Melatonin and its analogs in insomnia and depression

Benzodiazepine sedative-hypnotic drugs are widely used for the treatment of insomnia. Nevertheless, their adverse effects, such as next-day hangover, dependence and impairment of memory, make them unsuitable for long-term treatment. Melatonin has been used for improving sleep in patients with insomnia mainly because it does not cause hangover or show any addictive potential. However, there is a lack of consistency on its therapeutic value (partly because of its short half-life and the small quantities of melatonin employed). Thus, attention has been focused either on the development of more potent melatonin analogs with prolonged effects or on the design of slow release melatonin preparations. The MT(1) and MT(2) melatonergic receptor ramelteon was effective in increasing total sleep time and sleep efficiency, as well as in reducing sleep latency, in insomnia patients. The melatonergic antidepressant agomelatine, displaying potent MT(1) and MT(2) melatonergic agonism and relatively weak serotonin 5HT(2C) receptor antagonism, was found effective in the treatment of depressed patients. However, long-term safety studies are lacking for both melatonin agonists, particularly considering the pharmacological activity of their metabolites. In view of the higher binding affinities, longest half-life and relative higher potencies of the different melatonin agonists, studies using 2 or 3mg/day of melatonin are probably unsuitable to give appropriate comparison of the effects of the natural compound. Hence, clinical trials employing melatonin doses in the range of 50-100mg/day are warranted before the relative merits of the melatonin analogs versus melatonin can be settled.     

Non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma presenting as breast masses: A series of 10 cases diagnosed on FNAC

Primary breast lymphoma (PBL) is a rare disease, which comprises 0.04–0.53% of all primary malignant tumors of the breast. The most frequent histological subtype is diffuse large B‐cell type (DLBCL) (40–70%). Differentiation of PBLs from other breast tumors such as poorly differentiated carcinomas and lobular carcinoma may at times be difficult on cytomorphology alone. An audit of breast lymphomas diagnosed on fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) over a period of 9 years (2001–2009) was performed. Ten cases were retrieved and the cytomorphology was reviewed along with immunochemistry (IHC), flow cytometry as well as histopathology, wherever available. The age of patients ranged from 17 to 83 years. Eight cases were diagnosed as non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma, high‐grade on FNAC. Histopathology was available in four of these cases and cell block was available in one case. Lymphoid cells were positive for leukocyte‐common antigen (LCA) and CD20 and negative for CD3 in these cases. The same was confirmed by flow cytometry on aspirated material in one case. A diagnosis of DLBCL was offered in these five cases. One case was a low‐grade NHL and another case was a young male, a known case of acute leukemia and had leukemic infiltration in the breast lump. We wish to emphasize the potential importance of FNAC in breast lymphoma and the same can be helpful to avoid unnecessary surgery in these cases. The differential diagnostic entities have been discussed. IHC and flow cytometry can be performed on the aspirated material and provide valuable information. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2013. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Factors associated with external ventricular drain placement accuracy: data from an electronic health record repository

Background

We evaluated external ventricular drain placement for factors associated with placement accuracy. Data were acquired using an electronic health record data requisition tool.

Method

Medical records of all patients who underwent ventriculostomy from 2003 to 2010 were identified and evaluated. Patient demographics, diagnosis, type of guidance and number of catheter passes were searched for and recorded. Post-procedural hemorrhage and/or infection were identified. A grading scale was used to classify accuracy of catheter placements. A multiple logistic regression model was developed to assess features associated with accurate catheter placement.

Results

One hundred nine patients who underwent 111 ventriculostomies from 2003 to 2010 were identified. Patient diagnoses were classified into vascular (63 %), tumor (21 %), trauma (14 %), and cyst (2 %). Procedures were performed freehand in 90 (81 %), with the Ghajar guide in 17 (15 %), and with image guidance in 4 (4 %) patients. Eighty-eight (79 %) catheters were placed in the correct location. Trauma patients were more likely to have catheters misplaced (p?=?0.007) whereas patients in other diagnostic categories were not significantly associated with misplaced catheters. Post-procedural hemorrhage was noted in 2 (1.8 %) patients on post-procedural imaging studies. Five (4.5 %) definite and 6 (5.4 %) suspected infections were identified.

Conclusions

External ventricular drain placement can be performed accurately in most patients. Patients with trauma are more likely to have catheters misplaced. Further development is required to identify and evaluate procedure outcomes using an electronic health record repository.