Can we rely on mediastinal widening on chest radiography to identify subjects with aortic injury?

Widening of the mediastinum on chest radiography is widely promoted as a useful criterion for detecting aortic injury. We sought to determine the reliability, sensitivity, and specificity of this sign. The initial chest radiographs from 30 subjects with aortic injury and 47 controls were independently reviewed by six radiologists, who were blinded to diagnosis. The radiologists were asked to decide whether the mediastinum was normal or not normal, as well as whether the mediastinum was widened. Agreement, sensitivity, and specificity were assessed. Agreement for overall assessment of the mediastinum was substantial (kappa = 0.64). Individual radiologists had sensitivity varying from 0.77 to 0.97 and specificity varying from 0.62 to 0.89. For "widening" of the mediastinum, agreement was moderate (kappa = 0.49). "Widening" was less sensitive than the radiologists' overall impression (P = 0.01), varying from 0.50 to 0.83, but no difference was detected in specificity (P = 0.36), varying from 0.81 to 0.94. Mediastinal width has unacceptable sensitivity for predicting aortic injury, with substantial inter-reader variability. Medical education has ingrained the widely promoted concept of mediastinum widening, which may be misleading.     

Clonal chromosomal defects in the molecular pathogenesis of refractory hyperparathyroidism of uremia

Indirect X chromosome-inactivation analyses have demonstrated that most parathyroid glands from patients with uremic refractory secondary/tertiary hyperparathyroidism are monoclonal neoplasms. However, little is known regarding the specific acquired genetic abnormalities that must underlie such clonal expansion or the molecular pathogenetic features of this disorder, compared with primary parathyroid adenomas. To address these issues in a uniquely powerful manner, both comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and genome-wide molecular allelotyping were performed with a large group of uremia-associated parathyroid tumors. As indicated by CGH, one or more chromosomal changes were present in 24% of the tumors, which is markedly different from the value for common sporadic adenomas (72%). Two recurrent abnormalities that had not been previously described for sporadic parathyroid adenomas were noted with CGH, i.e., gains on chromosomes 7 (9%) and 12 (11%). Losses on chromosome 11 occurred in only one of the 46 uremia-associated tumors (2%); the tumor also contained a somatic mutation of the remaining MEN1 allele (221del18). A total of 13% of tumors demonstrated recurrent allelic loss on 18q, with 18q21.1-q21.2 being defined as the putative tumor suppressor-containing region. In conclusion, the powerful combination of genome-wide molecular allelotyping and CGH has identified recurrent clonal DNA abnormalities that suggest the existence and locations of genes important in uremic hyperparathyroidism. In addition, genome-wide patterns of somatic DNA alterations, including disparate roles for MEN1 gene inactivation, indicate that markedly different molecular pathogenetic processes exist for clonal outgrowth in severe uremic hyperparathyroidism versus common parathyroid adenomas.     

Interval pathologic assessments in patients treated with concurrent hyperfractionated radiation and intraarterial cisplatin (HYPERRADPLAT)

BACKGROUND: To minimize surgical morbidity, surgery should be performed within 2 to 3 months of completion of radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy. Pathologic demonstration of cancer at this interval is commonly used to justify early surgical salvage of residual primary head and neck cancer. These assumptions regarding head and neck cancer in patients treated with concurrent hyperfractionated radiation therapy and intraarterial supradose cisplatin (HYPERRADPLAT) have never been evaluated. METHODS: Post-HYPERRADPLAT clinical and pathologic findings in 42 patients with stage III and IV head and neck cancer were compared with their disease outcomes. All patients underwent an interval analysis of response at 6 to 10 weeks after completion of therapy, 28 of these patients had biopsies of the primary tumor site performed. RESULTS: Clinical findings of cancer with pathologic confirmation up to 4 months after therapy can be associated with eventual complete response (CR). Pathologic CR's from deep incisional biopsies can be associated with recurrent disease within 2 months. Six HYPERRADPLAT-treated patients underwent interval surgical resection of primary disease, and only the four patients with cancer identified in the resection specimen died of recurrent disease. CONCLUSION: In patients treated with HYPERRADPLAT, interval clinical and pathologic assessments may be misleading. Only observation of progressive disease is an accurate predictor of local failure. New evaluation techniques such as metabolic imaging and molecular analysis warrant exploration as tools for interval cancer evaluations.     

Prognostic factors in head and neck rhabdomyosarcoma

BACKGROUND: Rhabdomyosarcoma comprises less than 1% of all head and neck cancer. The purpose of our study is to review our institutional experience in this disease and to identify possible prognostic factors for patients with head and neck rhabdomyosarcoma. METHODS: One hundred forty patients with rhabdomyosarcoma were identified from 1955-1999 within the tumor registry. Of these cases, 49 (35%) were noted to be primary head and neck rhabdomyosarcomas. Retrospective chart reviews were completed to obtain the following data: age, gender, site, tumor size, histologic findings, Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group, treatment, local control, and survival. RESULTS: The 5-year overall survival and local control rates were 60% +/- 14% and 70% +/- 14%, respectively. Tumor size < or =5 cm (p =.014) and age < or =11 years (p =.036) were predictive of improved survival, whereas age < or =11 years was predictive of improved local control (p =.006). Children < or =11 years with a < or =5-cm tumor have the best overall survival, whereas patients >11 years with a tumor >5 cm have the worst survival. The 5-year survival was intermediate for children < or =11 years with a >5-cm tumor and patients >11 years with a < or =5-cm tumor. Radiotherapy treatment duration < or =45 days in group III disease was associated with improved overall survival but not local control. For the six patients with group I or II disease, who did not receive initial chemotherapy, five had relapses at the primary and/or distant sites. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in outcome was obtained with multimodality treatment regimens for head and neck rhabdomyosarcoma. Both tumor size and age of patient were found to influence survival.     

Indications and techniques for thumb carpometacarpal arthrodesis

Thumb carpometacarpal arthritis is seen commonly in postmenopausal women after attenuation of the volar beak ligament. Less commonly, it may be seen in young men after an intraarticular fracture of the base of the thumb metacarpal. Although most patients respond well to nonoperative measures, two good surgical treatment options exist. Arthroplasty is performed typically in older, low-demand women, and arthrodesis is often recommended in younger patients. Recent studies have demonstrated similar outcomes with these two procedures. Thumb carpometacarpal arthrodesis is a reliable and durable treatment with very good results. It provides excellent strength, satisfactory thumb range of motion, and excellent patient satisfaction. The procedure is contraindicated in patients with arthritis in the scaphotrapeziotrapezoid joint. The surgical technique is straightforward, and fusion is usually performed with either a plate and screw construct or with multiple Kirschner wires. Although failure is rare, good salvage procedures exist. Complications are uncommon but include nonunion in approximately 13% of patients and pain related to prominent hardware.     

Imaging axonal damage in multiple sclerosis by means of MR spectroscopy

Axonal damage in multiple sclerosis has become an important issue. This has been emphasized by recent in vivo proton magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy and in vitro pathology studies that have found axonal damage in both lesions and the surrounding normal-appearing white matter. In particular, proton MR spectroscopy, by monitoring levels of N-acetylaspartate (a putative marker of axonal integrity), has been particularly illuminating, as the extent of axonal injury associated with white matter inflammation and demyelination had not been well appreciated from classical pathology studies. Recent MR data demonstrate that cerebral axonal damage begins and contributes to disability from the earliest stages of the disease. This implies that the apparently primary role of axonal damage and loss in the pathogenesis of the disease should be given due importance, and argues for the early treatment of multiple sclerosis with agents directed not only against inflammation, but also towards axonal protection.     

Medial temporal lobe neuronal damage in temporal and extratemporal lesional epilepsy

OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent of medial temporal lobe (TL) abnormalities of the neuronal marker N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in TL and extra-TL lesional partial epilepsy, and to determine whether decreases in NAA are related to lesion location, to lesion pathology, or to the seizures themselves. METHODS: The authors studied 19 patients with intractable partial epilepsy and an isolated structural cerebral lesion (10 TL, 9 extra-TL; 10 cortical dysplasia [CD], 9 non-CD lesions). Proton MRS imaging was used to determine the average relative resonance intensity of NAA for the TL regions of the left and right hemispheres. Values less than two SDs below the mean of normal control subjects were considered abnormal. RESULTS: Fourteen patients (74%) had abnormally low NAA relative to creatine (NAA/Cr) in at least one TL. Three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA; lesion pathology, lesion location, side of NAA/Cr decrease) showed that ipsilateral NAA/Cr was lower than contralateral (p = 0. 04). Three-way ANOVA (lesion location, generalized tonic-clonic seizures, side of NAA/Cr decrease) showed that generalized tonic-clonic seizures were associated with lower TL NAA/Cr (p = 0. 02). Lesion location and pathology showed no main effect on the NAA-to-Cr ratio in either analysis (p > 0.05). Linear regression analyses between seizure duration and NAA/Cr decrease was not significant. CONCLUSION: The authors demonstrated abnormally low TL NAA/Cr in the majority of patients with structural cerebral lesions. This abnormality did not differ with lesion location or pathology. They propose that the altered function of neuronal networks by an isolated structural cerebral lesion results in remote "functional dual pathology."     

Severe disability at hospital discharge in ischemic stroke survivors

BACKGROUND: Several studies have attempted to identify criteria for predicting functional prognosis after stroke, but often with contradictory results. The purpose of this study was to predict the functional outcome at discharge of first-time stroke patients included consecutively in the Lausanne Stroke Registry. METHODS: We studied 3,628 sequential patients with first-ever stroke who were admitted consecutively to the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois. Functional status was evaluated using the Rankin disability scale at discharge. We studied the prognostic value of historical, clinical and instrumental variables related to functional outcome at discharge. The factors studied were age, sex, risk factors, ECG results, occurrence of transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), extension of cerebral infarction, presumed cause of stroke, clinical findings and demographic characteristics. Univariate analysis was performed on each variable by comparing the number of functionally independent with that of dependent patients at the moment of discharge. The significant variables of the univariate analysis were subjected to multivariate analysis with a backward logistic regression procedure to find those with an independent effect on the outcome. RESULTS: A total of 3,156 patients, excluding 117 patients with ischemic stroke who died during hospitalization and 355 with brain hemorrhage, were included; 2,867 patients belonged to the nil, mild or moderate disability groups (modified Rankin score 1-4; functionally at least partially independent patients), while 291 patients belonged to the severe disability group (modified Rankin score 5; functionally dependent patients). The mean duration of stay in hospital of the severe disability group was 31.2 days (SD = 16.2). Multivariate analysis showed that impaired consciousness on admission, limb weakness, progressive worsening, infarct in the superficial and deep territory of the middle cerebral artery, ischemic heart disease and cardiac arrhythmia were predictors of severe disability at discharge. Age was not an independent predictor of poor outcome. Hypercholesterolemia was significantly related to a better outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Some prognostic indicators associated with functional outcome at discharge are available during the first few hours after onset of stroke. This is important for the management of the individual stroke patient and for organizing suitable rehabilitation planning.     

The role of gender in mixed mania

This article reviews the literature regarding possible gender differences in adults with mixed mania. Studies examining gender differences in the prevalence of mixed mania, biological abnormalities, suicidality, long-term outcome, and treatment response were analyzed. Data from these studies suggest that mixed mania may occur more commonly in women than in men, especially when defined by narrow criteria. There were no significant differences between men and women with mixed mania in biological abnormalities, suicidality, outcome, and treatment response.