Bilateral aberrant origin of the inferior thyroid artery from the common carotid artery

The thyroid gland is mainly supplied by the superior and inferior thyroid arteries, with the latter being its principal arterial supply in adults. The inferior thyroid artery usually arises from the thyrocervical trunk, and less frequently from the subclavian artery. Rarely, it may originate from the vertebral artery or the common carotid artery. In the present report, we describe a unique case of a 56-year-old patient, undergoing total thyroidectomy and level VI lymph node dissection for papillary thyroid carcinoma, with aberrant origin of both inferior thyroid arteries from the common carotid arteries.     

Greek Version of the Internet Addiction Test: A Validation Study

The aim of this project was to translate, culturally adapt and validate the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) in Greek adults. Twenty-one post-graduate medical students participated in the cultural adaptation procedure and 151 both post- and under-graduate medical students in the validation process. The internal consistency shown by a Cronbach’s alpha was 0.91. Two-week test–retest reliability was r_tt = 0.84, p < 0.001. Face validity was affirmed by 83.6 % of the students. In terms of convergent validity, the hours of daily internet use were positively correlated with IAT score (rho = 0.48, p < 0.001). Moreover, IAT scores were higher in students that reported use of online gambling (40.5 vs 29.2, p = 0.004), pornographic sites (36.5 vs 28.0, p = 0.003) and online games (35.6 vs 28.2, p = 0.009). Exploratory factor analysis revealed three interpretable factors for the IAT, “Psychological/Emotional Conflict”, “Time Management” and “Neglect Work”, that showed good internal consistency and concurrent validity, explaining 55.3 % of the variance. The Greek version of IAT has shown good psychometric properties, comparable with the original IAT and the previously published translated versions, and can be a useful tool in future studies on internet addiction.     

Pathophysiology and pathogenesis of post-resuscitation myocardial stunning

The prognosis for cardiac arrest victims remains dismal, as only 17% survives to hospital discharge. Post-resuscitation myocardial stunning is the mechanical dysfunction that persists after the restoration of spontaneous circulation. Our knowledge regarding myocardial stunning has grown dramatically over the years, and several hypotheses have been proposed in order to explain its pathophysiology; however, the interrelationships among various mechanisms remain unclear. This review deals primarily with the basic aspects of the pathophysiology of post-resuscitation myocardial stunning. Given the large number of relevant studies and the fragmented information, an effort was made to summarize current knowledge in order to present a comprehensive pathophysiological mechanism. In this review, the pathophysiological disturbances occurring from the onset of cardiac arrest until the restoration of spontaneous circulation are addressed. Then, the pathophysiology of myocardial stunning during the post-resuscitation period is critically reviewed in 4 parts, the immediate, the early, the intermediate, and the recovery post-arrest phase. This article covers a huge gap in the existing literature regarding the pathophysiology of post-resuscitation period and provides a better understanding of the pathophysiology and pathogenesis of post-resuscitation myocardial stunning.