Lower urinary tract symptoms and sexual dysfunction in women

This article assesses the effects of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), not including urinary incontinence, on the overall sexual health of women, using literature that includes peer-reviewed articles. This article analyzes a number of studies that provide data on the prevalence and the predictors of sexual function impairment in women with LUTS, such as urinary urgency and frequency, overactive bladder syndrome, and interstitial cystitis. Because case studies provide substantial heterogeneity of outcome measures, this article does not apply meta-analytic techniques to the data. Most of the studies showed that LUTS can have a negative impact on the sexual health of women, sexual pain disorder being the more frequent complaint among patients with bladder dysfunctions.     

Membrane-seeded autologous chondrocytes: cell viability and characterization at surgery

The implantation of chondrocytes, seeded on matrices such as hyaluronic acid or collagen membranes, is a method that is being widely used for the treatment of chondral defects. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the distribution, viability and phenotype expression of the cells seeded on a collagen membrane just at the time of the implantation. Twelve patients who were suffering from articular cartilage lesions were treated by the MACI^® procedure. The residual part of each membrane was tested by colorimetric assay (MTT) and histochemical and ultrastructural analyses were carried out. In all of the samples a large number of viable cells, quite homogenously distributed, was detected. The cells expressed the markers of the differentiated hyaline chondrocytes. These data reassure in that the MACI procedure provides a suitable engineered tissue for cartilage repair, in line with the clinical evidences emerging in the literature.     

Analysis of the Surface Ozone During Summer and Autumn at a Coastal Site in East China

The levels and temporal variations of surface ozone at a coastal site in East China during summer and autumn were analyzed and the influences of meteorological parameters on ozone were investigated. An inland city was chosen as a comparison site. The main results and conclusions of this study are: (1) ozone pollution, with a maximum 1 h concentration of 150.98 ppbv, was severe during summer and autumn at the coastal site; (2) the ozone level was obviously higher at the coastal site than that at the inland site in September; (3) besides temperature and solar radiation, sea-land breeze circulation is an important factor influencing the ozone level at the coastal site, and sea breeze often induce high ozone levels (the average ozone concentration for sea breeze was about 13 ppbv higher than that for land breeze).     

Motor and non-motor sequence learning in children and adolescents with cerebellar damage.

Cerebellar involvement in motor and non-motor sequence learning was examined with serial reaction time tasks (SRT). Our sample consisted of 8 children and adolescents who had undergone surgical removal of a benign posterior fossa tumor (PFT) during childhood. None of them had undergone chemotherapy or cranial radiation therapy (CRT). Ages ranged from 1-11 years at surgery and 9-17 years at testing. The children were tested not earlier than 2.5 years after surgery (M = 5.9 years), enabling brain plasticity and recovery of functions. Their performance was compared with a matched control sample. The PFT group was not impaired in the implicit learning of sequences, as reflected in their performance in blocks with a repeated sequence, both before and after a random block. However, in the perceptual task, their performance deteriorated more than that of the control group when a random block was introduced, suggesting that it was more difficult for the patients to respond flexibly or change their response set when encountering changing task demands. These results are in line with another study by our group on task switching with the same patients.     

Lien précarité – durée et complexité des séjours hospitaliers en secteur de court séjour

BackgroundSeveral studies have shown that socioeconomic deprivation is associated with increased hospitalization lengths of stay (LOS) and costs. Yet, the French DRG-based information system (PMSI) does not take deprived situations into account. Hence, we aimed at extracting routinely available variables measuring deprivation from the Hospital Information System and at assessing their association with severity of illness and hospital LOS.MethodsWe performed record linkage between the PMSI database concerning stays of patients aged more than 16 years in the short-stay sector of Assistance publique–Hôpitaux de Paris in 2007 and an administrative database which provided the following deprivation measures: recipients of Couverture Médicale Universelle (basic or complementary health insurances adapted for underprivileged French citizens) or Aide Médicale d’État (health and medical emergency insurances adapted for underprivileged non French citizens living in France) and homeless patients. We compared length of stays showing a deprivation measure to others after adjustment on morbidity, age and sex.ResultsAmong 352,721 stays, the prevalence of the deprivation measures ranged from 0.71% for “homelessness” to 6.24% for complementary Couverture Médicale Universelle. Stays showing a deprivation measure had specific illnesses and had more frequently associated comorbidities or complications than others. After adjustment, deprivation measures were associated with significantly increased LOS (by 5% for Couverture Médicale Universelle to 48% for emergency Aide Médicale d’État.ConclusionRoutine extraction of deprivation measures from Hospital Information Systems is feasible. Age, sex and illness being equal, these deprivation measures were associated with more complicated cases and increased LOS. We recommend that case mix-based hospital prospective payment systems take socioeconomic deprivation into account.     

Emphysematous pyelonephritis successfully treated with laparoscopic nephrectomy

Emphysematous pyelonephritis is a severe life-threatening infection which continues to carry significant morbidity and mortality. We present a case recently managed at our institution by laparoscopic nephrectomy. The patient survived, and in comparison to some of the more conventionally managed patients in the literature, made an extremely speedy recovery. We would advocate this option to be seriously considered when patients are suitable and appropriately trained surgeons are available.