Pseudoaneurysm in the inferior alveolar artery following a bad split in bilateral sagittal split osteotomy

Pseudoaneurysms in the external carotid artery system are rare, mostly reported in the superficial temporal and facial arteries. The bilateral sagittal split osteotomy has a low incidence of complications requiring emergency interventions. We report the case of a patient with acute bleeding from a pseudoaneurysm of the inferior alveolar artery diagnosed by angiography and treated successfully by super-selective embolization.     

A Perioperative Care Display for Understanding High Acuity Patients

Background  The data visualization literature asserts that the details of the optimal data display must be tailored to the specific task, the background of the user, and the characteristics of the data. The general organizing principle of a concept-oriented display is known to be useful for many tasks and data types. Objectives  In this project, we used general principles of data visualization and a co-design process to produce a clinical display tailored to a specific cognitive task, chosen from the anesthesia domain, but with clear generalizability to other clinical tasks. To support the work of the anesthesia-in-charge (AIC) our task was, for a given day, to depict the acuity level and complexity of each patient in the collection of those that will be operated on the following day. The AIC uses this information to optimally allocate anesthesia staff and providers across operating rooms. Methods  We used a co-design process to collaborate with participants who work in the AIC role. We conducted two in-depth interviews with AICs and engaged them in subsequent input on iterative design solutions. Results  Through a co-design process, we found (1) the need to carefully match the level of detail in the display to the level required by the clinical task, (2) the impedance caused by irrelevant information on the screen such as icons relevant only to other tasks, and (3) the desire for a specific but optional trajectory of increasingly detailed textual summaries. Conclusion  This study reports a real-world clinical informatics development project that engaged users as co-designers. Our process led to the user-preferred design of a single binary flag to identify the subset of patients needing further investigation, and then a trajectory of increasingly detailed, text-based abstractions for each patient that can be displayed when more information is needed.     

Medical waste management and environmental assessment in the Rio University Hospital,Western Greece

At this study a multi-criteria model was developed to examine the available procedures, techniques and methods of handling infectious waste in the large healthcare unit of University Regional General Hospital of Patras, Western Greece. Particularly, this study examined the: a) current legislation and Directives issued for medical waste management at Greece and among the other EU-members, b) contribution of healthcare wastes (HCW) generation rate on social and economic parameters in selected European countries, c) available procedures, techniques, and methods upon the disposal of infectious wastes at the healthcare studied, and, d) propositions for integrated management of such hazardous wastes. Specifically, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology was applied under pair wise comparison matrices in two stages: 1) the scale factors and the indicators, and 2) the criteria and their sub–criteria. The assessment of these pair wise matrices included the indicators and the sub–criteria. Subsequently, two pair wise comparison matrices, upon a) the “Fulfillment of environmental objectives” indicator and b) the “Energy consumption” sub criterion, were denoted. The AHP methodology yielded good results; however there is still space of improving the environmental performance. The normalized relative weights obtained for the criteria and sub criteria motivated specific actions that have to be handled. Particularly, the results indicated a very good value in environmental management criteria due the values obtained for the commitment towards the environmental policy standards and the waste management procedures. However, further improvements on staff awareness (such as development programs to enhance sensitivity) and more green purchasing suppliers, should be further addressed.     

Food-grade titanium dioxide decreases hematocrit and hemoglobin and increases compulsive-like behavior in male mice

Food-grade titanium dioxide (E171) is widely used as a food additive, and it is known that after oral consumption, E171 is translocated into the bloodstream reaching the highest titanium level at 6 h. E171 is accumulated in some organs triggering toxicity, but the effects on the blood parameters after oral consumption have been less studied. Recently, evidence shows that oral exposure to E171 induces behavioral signs of anxiety and depression. The relation between blood alterations and psychiatric disorders has been previously demonstrated. However, the oral exposure to E171 effects on alterations in blood parameters and effects linked to alterations in animal behavior has not been explored. In this short communication, we aimed to investigate the effects of E171 on specific blood parameters (hematocrit, hemoglobin, number of erythrocytes, and leukocytes) and anxiety and compulsive-like behavior in males and females orally exposed to ~5 mg/kg for 4 weeks. The results showed that E171 decreased hematocrit and hemoglobin in male but not in female mice while leukocyte and erythrocyte count remained unaltered. Oral consumption of E171 decreased the levels of anxiety-like behavior in females but not in male mice, while compulsive-like behavior was increased in both male and female mice.