo spin echo, inversion recovery, fast field echo, etc., characterized by shorter gradient pulse trains, the threshold levels are expected to be much higher.     

Mindfulness-based therapy in adults with an autism spectrum disorder: A randomized controlled trial

Research shows that depression and anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric concern in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) has been found effective in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms, however research in autism is limited. Therefore, we examined the effects of a modified MBT protocol (MBT-AS) in high-functioning adults with ASD. 42 participants were randomized into a 9-week MBT-AS training or a wait-list control group. Results showed a significant reduction in depression, anxiety and rumination in the intervention group, as opposed to the control group. Furthermore, positive affect increased in the intervention group, but not in the control group. Concluding, the present study is the first controlled trial to demonstrate that adults with ASD can benefit from MBT-AS.     

A follow-up study of early onset psychosis: Comparison between outcome diagnoses of schizophrenia,mood disorders,and personality disorders

This study examined the outcome of youth previously diagnosed with psychotic disorders at a public-sector tertiary care hospital. Of 95 children and adolescents retrospectively identified, follow-up information (mean interval 3.9 years) was obtained on 24 subjects with an outcome diagnosis of schizophrenia, 9 with psychotic mood disorders, 5 with personality disorders (antisocial or borderline), and 1 with schizo-affective disorder. The schizophrenic group was more often odd premorbidly and functioned worse at outcome, while the mood-disordered group had a shorter follow-up period and was more often anxious or dysthymic premorbidly. The personality-disordered group resembled the schizophrenics in their degree of impairment and chronicity. All three groups had high rates of family disruption, low SES, substance abuse, and chronicity, and were similar in their degree of premorbid impairment, length of prodrome, age of onset, initial diagnosis, and family psychiatric history. Misdiagnosis at onset was quite common and highlights the need for systematic longitudinal assessment of early onset psychotic disorders.This study was funded in part by a grant from the Washington Institute for Research and Training.