Behavioral state-specific changes in human hippocampal theta activity

Although there has been extensive examination of the behavioral and physiologic correlates of hippocampal theta activity in animals, the human literature consists of a single case study. We investigated the differential effects of four behavioral states on human hippocampal theta activity in 16 epilepsy surgery patients. Behavioral conditions included resting eyes closed (RC), resting eyes open (RO), eyes open with auditory word activation (AW), and eyes open with visuospatial activation (VS). Hippocampal theta activity decreased during both RO and VS compared to both RC and AW. There were reciprocal changes in delta activity. Comparisons of RO to VS and of RC to AW were nonsignificant. The results demonstrate state-specific changes in human hippocampal theta and are consistent with the animal literature that relates hippocampal theta to sensorimotor integration and forebrain volitional mechanisms.     

Gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography in the clinical outcomes utilizing revascularization and aggressive drug evaluation (COURAGE) trial, Veterans Administration Cooperative study no. 424

Background  Stress gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (gSPECT) is increasingly used before and after intercurrent therapeutic intervention and is the basis for ongoing evaluation in the Department of Veterans Affairs clinical outcomes utilizing revascularization and aggressive drug evaluation (COURAGE) trial. Methods and Results  The COURAGE trial is a North American multicenter randomized clinical trial that enrolled 2287 patients to aggressive medical therapy vs percutaneous coronary intervention plus aggressive medical therapy. Three COURAGE nuclear substudies have been designed. The goals of substudy 0 are to examine the diagnostic accuracy of the extent and severity of inducible ischemia at baseline in COURAGE patients compared with patient symptoms and quantitative coronary angiography and to explore the relationship between inducible ischemia and the benefit from revascularization when added to medical therapy. Substudy 1 will correlate the extent and severity of provocative ischemia with the frequency, quality, and instability of recurrent symptoms in postcatheterization patients. Substudy 2 (n _ 300) will examine the usefulness of sequential gSPECT monitoring 6 to 18 months after therapeutic intervention. Together, these nuclear substudies will evaluate the role of gSPECT to determine the effectiveness of aggressive risk-factor modifications, lifestyle interventions, and anti-ischemic medical therapies with or without revascularization in reducing patients’ ischemic burdens. Conclusions  The unfolding of evidence on the application of gSPECT in trials such as COURAGE defines a new era for nuclear cardiology. We hope the evidence that emerges from the COURAGE trial will further establish the role of nuclear imaging in the evidence-based management of patients with stable coronary disease. The COURAGE trial was supported by the Cooperative Studies Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Unrestricted research grants were obtained from Merck & Co; Pfizer Pharmaceuticals; Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging; Astellas Pharma; Kos Pharmaceuticals; Data Scope; Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals; Astra-Zeneca-Canada; Schering-Plough Coorporation, Ltd; Sanofi-Aventis, Inc; First Horizon; and GE Healthcare. All industrial funding for this trial was directed through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Additional funding for this substudy was provided by grants to the Department of Veterans Affairs and Canadian Institutes of Health Research from Astellas Pharma and Bristol-Myers-Squibb Medical Imaging.     

Syringomatous adenoma of the nipple occurring within a supernumerary breast: a case report

Originally described by Rosen in 1983, syringomatous nipple adenoma (SAN) is a tumor of disputed histogenesis, which can be problematic both diagnostically and therapeutically. ¹ It is a benign primary tumor of breast epithelium with histology similar to that of the syringoma. In the current case, we describe a 40-year-old female with this lesion occurring within a supernumerary breast. This case represents, to our knowledge, the first such reported case, and represents a significant finding as its presence could lend some confusion as to whether or not this represents a benign primary process of breast or a potentially infiltrative tumor of the skin.     

Partner- and partnership-related risk factors for preterm birth among low-income women in Lima,Peru

A woman's partner and the characteristics of their partnership can play an important role in the health of her pregnancy. Yet, with the notable exception of intimate partner violence, there has been little previous research addressing the associations between partner- or partnership-related factors and birth outcomes. This analysis tested the hypothesis that risk factors related specifically to partner or partnership characteristics increased the risk for preterm birth. Between 2003 and 2005, a total of 580 preterm cases (20–36 weeks gestational age at delivery) and 633 term controls (≥37 weeks) were selected from women delivering at an obstetric hospital in Lima, Peru. Each woman completed a confidential, structured interview and provided biological specimens within 48 h after delivery. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess associations between partner and partnership characteristics and preterm birth. After adjustment for behavioral, demographic, and obstetric risk factors, ever having had a partner with a history of drug use (aOR = 1.91, 95% CI 1.22–2.99), ever having had anal sex (aOR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.07–1.84), having a current partner with a history of visiting prostitutes (aOR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.22–2.33), and perceiving one's current partner as a “womanizer” (aOR = 1.34, 95% CI 1.02–1.77) were significantly associated with an elevated risk of preterm birth when tested in separate models. These four factors were then used to create a composite partnership risk score, which showed an increasing dose-response relationship with preterm birth risk (per additional partner risk factor: aOR = 1.31, 95% CI 1.16–1.49). These results highlight the importance of considering a broader set of risk factors for preterm birth, specifically those related to a woman's partner and partnership characteristics. Further research could clarify the specific mechanisms through which these partner and partnership characteristics may increase the risk of preterm birth.     

Button wires in the treatment of mandibular fractures

Button wiring has been used as an alternative to eyelet wiring in the Department of Oral and Dental Surgery of Birmingham General Hospital since 1977. This clinical update reviews 65 patients with mandibular fractures in which button wires were utilised in their treatment.     

Myocardial perfusion SPECT reconstruction: Receiver operating characteristic comparison of CAD detection accuracy of filtered backprojection reconstruction with all of the clinical imaging information available to readers and solely stress slices iteratively reconstructed with combined compensation

BACKGROUND: Past receiver operating characteristic (ROC) studies have demonstrated that single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) perfusion imaging by use of iterative reconstruction with combined compensation for attenuation, scatter, and detector response leads to higher area under the ROC curve (A(z)) values for detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) in comparison to the use of filtered backprojection (FBP) with no compensations. A new ROC study was conducted to investigate whether this improvement still holds for iterative reconstruction when observers have available all of the imaging information normally presented to clinical interpreters when reading FBP SPECT perfusion slices. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 87 patient studies including 50 patients referred for angiography and 37 patients with a lower than 5% likelihood for CAD were included in the ROC study. The images from the two methods were read by 4 cardiology fellows and 3 attending nuclear cardiologists. Presented for the FBP readings were the short-axis, horizontal long-axis, and vertical long-axis slices for both the stress and rest images; cine images of both the stress and rest projection data; cine images of selected cardiac-gated slices; the CEQUAL-generated stress and rest polar maps; and an indication of patient gender. This was compared with reading solely the iterative reconstructed stress slices with combined compensation for attenuation, scatter, and resolution. With A(z) as the criterion, a 2-way analysis of variance showed a significant improvement in detection accuracy for CAD for the 7 observers (P = .018) for iterative reconstruction with combined compensation (A(z) of 0.895 +/- 0.016) over FBP even with the additional imaging information provided to the observers when scoring the FBP slices (A(z) of 0.869 +/- 0.030). When the groups of 3 attending physicians or 4 cardiology fellows were compared separately, the iterative technique was not statistically significantly better; however, the A(z) for each of the 7 observers individually was larger for iterative reconstruction than for FBP. Compared with results from our previous studies, the additional imaging information did increase the diagnostic accuracy of FBP for CAD but not enough to undo the statistically significantly higher diagnostic accuracy of iterative reconstruction with combined compensation. CONCLUSIONS: We have determined through an ROC investigation that included two classes of observers (experienced attending physicians and cardiology fellows in training) that iterative reconstruction with combined compensation provides statistically significantly better detection accuracy (larger A(z)) for CAD than FBP reconstructions even when the FBP studies were read with all of the extra clinical nuclear imaging information normally available.     

Tolerance of ocular iontophoresis in healthy volunteers.

To evaluate ocular tolerance, healthy volunteers were iontophoresed transclerally using novel OcuPhor trade mark hydrogel drug delivery applicators filled with balanced salt solution. In this three-period crossover study in 24 male and female subjects, 16 subjects received 0 mA and two of the following DC currents: 0.1, 0.5., 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, or 4.0 mA for 20 min; 6 subjects received 3 mA for 20 min and 1.5 mA for 40 min (both equivalent to 60 mAmin total charge). Safety and tolerance were determined by subjective VAS and objective ophthalmic assessments. Subjects were evaluated before and up to 22 hr after dosing. The applicators were well-tolerated and no clinically significant changes in symptomology or in ophthalmic assessments were seen following exposure to 0-3.0 mA for 20 min or 1.5 mA for 40 min. At 4.0 mA 2 of 4 subjects reported a burning sensation under the applicator during dosing which resolved by 22 hr post-dose; superficial changes in fluorescein staining were observed at 1 hr, but not at 22 hr. The OcuPhor trade mark system has promise for noninvasive drug delivery to the eye.     

Assessment of quality of life in children with peanut allergy

Children with a peanut allergy (PA) are faced with food and social restrictions due to the potentially life-threatening nature of their disease, for which there is no cure or treatment. This inevitably impacts upon their quality of life (QoL). QoL of 20 children with PA and 20 children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) was measured using two disease-specific QoL questionnaires (higher scores correspond to a poorer QoL). One questionnaire was designed by us and the other was adapted from the Vespid Allergy QoL questionnaire. We gave subjects cameras to record how their QoL is affected over a 24-h period. Response rates for both questionnaires were 100%. Mean ages were 9.0 and 10.4 years for PA and IDDM subjects, respectively. Children with a PA reported a poorer quality of life than children with IDDM: mean scores were 54.85 for PA subjects and 46.40 for diabetics (p = 0.004) in questionnaire 1 and 54.30 and 34.50 (p≤0.001) in questionnaire 2. PA children reported more fear of an adverse event and more anxiety about eating, especially when eating away from home. Photographs fell into seven common categories: food, management, environment, away from home, physical activities, restaurant and people. Most photographs related to food and management issues and revealed difficulties for both groups regarding food restrictions. PA subjects felt more threatened by potential hazards within their environment, felt more restricted by their PA regarding physical activities, and worried more about being away from home. However, they felt safe when carrying epinephrine kits and were positive about eating at familiar restaurants. The QoL in children with PA is more impaired than in children with IDDM. Their anxiety may be considered useful in some situations, promoting better adherence to allergen avoidance advice and rescue plans.     

New Types of Germacranolides from Austroliabum candidum1.

The investigation of AUSTROLIABUM CANDIDUM afforded, in addition to several known sesquiterpene lactones, four new ones, including three germacranolides with an ether bridge, as well as an unusual glucoside. The structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods.