Laparoscopic drainage of retroperitoneal abscess secondary to pyogenic sacroiliitis

Retroperitoneal abscesses are rare complications of pyogenic sacroiliitis. Diagnosis is often delayed due to the initial non-specific symptoms and signs and also a low awareness of the clinical presentation and diagnostic procedures among clinicians. We describe a case of an 18-year-old man who was diagnosed with septic arthritis of his left sacro-iliac joint which was complicated by a retroperitoneal abscess. After discussion with the radiologist and orthopaedic surgeons, the abscess was successfully drained via minimally invasive surgery transperitoneally.     

Unilocular thymic cyst with ciliated respiratory epithelium as an unusual histological feature of thymic development abnormality

The result of the developmental abnormality of the third pharyngeal pouch, thymic cysts are very rare and classified as unilocular and multilocular. Unilocular thymic cysts are congenital and without inflammation and have small, thin walls filled with a brown fluid. The epithelial wall lining of unilocular cysts are commonly squamous, transitional, and either cuboidal or columnar. We herein present a rare case of a mediastinal unilocular thymic cyst coexisting with respiratory epithelium.     

Age-related macular degeneration: an update on treatment

Age-related macular degeneration is a chronic disease leading to progressive central vision loss. It is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the United States, most commonly affecting white Caucasians aged more than 55 years. Typical symptoms include decreased central vision, central scotoma, and metamorphopsia. Patients with acute loss of vision should be promptly referred to an ophthalmologist. New antiangiogenic therapies have significantly improved visual prognosis in these patients.     

Effect of semax and semax-heparin mixture on isolated heart activity after total ischemia in rats

Semax administered after 40-min total ischemia of isolated heart improved the recovery of heart rate and reduced myocardial contracture. When administered prior to ischemia, Semax exerted a negative effect on recovery of heart contractility. Semax-heparin mixture significantly improved the recovery of cardiac indices (end-diastolic pressure, heart rate, and relaxation rate) irrespective of administration schedule. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 128, No. 11, pp. 494–496, November, 1999     

Neural Interfaces Based on Endogenous Body Rhythms for Optimization of the Functional State of Humans and Cognitive Rehabilitation

Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology - We report here an analysis of studies in the last five years on a construction and management challenge in technogenic systems, i.e., neural interfaces and...     

Eligibility for dapagliflozin in unselected patients hospitalised with decompensated heart failure

Patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) who received the sodium-glucose co-transport 2 inhibitor, dapagliflozin, in the DAPA-HF (Dapagliflozin and Prevention of Adverse Outcomes in Heart Failure) study have a significant reduction in worsening heart failure (HF) and cardiovascular death. It is uncertain what proportion of patients admitted to a large regional cardiac centre with decompensated heart failure would be eligible for dapagliflozin post-discharge based on their characteristics at discharge.The DAPA-HF study criteria were retrospectively applied to a cohort of 521 consecutive patients referred to the inpatient HF service in a tertiary cardiac centre in South West Wales between April 2017 and April 2018. Inclusion criteria: left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 40%, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II–IV symptoms and an elevated N-terminal pro-B-type naturietic peptide (NT-proBNP). Exclusion criteria: systolic blood pressure (SBP) < 95 mmHg, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 30 ml/min/1.73 m2 or type 1 diabetes mellitus. We did not have complete NTproBNP data for the cohort, as it was not routinely measured at the time in our institute.There were 478 patients, mean age 78 ± 13 years, 57% male and 91% NYHA class II–IV symptoms, were included in the analysis. Of these, 247 patients had HFrEF, 219 (46%) patients met the inclusion criteria, 231 (48%) were excluded as LVEF was > 40%, and 48 (10%) were excluded with NYHA class I symptoms. Of the 219 patients who met the inclusion criteria, 13 (5.9%) had a SBP < 95 mmHg, 48 (22%) had eGFR < 30 ml/min/1.73 m2, leaving 136 (28.5% of total and 55% of those with HFrEF) who met DAPA-HF study criteria. In our study, 28.5% of all heart failure admissions and 55% of patients with HFrEF would be eligible for dapagliflozin post-discharge according to the DAPA–HF study entry criteria.Key words: acute heart failure, dapagliflozin, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, sodium-glucose co-transport 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors     

Perioperative management of a patient with Dandy Walker malformation with tetralogy of Fallot undergoing total correction and fresh homologous pericardial pulmonary valve conduit implantation: Report of a rare case

Perioperative management of a patient with Dandy–Walker malformation (DWM) with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), patent ductus arteriosus, and pulmonary artery stenosis is a great challenge to the anesthesiologist. Anesthetic management in such patients can trigger tet spells that might rapidly increase intracranial pressure (ICP), conning and even death. The increase in ICP can precipitate tet spells and further brain hypoxia. To avoid an increase in ICP during TOF corrective surgery ventriculo-peritoneal (VP) shunt should be performed before cardiac surgery. We present the first case report of a 11-month-old male baby afflicted with DWM and TOF who underwent successful TOF total corrective surgery and fresh autologous pericardial pulmonary valve conduit implantation under cardiopulmonary bypass after 1 week of VP shunt insertion.