Intradiscal Thermal Annuloplasty for Discogenic Pain: An Outcome Study

Objectives: Published studies of intradiscal thermal annuloplasty (IDTA) have shown at most 50% pain relief as an improved outcome with little focus on functional improvement in the treatment of discogenic pain. Previous studies have used a number of criteria for patient selection including low back pain unresponsive to conservative care, no compressive radiculopathy, positive provocative discography and absence of previous surgery at the same symptomatic level. The purpose of present study is to examine the hypothesis that additional inclusion criteria for patient selection such as disc height, absence of degenerative disc disease (DDD) in untreated discs, absence of herniated nucleus pulposus or lumbar canal stenosis may improve the outcome of treatment. Methods: In this prospective case‐series study additional criteria of patient selection were introduced, namely disc height of at least 50%, no lumbar canal stenosis, one or two levels of DDD, no evidence of nucleus pulposus herniation on magnetic resonance image. Thirty‐four patients were enrolled in the study and 32 of them were followed over a period of 12 months. The visual analog scale (VAS) pain score and seven activities of daily living (ADLs) were followed and reported on a scale from 0 to 10. Results: Sustained decrease of the VAS pain scores was observed from 3 to 12 months following IDTA. ADLs improved in all patients between 3 and 12 months post‐treatment. Patients in the Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) group had a higher VAS score but showed the same level of improvement in ADLs as compared to commercial insurance or self‐pay patients. In the non‐BWC patient group an average VAS pain score decrease of more than 6 points on a 10‐point scale was reported at 6 to 12 months following IDTA. Conclusions: We found dramatic improvement of pain scores and ADLs following IDTA when strict patient selection was applied. We believe that IDTA is an effective, minimally invasive treatment for discogenic pain in properly selected patients.     

TEN YEARS' EXPERIENCE IN LOW VISION PRACTICE

The Low Vision Clinic at the Palmerston North Hospital has now been oerating for 70 years. Over the course of these ten years a number of factors have emerged which can be as readily applied to general ophthalmological practice as to low vision practice. The philosophy of low vision care is one of which all ophthalmologists should be aware and includes factors to be taken into account when dealing with children, people in the workplace, and everyday factors involved in daily living activities, all of which are equally relevant in routine ophthalmological practice. This paper endeavours to share some thoughts on these factors and also discusses means by which the visually handicapped can be helped in areas where specialist low vision services are not readily available.     

腰椎全板减压术后顽固下腰痛的原因分析

[目的]分析腰椎全板切除术后残留下腰痛的原因,指导选择合理的手术方法。[方法]回顾分析1996～2000年作者采用全椎板切除减压治疗的腰椎管狭窄症患者临床资料,69例获得5年以上随访的患者作为本组研究对象,使用日本骨科学会(JOA)标准对患者的神经功能和下腰痛程度进行评分,根据手术前后下腰痛程度的变化将病例分为无残存下腰痛(lowbackpain,LBP)组和残存LBP组,针对术前的临床和影像学参数,使用软件包SPSS13.0进行对数回归分析,确定术后残存下腰痛的临床预测因素,并对这些影响因素进行两组间比较和统计分析。[结果]术前腰椎前突角、腰椎活动度和手术减压范围与术后残存下腰痛密切相关。残存LBP组患者术前腰椎生理前突和活动度分别为(22.27°±3.12°)和(22.91°±2.31°),显著低于无残存LBP组患者的腰椎前突和活动度(37.23°±2.19°)和(31.66°±1.52°),P值分别为0.000和0.002;而残存LBP组的减压节段(2.77±0.19节)明显高于无残存LBP组(1.70±0.10节),P值为0.000。[结论]对于术前腰椎前突减小,腰椎活动度下降的椎管狭窄症患者单纯施行多节段的腰椎全板减压容易导致术后顽固性下腰痛的出现,应引起作者重视。     

Safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic study of recombinant human parathyroid hormone in healthy male Chinese subjects

AIM： To determine the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic parameters of a new drug recombinant human parathyroid hormone [ rhPTH （1-84）] in healthy male Chinese subjects. METHODS： domly divided Thirty-six healthy male volunteers were rangroups received into 3 groups. The volunteers in these single subcutaneous injection of rhPTH （ 1-84） in a dosage of 1, 2 and 4 μg/kg respectively. Blood samples were obtained before and after administration within 24 hours. The rhPTH concentrations in sennn were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The pharmacokinetic parameters determined with use of standard noncompartmental analysis were the maximum serum concentration （ Cmax ）, the time to attain that concentration （ tmax ）, and the area under the serum concentration-time curve up to 24 hours（ AUC0-24 ） and up to infinity （AUC0-∞）. Dose proportionality of pharmacokinetic parameters （AUC, Cmax of every volunteer of each dosage and A UC was computed from log transformed data） and was examined by mean of analysis of variance （ANOVA） using SPSS software package. In the study, subjects＇ symptoms, objective signs, and vital signs, including blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate and body temperature, were checked and 12-lead electrocardiography was recorded before and after drug administration within 24 hours. Routine laboratory tests, including hematology, blood biochemistry, serum electrolyte, and urinalysis, were performed before and after drug administration within at 24 hours.[第一段]     

Disability,depression and somatization in a low back pain population

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in a primary care setting population and examine its association with the symptoms of depression and somatization. Methods: This is a cross‐sectional study, utilising a survey carried out in primary health care clinics (PHCs) in Al‐Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE). A multistage stratified sampling design was used and a representative sample of 1304 UAE nationals aged 18–65 years who attended PHC clinics for any reason were included and 1103 (84.5%) subjects agreed to participate and responded to the questionnaire during a period from June 2001 to January 2002. A specially designed questionnaire with three parts was used for the data collection: socio‐demographic information of the studied subjects, modified version of the Roland‐Morris scale for evaluating back‐related functional disability and SCL‐90 R for depression and somatization subscales was used to assess depressive and somatic symptoms. Results: Of the total number of subjects surveyed (1103), 586 (53.1%) were men and 517 (46.9%) women. The mean age was 34.9 ± 13.4 years for men and 33.5 ± 11.8 years for women. The prevalence of LBP in the studied subjects was 64.7% (95% CI, 60.7–68.5] with 46.7% among men and 53.3% among women. There were a significant differences between the subjects with LBP and without LBP with respect to gender (P < 0.001), body mass index (BMI) (P < 0.001), occupational status (P < 0.001) and living environment (P = 0.016). Functional disability was higher in patients with LBP. Young patients in aged 15–34 years, patients with preparatory/secondary educational level and students showed higher depressive symptoms. A similar pattern was found in patients with somatic symptoms. Factor analysis revealed a strong association between depression and somatization in LBP patients. Conclusions: Functional disability was higher in with LBP. Furthermore, symptoms of depression and somatization are prevalent among LBP patients.     

Circumscribed low grade astrocytomas in the dominant opercular and insular region: A pilot study

Summary Intraoperative mapping techniques allow a reliable identification or exclusion of eloquent brain areas and are well tolerated by the patients. In dominant opercular tumours radical surgery can only be achieved without lasting deficits with intraoperative histological examination of the resection line and mapping. If an early post-operative MRI shows residual opercular tumour in non-eloquent areas re-operation is recommended.In large dominant insular or opercular-insular tumours only biopsy is recommended, because only an incomplete removal can be accomplished, because the trial of radical removal carries a high risk of postoperative deficits due to possible vascular damage of the lenticulo-striate arteries or internal capsule. Because subtotal removal of low grade gliomas does not increase the progression free interval, we would not recommend surgery in these cases, as they carry a significant risk of a further deficit.     

Acute urticaria and hepatitis complicating high-dose methotrexate therapy

We report an unusual case of anaphylaxis and hepatitic dysfunction in a child with the administration of the twenty-third course of high-dose methotrexate. The latter had been used as an adjuvant to prevent pulmonary metastases and the prior 22 courses had been well tolerated. An attempt to reinstate methotrexate after the twenty-third course was again followed by a similar reaction. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

MRI of the fingers in patients with systemic scleroderma. Early results of contrast-enhanced examinations on a dedicated MRI system

Purpose. To estimate disease activity in patients with systemic sclerosis using contrast-enhanced MRI of the skin. Material and Methods. In a pre-study, sequences of a low-field (0.2 T) scanner (Artoscan, Esaote, Genova, Italy) were optimized for detection of intravenous contrast (0.1 mmol/l Gd-DTPA) in six patients with the autoimmune disease systemic scleroderma. Based on the results of the pre-study, 17 patients with scleroderma (7 sclerotic/10 active inflammatory disease) were scanned using gradient-spoiled 3D GRE sequences (FA 90 °, TR 100 ms, TE 18 ms), which had been established as most sensitive for intravenous contrast. Contrast enhancement of the skin was determined quantitatively by contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR), comparing post- to pre-contrast and dynamic scans (for 6 min, 1 acquisition/min). Patients in the chronic state with sclerodactylia and active inflammation of the hands were considered separately and compared to a control group (n = 10) matched according to age. Results. CNR increase after intravenous contrast was significantly higher in patients with active disease (86 ± 16 % increase) than sclerosing disease (29 ± 3 %, p < 0.05) and the control group (4 ± 2 %, p < 0.05). The dynamic examination showed a significantly slower decrease after the peak rise in the first minute in patients with active disease (CNR 15.4 ± 0.7 to 14.2 ± 1.4) than in those with chronic disease (14.1 ± 0.5 to 11.3 ± 0.9, p < 0.05). Discussion. Capillary leakage is the most likely explanation for the increased enhancement in patients with active scleroderma. Using sequences optimized for contrast detection, disease activity in the course of scleroderma and response to therapy can be determined by MRI in the future.      

高电压胸部摄影诊断和防护效果研究

作者以体模实验为基础。测定了不同管电压拍摄胸片时的病人剂量，考察了提高管电压对胶片影像质量的影响，结果表明，使用高电压拍摄胸片比使用低电压有利于降低病人剂量，在增加影像信息量，提高肋骨阴影区和纵膈区灶检出率方面更有较大优越性，此外，使用高电压技术不家利于延长Ｘ射线管的使用寿命。     

低位无肛术术中完整保留瘘口组织的必要性和可行性

目的探讨低位肛门直肠畸形术术中保留瘘口组织的必要性和可行性。方法对67例无肛前庭及会阴瘘患儿的临床资料进行回顾性分析。其中女童无肛前庭瘘59例,男童无肛会阴瘘8例。年龄3个月~16岁,平均10个月。患儿多以排便困难或肛门位置异常就诊。4例无肛前庭瘘患儿曾在婴儿期行瘘口后切术。患儿均采用完整保留瘘口的前矢状入路肛门成形术治疗。结果患儿术后3及6个月常规来院复诊,最长随访8年。65例(97.0%)患儿会阴部矢状切口一期愈合,会阴及肛门外观良好;另2例(男、女各1例)术中直肠破损患儿,自修补处穿孔导致会阴部矢状切口感染(占直肠破损修补术的40%),最终形成直肠会阴瘘,但肛门外观良好。67例均采用肛门功能临床评分标准评估患儿排便功能,64例(95.5%)患儿排便功能良好,总评分为5~6分;另3例(男1例,女2例)顽固便秘,需开塞露协助排便。结论低位无肛术中完整保留瘘口组织非常必要。