Aortic prosthetic ring annuloplasty: a useful adjunct to a standardized aortic valve-sparing procedure?

OBJECTIVE: Dilation of aortic annulus, sinuses of Valsalva, and sinotubular junction (STJ) diameters are the characteristic lesions of aortic root aneurysm. The remodeling technique reduces STJ diameter and creates three neosinuses of Valsalva. Alternatively, the reimplantation technique reduces both annulus and STJ diameters to the detriment of aortic root dynamics. Although the remodeling technique is recognized as the most physiological valve-sparing procedure, aortic annulus dilation may jeopardize its results. A standardized approach that combines an external subvalvular aortic prosthetic ring annuloplasty with the remodeling technique is suggested. METHODS: Eighty-three patients underwent an elective aortic root remodeling procedure, either isolated (group 1, n=34) or combined with an external subvalvular aortic prosthetic ring annuloplasty (group 2, n=49). Preoperative aortic regurgitation was 1.59+/-1.1 (group 1) and 1.97+/-1.3 (group 2) (NS). The aortic annulus was more dilated in group 2 than in group 1 (27+/-2.77 mm vs 26.4+/-2.3 mm, p<0.01). Residual aortic regurgitation > or =grade II was the conversion criteria for aortic valve replacement. RESULTS: Operative mortality was 3.6% (n=3). Intraoperative conversion for valve replacement was 32.7% in group 1 (n=11) versus 4.2% in group 2 (n=2) (p<0.001). In group 1, preoperative annulus diameter was larger for converted than for valve-spared patients (27.6+/-1.7 mm vs 25.2+/-1.5 mm, p<0.02). In group 2, implanted aortic ring significantly reduced annulus diameter (20.6+/-1.8 mm) without significant aortic valve gradient (8.3+/-3 mmHg). Follow-up was 17.2+/-13.4 months (group 1) and 10.41+/-7.95 months (group 2). Reoperation for recurrent aortic regurgitation was 13% in group 1 (n=3) versus 4.2% in group 2 (n=2). Echocardiographic follow-up found residual aortic regurgitation < or =grade I in 17 patients in group 1 (90%) versus 43 patients in group 2 (95.5%) and of grade II in two patients in group 1 (10%) and two patients in group 2 (4.5%). CONCLUSION: The addition of external aortic prosthetic ring annuloplasty improves the remodeling technique's operative reproducibility and short-term results. Therefore, its use as a systematical adjunct to the remodeling procedure is suggested. However, further long-term evaluation comparing this valve-sparing procedure to composite graft replacement should define the best surgical strategy for aortic root aneurysm.     

Cardiac MIBG scintigraphy is a sensitive tool for detecting cardiac sympathetic denervation in Parkinson's disease.

[(123)I]Metaiodobenzylguanidine ([(123)I]MIBG) cardiac scintigraphy could be helpful to differentiate Parkinson's disease (PD) from multiple system atrophy (MSA), demonstrating that, in PD with autonomic failure but not in MSA, there is a myocardial postganglionic sympathetic dysfunction. To investigate whether this method is more sensitive than standard autonomic testing to detect early involvement of sympathetic cardiac efferent, we analyse MIBG myocardial uptake in 8 PD patients with normal autonomic testing (nondysautonomia PD group, NDPD) in comparison with 10 PD patients with abnormal autonomic testing (dysautonomia PD group, DPD) and 10 MSA patients. Global MIBG uptake was assessed using the ratio of [(123)I]MIBG uptake in the heart to the upper mediastinum (H/M) on planar scintigraphic data. Regional MIBG uptake was determined on two single photon emission tomography scans in regions of the left ventricle. The mean H/M ratios were significantly different among the three groups (P < 0.0001). H/M ratios of both NDPD and DPD patients groups (H/M = 1.83 +/- 0.50 and 1.24 +/- 0.40, respectively) were significantly lower than in MSA patients (H/M = 2.52 +/- 0.60). However, in NDPD patients, H/M was significantly higher than in DPD patients. When compared to MSA patients, NDPD patients showed a regional reduction in MIBG uptake in all left ventricle regions markedly in the apex and the inferior wall. Our results suggest that MIBG myocardial scintigraphy (analysis of both H/M ratio and regional MIBG uptake) may be more sensitive than standard autonomic testing for the early detection of silent autonomic dysfunction in PD.     

Self-representations and physical impairment: a social constructionist approach.

In this paper a social constructionist approach is used to frame an analysis of the effects of physical impairment on self-perception. The results are reported of a recent study in which questionnaires were mailed to 314 people who were paraplegic and 284 who were post-polio, as well as to a control group of 327 who had no visible physical impairments. While the people who were paraplegic and those who made up the control group gave similar answers to most of the survey questions, those who were post-polio displayed a consistent, but different, way of reporting on their self-representations. Moreover, this discourse, which included such self-described characteristics as self-control, a sense of duty, and a concern for meticulousness, was consistent in the post-polio group across sex and age. It is concluded that the date of onset of physical impairment is significant in influencing the self-representation of persons with physical impairments. The socio-historical evolution of social practices and cultural expectations and norms with respect to persons with disabilities in Western cultures were taken into account in interpreting the results of this survey.     

Comparison of self-reports and biological measures for alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs consumption in psychiatric inpatients

BACKGROUND: Asking psychiatric in-patients about their drug consumption is unlikely to yield reliable results, particularly where alcohol and illicit drug use is involved. The main aim of this study was to compare spontaneous self-reports of drug use in hospitalized psychiatric patients to biological measures of same. A secondary aim was to determine which personal factors were associated with the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs as indicated by these biological measures. METHODS: The consumption of substances was investigated using biological measures (urine cotinine, cannabis, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines and barbiturates; blood carbohydrate-deficient transferrin [CDT] and gamma-glutamyl transferase [GGT]) in 486 consecutively admitted psychiatric patients, one day following their hospitalization. Patients' self-reports of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs consumption were recorded. Socio-professional and familial data were also recorded. RESULTS: The results show a low correlation between biological measures and self-reported consumption of alcohol and illicit drugs. Fifty-two percent of the patients under-reported their consumption of illicit drugs (kappa=.47). Patients with schizophrenia and personality disorders were more likely to disclose their illicit drug consumption relative to patients suffering from mood disorders and alcohol dependence. Fifty-six percent of patients underreported alcohol use, as evaluated by CDT (kappa=.2), and 37% underreported when using the CDT+GGT measure as an indicator. Smoking appeared to be reported adequately. In the study we observed a strong negative correlation between cannabis use and age, a strong correlation between tobacco and cannabis use, and correlations between tobacco, cannabis and alcohol consumption. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to compare self-reports and biological measures of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug uses in a large sample of inpatients suffering from various categories of psychiatric illnesses, allowing for cross-diagnosis comparisons.     

Selective attention to facial emotion and identity in schizophrenia.

The selective attention to facial emotion and identity was investigated in 12 patients with schizophrenia and 12 healthy participants. Both patients and controls were required to perform two classification tasks (according either to identity or emotion). Two separate values for identity (person A/person B) and for emotion (fear/anger) were used. When the classification task was on one dimension, the other dimension was either correlated, constant, or orthogonal (Garner WR. The Processing of Information and Structure. Potomac, MD: Erlbaum, 1974, Garner WR. Interaction of stimulus dimensions in concept and choice processes. Cognitive Psychology 1976;8:98-123). Results indicated that both patients and healthy participants had an asymmetrical pattern of performance: they were able to selectively attend to the identity of the face presented, regardless of the emotion expressed on the face, but variation in identity interfered with the classification of facial emotion. Moreover, a correlational study indicated that the identity interference on emotion classification for schizophrenic patients covaried with the severity of their negative symptoms. The selective attention competencies in schizophrenia and the independence hypothesis of emotion and face recognition are discussed in the framework of current face recognition models.     

Sternal abscess due to Bartonella (Rochalimaea) henselae in a renal transplant patient

 Bartonella henselae, previously called Rochalimaea henselae, is the causative agent of cat scratch disease (CSD) in immunocompetent subjects and bacillary angiomatosis in immunocompromised ones. Bone lesions are common in bacillary angiomatosis, but not in CSD. We present the case of a patient with a renal transplant treated by immunosuppressive therapy who developed a sternal abscess with a histological pattern of CSD. The CT pattern was that of a lytic bone lesion with adjacent fluid collection. The diagnosis was made on the basis of a polymerase chain reaction amplification performed on bone material. Bartonella henselae is a newly described bacteria that causes CSD in a normal host and bacillary angiomatosis in immunocompromised patients. We report a case of an osteolytic lesion of the sternum with adjacent fluid collection related to CSD, which occurred in a patient with a renal transplant.     

Procedural learning in schizophrenia can reflect the pharmacologic properties of the antipsychotic treatments.

BACKGROUND: Conventional and atypical antipsychotics have different affinities for D2 receptors, and these receptors are principally located in the striatum. Given that this cerebral structure was previously found to play a major role in procedural learning, the antipsychotic treatment in schizophrenia may be determinant for the procedural learning profile of these patients. OBJECTIVE: The current study was aimed at verifying whether procedural learning differs in patients with schizophrenia treated with conventional antipsychotics and patients treated with atypical antipsychotics. METHOD: Forty-five patients with schizophrenia were divided into 3 different groups according to their pharmacologic treatment: (1) haloperidol, a classical neuroleptic with high D2 receptor affinity; (2) clozapine, an atypical neuroleptic with practically no D2 receptor affinity; and (3) risperidone, an atypical neuroleptic that nevertheless shows high D2 receptor affinity. Patients were compared to 35 control subjects on a visuomotor procedural learning task (mirror drawing). RESULTS: All patients were able to learn the task. However, those treated with haloperidol showed some degree of learning impairment, while those treated with clozapine or risperidone did not show this impairment. In addition, performance per se, regardless of the learning, was found to be affected in the haloperidol and risperidone, but not in the clozapine groups. CONCLUSION: Procedural learning in schizophrenia may be differentially affected, depending on the pharmacologic profiles of the antipsychotics used for the treatment of this illness.