Harvey Cushing's Early Operative Treatment of Skull Base Fractures

Objectives To review Dr. Harvey Cushing''s early surgical cases at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, revealing details of his operative approaches to fractures of the skull base. Design Following institutional review board approval and through the courtesy of the Alan Mason Chesney Archives, we reviewed the Johns Hopkins Hospital surgical files. Setting The Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1896 to 1912. Participants A total of 24 patients underwent operative treatment for suspected fractures of the skull base. Main Outcome Measures The main outcome measure was operative approach, postoperative mortality, and condition recorded at the time of discharge. Results Overall, 23 patients underwent operative treatment for suspected skull base fractures. The mechanisms of injury were known for 22 patients and included work-related injuries (41%), falls (23%), vehicle injuries (32%), and other trauma (5%). One patient had no mechanism of injury specified in the file. The outcome at the time of discharge from the hospital was “well” or “improved” in 12 patients (52%). The remaining 11 patients died during their admission. Conclusions Although Cushing''s experience with selected skull base pathology has been previously reported, the breadth of his contributions to operative approaches to the skull base has been neglected.     

A case report on the usefulness of early endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided transgastric internal stenting for severe blunt pancreatic trauma

IntroductionTherapeutic strategies for pancreatic trauma vary greatly depending on its severity. Surgical intervention is recommended in cases of severe pancreatic injuries for which standard therapy is not advised. We present a two-step treatment method for severe pancreatic injury using an endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided transgastric internal stent.Clinical caseA 50 year-old male with blunt abdominal trauma sustained in a traffic accident was transported with vital signs indicating shock and CT findings of complete transection of the proximal pancreas and a huge haematoma. A life-saving primary emergency damage control operation was performed. A secondary EUS-guided transgastric internal stent was placed into the pancreatic fluid collection on post-operative day 8 (POD 8). The pancreatic juice secreted from the transected pancreatic tail eventually flowed along the internal stent and emptied completely into the stomach. The patient did not display prognostic symptoms at discharge.DiscussionEUS-guided transgastric internal stenting is currently considered the first line of therapy for pancreatic pseudocysts. It is recommended that pseudocyst drainage occur at least four weeks or more after its formation. In this severe case of blunt pancreatic trauma, the primary damage control operation saved the patient's life. Following primary surgery, a secondary early operation involved insertion of an EUS-guided transgastric internal stent into the collection of pancreatic juice secreted from the transected pancreatic tail, which allowed complete recovery without surgical extraction or reconstruction of the pancreatic tail.ConclusionIn cases of severe pancreatic trauma, practitioners should consider the value of early EUS-guided transgastric internal stenting.     

Congestive Heart Failure: A Case of Protein Misfolding

This article describes an interesting case of a patient presenting with congestive heart failure found to have restrictive cardiomyopathy with initial laboratory evaluation showing hypogammaglobuminemia without a monoclonal band on serum and urine electrophoresis. This case highlights the clinically significant cardiac manifestation caused by protein misfolding, a defect in protein homeostasis. In addition, the utility of a relatively newer laboratory test, serum free light chains as well as the importance of clinical and pathophysiologic correlation is also discussed. We present a relatively uncommon cause of heart disease, cardiac amyloidosis in a patient with a systemic plasma cell dyscrasia, and multiple myeloma.     

Quantitative Prediction of Individual Psychopathology in Trauma Survivors Using Resting-State fMRI

Neuroimaging techniques hold the promise that they may one day aid the clinical assessment of individual psychiatric patients. However, the vast majority of studies published so far have been based on average differences between groups. This study employed a multivariate approach to examine the potential of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data for making accurate predictions about psychopathology in survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake at an individual level. Resting-state functional MRI data was acquired for 121 survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake each of whom was assessed for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using the 17-item PTSD Checklist (PCL). Using a multivariate analytical method known as relevance vector regression (RVR), we examined the relationship between resting-state functional MRI data and symptom scores. We found that the use of RVR allowed quantitative prediction of clinical scores with statistically significant accuracy (correlation=0.32, P=0.006; mean squared error=176.88, P=0.001). Accurate prediction was based on functional activation in a number of prefrontal, parietal, and occipital regions. This is the first evidence that neuroimaging techniques may inform the clinical assessment of trauma-exposed individuals by providing an accurate and objective quantitative estimation of psychopathology. Furthermore, the significant contribution of parietal and occipital regions to such estimation challenges the traditional view of PTSD as a disorder specific to the fronto-limbic network.     

甘露醇治疗脑外伤致急性肾损伤及阿魏酸钠的治疗作用研究

目的研究甘露醇治疗脑外伤引发的急性肾损伤（AKI）及阿魏酸钠对此的治疗作用。方法选择2010年8月至2014年2月医院需要使用甘露醇治疗的脑外伤患者256例,随机分为两组,高剂量组给予甘露醇150-200 g/d,低剂量组给予75-150 g/d,连续7 d,观察肾功能指标的变化。将发生急性肾功能损害的患者再随机分为两组,在常规对症治疗（常规对照组）基础上,阿魏酸钠组加用阿魏酸钠30 mg静脉滴注,连续10 d,观察AKI的发生率及治疗总有效率。结果在甘露醇治疗过程中,高剂量组AKI发生率为49.22%,明显高于低剂量组的24.22%（P〈0.05）;AKI患者经对症治疗后肌酐、尿素及胱抑素C水平均较治疗前明显下降（P〈0.05）,且阿魏酸钠组较常规对照组下降更明显（P〈0.05）;AKI患者的治疗总有效率均较高,阿魏酸钠组为97.87%,高于常规对照组的91.49%（P〈0.05）;甘露醇高剂量组不良反应发生率为13.28%,明显高于低剂量组的3.13%（P〈0.05）,而在AKI治疗过程中未发现明显不良反应。结论高剂量甘露醇治疗脑外伤致AIK及其他不良反应的发生率明显高于低剂量甘露醇,阿魏酸钠联合常规治疗能提高AIK的治疗总有效率,改善脑外伤患者预后,且无明显不良反应,值得临床推广。     

1例过敏性休克所致多脏器功能障碍综合征患者的药学监护

临床药师运用药学专业知识,对1例过敏性休克所致器管功能障碍综合征（MODS）患者进行药学监护,以抗感染治疗方案、剂量调整和不良反应监测等环节为切入点开展临床药学工作,协助医师优化治疗方案,为临床合理用药提供保障。