Intraluminal stents in atherosclerotic iliac artery stenosis: preliminary report of a multicenter study

Fifteen patients with symptomatic iliac artery stenosis were treated with intraluminal placement of balloon-expandable stents. Before treatment, 14 patients had intermittent claudication, and one had a limb at risk for amputation. One patient had diabetes mellitus, nine had hypertension, and all were long-term smokers. Two patients had surgical placement of the stent; in one patient this was part of a combined revascularization procedure. All other stents were placed percutaneously. The transstenotic gradient after injection of vasodilating drugs distal to the lesion decreased from a mean of 32.3 mm Hg +/- 16.7 to 3.1 mm Hg +/- 4.2 after stent placement. Ankle-arm Doppler systolic pressure index increased from a mean of 0.68 +/- 0.22 to 0.96 +/- 0.24 after the procedure. The treatment eliminated intermittent claudication in 14 patients and increased exercise tolerance to 500 m in the patient with a limb at risk for amputation before the procedure. The improved condition persisted in all patients during the follow-up of 6-12 months. Stent placement may be a valuable adjunct in the management of iliac artery disease.     

Transesophageal drainage of mediastinal abscesses

Esophageal perforation with subsequent formation of a mediastinal abscess is a well-recognized clinical entity. Causes include perforation due to rigid and fiberoptic endoscopy, bouginage, breakdown of surgical anastomoses, and protracted vomiting. This disorder is associated with a high morbidity and, without intervention, a high mortality. In the past, surgery has been the treatment of choice. Although percutaneous drainage techniques have been used in some cases, they are frequently less attractive due to the location of the esophagus and its proximity to thoracic organs and vascular structures. In this study, eight abscesses caused by esophageal perforations were drained through a transesophageal route with minimal patient morbidity. These cases are presented with a discussion of the techniques and patient follow-up.     

Renal and related retroperitoneal abscesses: percutaneous drainage

Renal and related retroperitoneal abscesses cause significant morbidity and mortality and almost always require drainage. The authors report 18 cases of percutaneous drainage of renal and related retroperitoneal abscesses, all of which were successfully managed. In 11 of these cases (61%), percutaneous drainage constituted the only treatment required. In the remaining seven (39%), the patients' clinical status improved after percutaneous drainage, and they were able to undergo subsequent elective nephrectomy with fewer complications. These results are comparable to those achieved with percutaneous abdominal abscess drainage and justify the use of percutaneous drainage for renal and related retroperitoneal abscesses as the therapeutic procedure of choice.     

Vitrification of bovine oocytes: implications of follicular size and sire on the rates of embryonic development

Purpose

The objectives were to test how the source of oocytes and semen impacted vitrification of large numbers of bovine oocytes and subsequent IVF and early embryo development to test procedures that may assist with assisted reproductive technologies in humans.

Methods

Bovine oocytes were vitrified from follicles of different diameters, small (≤4 mm) and medium (4 to 10 mm), using nylon mesh. Oocytes were exposed to the cryoprotectant composed of 40% (v/v) ethylene glycol, 18% (w/v) Ficoll-70, and 0.3 M sucrose in three stepwise dilutions. Thawing was conducted with a series of 0.5, 0.25 and 0.125 M sucrose dilutions in 20% fetal bovine serum.

Results

The cleavage (39.1% vs. 58.5%) and blastocyst rates (5.1% vs. 22.9%) were significantly lower for the vitrified oocytes. Follicle size had a significant impact on the development of embryos. Sires had significant effects on embryonic developmental rates.

Conclusions

We conclude that differences in development exist due to follicle source and sire used for IVF after vitrification.     

程序变温法确定药物降解反应级数

通过电子计算机模拟程序升温加速试验,从理论上阐明了常规的程序升温法不能确定药物降解反应级数的原因是因为同一组数据可由不同的反应级数和活化能的组合所拟合;解决这一问题的关键是在一个变温程序中包含升温和降温部分;据此提出了一种新的程序变温方法(程序升降温法)。利用这种方法,可以真正做到只通过一次程序变温加速试验,就获得包括反应级数在内的药物降解的动力学参数,且确定反应级数的能力与恒温法相近似。     

Meckel-Gruber syndrome: a rare clinical entity

Meckel-Gruber syndrome is an inherited genetic disorder of unknown aetiology. It is an autosomal recessive condition and its incidence is as rare as 1:13,250 to 1:140,000. Some population show an increased incidence of this condition eg, Finnish and Gujarati Indians. Since the time it was first reported by Meckel in 1822 and subsequently by Gruber in 1934, only 200 cases have been reported. Here the case was diagnosed antenatally by an ultrasound and termination of the pregnancy at an early stage was done as per the wishes of the parents. This interesting and rare case of Meckel-Gruber syndrome is reported here.     

4-芳杂环单/双氨甲基酚衍生物的合成和量化计算

本文在前报的基础上,设计和合成了4-芳杂环取代的氨甲基酚衍生物28个。初步药理试验表明,多数显示不同程度的抗炎活性。用CNDO/2法计算所得数据提示,该类化合物分子中的氨甲基氮和酚羟基氧与受体正电荷中心的结合,可能对抗炎活性起着重要作用。     

Systematic review and stratified meta-analysis of the efficacy of carnosine in animal models of ischemic stroke

Carnosine is a naturally occurring pleotropic dipeptide which influences multiple deleterious mechanisms that are activated during stroke. Numerous published studies have reported that carnosine has robust efficacy in ischemic stroke models. To further evaluate these data, we have conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies. We included publications describing in vivo models of ischemic stroke where the neuroprotective efficacy of carnosine was being evaluated through the reporting of infarct volume and/or neurological score as outcomes. Overall efficacy was evaluated using weighted mean difference random effects meta-analysis. We also evaluated for study quality and publication bias. We identified eight publications that met our inclusion criteria describing a total of 29 comparisons and 454 animals. Overall methodological quality of studies was moderate (median = 4/9). Carnosine reduced infarct volume by 29.4% (95% confidence interval (CI), 24.0% to 34.9%; 29 comparisons). A clear dose-response effect was observed, and efficacy was reduced when carnosine was administered more than 6 h after ischemia. Our findings suggest that carnosine administered before or after the onset of ischemia exhibits robust efficacy in experimental ischemic stroke. However, the methodological quality of some of the studies was low and testing occurred only in healthy young male animals.