Relation of psychological distress to the international normalized ratio in patients with venous thromboembolism with and without oral anticoagulant therapy

Summary. Background: Psychological distress might affect the international normalized ratio (INR), but effects might vary depending on oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy. Objectives: To investigate the association of psychological distress with INR and clotting factors of the extrinsic pathway in patients with and without OAC therapy. Patients and methods: We studied 190 patients with a previous venous thromboembolism (VTE); 148 had discontinued OAC therapy and 42 had ongoing OAC therapy. To assess psychological distress, all patients completed validated questionnaires to measure symptoms of depression, anxiety, worrying, anger and hostility. INR, fibrinogen, factor (F)II:C, FV:C, FVII:C and FX:C were measured as part of outpatient thrombophilia work‐up. Results: In VTE patients without OAC therapy, the odds of a reduced INR (< 1.00) were significantly increased from 1.5 to 1.8 times for an increase of 1 standard deviation (SD) in symptoms of depression, anxiety, worrying and anger, respectively, after adjusting for gender, age, body mass index, socioeconomic status, hematocrit and C‐reactive protein. Worrying, anger and hostility also showed significant direct associations with FVII:C. In patients with OAC therapy, INR was unrelated to a negative affect; however, lower FVII:C related to anxiety and worrying as well as lower FX:C related to anger and hostility were observed in patients with OAC therapy compared with those without OAC therapy. Conclusions: Psychological distress was associated with a reduced INR in VTE patients without OAC therapy. The direction of the association between psychological distress and activity in some clotting factors of the extrinsic coagulation pathway might differ depending on whether VTE patients are under OAC therapy or not.     

Effect of the Duration of Electrical Stimulation on the Analgesic Response in Patients with Low Back Pain

Background: Electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves produces acute analgesic effects. This randomized, sham-controlled, crossover study was designed to evaluate the effect of differing durations of electrical stimulation on the analgesic response to percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in 75 consenting patients with low back pain.

Methods: All patients received electrical stimulation for four different time intervals (0, 15, 30, and 45 min) in a random sequence over the course of an 11-week study period. All active percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation treatments were administered using alternating frequencies of 15 and 30 Hz three times per week for 2 consecutive weeks. The prestudy assessments included the health status survey short form questionnaire and 10-cm visual analog scale scores for pain, physical activity, and quality of sleep, with 0 being the best and 10 being the worst. The pain scoring was repeated 5-10 min after each 60-min study session and 24 h after the last treatment session with each of the four methods. The daily oral analgesic requirements were assessed during each of the four treatment blocks. At the end of each 2-week treatment block, the questionnaire was repeated.

Results: Electrical stimulation using percutaneously placed needles produced short-term improvements in the visual analog scale pain, physical activity, and quality of sleep scores, and a reduction in the oral analgesic requirements. The 30-min and 45-min durations of electrical stimulation produced similar hypoalgesic effects (48 +/- 21% and 46 +/- 19%, respectively) and were significantly more effective than either 15 min (21 +/- 17%) or 0 min (10 +/- 11%). The 30- and 45-min treatments were also more effective in improving physical activity and sleep scores over the course of the 2-week treatment period. In contrast to the sham treatment (0 min), the health status survey short form revealed that electrical stimulation for 15 to 45 min three times per week for 2 weeks improved patient function.     

Percutaneous neuromodulation therapy; does the location of electrical stimulation effect the acute analgesic response? (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas,Dallas, TX) Anesth Analg 2000;91:949–954.

This article studied the effect of the location of electrical stimulation on the acute analgesic response to percutaneous neuromodulation therapy in patients with nonradiating neck pain. Sixty‐eight patients received 3 different nonpharmacologic modalities, namely “needles only (neck), local (neck) dermatomal stimulation, and remote (lower back) dermatomal stimulation in a random sequence over the course of an 11‐week study period. All treatments were given for 30 min, 3 times per week for 3 weeks with 1 week “off” between each modality. The assessment tools included the health status survey short form (SF‐36) questionnaire as well as 10‐cm visual analog scales for assessing pain, physical activity, and quality of sleep. The pain visual analog scale was repeated 5‐10 min after each treatment session. The daily oral nonopioid analgesic requirements were recorded in the patient diary during the entire study period. At the end of each 3‐week treatment block, the SF‐36 questionnaire was repeated. Compared with needles only and remote dermatomal stimulation, local dermatomal stimulation produced a significantly greater decrease in pain, increase in physical activity, and improvement in the quality of sleep compared with baseline values (P < 0.05). The posttreatment SF‐36 test results revealed that all 3 modalities produced improvements compared with the prestudy scores for both the physical component summary and mental component summary. However, the magnitude of the changes in the physical component summary and mental component summary with local dermatomal stimulation was significantly greater than needle only or remote dermatomal stimulation. No side effects were reported at the needle insertion sites. Conclude that electrical stimulation at the specific dermatomal levels corresponding to the local pathology produces greater short‐term improvements in pain control, physical activity, and quality of sleep in patients with chronic neck pain. Comment by Alan Kaye, M.D. Percutaneous neuromodulation is a therapy in which percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is applied for short‐term relief of various pain syndromes. In this study involving 68 patients by White et al, the effects of neuromodulation therapy were studied with nonradiating neck pain. Local dermatomal stimulation consisted of placement of 10 32‐gauge stainless steel acupuncture needle probes to a depth of 2‐4 cm into the soft tissue and paraspinous muscles in the cervical region. For electrical therapy, 10 probes were connected to 5 bipolar leads from a low‐output electrical generator and stimulated for 30 min at 15 and 30 cycles/s. Finally, remote dermatomal electrical therapy consisted of placement of 10 32‐gauge stainless steel acupuncture‐like needle probes to a depth of 2‐4 cm into the soft tissue and/or paraspinous muscle in the lower back region. Each modality was administered to all patients 3 times per week for 3 consecutive weeks with 1 week off between each modality. Most parameters compared after demonstrated improvement locally and a reduction in daily usage of oral nonopioid analgesic medications. Future studies are warranted, in particular those in which long‐term benefits are assessed. The authors should be commended for studying this alternative treatment strategy and its role in mediating or modulating complex pain syndromes.     

Human megakaryocytes express clusterin and package it without apolipoprotein A-1 into alpha-granules

Clusterin, a 70-Kd disulfide-linked two-chain plasma glycoprotein circulates in blood as a high-density lipoprotein particle and is highly induced after tissue injury and tissue remodeling. In this study, peripheral blood leukocytes were assayed for clusterin expression. The protein was predominantly detectable in human platelets by immune cytochemistry. The content of clusterin was determined and amounts to 2.5 +/- 1.3 micrograms/10(9) platelets, thus representing about 2% of the blood pool. Clusterin purified from human platelets had the same molecular weight as plasma clusterin under nonreducing conditions and was composed of two disulfide-linked nonidentical subunits of the same size. Both preparations were sensitive to reduction yielding the two subunits of 35 Kd. In contrast to plasma clusterin, the platelet form was not complexed to apolipoprotein A-I. By immunogold labeling, alpha-granule localization of clusterin was observed. Complete release of platelet clusterin occurred at optimal doses of A23187, phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), and thrombin. Because clusterin mRNA was detected by hybridization in situ in bone marrow- derived megakaryocytes, platelet clusterin is most likely produced and packaged into alpha-granules during megakaryocyte development.     

Posttransplant T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders--an aggressive, late complication of solid-organ transplantation

T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are an uncommon occurrence after solid- organ transplantation. We describe a morphologically and immunophenotypically distinct group of T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders that occurred late in the course of six patients with solid- organ transplants. The patients ranged in age from 31 to 56 years (median, 43). Three were male; all were splenectomized. The interval from transplant to the diagnosis of lymphoma ranged from 4 to 26 years (median, 15). Symptoms at presentation were related to sites of involvement. Pulmonary, marrow, and CNS involvement were present in five, four, and one case, respectively. No patient had lymphadenopathy. Five patients had an elevated lactate dehydrogenase level (range, 226 to 4,880 IU/L; median, 1,220 IU/L). Five of six patients had a leukoerythroblastic reaction. All cases had large-cell histology and frequently contained cytoplasmic granules. Those cases tested expressed CD2, CD3, and CD8 and were negative for B-cell antigens. T-cell receptor beta- and gamma-chain genes were clonally rearranged in three of three and one of three cases, respectively. All T-cell posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders (T-PTLDs) studied were negative for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus type 1 (HTLV-1), human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus type 2 (HTLV-2), and human herpes virus type 8 (HHV-8) genomes. Treatment with acyclovir (three patients) or chemotherapy (three patients) resulted in two responses. All patients had an aggressive course, with a median survival duration of 5 weeks. In conclusion, a clinically aggressive T- PTLD may be a late complication of solid-organ transplantation and does not appear to be related to EBV, HTLV-1, HTLV-2, or HHV-8 infection.     

Evaluation of toothbrush bristles' deterioration used by preschool children

Abstract:  The toothbrush is an effective instrument for oral diseases prevention. The flexibility and status of bristles, as well as the size of the handle are fundamental for an effective toothbrushing. Thus, the assessment of physical characteristics of toothbrushes is important. This study evaluated the deterioration and wear of bristles of toothbrushes used by preschool children. For the sample selection, five elementary schools were assorted from a city of the São Paulo State northwest region, one from each city area. All toothbrushes used by preschool children who aged between 5 and 6 years old and who attended the assorted schools were visually analysed by two calibrated examiners, according to the criteria proposed by Rawls HR, Mkwayi-Tulloch NJ, Casella R, Cosgrove R ( J Dent Res 1989; 12:1781): 0 – it is impossible to state if the toothbrush was used or not; 1 – the bristles seem to be separated within some tufts; 2 – most tufts are separated, many cover other tufts and present a large number of curved and inclined bristles; 3 – most tufts are covered by others and bristles are folded and tipped. In total, 333 toothbrushes were evaluated. The data obtained revealed that 57.96% of the toothbrushes presented adequate condition for utilization (scores 0 and 1), whereas 42.04% presented inadequate bristles for their function (scores 2 and 3). It was concluded that a great number of toothbrushes presented deterioration of the bristles. Thus, there is the need to guide and promote awareness among teachers, parents and children as well as the need to replace toothbrushes.