The difficulty of diagnosing NCSE in clinical practice; external validation of the Salzburg criteria

To improve the diagnostic accuracy of electroencephalography (EEG) criteria for nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE), external validation of the recently proposed Salzburg criteria is paramount. We performed an external, retrospective, diagnostic accuracy study of the Salzburg criteria, using EEG recordings from patients with and without a clinical suspicion of having NCSE. Of the 191 EEG recordings, 12 (12%) was classified as an NCSE according to the reference standard. In the validation cohort, sensitivity was 67% and specificity was 89%. The positive predictive value was 47% and the negative predictive value was 95%. Ten patients in the control group (n = 93) were false positive, resulting in a specificity of 89.2%. The interrater agreement between the reference standards and between the scorers of the Salzburg criteria was moderate; disagreement occurred mainly in patients with an epileptic encephalopathy. The Salzburg criteria showed a lower diagnostic accuracy in our external validation study than in the original design, suggesting that they cannot replace the current practice of careful weighing of both clinical and EEG information on an individual basis.     

Liefer- und Versorgungsengpässe von Impfstoffen

Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde - Fusionen und Übernahmen in der Pharmaindustrie haben zu einer Konzentration geführt, von der auch die Impfstoffproduktion mit nur noch wenigen global...     

Mildly decreased preoperative bilirubin levels are associated with infections after shoulder and knee arthroplasty

Increasing numbers of arthroplasties are also accompanied by postoperative infections. The main purpose was to evaluate preoperative serum bilirubin levels between patients with and without infections after shoulder and knee arthroplasties. For this retrospective case-control single-center study, a total of 108 patients were extracted from a prospectively collected database. Eighteen patients with infections after shoulder (n = 8) and knee (n = 10) arthroplasty were matched by age, gender, and implant type in a 1:5-scenario to 90 patients (40 shoulders and 50 knees) without postoperative infection. Demographic data, preoperative blood parameters, and postoperative infection-related outcomes were evaluated. Total bilirubin was the only preoperative parameter significantly different between the infection (8.21 ± 3.25 μmol/L or 0.48 ± 0.19 mg/dL) and noninfection (10.78 ± 4.62 μmol/L or 0.63 ± 0.27 mg/dL; P = .014) group, while C-reactive protein and other liver parameters were similar between the groups. Significantly more controls (92.1%) had preoperative bilirubin levels above 8.72 μmol/L or 0.51 mg/dL than cases (7.9%; P = .007). The 5-year infection survival-rate was 65.6% for patients with preoperative bilirubin levels < 8.72 μmol/L or < 0.51 mg/dL and 91.2% with ≥ 8.72 μmol/L or ≥ 0.51 mg/dL. Mildly decreased preoperative bilirubin levels with a cutoff at 8.72 μmol/L or 0.51 mg/dL were significantly associated to patients with infections after shoulder and knee arthroplasty. There were no differences in other blood parameters or comorbidities between patients with infections and their matched-controls.     

Postoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio variation is associated with chronic subdural hematoma recurrence

Neurological Sciences - Chronic subdural haematoma (CSDH) is one of the most common neurosurgical pathologies. The recurrence of chronic subdural haematomas is an important concern, considering...     

Instrument-based Tests for Measuring Anterior Chamber Cells in Uveitis: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

Purpose

New instrument-based techniques for anterior chamber (AC) cell counting can offer automation and objectivity above clinician assessment. This review aims to identify such instruments and its correlation with clinician estimates.     

IgE-mediated regulation of IL-10 and type I IFN enhances rhinovirus-induced Th2 differentiation by primary human monocytes

Rhinovirus (RV) infections are linked to the development and exacerbation of allergic diseases including allergic asthma. IgE, another contributor to atopic disease pathogenesis, has been shown to regulate DC antiviral functions and influence T cell priming by monocytes. We previously demonstrated that IgE-mediated stimulation of monocytes alters multiple cellular functions including cytokine secretion, phagocytosis, and influenza-induced Th1 development. In this study, we investigate the effects of IgE-mediated stimulation on monocyte-driven, RV-induced T cell development utilizing primary human monocyte-T cell co-cultures. We demonstrate that IgE crosslinking of RV-exposed monocytes enhances monocyte-driven Th2 differentiation. This increase in RV-induced Th2 development was regulated by IgE-mediated inhibition of virus-induced type I IFN and induction of IL-10. These findings suggest an additional mechanism by which two clinically significant risk factors for allergic disease exacerbations—IgE-mediated stimulation and rhinovirus infection—may synergistically promote Th2 differentiation and allergic inflammation.     

Endothelial function,regulation of angiogenesis and embryonic central hemodynamics in ART-conceived pregnancies

Abstract

This study was undertaken to compare the concentrations of pro- and anti-angiogenic growth factors, nitric oxide (NO) stable metabolites in maternal serum and embryonic left ventricular (LV) isovolumic relaxation time (IRT, ms) during the first trimester in two groups of women: with pregnancy conceived by assisted reproductive technologies (ART, n?=?39) and normally conceived (control group, n?=?68) pregnancy. The concentration of vasoconstrictor endothelin 1 was 45.5 times more in ART than in control group. On the contrary, the concentrations of NO stable metabolites in ART were 1.9 times less than in control women. The assessment of angiogenic suppressors in ART women demonstrates the decrease in s-endoglin concentration was 1.6 times and in soluble receptor to vascular endothelial growth factor concentration was 2.0 times in comparison with control group. There was a significant increase in LV IRT in ART embryos in comparison to control ones. These data suggest significant changes in pro- anti-angiogenic factors balance and increase in vascular impedance in ART-conceived embryos.