Role of ulnar forearm free flap in oromandibular reconstruction

The ulnar forearm flap is not frequently utilized for oromandibular reconstruction. This study evaluated the usefulness of the ulnar free flap for reconstruction. A retrospective study of 32 patients was conducted. The ulnar forearm flap was combined with an osseous flap in 24 patients. Nine females and 23 males with a mean age of 58.15 years comprised our study population. Squamous-cell carcinoma was the diagnosis in 93.75% of cases (56.25% T4), of which 20% were recurrent. Functional evaluation of swallowing was based on the University of Washington Questionnaire (UWQ). The mean hospital stay was 9.8 days. The external carotid (100%) was the recipient artery, and the internal jugular (74.07%) was the main recipient vein. Overall flap survival was 96.8%. One flap was lost due to unsalvageable venous thrombosis. Major local complications were seen in 9.4% of cases and included partial flap loss, hematoma, and an orocutaneous fistula. At the time of this study, 21 patients were available for functional evaluation. Speech was rated excellent and good in 33.3% of patients. Swallowing was found good in 28.6% of patients. Chewing was rated excellent and good in 47.6% of patients. Cosmetic acceptance was rated good in 71.4% of cases. The ulnar forearm is a useful free flap in oromandibular reconstruction. It is available when the radial artery is the dominant artery of the hand. Being more hidden, it may be more cosmetically accepted. It affords pliable soft tissue for lining and/or covering of oromandibular defects, and can be used as a second choice after other free-flap failures.     

Aortic root replacement in patients with previous heart surgery

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to review the operative risk and outcomes of redo aortic root replacement. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From July 1990 to December 2001, aortic root replacement was performed in 165 patients who had at least one previous cardiac operation. Their mean age was 49 +/- 16 years and 78% were men. Twenty-eight patients had a previous aortic root replacement. The principal indication for surgery was prosthetic aortic valve dysfunction. All the patients had a dilated, calcified, ruptured, or some other abnormality of the aortic root. The follow-up was complete and extended from 0 to 12.5 years, mean of 3.8 years. RESULTS: There were 12 operative (7%) and 20 late deaths (12%). The survival at 8 years was 68%+/- 6%. The principal cause of death was cardiovascular related. Age at increments of 5 years (risk ratio: 1.2; CI: 95%; 1.1 to 1.4) and preoperative New York Heart Association functional class IV (risk ratio: 2.2; CI: 95%: 1.1 to 4.7) were the only two independent predictors of death. Two patients had a stroke and died; two patients developed three episodes of prosthetic valve endocarditis and died. Three patients were reoperated on because of endocarditis in one, bioprosthetic valve failure in one, and dehiscence of a prosthetic mitral valve in one. The freedom from reoperation at 8 years was 93%+/- 5%. CONCLUSIONS: Redo aortic root replacement can be done with low operative mortality in elective patients and the risk increases in those who need emergent surgery and are older. The long-term results are satisfactory and similar to those for patients who have aortic root replacement for the first time.     

Assessing competence in communication and interpersonal skills: the Kalamazoo II report.

Accreditation of residency programs and certification of physicians requires assessment of competence in communication and interpersonal skills. Residency and continuing medical education program directors seek ways to teach and evaluate these competencies. This report summarizes the methods and tools used by educators, evaluators, and researchers in the field of physician-patient communication as determined by the participants in the "Kalamazoo II" conference held in April 2002. Communication and interpersonal skills form an integrated competence with two distinct parts. Communication skills are the performance of specific tasks and behaviors such as obtaining a medical history, explaining a diagnosis and prognosis, giving therapeutic instructions, and counseling. Interpersonal skills are inherently relational and process oriented; they are the effect communication has on another person such as relieving anxiety or establishing a trusting relationship. This report reviews three methods for assessment of communication and interpersonal skills: (1) checklists of observed behaviors during interactions with real or simulated patients; (2) surveys of patients' experience in clinical interactions; and (3) examinations using oral, essay, or multiple-choice response questions. These methods are incorporated into educational programs to assess learning needs, create learning opportunities, or guide feedback for learning. The same assessment tools, when administered in a standardized way, rated by an evaluator other than the teacher, and using a predetermined passing score, become a summative evaluation. The report summarizes the experience of using these methods in a variety of educational and evaluation programs and presents an extensive bibliography of literature on the topic. Professional conversation between patients and doctors shapes diagnosis, initiates therapy, and establishes a caring relationship. The degree to which these activities are successful depends, in large part, on the communication and interpersonal skills of the physician. This report focuses on how the physician's competence in professional conversation with patients might be measured. Valid, reliable, and practical measures can guide professional formation, determine readiness for independent practice, and deepen understanding of the communication itself.     

Sex differences in the oxygen uptake kinetic response to heavy-intensity exercise in prepubertal children

It has been demonstrated that there are no sex differences in the oxygen uptake (O₂) kinetic response to moderate intensity exercise. However, sex differences in the response to maximal exercise are readily apparent even in the prepubertal years. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate if sex differences exist in the O₂ kinetic response to heavy-intensity exercise. Forty-eight prepubertal children (25 male, 23 female) completed four transitions from baseline to 40% of the difference between their previously determined T_V-slope (ventilatory threshold determined by the V-slope method) and peak O₂ on an electronically braked cycle ergometer. Each subjects breath-by-breath responses were interpolated to 1 s intervals, time aligned and averaged. The data following phase 1 were fit with: (1) a double exponential model and (2) a single exponential model within a fitting window that was previously identified to exclude the slow component. There were no significant differences in the parameters of the primary component between each model. Subsequent analysis was carried out using model 2. The primary time constant (₁) was significantly (P<0.05) faster in boys [17.6 (5.8) s] than girls [21.9 (8.2) s], and the slow component contribution to the total change in amplitude after 9 min was significantly greater in girls [11.8 (5.5)%] than boys [8.9 (3.7)%]. Sex differences in the kinetic response to heavy-intensity exercise were identified and suggest that during the prepubertal years, sex differences exist in the ability to deliver and/or utilise oxygen in children.     

Bone mineral density during maintenance treatment with supraphysiological doses of levothyroxine in affective disorders: a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: This prospective study was designed to determine whether patients with prophylaxis-resistant affective disorders, receiving adjunctive maintenance therapy with supraphysiological doses of levothyroxine (L-T4), show evidence of accelerated bone loss compared to the reference population database. METHODS: In 21 patients, bone mineral density (BMD) of the spine (lumbar vertebrae L1-L4) and femur (femoral neck, trochanter, and Ward's triangle) was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). BMD measurement was performed first after patients had been on thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)-suppressive therapy with L-T4 (mean dose=411 mcg/d) for an average of 16.4 months and again after 33.6 months of L-T4 (mean dose=416 mcg/d) therapy. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between the actual percentage decline in bone mineral density and the expected percentage decline in any of the measured bone regions. In a stepwise linear regression analysis, age was identified as a predictor of percentage change in BMD. After controlling for age, the only other variable that showed a consistent trend was the dose of L-T4, with higher doses being positively correlated with the percentage decline of BMD. LIMITATIONS: Relatively small sample size, no bone density assessment prior to treatment with L-T4, no patient control group with mood disorders who did not receive L-T4 treatment, and bone density follow-up intervals were variable. CONCLUSIONS: This study did not demonstrate evidence that long-term treatment of affectively ill patients with supraphysiological doses of L-T4 significantly accelerates loss of bone mineral density compared to the age-matched reference population. However, the decline of BMD in one individual patient underscores that caution is indicated and that regular assessment of BMD during longer-term supraphysiological thyroid hormone treatment is needed.     

Antithymocyte globulin is associated with complement deposition in cardiac transplant biopsies

Polyclonal antithymocyte globulin preparations contain antibodies with reactivity to endothelial cells. Therefore, we investigated whether treatment with this reagent caused complement deposition in human cardiac transplants. Frozen tissue was available from endomyocardial biopsies of 75 patients, who were transplanted between April 1995 and April 2000. Nine of these patients were converted from cyclosporin A (CsA) to horse antithymocyte globulin (ATGAM) in the first month after transplantation. All of the biopsies were stained by immunofluorescence for C4d as evidence of activation of the classical pathway of complement. In addition, biopsies from patients treated with ATGAM and control patients were stained for deposition of horse immunoglobulin (Ig)G. All nine patients who received ATGAM had deposition of horse IgG and C4d. Two color stains demonstrated that the horse IgG colocalized with the C4d staining. No staining for horse IgG or C4d was evident in biopsies obtained before ATGAM treatment. Likewise, no staining for horse IgG was detected in seven control patients who had C4d staining. Most patients treated with ATGAM had no histologic evidence of rejection, but did have myocyte damage and macrophage infiltration. Thus prophylactic treatment with ATGAM is associated with the deposition of horse IgG and activation of complement in the transplant.     

Ecstasy: pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic interactions

At "raves," young people dance and ingest illicit drugs, the most common of which is MDMA (N-methyl-3,4,-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) or "ecstasy." This drug is metabolized principally through the cytochrome P450 (CYP450) 2D6 enzyme. Pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions can occur if MDMA is combined with other recreational or therapeutic drugs that are 2D6 inhibitors. Ecstasy concentration may increase to cause toxicity. Since ecstasy is pro-serotonergic, it may also be involved in pharmacodynamic drug-drug interactions when other pro-serotonergic drugs are combined with it, leading to a central serotonin syndrome. Some drugs are both pro-serotonergic and CYP450 2D6 inhibitors and, if co-administered with ecstasy, may cause both pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic drug-drug interactions.     

Plasminogen activities and concentrations in patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Human plasminogen has been shown to interact with the abnormal disease-specific prion protein. Till now, no data are available for patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Therefore, we compared plasminogen concentrations and plasminogen activities in patients with sporadic CJD and controls with other dementia, which were collected in the framework of the German CJD Surveillance study. Patients with CJD had significantly higher plasminogen concentrations than patients with other forms of dementia and plasminogen specific activities were lower in CJD patients. The reasons for these abnormalities are not clear at the moment. The results may reflect a disease-specific prion protein and plasminogen interaction in patients with CJD. Other possible explanations are plasminogen polymorphisms and genotypes with distinct plasminogen activity levels in CJD than in controls, which should be a subject for further studies.