Does the treatment of normal pressure hydrocephalus put the retinal ganglion cells at risk? A brief literature review and novel hypothesis

Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a poorly understood entity as well as a source of continuous controversy in the neuroscientific community. The surgical management of this disease requires that intracranial pressure (ICP), also referred to as the cerebrospinal fluid pressure (CSFP), be lowered using a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diversion procedure. Numerous complications are linked with this procedure; we believe that new evidence suggests that the induction or acceleration of glaucomatous optic neuropathy are possible sequelae that warrant further investigation. We also suggest potential solutions derived from the increased understanding of the disease’s pathophysiology and new advances in imaging of the optic nerve head complex.     

Specimen processing during laparoscopic renal surgery: a review of techniques and technologies

Laparoscopic surgery has well-defined benefits for patients and has become accepted over time as a standard access strategy for the management of benign and malignant urologic diseases. Unlike in open surgery, the surgeon is often faced with the additional challenges of specimen retrieval and extraction at the end of laparoscopic extirpative procedures. This final step often requires significant laparoscopic skill to entrap and safely extract the laparoscopic specimens. Failure to apply safe exit steps at the end of a laparoscopic procedure may lead to significant morbidity. The aim of this review is to explore the different techniques and technologies available for laparoscopic kidney retrieval, entrapment and safe extraction.     

Successful coronary angiography with adequate image acquisition using a combination of gadolinium and a power injector in a patient with severe iodine contrast allergy

A history of severe allergic reaction to iodine contrast leading to anaphylactic shock presents a dilemma in patients requiring cardiac catheterization. As an alternative, gadolinium has been an interesting and potentially useful agent. However, gadolinium produces poor image quality and has been associated with significant arrhythmias in small case series. Furthermore, there is no consensus about the maximal allowable dose that can be administered to a patient. In the present report, a successful combination of gadolinium contrast with a power injector that produced adequate image quality in a patient with severe allergy to iodine contrast is described. The case was complicated by the occurrence of ventricular fibrillation when damping occurred during injection of contrast into the right coronary artery. This complication has been reported previously with intracoronary gadolinium injection. The report is followed by a brief literature review.     

Bromuconazole-induced hepatotoxicity is accompanied by upregulation of PXR/CYP3A1 and downregulation of CAR/CYP2B1 gene expression

Despite widespread use of bromuconazole as a pesticide for food crops and fruits, limited studies have been done to evaluate its toxic effects. Here, we evaluated the hepatotoxic effect of bromuconazole using classical toxicological (biochemical analysis and histopathological examination) and gene-based molecular methods. Male rats were treated either orally or topically with bromuconazole at doses equal to no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) and 1/10 LD50 for 90?d. Bromuconazole increased activities of liver enzymes (ALT, AST, ALP, and ACP), and levels of bilirubin. It also induced hepatic oxidative stress as evidenced by significant decrease in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), and significant increase in levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver. In addition, bromuconazole caused an increase in liver weights and necrobiotic changes (vacuolation and hepatocellular hypertrophy). It also strongly induced the expression of PXR and its downstream target CYP3A1 gene as well as the activity of CYP3A1. However, it inhibited the expression of CAR and its downstream target CYP2B1 gene without significant changing in CYP2B1 activity. Overall, the oral route showed higher hepatotoxic effect and molecular changes than the dermal route and all changes were dose dependent. This is the first investigation to report that bromuconazole-induced liver oxidative damage is accompanied by upregulation of PXR/CYP3A1 and downregulation of CAR/CYP2B1.     

Impact of Spinal Manipulation on Lower Extremity Motor Control in Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Patients: A Small-Scale Assessor-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to quantify the impact of a single lumbar spinal manipulation (SM) intervention on the leg movement performance of degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) patients in a small-scale registered randomized clinical trial.MethodsParticipants with LSS (n = 14) were tested at baseline for pain, lumbar range of motion, and behavioral or kinematic motor performance (using an established Fitts’ Law foot-pointing task), then underwent covariate adaptive randomization to receive SM or no intervention. Postintervention all dependent measures were repeated. Experimenters were blinded to patient group allocation. University ethics board approval was attained.ResultsFor the primary outcome movement time, there was no significant difference between groups. As predicted by Fitts’ Law, all participants had longer movement times as task difficulty increased. Secondary kinematic outcomes yielded no significant between-group differences. Consistent with Fitts’ Law, kinematic measures changed significantly with task difficulty. Pairwise comparisons revealed the kinematic variables were more adversely affected by greater movement amplitudes than target size changes. No exploratory differences in pain or lumbar range of motion were observed.ConclusionChanges in motor performance were not observed in this chronic pain population after a single SM intervention compared with a control group. Given the sample size, the study may have been underpowered to detect meaningful differences. Fitts’ Law was observed for the lower extremity–pointing task for an LSS population and may provide an objective measure of motor performance.