Psoas abscess: Difficulties encountered

From 1961 to 1989, 67 patients underwent various surgical procedures for psoas abscess. Retrospective analysis was undertaken in an effort to determine optimal surgical therapy. Forty patients were cured with one operation. Twenty-one patients required two operations, four patients required three operations, and two patients required more than three operations. The reason for failure of treatment was failure to resect the diseased bowel or to drain the psoas abscess adequately. A technique to recognize and treat the abscess definitively will be illustrated. The most common etiologies were Crohn's disease in 49 patients, postoperative sepsis in eight patients, and complications of renal disease in four patients. The length of hospital stay ranged from 5 to 392 days (mean, 26 days). There were two deaths. Failure to recognize and treat psoas abscess results in considerable morbidity.Poster presentation at the meeting of The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, St. Louis, Missouri, April 29 to May 4, 1990.     

全髋置换术对下肢短缩的治疗

目的：探讨全髋关节置换术对肢体短缩的纠正。方法：2000年2月～2002年12月,将30例接受单侧全髋关节置换术的患进行了研究：男19例,女12例。术前通过临床及对骨盆前后位X线片的测量评估双下肢不等长的程度,然后利用模板预测髋臼及股骨假体的置入位置，估计股骨颈的截骨水平以维持双下肢等长。术中先标记并测量股骨近端至髋臼上方两标记之间的距离，而后在术前估计的位置进行股骨颈截骨。置入假体试模之后再次测量两标记之间的距离和检查髋周软组织的张力、关节活动和drop-kick试验。最后通过调整股骨头假体颈部或头部长度进一步进行纠正。结果：22例肢体短缩2cm以上的病人中。术后双下肢等长(双下肢相差在1cm内)20例，2例仍有短缩，1例短3cm，另1例短1．5cm。8例肢体短缩在1～2cm的病人术后肢体完全等长。全部病人没有髋关节的僵硬和疼痛，活动范围恢复75％以上26例，恢复50％～75％4例。结论：通过术前测量评估，术中定位测量。术中软组织充分松解，置入假体试模后再次测量和检查髋周软组织的张力、关节活动和drop-kick试验,可以有效地治疗下肢的短缩。     

Biochemical changes after a qigong program: lipids, serum enzymes, urea, and creatinine in healthy subjects.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to analyze the effects of a qigong training program on blood biochemical parameters. MATERIAL/METHODS: Twenty-nine healthy subjects participated in the study of whom 16 were randomly assigned to the experimental group and 13 to the control. The experimental subjects underwent daily qigong training for one month. Blood samples for the quantification of biochemical parameters (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, phospholipids, GOT, GPT, GGT, urea, creatinine) were taken before and after the training program. As statistical analysis, ANCOVA was performed. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found showing that the experimental group had lower serum levels of GOT (glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase), GPT (glutamic-pyruvic transaminase), and urea and that there was a trend towards significance in GGT (gamma-glutamyltransferase). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that after practicing qigong for the short period of one month, noteworthy changes in several blood biochemical parameters were induced. While it is tempting to speculate on the relevance and implications of these biochemical variations, further investigation is needed to elucidate the scope of these findings.     

Chemotherapy and cardiotoxicity in older breast cancer patients: a population-based study.

PURPOSE: Adjuvant chemotherapy, especially with anthracyclines, is known to cause acute and chronic cardiotoxicity in breast cancer patients. We studied the cardiac effects of chemotherapy in a population-based sample of breast cancer patients aged > or = 65 years with long-term follow-up. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database, we analyzed treatments and outcomes among women > or = 65 years of age who were diagnosed with stage I to III breast cancer from January 1, 1992 to December 31, 1999. Propensity scores were used to control for baseline heart disease (HD) and other known predictors of chemotherapy, and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the risk of cardiomyopathy (CM), congestive heart failure (CHF), and HD after chemotherapy. RESULTS: Of 31,748 women with stage I to III breast cancer, 5,575 (18%) received chemotherapy. Chemotherapy was associated with younger age, fewer comorbidities, hormone receptor negativity, multiple primary tumors, and advanced disease. Patients who received chemotherapy were less likely than other patients to have pre-existing HD (45% v 55%, respectively; P < .001). The hazard ratios for CM, CHF, and HD for patients treated with doxorubicin (DOX) compared with patients who received no chemotherapy were 2.48 (95% CI, 2.10 to 2.93), 1.38 (95% CI, 1.25 to 1.52), and 1.35 (95% CI, 1.26 to 1.44), respectively. The relative risk of cardiotoxicity among patients who received DOX compared with untreated patients remained elevated 5 years after diagnosis. CONCLUSION: When baseline HD was taken into account, chemotherapy, especially with anthracyclines, was associated with a substantially increased risk of CM. As the number of long-term survivors grows, identifying and minimizing the late effects of treatment will become increasingly important.     

旋转强恒磁场对SD大鼠骨骼生长发育及相关激素的影响

目的探讨旋转强恒磁场（RCSMF）对SD大鼠的骨骼生长发育及相关激素的影响，为RCSMF促进人体增高的临床应用奠定基础。方法取25日龄的SD大鼠置RCSMF下，1．5h／d。每5天取血检测大鼠生长激素（GH）、类胰岛素生长因子（IGF-Ⅰ）、雌激素（E2）等与骨骼发育相关的激素，同时测量每组大鼠的身长、体重和尾长，并用骨形态计量学方法研究RCSMF对大鼠骨组织形态学和动态学参数的影响。结果RCSMF处理后大鼠的身长[实验组（25．28±0．41）cm。对照组（24．05±0．35）cm；P〈0．01]、体重[实验组（445．90±16．88）g，对照组（382．22±12．78）g；P〈0．01]、胫骨长[实验组（3．89±0．13）cm，对照组（3．66±0．10）cm；P〈0．01]和股骨长[实验组（3．65±0．08）cm，对照组（3．51±0．06）cm；P〈0．01]，上述多项参数以及骨骺板等相关形态计量学数据实验组明显高于对照组。回归分析身长与相关激素的关系显示：大鼠身长与GH、IGF—I和E2有显著相关性。结论RCSMF有促进骨骼生长发育的作用，其作用机理是通过刺激与骨骼生长发育相关激素的生成、释放，并影响软骨细胞的增殖功能来完成的。     

Antifibrinolytics in orthotopic liver transplantation: current status and controversies.

This article reviews the current status and controversies of the 3 commonly used antifibrinolytics-epsilon-aminocaproic acid, tranexamic acid and aprotinin-during liver transplantation. There is no general consensus on how, when or which antifibrinolytics should be used in liver transplantation. Although these drugs appear to reduce blood loss and decrease transfusion requirements during liver transplantation, their use is not supported uniformly in clinical trials. Aprotinin has been studied more extensively in clinical trials and appear to offer more advantages compared to two other antifibrinolytics. Because of the diverse population of liver transplant recipients and the potential adverse effects of antifibrinolytics, especially life-threatening thromboembolism, careful patient selection and close monitoring is prudent. Further studies addressing the risks and benefits of antifibrinolytics in the setting of liver transplantation are warranted.     

Transplantation for adults with congenital heart disease.

Heart transplantation is a recognised treatment for end-stage heart failure of any cause including congenital heart disease. Congenital heart disease has contributed relatively little to the adult heart transplant activities in the past two decades. However, this is likely to change as an increasing number of children with congenital heart disease reach adulthood because of the advances in paediatric cardiology and surgery. Some of these grown-ups with congenital heart disease (GUCH patients) will need transplantation for late myocardial dysfunction either secondary to uncorrected lesions, or despite previous repair or palliative surgery. These patients are managed along the same clinical principles as those with cardiac failure of other aetiologies, despite the lack of any evidence to support this approach. Nevertheless, they introduce new challenges. First, some may have pulmonary vascular disease and require heart-lung transplantation, or lung transplantation combined with repair of their cardiac defects. Second, those with failing Fontan circulation are usually much sicker than other transplant candidates, with protein-losing enteropathy along with renal and hepatic dysfunction. Third, a suitable donor organ may not be found due to elevated levels of antibodies in response to previous blood transfusions and possibly the previous implantation of homografts. Fourth, the operation may be technically difficult because of the presence of adhesions secondary to previous operations, collaterals, and unusual anatomy. Fifth, postoperative care may be complicated because of predisposition to bleeding, infection and pulmonary hypertension, and the presence of residual aortopulmonary collaterals resulting in a significant left-to-right shunt. Despite a higher early mortality, the overall results of heart transplantation so far have been encouraging with survivals similar to that of adults with acquired heart disease and that of the paediatric population. However, this may change as the proportion of high-risk patients (failing Fontans) increases. GUCH patients with Eisenmenger's syndrome may be offered lung transplantation with repair of the cardiac defect or heart-lung transplantation. However, because of the limited success of these approaches, and improved management of pulmonary hypertension, patient selection remains difficult.     

Laryngeal edema associated with the ProSeal™ laryngeal mask airway in upper respiratory tract infection

PURPOSE: We report an unusual case of vocal cord edema associated with the use of a ProSeal laryngeal mask airway (PLMA) in an adult patient with an undiagnosed upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). CLINICAL FEATURES: A 55-yr-old woman had fixation of a radial fracture under general anesthesia with muscle relaxation. She developed audible wheezing 30 min after PLMA insertion. Bronchoscopic examination revealed significant vocal cord edema. Adequate ventilation was possible at increased airway pressures, and the administration of dexamethasone 4 mg iv produced clinical resolution of the stridor and airway obstruction. The patient admitted to having mild symptoms of an URTI on postoperative questioning. CONCLUSION: Airway hyperreactivity secondary to the URTI is the most likely etiological factor; other possibilities include trauma from insertion and chemical irritation. Although pediatric studies suggest that the LMA-Classic carries less risk than endotracheal intubation in the presence of URTI, this case report demonstrates that caution is still warranted when using supraglottic airways. The PLMA permitted effective ventilation despite increased airway resistance; nevertheless its role in patients with URTI is unclear. It is possible that the bulkier cuff design of the PLMA, compared to that of the LMA-Classic, may have partly contributed to the development of edema in this setting.