Does the addition of hyaluronidase improve the quality of peribulbar anesthesia in cataract surgery? – A randomized double blinded study

Purpose

To determine the necessity of hyaluronidase as an anesthetic adjuvant for peribulbar anesthesia during cataract surgery and to assess differences in anesthetic outcomes in the absence of hyaluronidase.

Correction to: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Can Adversely Impact Domains of Sexual Function Such as Satisfaction with Sex Life

Digestive Diseases and Sciences - The original version of the article unfortunately contained an error in Results section of Abstract.     

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Can Adversely Impact Domains of Sexual Function Such as Satisfaction with Sex Life

Digestive Diseases and Sciences - Aspects of sexual health, which can be adversely affected by chronic disease, have been inadequately explored in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We evaluated...     

Clindamycin treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in children

BACKGROUND: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with a narrower antibiotic resistance pattern have emerged. There is a risk for the appearance of resistance during clindamycin therapy of erythromycin-resistant MRSA infections because of the linked resistance mechanisms. METHODS: We analyzed clindamycin-susceptible MRSA organisms from children (1987 to 2000) along with clinical data. Antibiotic susceptibilities of organisms were tested, pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was done and the linked resistance mechanism was detected by the D test. RESULTS: An average of 11 clindamycin-susceptible MRSA per year were obtained from children since 1993. Of 88 isolates 33 (38%) were erythromycin-resistant. The latter were less often community-acquired (45% vs. 69%), more often from infants <1 month of age (24% vs. 4%) and less likely to be in the community acquisition-associated PFGE Group 1 (62% vs. 87%) than those that were susceptible. The D test was positive in 31 of 33 erythromycin-resistant isolates. A 9-month-old boy with pneumonia/empyema caused by a clindamycin-susceptible, erythromycin-resistant, D test-positive MRSA developed a PFGE-identical clindamycin-resistant isolate and clinical relapse during clindamycin treatment. In contrast a 12-year-old girl with abscesses caused by a similar MRSA developed another abscess after clindamycin therapy, but the organism was unchanged in susceptibility. CONCLUSIONS: Erythromycin resistance was present in 38% of clindamycin-susceptible MRSA in children, and clindamycin resistance was detected during treatment in one child. Clindamycin remains a treatment option if the clinician is notified of the risk by the microbiology laboratory and the clinical situation is suitable.     

The Kariapatti pediatric eye evaluation project: baseline ophthalmic data of children aged 15 years or younger in Southern India

PURPOSE: To estimate the prevalence of ocular morbidity among children of rural southern India before developing a service delivery model for community-based pediatric eye care. DESIGN: Population-based cross sectional study. METHODS: Trained field-workers performed door-to-door enumeration in 74 randomly selected villages of the Kariapatti block in southern India to identify children aged 15 years or younger and performed visual acuity measurements using Cambridge crowded cards and external eye examination with torchlight. Pediatric ophthalmologists further examined subjects with ocular problems identified by the field-worker. The clinical team performed repeat visual acuity measurements with Cambridge crowded cards, refraction, slit-lamp anterior segment examinations, and dilated posterior segment examinations at the screening site. The ophthalmologist identified and recorded one major cause for each visually impaired eye. RESULTS: Field-workers screened 10605 (94.6%) of 11206 children enumerated, and identified 1441 (13.6%) children as requiring further clinical examination. An additional 449 children identified as normal by the field-worker were randomly chosen for repeat examinations at the screening sites. In all, 1578 (83.5%) of these 1890 children were examined at the screening site. According to World Health Organization criteria, 6.2 of 10000 children were blind; 42.9% of this blindness was potentially avoidable. Refractive errors (0.55%, 95% confidence interval: 0.41, 0.69) and strabismus (0.43%, 95% confidence interval: 0.30, 0.55) were the major ocular morbidity in this population. CONCLUSIONS: Developing an appropriate service delivery model for this region will require a balance between the relatively low prevalence of morbidity and blindness and the need for service in this population.     

Raloxifene causing malabsorption of levothyroxine

To our knowledge, raloxifene hydrochloride, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, has never been reported to interfere with absorption of levothyroxine. We describe a 79-year-old woman with chronic, treated primary hypothyroidism, presenting with increasing levothyroxine requirement while taking raloxifene at the same time as levothyroxine. For two 6- to 8-week periods, we separated the ingestion of raloxifene and levothyroxine by about 12 hours. In addition, we tested the absorption of 1.0 mg of levothyroxine sodium with and without the coadministration of 60 mg of raloxifene hydrochloride on 2 separate occasions by collecting serial blood samples for 6 hours. Hypothyroidism occurred in a reproducible fashion whenever levothyroxine and raloxifene were administered together and improved whenever they were taken separately. Combined administration of levothyroxine and raloxifene resulted in lower levels of serum thyroxine compared with administration of levothyroxine alone. By a yet unknown mechanism, raloxifene caused malabsorption of levothyroxine in our patient when coadministered.     

Infection rate correlated with time to repair of open neural tube defects (myelomeningoceles): an institutional and national study

Background

The optimal time to closure of a newborn with an open neural tube defect (NTD–myelomeningocele) has been the subject of a number of investigations. One aspect of timing that has received attention is its relationship to repair site and central nervous system (CNS) infection that can lead to irreversible deficits and prolonged hospital stays. No studies have evaluated infection as a function of surgical timing at a national level. We hypothesized an increase in wound infection in those patients with delays in myelomeningocele repair when evaluated in both a single-center and national database.

Methods

Treatment outcomes following documented times to transfer and closure were evaluated at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA) for the years 2004 to 2014. Data of newborns with a myelomeningocele with varying time to repair were also obtained from non-overlapping abstracts of the 2000–2010 Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID) and Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS). Poisson multivariable regression analyses were used to assess the effect of time to repair on infection and time to discharge.

Results

At CHLA, 95 neonates who underwent myelomeningocele repair were identified, with a median time from birth to treatment of 1 day. Six (6 %) patients were noted to have postrepair complications. CHLA data was not sufficiently powered to detect a difference in infection following delay in closure. In the NIS, we identified 3775 neonates with repaired myelomeningocele of whom infection was reported in 681 (18 %) patients. There was no significant difference in rates of infection between same-day and 1-day wait times (p = 0.22). Wait times of two (RR = 1.65 [1.23, 2.22], p < 0.01) or more days (RR = 1.88 [1.39, 2.54], p < 0.01), respectively, experienced a 65 % and 88 increase in rates of infection compared to same-day procedures. Prolonged wait time was 32 % less likely at facilities with increased myelomeningocele repair volume (RR = 0.68 [0.56 0.83], p < 0.01). The presence of infection was associated with a 54 % (RR = 1.54 [1.36, 1.74], p < 0.01) increase in the length of stay when compared to neonates without infection.

Conclusion

Myelomeningocele closure, when delayed more than 1 day after birth, is associated with an increased rate of infection and length of stay in the national cohort. High-volume centers are associated with fewer delays to repair. Though constrained by limitations of a national coded database, these results suggest that early myelomeningocele repair decreases the rate of infection.

     

Large‐scale expansion of pre‐isolated bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells in serum‐free conditions

The regenerative potential of mesenchymal stromal or stem cells (MSCs) has generated tremendous interest for treating various degenerative diseases. Regulatory preference is to use a culture medium that is devoid of bovine components for stem cell expansion intended for therapeutic applications. However, a clear choice an alternative to fetal bovine serum (FBS) has not yet emerged. We have screened five different commercially available serum‐free media (SFM) for their ability to support the growth and expansion of pre‐isolated undifferentiated bone marrow‐derived MSCs (BM‐MSCs) and compared the results with cells grown in standard FBS‐containing medium as control. In addition, based on initial screening results, BD Mosaic? Mesenchymal Stem Cell Serum‐free (BD‐SFM) medium was evaluated in large‐scale cultures for the performance and culture characteristics of BM‐MSCs. Of the five different serum‐free media, BD‐SFM enhanced BM‐MSCs growth and expansion in Cell STACK (CS), but the cell yield per CS‐10 was less when compared to the control medium. The characteristics of MSCs were measured in terms of population doubling time (PDT), cell yield and expression of MSC‐specific markers. Significant differences were observed between BD‐SFM and control medium in terms of population doublings (PDs), cell yield, CFU‐F and morphological features, whereas surface phenotype and differentiation potentials were comparable. The BD‐SFM‐cultured MSCs were also found to retain the differentiation potential, immune‐privileged status and immunosuppressive properties inherent to MSCs. Our results suggest that BD‐SFM supports large‐scale expansion of BM‐MSCs for therapeutic use. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.