Changing relative prevalence of Alzheimer disease versus non-Alzheimer disease dementias: have we underestimated the looming dementia epidemic?

The relative prevalence of neurodegenerative dementias in our Veterans' Affairs dementia clinic has shifted from predominantly Alzheimer disease (AD) to predominantly non-AD diagnoses. Because our clinic was the only Veterans' Affairs clinic in Oklahoma that could initiate cholinesterase inhibitors, we had a captured patient referral source. If future epidemiologic studies establish that non-AD dementias are as, or more, prevalent than AD, then the looming dementia epidemic in the United States will be greater in magnitude than currently predicted.     

High school students' knowledge, attitude, and practice with respect to epilepsy in Kerala, southern India

Very little information is available on knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) with respect to epilepsy among schoolchildren from developing countries. We quantified KAP with respect to epilepsy among 1213 tenth-grade students of Kerala, southern India. Ninety-eight percent of them had heard or read about epilepsy. However, nearly 60% of students thought that epilepsy was a form of insanity. Allopathic treatment was preferred by more than half of the respondents; however, many had faith in exorcism and visiting religious places as ways to cure epilepsy. Half of the students considered epilepsy a hindrance to education, employment, and marriage. Thirteen percent would be unwilling to sit adjacent to or play with a child with epilepsy. We conclude that although familiarity with epilepsy was high among high school students in Kerala, misconceptions and negative attitudes were alarmingly high. Persistent and effective information campaigns, therefore, are necessary to change their attitudes toward fellow students with epilepsy.     

Evolution of minimally invasive surgery for donor nephrectomy and outcomes

Background:

Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy was introduced into Australia in 1997 by this unit. However, some donors may be considered unsuitable, and few modifications to the existing technique can tailor this procedure for an individual donor. Recently, further changes including clustering of ports and single-port methods have been investigated.

Methods:

The laparoscopic method was offered to all but 3 donors from May 1997 to October 2009. Data were collected on all 289 donors who underwent laparoscopic procedures.

Results:

All but 5 donor procedures were completed laparoscopically, and in 4 of them conversion to open was necessary due to hemorrhage. The fifth was a planned conversion in our first right LDN. Delayed graft function was seen in 7 recipients and 5 required dialysis postoperatively. Two kidneys were lost due to arterial thrombosis, and 5 patients underwent segmental infarction with decreased renal function. Mean hospital stay was 2.35±1.67 days. There were no donor deaths or serious morbidity.

Conclusions:

Although the benefits to the donor of the laparoscopic method are well recognized, our modifications will benefit those who may be precluded from this method.     

Effects of Surgical Stress on Early Nonspecific Immune Response in Children

Surgery alters the body’s homeostatic balance and defense mechanisms. In adults transient postoperative cellular and humoral immunosuppression after different degrees of operative stress has been reported. In children the immunologic consequences of operations are not elaborated. This study investigates the effect of minor and major surgery on early nonspecific immune response in terms of neutrophil counts and function. Forty-three children undergoing minor and major elective procedures were studied. Blood samples were collected before, immediately after, and 72 h after surgery. Total white cell count, differential neutrophil count, and neutrophil phagocytic function were studied using nitroblue tetrazolium test. Children were divided into two groups—group 1 underwent minor surgery and group 2 major surgery. In group 1 there was a significant drop in total counts after surgery, but in group 2 total counts were not affected. In both groups, the percentage of neutrophils increased immediately after surgery but fell to near or less than preoperative levels 72 h after surgery. However, the assessment of neutrophil functions by nitroblue tetrazolium test in both unstimulated and stimulated forms revealed it to be unchanged in group 1. In group 2 the unstimulated neutrophil function was elevated 72 h after surgery, whereas stimulated function was elevated immediately after surgery. Minor surgery does not alter the early nonspecific immune response. However, major surgery seems to induce a transient increase in neutrophil phagocytic activity.     

Laparoscopic Ablative and Reconstructive Surgeries in Genitourinary Tuberculosis

Background and Objectives:

Laparoscopy is the present standard of care for urologic diseases. Laparoscopy in renal tuberculosis (genitourinary tuberculosis) is difficult because of inflammation and fibrosis associated with the disease. We present the outcome of our experience of laparoscopy in genitourinary tuberculosis, both ablative and reconstructive.

Methods:

The detailed data of patients with genitourinary tuberculosis who underwent laparoscopic surgeries between January 2011 and September 2012 were reviewed. Indications, type of surgery, duration, blood loss, intraoperative problems, postoperative outcomes, and follow-up details were noted.

Results:

Overall, 7 laparoscopic procedures were performed: 5 nephrectomies, 1 ureteric reimplantation with psoas hitch, and 1 combined nephrectomy and laparoscopy-assisted Mainz II pouch reconstruction. The mean operative time was 192 minutes for nephrectomy, 210 minutes for ureteric reimplantation, and 480 minutes for nephrectomy with Mainz II pouch reconstruction. There were no conversions to open surgery. The mean amount of blood loss was 70 mL for the nephrectomies, 100 mL for ureteric reimplantation, and 200 mL for nephrectomy with Mainz II pouch reconstruction. In 5 of 6 patients who underwent nephrectomy, there was severe perinephric and peripelvic fibrosis posing difficulty in dissection. However, the renal vessels could be controlled individually. The mean postoperative hospital stay was 3 days for the nephrectomies, 5 days for the ureteric reimplantation, and 10 days for the nephrectomy with Mainz II pouch reconstruction. In all cases the recovery was uneventful.

Conclusions:

Laparoscopy, though technically more demanding, is a feasible and safe option for ablative and complex reconstructive procedures in genitourinary tuberculosis. It offers the benefits of minimally invasive surgery. The difficulty with this procedure is mostly because of peripelvic and perinephric fibrosis, whereas the lower ureter and bladder are relatively easier to dissect.     

Pelvic fracture-associated urethral injuries in girls: experience with primary repair

OBJECTIVE: To present our experience with four urethral injuries in females accompanying a pelvic fracture, managed with primary repair or realignment of the urethra. PATIENTS AND METHODS: There were three teenage girls and one adult (22 years old). All the patients had complete urethral injuries associated with a pelvic fracture from accidents. They were managed by immediate suprapubic cystostomy followed by repair or realignment of the urethra over a catheter on the same day. The catheter was removed after 3 weeks and a voiding cysto-urethrogram taken. Thereafter they were followed with regular urethral calibration. RESULTS: All patients voided satisfactorily with a good stream; three were fully continent and the fourth had transient stress urinary incontinence. One patient needed dilatation at 2 months and another visual internal urethrotomy at 5 months. At a mean (range) follow-up of 33 (9-60) months all the patients had a normal voiding pattern and were continent; none developed vaginal stenosis. CONCLUSION: Primary repair of the urethra, and if that is impossible, simple urethral realignment over a catheter, is the procedure of choice for managing female urethral injury associated with a pelvic fracture. The procedure has the additional advantage of reducing the risk of vaginal stenosis.     

Implementation of a successful endovascular surgical program in a non-teaching tertiary-care centre in Ontario.

Endovascular surgical techniques have become an accepted standard of care for high-risk patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms and for certain patients with thoracic aortic pathology and peripheral arterial aneurysms. In Canada, endovascular surgery has been concentrated in tertiary-care academic teaching institutions. As the technology evolves and as expertise advances, the applicability of endovascular techniques will expand. With time, and as the demand for endovascular techniques rises, this expertise will increasingly need to be delivered by dedicated vascular surgical services in nonteaching institutions. The dissemination of endovascular surgical capabilities represent a unique challenge. We report the successful implementation of an endovascular surgical program in a tertiary-care nonteaching institution using a carefully planned preceptorship model. We review our initial 49 cases and discuss 6 factors important to the successful establishment of an endovascular surgical service: education, teamwork, strict selection of patients, use of a single stent-graft manufacturer, industry support and endovascular preceptorship. Our experience may be used as a model by other institutions in Canada.     

Fifteen years' experience of treating atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis by interventional nephrologists in India

Atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS) is an important cause of kidney disease, accelerated hypertension (HTN), and its treatment is controversial. Our aim was to evaluate the outcomes, safety, and efficacy of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) for ARAS. Retrospective analysis of ARAS was performed among 470 angiographies during 1995–2010. Patients with nonatherosclerotic RAS and renal transplant were excluded. We assessed preintervention and postintervention mean arterial pressure (MAP), antihypertensive medications, and renal function to classify as deteriorated (>10% increase in MAP/increase in drugs/>20% reduced GFR), improved (>10% reduced MAP/reduced drugs/>20% increased eGFR), or stabilized (<10% change in MAP/same antihypertensive drugs/<20% change in eGFR) at last follow‐up. A total of 220 subjects with mean age of 57.6 ± 10.4 years underwent PTA and/or stenting. The average follow‐up was 23.07 ± 21.2 months. Accelerated HTN, HTN onset >50 years, unexplained renal failure, and unilateral small kidney were the most common presentations. In all, 255 significant stenotic lesions in 220 patients (119 unilateral, 66 single functioning kidney, and 35 bilateral) were observed. In total, 255 PTA were performed, including 177 stenting. Technical success was seen in 220/243 (90.5%) subjects. Combined MAP and antihypertensive drugs improved in 154/220 (70%) patients. Renal function improved/stabilized in 175/220 (79.5%). Angioplasty and stenting are relatively safe and feasible tools for control of blood pressure (BP) in ARAS. Angioplasty produced improvement/stabilization of BP in 70%, and the renal function in 79.5% subjects.     

Acute Cellular Rejection Predominated by Monocytes Is a Severe Form of Rejection in Human Renal Recipients With or Without Campath-1H (Alemtuzumab) Induction Therapy

Campath-1H has been used successfully for induction and has resulted in a low rate of acute cellular rejection (ACR) in renal transplantation in combination with various postoperative immunosuppression regimens. This study was undertaken to investigate the extent of monocyte involvement in ACR, with or without Campath-1H induction. We found that monocytes represented the majority of inflammatory cells in grades Ib or higher ACR, but not with Ia type of ACR, regardless of the status of Campath-1H induction. Cases of ACR, following Campath-1H induction, appear to demonstrate a 'pure form' of monocytic ACR, whereas monocytes were mixed with many other types of inflammatory cells in the cases of ACR in the absence of Campath-1H induction. In addition with Campath-1H induction, the cases of monocyte-predominant ACR were found to uniformly exhibit a good response to corticosteroid treatment. We conclude that monocyte-predominate ACR may represent a severe form of rejection, with or without Campath-1H treatment.     

Human immunodeficiency virus infection in a child presenting as herpes zoster ophthalmicus

Herpes zoster is mainly a disease of the elderly. Its occurrence in younger age should be viewed with suspicion. A 9-year-old boy presented with herpes zoster ophthalmicus. He had a history of abdominal surgery one and half years back during which he had received blood transfusion. A year following the surgery he developed general malaise and fever with progressive weight loss. He was treated by local doctors. Subsequently he developed eruptions of blisters around right eye for a duration of 8 days, with which he presented to the department of ophthalmology, Pt JNM Medical College, Raipur. On investigations he was found to have infected with human immunodeficiency virus. Systemic acyclovir along with antiretroviral treatment was started, to which he showed favourable response.