Incisional healing in rats treated with diethyl maleate

Diethyl maleate (DEM) which binds and thus depletes tissue glutathione levels was used to aggravate the injury and to determine its effect on incisional healing. A 5 cm dorsal midline skin incision was performed on 40 albino Wistar rats in two groups and then closed by interrupted sutures. Groups received 0.9% NaCl and DEM at a dosage of 1 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally for seven days, respectively. On postoperative days 7 and 14, histopathological assessment and tensile strengths were measured. The DEM treated group had a marked inflammation with poorly defined collagen formation and the tensile strength measurements revealed a significant decrease (p <0.001) on the 7t day. On the other hand, the first group showed better collagenization and a lesser degree of inflammation. However, on the 14th day, there was no noticeable histopathological difference between the two groups; but, tensile strength values of the second group were still lower (p <0.05). In this animal model, DEM postponed the healing process and reduced the tensile strength.     

Evidence of secondary neuronal intestinal dysplasia in a rat model of chronic intestinal obstruction.

The etiology of neuronal intestinal dysplasia remains largely unknown. There is, however, supporting evidence of the existence of Hirschprung's disease or chronic intestinal obstruction associated with neuronal intestinal dysplasia. With the aim of investigating the possible development of neuronal intestinal dysplasia linked to chronic intestinal obstruction, we have examined the enteric nervous system response to long-term obstruction in a rat model. Three different surgical techniques were tested in Wistar male rats. In animals that survived longer than the cutoff chronic intestinal obstruction point (6 weeks), full-thickness biopsies and acetylcholinesterase (AChE), NADH, hematoxylin-eosin, and anti-S100 protein stainings were performed. The results of our model indicate that chronic intestinal obstruction induced different degrees of enteric nervous system dysplasia, including histological features of neuronal intestinal dysplasia. The relationship between chronic intestinal obstruction and anomalies of the enteric nervous system, including neuronal intestinal dysplasia, needs to be further studied.     

Testicular torsion: Evaluation of contralateral testicular histology

Infertility may occur in patients with unilateral testicular torsion whose contralateral testis is intact. Depending on this observation, the physicians have begun to examine the contralateral testis. In the present prospective study we aimed to examine the histopathologic alterations occurring in the contralateral testicle with time. Sixty adult male albino rats were included in the programme, and following experimental torsion the histopathologic findings, especially those in the contralateral testis, were evaluated after 4–12 weeks. Long-term and high degree torsion of the testicle led to varying degrees of deterioration in the germinal epithelium and interstitial cells of the contralateral testicle. Histopathologic alterations were reversed in 12 weeks. Tubular diameter and testicular volume also decreased in accordance with the histopathologic alteration. In our opinion, orchiectomy following torsion of one testicle will limit potential histopathologic alterations in the contralateral testicle.     

Relationship between Mandarin speech reception thresholds and pure-tone thresholds in the geriatric population.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: In the geriatric population, the reliability of pure-tone threshold (PTT) is sometimes poorer than that in young adults because of various reasons. This study assessed the relationship between Mandarin speech reception thresholds (SRTs) and PTTs in the aged and developed SRT as a measure for corroborating PTT. METHODS: This prospective study enrolled 46 consecutive subjects over 60 years of age. The results of SRT and PTT were collected from one ear randomly selected from each subject. Simple linear and multiple regressions were used to determine the correlation and linear regression coefficients between SRTs and PTTs at various frequencies. RESULTS: In the simple regression analysis, the correlation coefficient was highest at 1000 Hz (r = 0.949) and 500 Hz (r = 0.922), followed by 250 Hz (r = 0.850) and 2000 Hz (r = 0.792). In the multiple regression model with SRT as the dependent variable and PTTs as predictor variables, the resultant multiple correlation coefficient R was 0.967, while R2 was 0.936. In this model, PTTs at the frequencies of 500 Hz and 1000 Hz contributed significantly to the variance in SRTs with p values of 0.029 and < 0.001, respectively. These results demonstrated that the Mandarin SRT is strongly associated with PTTs at the frequencies of 500 Hz and 1000 Hz. CONCLUSION: This study established the agreement between Mandarin SRTs and PTTs in the low tone area of speech frequencies in the geriatric population. In clinical settings, SRT test can be rapidly and easily performed and is relatively inexpensive. It is a vital indicator of the accuracy of PTT measurement.     

心脏创伤35例报告

本文报告心脏创伤３５例。年龄最小７岁，最大６８岁，其中包括心脏刺伤患者１０例，心肌挫伤患者２５例，死亡５例。作者强调快速确定诊断，紧急剖胸心包切开减压和心脏修补止血是心脏刺伤救治成功的关键。同时，对心肌挫伤的临床表现、早期诊断和及时处理等问题进行了讨论。     

A fluid level in an acute extradural haematoma

We report a fluid level in an acute extradural haematoma developing after placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt for hydrocephalus. This fluid level was thought to be due to a mixture of blood and cerebrospinal fluid.