Catheter-induced spasm during spontaneous attack of variant angina

The simultaneous occurrences of spontaneous spasm and catheter-induced spasm during coronary angiography were obtained in 3 patients. Catheter-induced spasm was seen in the right coronary artery in 3 patients: 1 patient had spontaneous spasm in the distal right coronary artery and 2 patients had spontaneous spasm in the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery. These findings suggest that patients with variant angina may be susceptible to mechanical induction of spasm.     

Infection of orthopedic implants and the use of antibiotic-loaded bone cements: A review

Infections by bacteria are a serious complication following orthopedic implant surgery, that can usually only be cured by removing the implant, since the biofilm mode of growth of infecting bacteria on an implant surface protects the organisms from the host immune system and antibiotic therapy. Over the past few decades, attempts have been made to prevent and cure orthopedic implant infections by incorporating antibiotics in polymethylmethacrylate bone cements, in primary and revision surgery. However, the clinical efficacy of antibiotic-releasing bone cements is not accepted by all and the long-term exposure to low doses from antibiotic-releasing bone cements in patients is strongly related to the emerging threat of antibiotic resistance in medicine today. In this article, we start by reviewing the mechanisms governing the formation of an infectious biofilm on orthopedic implant materials, the release mechanisms and properties of clinically-used, antibiotic-loaded bone cements. The clinical efficacy of antibiotic-loaded bone cements is evaluated analyzing separatedly the prophylactic and therapeutic uses of these products.     

索利那新防治经尿道前列腺电切术后膀胱痉挛的疗效观察

目的 评估经尿道前列腺电切（TURP）围手术期使用索利那新对术后膀胱痉挛的防治疗效.方法 BPH患者150例.随机分为3组,每组50例.索利那新组（A组）：术前1 d起口服索利那新1次/d,5 mg/次,至拔除导尿管后3 d;托特罗定组（B组）：术前1 d起口服托特罗定2次/d,2 mg/次,至拔除导尿管后3 d;吲哚美辛组（C组）：疼痛时予肛纳吲哚美辛栓25 mg.观察比较3组患者经尿道前列腺电切术后膀胱痉挛发生次数、持续时间以及膀胱冲洗、冲洗液转清、留置导尿管时间等.结果 A组术后24、24~48、48~72 h膀胱痉挛次数（0.86±0.08,1.80±0.14,1.06±0.13）均少于B组（1.02±0.08,2.02±0.12,1.24±0.12）和C组（1.88±0.12,2.68±0.18,2.24±0.19）,且与C组相比,差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）.A 组术后24、24~48、48~72 h膀胱痉挛平均持续时间[（0.74±0.25）、（0.17±0.03）、（0.18±0.04）h]均少于B组[（0.61±0.25）、（0.16±0.34）、（0.17±0.32）h]和C组[（0.43±0.22）、（0.13±0.04）、（0.14±0.04）h],且与C组相比,差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）.术后A组膀胱冲洗时间、冲洗液转清时间、留置导尿管时间[（2.2±0.6）、（1.6±0.6）、（5.0±0.7）d]也均早于B组[（2.3±0.6）、（1.8±0.5）、（5.2±0.8）d]和C组[（2.6±0.7）、（2.1±0.7）、（5.4±0.6）d],且与C组相比,差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）.A组总的不良反应率和口干的发生率（10.0%,6.0%）均较B组（26.0%,20.0%）低,且差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）.结论 TURP患者围手术期应用索利那新可有效防治膀胱痉挛,临床效果满意、安全.     

Varied patterns of postoperative course of disappearance of hemifacial spasm after microvascular decompression

Summary Background. The precise course of resolution of postoperative residual HFS after a single MVD has not been well categorised quantitatively in the literature. Not all patients with HFS were cured immediately after a single MVD; some of them exhibited a gradual disappearance of the HFS over a period of time. The time course of the gradual resolution of HFS is categorised and the situation of re-exploration in a few patients whose HFS persisted or recurred is determined.Methods. The results of 547 MVDs in 545 Chinese patients were reviewed using the database from the authors personal records between January 1992 and December 2002. Different outcomes were observed and divided into four categories according to the variable convalescent period: type 1, spasm cured immediately; type 2, spasm persisted with milder severity and faded away gradually from 7 days to as long as 2 years; type 3, spasm ceased immediately but recurred after 3 days and ran the same course as in type 2; type 4, failed.Findings. Four hundred and seventy-nine patients followed a type 1 course, which constituted an 87.9% immediate success rate. Forty-one patients (7.5%) followed a type 2 course, including three whose spasm persisted for more than 2 years. Twenty-three patients (4.2%), including one with venous compression, followed a type 3 course with their spasm ceased within three months. All of them had typical vascular loop compression. Another patient with a venous contact failed to respond positively to the first MVD underwent re-operation within 2 months. Re-operation was also performed in one patient four days after the first MVD due to persisting and even more severe spasm. These two patients were categorized type 4 as they failed the first MVD (0.4%). Late recurrence was noted in five patients from 1 to 2 years after the first MVD, only one of whom underwent re-exploration and was then cured again.Conclusions. Approximately 80% of the patients with HFS achieved immediate excellent results after a single MVD, the rest of the patients exhibited residual but usually milder spasms, which resolved gradually over a period of time. According to the patterns of the residual or persisting spasms, the situation and timing of re-exploration can be determined without difficulty. The surgeon should be concerned about missing the responsible vessels in patients with typical HFS who completely failed the first MVD.     

Arterial spasm as a finding intimately associated with the onset of vascular headache

Summary A patient with migraine headaches of the cluster variant type is presented in whom vasospasm of the middle cerebral artery, the anterior cerebral artery and the internal carotid artery triggered a pain episode identical in character and severity to the headaches which had led to her investigation. Vasospasm associated with the painful phase of headache in this case conflicts with the more accepted theory that the pain phase of a vascular headache is related to vasodilatation of cerebral or extracerebral vessels. The literature is reviewed.     

I-MIBG myocardial scintigraphy as a noninvasive screen for the diagnosis of coronary artery spasm

Background. It has been suggested that the sympathetic nervous system might play an important role in the development of coronary artery spasm. However, no cardiac imaging modality has been able to demonstrate abnormal sympathetic innervation in patients with coronary artery spasm. The purpose of this study was to assess the presence and location of abnormal sympathetic innervation using iodine 123-metaiodobenzylguanidine (¹²³I-MIBG) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and to evaluate the clinical efficacy of ¹²³I-MIBG SPECT as a noninvasive screening test in patients with coronary artery spasm.Methods and Results. Coronary arteriography and a provocative test with intravenous administration of ergonovine maleate were performed in 26 patients (20 men, 6 women, mean age 48.2 ± 12.0 years, range 20 to 67 years) who were suspected of having a coronary artery spasm. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: group 1 (n = 18) comprised subjects with a positive provocative test result, and group 2 (n = 8) comprised subjects with negative provocative test results. Ten healthy subjects served as controls. No abnormal MIBG uptake was observed in the control subjects. Abnormal sympathetic nervous innervation using ¹²³I-MIBG SPECT was observed either as a reduced uptake or a defective pattern in the perfused areas in 13 of the 18 regions supplied by vessels of ergonovine-induced vasospasm. Normal sympathetic innervation, as evidenced by normal ¹²³I-MIBG uptake, was noted in all of the 60 segments of normal vessel territories. Reduced uptake of ¹²³I-MIBG was not detected in the perfused areas of 5 vasospasm-induced vessels (perfusion territory of left anterior descending coronary artery [LAD] and the right coronary artery [RCA] in 2 and 3 patients, respectively). The sensitivity and specificity of ¹²³I-MIBG for detection of coronary artery spasm were 72.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 55 % to 89 %) and 100 %, respectively. The positive predictive and negative predictive values were 100% and 92.3% (95% CI 91% to 93%), respectively.Conclusion. ¹²³I-MIBG SPECT is a feasible method to evaluate noninvasively and localize the territories of coronary arteries with spasm. Invasive diagnostic coronary arteriography with ergonovine provocation test may be unnecessary for diagnosis of coronary artery spasm in patients with typical resting pain, negative exercise test or normal thallium perfusion scan results, but showing abnormalities in ¹²³I-MIBG SPECT.     

123I-MIBG myocardial scintigraphy as a noninvasive screen for the diagnosis of coronary artery spasm

Background  It has been suggested that the sympathetic nervous system might play an important role in the development of coronary artery spasm. However, no cardiac imaging modality has been able to demonstrate abnormal sympathetic innervation in patients with coronary artery spasm. The purpose of this study was to assess the presence and location of abnormal sympathetic innervation using iodine 123-metaiodobenzylguanidine (¹²³I-MIBG) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and to evaluate the clinical efficacy of ¹²³I-MIBG SPECT as a noninvasive screening test in patients with coronary artery spasm. Methods and Results  Coronary arteriography and a provocative test with intravenous administration of ergonovine maleate were performed in 26 patients (20 men, 6 women, mean age 48.2±12.0 years, range 20 to 67 years) who were suspected of having a coronary artery spasm. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: group 1 (n=18) comprised subjects with negative provocative provocative test result, and group 2 (n=8) comprised subjects with negative provocative test results. Ten healthy subjects served as controls. No abnormal MIBG uptake was observed in the control subjects. Abnormal sympathetic nervous innervation using ¹²³I-MIBG SPECT was observed either as a reduced uptake or a defective pattern in the perfused areas in 13 of the 18 regions supplied by vessels of ergonovine-induced vasospasm. Normal sympathetic innervation, as evidenced by normal ¹²³I-MIBG uptake, was noted in all of the 60 segments of normal vessel territories. Reduced uptake of ¹²³I-MIBG was not detected in the perfused areas of 5 vasospasm-induced vessels (perfusion territory of left anterior descending coronary artery [LAD] and the right coronary artery [RCA] in 2 and 3 patients, respectively). The sensitivity and specificity of ¹²³I-MIBG for detection of coronary artery spasm were 72.2% (95% confidence interval, [CI] 55% to 89%) and 100%, respectively. The positive predictive and negative predictive values were 100% and 92.3% (95% CI 91% to 93%), respectively. Conclusion   ¹²³I-MIBG SPECT is a feasible method to evaluate noninvasively and localize the territories of coronary arteries with spasm. Invasive diagnostic coronary arteriography with ergonovine provocation test may be unnecessary for diagnosis of coronary artery spasm in patients with typical resting pain, negative exercise test or normal thallium perfusion scan results, but showing abnormalities in ¹²³I-MIBG SPECT. Presented in part at the European Association of Nuclear Medicine Congress, September 1996, Copenhagen, Denmark.     

Newly developed T-wave inversion with cardiac wall-motion abnormality predominantly occurs in middle-aged or elderly women after noncardiac surgery

Purpose. The study was done to determine the characteristics and prevalence of myocardial ischemia with inverted T waves after noncardiac surgery. Methods. A list of patients who developed electrocardiogram (ECG) T-wave inversion associated with wall-motion abnormalities observed by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) following noncardiac surgery was generated from the intensive care unit (ICU) medical records database between January 1, 1995, and December 31, 2000. The hospital records of these patients were analyzed retrospectively. Results. Among 4219 patients (2187 men and 2032 women) who were admitted to the ICU after noncardiac surgery, 13 developed myocardial ischemia with inverted T waves postoperatively. All of the patients were middle-aged or elderly women with no history of coronary artery disease; nine of them had undergone intraabdominal surgery. Characteristic ECG findings included inverted T waves in the left precordial leads, which subsequently became prominent with QT prolongation. In all of these patients, wall-motion abnormalities were observed on the anterior wall, but these resolved within 60 days of the episode. Myocardial ischemia was asymptomatic, with neither hemodynamic changes nor adverse cardiac events. Conclusion. Newly developed giant negative T waves with QT prolongation in the ECG may indicate myocardial stunning, but do not in themselves imply a poor prognosis. The marked preponderance of middle-aged and elderly women with this type of myocardial ischemia remains to be explained. Received: June 7, 2002 / Accepted: December 20, 2002 Address correspondence to: Y. Esaki     

婴儿痉挛转型前发作持续时间与临床疗效分析

目的 探讨婴儿痉挛转型前发作持续时间与临床疗效的相关性。 方法 回顾分析63例婴儿痉挛转型前发作的临床及脑电图资料,随访治疗效果及预后。 结果 患儿男40例(63.5%),女23例(36.5%)。≤1岁起病50例(79.36%),>1岁起病13例(20.64%)。患儿痉挛转型间隔时间1个月14 d~23个月,平均8.06个月,中位数是6个月,转型间隔时间≤3个月10例(15.87%),>3个月53例(84.13%)。28例(44.44%)患儿存在潜在病因,35例(55.56%)未见明显病因。视频脑电图(VEEG)证实29例患儿(46.03%)是以最先出现强直发作作为转型点,34例(53.97%)患儿混合其他发作形式出现转型点。临床痉挛发作缓解与性别、转型间隔时间有关联,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),而与患儿起病年龄及是否存在潜在病因无关联(P>0.05)。 结论 男孩痉挛缓解率差于女孩,痉挛转型前发作持续时间愈短,预后愈好。