Neuropharmacology and Drug Interactions in Clinical Practice

Summary: Absorption, distribution, and clearance are key pharmacokinetic principles. These parameters can be highly variable among patients and among compounds, and are factors that must be considered in the wide variability in response to medications. Current antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) present many challenges in their administration. However, understanding and utilizing pharmacokinetic principles can assist the clinician in the appropriate optimization of AEds.     

Human immunodeficiency virus cultured from bone. Implications for transplantation

This study demonstrates by a virologic culture method that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) resides in bone. After freezing, some initially positive specimens no longer yielded virus, but those that continued to yield virus were not further altered by subsequent washing, which removed essentially all marrow, or by freeze-drying. The safeguards against potential transmission of HIV by a bone allograft are principally the screening and testing methods previously described, although there may be a further reduction of the remote residual risk by the freezing step in the usual technical sequence for tissue banking by sterile techniques.     

老年人脑皮质下斑点状病灶的MRI病理基础研究

本文对29例脑标本行 MRI-病理对照研究,其中18例脑标本 MRI 检查阳性,发现脑皮质下斑点状病灶(Subcortical Patchy Lesions,SPLs)95个。该病灶分两大类:第一类(64个)位于脑皮层下白质、基底核、小脑和脑干,其病理基础主要为血管周围间隙扩大(83%),小梗塞灶(11%),其他还有小动、静脉畸形(AVM),脱髓鞘灶和胶质增生灶;第二类(31个)位于侧脑室周围白质内,其病理基础为局部组织结构疏松呈空泡状,病灶相应部位的室管膜大片脱落。     

Evaluation of specialized laparoscopic suturing and tying devices.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic suturing and tying constitute advanced minimally invasive surgery skills. Developing proficiency in the standard methods with needle drivers is often an arduous process. Recent advances in laparoscopic instrumentations has allowed for easier methods of suturing and tying. This study investigated the hypothesis that the use of a specialized suturing device and a specialized tying device allows inexperienced medical students to suture and tie laparoscopically. METHODS: Preclinical medical students who had not received any training in open or laparoscopic surgery were included in this investigation. Each student was given a 5-minute demonstration of a specialized suturing device and a specialized tying device. The medical students were not allowed to deploy either device before actual use. After the demonstration, each student was given the device to use in a porcine model. Times were recorded and a subjective grade was given for each student. RESULTS: Twenty medical students were involved in this study. All medical students were able to complete the task of suturing and tying. The average time to suture was 104.6 seconds and the average time to tying was 31.2 seconds. The average subjective performance grade was 90 (out of 100). CONCLUSION: Specialized devices are easy to learn and use for laparoscopic suturing and tying with minimal instruction even for inexperienced medical students. Even surgeons who are not well versed in laparoscopic surgery should be able to suture and tie with certain laparoscopic instruments.