Intramyocardial hydatid cyst: a mistaken identity and its successful removal on a beating heart

Hydatid cyst of the heart is a rare but potentially fatal disease. There have been reports of the occurrence of such cysts, but we present here a unique experience of mistaken identity of a right ventricular intramyocardial hydatid cyst for a mediastinal hydatid cyst, leading to a dangerous intraoperative procedure.     

Early functional loading of unsplinted roughened surface implants with mandibular overdentures 2 weeks after surgery

Background: Before early functional loading of unsplinted implants with mandibular overdentures can become widespread, more clinical studies are needed to investigate the success of the approach. Purpose: To evaluate the success rates of two types of roughened titanium surface implants with early 2‐week functional loading of paired mandibular interforaminal implants with overdentures. Materials and Methods: Random allocation divided 24 strictly selected edentulous participants into two groups, with each group to receive a different implant system (ITI Dental Implant System, Straumann AG, Waldenburg, Switzerland; or Southern Implant System, Southern Implants, Irene, South Africa). Two implants were placed in the anterior mandible of all participants using one‐stage standardized surgical procedures. Previously constructed conventional mandibular dentures (opposing maxillary complete dentures) were temporarily relined and worn by the participants for the first 2 weeks; participants used a soft diet. Two weeks after implant surgery and following some mucosal healing, the mandibular dentures had the tissue conditioner removed and the appropriate matrices included for an unsplinted prosthodontic design. Results: No implant from either group was lost. Resonance frequency analysis (RFA) indicated higher primary stability at surgery for the Southern group than for the ITI group, with a statistically significant difference between the groups throughout the study period. The drop in RF values between surgery and 6 weeks was significant and was greater for the Southern group. RFA also indicated stabilized osseointegration between 6 to 12 and 12 to 52 weeks, with no participant showing any decrease in those values over time. Participants with type 3 bone showed a significant improvement in RF values between 12 and 52 weeks, eventually matching those of participants with type 2 bone. There were no significant differences in marginal bone loss, periimplant parameters, or prosthodontic maintenance between the groups over the study period. Conclusions: Using only strict patient selection criteria, 1‐year follow‐up data indicate that early functional loading of ITI and Southern implants with mandibular two‐implant overdentures is possible as early as 2 weeks after implant surgery.     

Perception of Spectral Ripples and Speech Perception in Noise by Older Adults

Present study aimed to obtain spectral ripple discrimination threshold in older listeners and to correlate it with their speech perception abilities. In experiment I, fifteen older adults and fifteen young adults with normal hearing sensitivity were tested for spectral ripple discrimination ability in quiet (SRDT) and speech recognition in noise (SNR50). In experiment II, twelve older adults with normal hearing sensitivity were tested for spectral ripple discrimination ability in noise (SNR-SRDT) and SNR50. SRDT and SNR50 of older adults were significantly poorer than young adults. There was a significant negative correlation between SRDT and SNR50 and significant positive correlation between SNR-SRDT and SNR50. Linear regression analysis revealed that SRDT accounted for 21 % of variance in SNR50. Quadratic regression analysis revealed that SNR-SRDT accounted for 63 % of the variance in SNR50. Despite having normal hearing sensitivity, older adults exhibited reduced spectral resolution and poor speech recognition in noise. Poor speech recognition in noise in older adults could be partly due to their spectral resolution abilities.     

It's aneurysmal, it's stenotic, it's tuberculosis

Tuberculous vasculitis is a very rare presentation of tuberculosis. So far this is the second reported case in the literature. The diagnosis of this disorder is based on the clinical presentation as well as blood investigation results. With the ever improvement in modern medicine and improvement in endovascular treatment of such diseases, the morbidity and mortality of these patients have been dramatically reduced with better clinical and survival results. We present a case of endovascular stenting of a stenotic subclavian artery with good results.