Obturator hernias — Report of seven cases

Summary Obturator hernias comprise a rare group of abdominal hernias. They are often diagnosed when the small bowel has become obstructed and the patients are operated on without the causes of the obstruction being known. Although many techniques for closure of the defect are available, there is no agreement at the present time as to which is the procedure of choice.     

Arthroscopic capsulorrhaphy formultidirectional instability

Multidirectional shoulder instability is a common affliction and is increasingly recognized as a debilitating condition in young, athletic patients. Most patients with this condition are in their third decade and have a history of macrotrauma or repetitive microtrauma. Complaints range from frank instability to instability with pain, or to pain alone. These patients may display clinical signs of instability, impingement, or both on physical examination. Generalized ligamentous laxity or shoulder laxity alone are usually present. A positive sulcus sign remains the most sensitive clinical test in distinguishing these patients, even though no data is available on the sensitivity or specificity of this examination. The greater majority of patients are successfully treated with an exercise program stressing rotator cuff and scapular stabilizer strengthening. When patients do not respond to conservative treatment, open capsular shift has been recommended to restore joint stability. Early successes with the arthroscopic treatment of anterior shoulder instability have led to the development of similar procedures for the treatment of multidirectional instability. This paper describes an arthroscopic, multiple suture capsulorrhaphy for the treatment of multidirectional shoulder instability, which is a modification of the procedure advocated by Caspari and reviews the 2-year results of the first 19 patients treated.     

Differential effects of luminol,nickel, and arsenite on the rejoining of ultraviolet light and alkylation-induced DNA breaks

When Chinese hamster ovary cells were treated with ultraviolet (UV) light or methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), a large number of DNA strand breaks could be detected by alkaline elution. These strand breaks gradually disappeared if the treated cells were allowed to recover in a drug-free medium. The presence of nickel or arsenite during the recovery incubation retarded the disappearance of UV-induced strand breaks, whereas the disappearance of MMS-induced strand breaks was retarded by the presence of arsenite or of luminol, a new inhibitor for poly(ADP-ribose) synthetase. Luminol, however, had no apparent effect on the repair of UV-induced DNA strand breaks, and nickel had no effect on the repair of MMS-induced DNA strand breaks. When UV- or MMS-treated cells were incubated in cytosine arabinofuranoside (AraC) plus hydroxyurea (HU), a large amount of low molecular weight DNA was detected by alkaline sucrose sedimentation. The molecular weight of these DNAs increased if the cells were further incubated in a drug-free medium. This rejoining of breaks in cells pretreated with UV plus AraC and HU was inhibited by nickel and by arsenite, but not by luminol. The rejoining of breaks in cells pretreated with MMS plus AraC and HU was inhibited by luminol and by arsenite, but not by nickel. These results suggest that different enzymes may be used in DNA resynthesis and/or ligation during the repairing of UV- and MMS-induced DNA strand breaks, and that nickel, luminol, and arsenite may have differential inhibitory effects on these enzymes. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

移植肾破裂的处理

目的　提高移植肾破裂的防治水平。方法　 6例移植肾破裂 ,手术前 2例 ,手术后 4例。 2例术前供肾破裂 ,采用切开移植肾破裂处包膜 +裂口内明胶海绵填塞 +肠线修补 +肠线编织肾袋收缩保护移植肾。 1例术后移植肾破裂早期 ,出血少 ,针对顽固性高血压采用“硝普钠”降压 ,配合常规抗排斥药物。 3例术后移植肾破裂出血量估计超过 10 0 0ml者 ,采用手术延长移植肾破裂处包膜 +裂口内明胶海绵填塞 +肠线修补 +肠线编织肾袋收缩保护移植肾。结果　 ( 1)手术前 2例手术后 4例 ,采用切开或者延长移植肾破裂处包膜 +裂口内明胶海绵填塞 +肠线修补 +肠线编织肾袋收缩保护移植肾并配合“硝普钠”降压的方法处理 ,均未再破裂出血 ,移植肾功能恢复良好。 ( 2 ) 1例术后移植肾破裂早期的患者 ,针对顽固性高血压采用“硝普钠”降压 ,配合常规抗排斥药物 ,非手术治疗成功。结论　 ( 1)采用手术切开或延长移植肾破裂处包膜 +裂口内明胶海绵填塞 +肠线修补 +肠线编织肾袋收缩保护移植肾可以有效治疗移植肾破裂。 ( 2 )移植肾破裂出血少的情况下 ,可以在密切观察下非手术治疗     

Arthroscopic all-inside repair techniques of lateral meniscus anterior horn tear: a technical note

Although the conventional outside-in technique is especially useful for repairing tears in the anterior portion of the meniscus, it has a disadvantage of making an additional 1–2 cm sized skin incision and tying knots subcutaneously over the capsule. Therefore we devised two all-inside repair techniques of lateral meniscus anterior horn tear according to the site of meniscal tear, meniscosynovial junction or red–red zone. Because these techniques are modified methods of the outside-in meniscal repair using a spinal needle, they are as simple as conventional outside-in technique. In addition they have advantages of vertical mattress suture, which is an important characteristic of the all-inside repair, and no additional incision. We recommend these techniques as an alternative method for repairing an anterior horn tear of the lateral meniscus.     

Regional gene therapy for full-thickness articular cartilage lesions using naked DNA with a collagen matrix.

A novel gene therapy approach for treating damaged cartilage is proposed that involves placing endotoxin-free cDNA containing the gene for bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) in type I collagen sponges and then transferring the naked plasmid DNA construct to the injury site. A full-thickness cartilaginous defect in rabbits implanted with plasmid containing a marker gene (beta-galactosidase) showed expressed protein as detected by immunostaining. At 1 week postimplantation, mesenchymal cells subjacent to the defect had incorporated the implanted naked plasmid DNA and, once transfected, served as local bioreactors, transiently producing the gene product. Plasmids containing the gene for BMP-2 implanted in collagen sponges in cartilage lesions stimulated hyalinelike articular cartilage repair at 12 weeks postimplantation, nearly equivalent in quality to that induced by collagen sponges with recombinant BMP-2 protein. Our approach circumvents the risks of inflammation and immunogenic response associated with the use of viral vectors. Naked plasmid DNA as a vehicle for transferring therapeutic genes has been shown to be effective in a therapeutic model within rabbit articular cartilage and appears to be safe and cost effective.     

影响急性外份性硬脑膜外血肿疗效的相关因素分析（附484例报告）

目的探讨影响急性外伤性硬脑膜外血肿疗效的相关因素。方法对1994年5月至2004年5月收治的484例外伤性硬脑膜外血肿患者的临床资料进行回顾性分析。结果无脑疝症状者手术死亡率7.7%,有脑疝症状者死亡率21.3%。手术距脑疝发生时间<1h死亡率8.2%,1～2h死亡率40.0%,>2h死亡率72.2%。结论影响外伤性硬脑膜外血肿疗效的相关因素较多,除脑疝形成及手术距脑疝发生的时间外,创伤性低血压、合并脑损伤的程度、呼吸功能不全、大面积脑梗塞、血糖与血浆渗透压升高及肝功能异常等均对患者预后有重要影响。     

Inflammation and the Aging Process: Devil or Angel

Inflammation is often viewed as a pathologic mechanism leading to tissue damage and interference with function, such as the process of chronic tissue scarring or fibrosis. However, it is important to note that inflammation is a crucial component of normal tissue repair as well as being fundamental to the body's defense against infection. Considering inflammation as a "causative agent in aging" belies the underlying mechanisms whereby the acute inflammatory response is necessary for survival, and efforts to reduce and control the inflammatory response leave the host susceptible to infectious agents and improper healing. Chronic inflammation inevitably has initiating mechanisms that include immune, autoimmune, and metabolic pathways, leading to the activation and presence of the host-protective response. It is more appropriate to target the underlying initiating conditions than the inflammatory process that ensues and treat the basic mechanisms of disease rather than interfere in a very important protective mechanism of the host.