Abdominalchirurgisch relevante Aspekte des Suizidversuchs

In this retrospective study of 24 patients who were treated at our clinic during the last 22 years after having attempted suicide, we evaluated aspects concerning abdominal-and transplantation surgery. There was a predominance of “hard” (70%) versus “soft” (30%) methods for suicide attempt. Intra-abdominal injuries resulting from attempted suicide by stabbing or shooting should lead to laparotomy— the prognosis is then good. Surgical treatment after intoxication, especially caustic ingestion, depends on endoscopic and clinical findings. The highly increased rates of suicide significantly by kidney transplantation. The risk of suicide after transplantation is further diminished with improved immunosuppressive treatment. Only in a few cases there is an indication for liver transplantation— in some cases of fulminant hepatic failure caused by self-administered paracetomol overdose. Auxiliary liver transplantation may then be considered.     

Aktuelles medizinrechtliches Schrifttum, Richtlinien und Empfehlungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Alloplastic injectable biomaterials for soft tissue augmentation: a report on two cases with complications associated with a new material (DermaLive) and a review of the literature

A wide variety of biological and alloplastic injectable biomaterials are available for soft tissue augmentation, but the ideal material has not yet been discovered. Biological materials such as collagen and hyaluronan yield temporary results, while injectable alloplasts are apt to cause varying degrees of foreign body reactions that may result in lumps and chronic inflammation.We present two cases (one is the first filed case in the world) of migratory subcutaneous inflammatory masses secondary to injection of acrylic hydrogel (DermaLive), which is an alloplastic biomaterial recently introduced into the market in Europe. Histology revealed foreign body reaction to acrylic hydrogel with granuloma formation containing multinucleated giant cells. Following this, further reports on complications have been reported elsewhere in Europe. The use and development of injectable materials, as well as alternative methods and future directions are reviewed.     

Wertigkeit des C-reaktiven Proteins (CRP) beim Amnioninfektionssyndrom

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Isolation and interspecies-transfer of a plasmid from Pasteurella multocida encoding for streptomycin resistance

A plasmid encoding streptomycin-resistance could be detected in 13 of 32 Pasteurella multocida-cultures isolated from cattle and swine. The plasmid of these cultures proved to be similar upon Southern blot hybridization. It could be transformed into Escherichia coli 490A, where it also expressed streptomycin resistance.     

Ursachen und Diagnostik der Laterogenie

Zusammenfassung Zur Klärung möglicher Ursachenfaktoren, die zur Entstehung einer Laterogenie beitragen, wurden 22 Patienten nach klinisch funktionellen Kriterien ausgewählt und computertomographisch untersucht. Durch die bessere Vergleichbarkeit überlagerungsfrei abgebildeter morphologischer Strukturen im Computertomogramm konnte eine Einteilung in vier Ursachenbereiche erfolgen, innerhalb derer verschiedene asymmetrische Einzelabweichungen analysiert und diskutiert wurden. Es hat sich gezeigt, daß die computertomographisch strukturelle Analyse bei dieser Problemstellung anderen Untersuchungsmethoden überlegen ist und im Einzelfall neue Anhaltspunkte für eine prognostische Abschätzung weiterer Entwicklungstendenzen bietet.

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Summary To determine the possible reasons, contributing to the formation of laterogenia, 22 patients were investigated by computer tomography. The patients were selected according to clinical and functional criteria. As CT gives a more accurate comparison of structures without superimposition it was possible to subdivide the causative factors into four groups. Within each of them, different asymmetric deviations could be analysed and discussed. It was shown, that structural-CT analysis is superior to other methods of investigation, particularly for this kind of problem. Furthermore it provides new criteria for a prognostic evaluation of development.

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Résumé Pour rechercher les causes qui contribuent à la formation d'une latérogénie, on avait examiné 22 patients, sélectionnés par leur aspect clinique et fonctionnel, à l'aide d'un computer analysant des tomographies. Grâce à ce computer, la meilleure comparaison des structures, représentées sans superposition, donnait la possibilité d'en classifier les causes en quatre catégories, dans lesquelles on analysait et discutait les différentes déviations asymétriques. Il est évident, que dans ces problèmes l'analyse computertomographique-structurelle surpasse d'autres méthodes d'examen et qu'elle offre de nouveaux critères pour prévoir d'autres tendances du développement.

     

Pressure stability of nasal CPAP and bilevel devices

Summary Question of the study   Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) prevents collapse of the upper airway during sleep in patients with obstructive sleep apnea provided that a positive transmural pressure can be maintained during inspiration. We examined pressure-flow characteristics in seven CPAP and bilevel devices during spontaneous breathing.
Methods   The CPAP devices were set to a pressure level of 9.8  hPa (10  cm H₂O) and adapted to a pneumotachograph using a standard CPAP hose and an outlet valve. We continuously measured flow, volume and pressure during resting ventilation and increasing voluntary hyperventilation and analysed the dependence of the variables on a breath-to-breath basis.
Results   Mean CPAP pressures differed between the devices (9.9 – 10.6  hPa) despite the same settings. In all machines pressure fell during inspiration to 8.4 – 9.8  hPa and increased during expiration to 11.1 – 11.7  hPa. This effect increased with higher flow rates. Maximum expiratory pressures rose to 12 – 19  hPa at peak flow rates of 2 l/s, mean expiratory pressures to 9.5 – 16  hPa. Inspiratory pressures dropped to 8.5 – 4.5  hPa (minimum) and 10.5 – 6.0 (mean). Bilevel devices showed a higher stability than CPAP devices. Pressure swings during the respiratory cycle increased the additional work of breathing.
Conclusions   Due to differences in mean and effective CPAP levels CPAP devices are not simply exchangeable but should be individually adapted. Patients with higher minute ventilation might benefit from more stable CPAP machines. The impact on patients' compliance remains to be evaluated.