Pharynx and oesophagus evaluation during the swallow using helical computerized tomography.

PURPOSE: Videofluorography (VF) and endoscopy are commonly used for dynamic imaging (DI) of pharyngeal swallowing but do not offer transverse plane (TP) information. The aim of the present study was to evaluate helical computerized tomography (HCT) to measure the DI capability pharyngeal swallowing in the TP. METHODS: The HCT scan technique used was a single-slice cine mode with scan times of 100 ms. All 15 subjects were studied supine during dry swallow, swallowing of barium sulphate jelly and 3, 10, 15 or 20 ml of a 40% barium sulphate solution. Nine subjects repeated the test twice at more than 1 week's interval to determine the test-retest reliability. RESULTS: Swallowing leads to closure of the vocal folds, pharyngeal constriction and narrowing of the piriform sinuses allowing jelly passage between the sinuses. Laryngeal elevation then occurs with the opening of the pharyngoesophageal segment (PES). Swallowing a bolus of 20 ml produced the maximum anteroposterior and transverse diameters as well as the maximum opening area of the PES. The test-retest intraclass correlation coefficients with liquid deglutition ranged from 0.86 to 0.98. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that HCT enables visualization of TP of PES complementing VF or endoscopic swallowing studies.     

Neuropathological study 16 years after autologous adrenal medullary transplantation in a Parkinson's disease patient.

To date, there is no clinicopathological correlation of adrenal medullary transplant cases in patients with survival beyond a few years. Postmortem examination of a brain from a patient with Parkinson's disease (PD), 16 years after autologous adrenal medullary transplant, was performed using tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and chromogranin A. The patient experienced a four-year initial improvement in motor function followed by resumption of the progressive nature of her disease that continued until her death. She expired 16 years following grafting. At autopsy, TH stain of the brain revealed severe loss of TH-immunoreactivity in the substantia nigra and Lewy bodies, confirming the diagnosis of PD. The transplant site was identified by the presence of scarring and there was complete absence of any TH staining cells at the site of the transplant. There were few surviving cells staining with chromogranin A. The absence of TH-staining cells in the transplant 16 years after surgery provides further evidence that adrenal medullary transplants do not survive in the long term.     

手部创伤性骨关节缺损的处理

治疗手部骨关节缺损常采用植骨内固定、关节融合、关节成形及关节置换等方法．为总结经验，对１９８９年以来１０１例手部创伤性骨与关节缺损进行分析。单纯掌、指骨缺损３９例，行直接短缩对位，克氏针内固定６例，１例发主骨不连；对３３例缺损较大者用自体骨块植入克氏针交叉内固定，部分病例同时植人ＲＢＸ或异体骨粒，１０例发生延迟愈合，余全部正常愈合。骨与关节部分或完全缺损６２例，采用关节成形术４６例，其中以肋软骨移植效果最好，骨膜移植次之，筋膜衬垫或硅胶膜植入法较差；行关节融合术１１例．均达顺利融合；采用自体关节置换５例，均成活，术后关节活动度均＞７０°。我们认为：自体骨块植入克氏针交叉内固定，必要时植入ＲＢＸ骨粒．是治疗手部创伤性骨缺损的有效方法。关节缺损应按关节的重要性，分别采用关节融合术、关节成形术或关节置换术。     

Effects of posts on dentin stress distribution in pulpless teeth.

A finite element analysis was carried out to study the roles of posts in reducing dentin stress in pulpless teeth. Two-dimensional plane strain models of the midlabiolingual section of a human maxillary central incisor were first analyzed. The results showed that the gold alloy post reduced maximal dentin stress by as much as 30%. However, the integrity of the dentin was compromised and the effects of the post were likely to be exaggerated in such models. In an effort to correct for these problems, plane stress models with side plates and axisymmetric models were analyzed. Posts were found to reduce maximal dentin stress by only 3% to 8% when the teeth were subjected to masticatory and traumatic loadings in these latter models. Although posts reduced maximal dentin stress by as much as 20% when the teeth were loaded vertically, teeth such as incisors and canines normally are not subjected to vertical loadings. Thus the reinforcement effects of posts seem to be doubtful in these teeth.     

Laparoscopic nephrectomy in a porcine model.

Laparoscopic nephrectomy was performed in 15 male pigs, the procedure was successful in 14. Extraction of the intact kidney through a 5-cm lower abdomen incision was done in 7 animals; complete destruction and evacuation of the kidney was accomplished by a round-knife suction device through a 1-cm port in another 7 pigs. Grossly, the specimen consisted of sausage-like tubular renal tissue and a small amount of tissue debris. Pathology revealed that the glomerular and tubular structures were well preserved, no interstitial hematoma could be found. Four ports were usually used, one 1-cm umbilical camera port, one 0.5-cm port for ureter traction, and two 1-cm working ports along the midclavicular line. All the pigs recovered uneventfully. The average operation time was 3 h 20 min. The application of endo-GIA (United States Surgical Corporation) for renal hilum reduced the operative time to 2 h 20 min. Complications included renal vein tear during endoclip application and cutting in the first case, mild subcutaneous emphysema in 2 cases. This first pig received exploratory laparotomy for the repair and ligation of the renal vein. No more major complications occurred with increasing experience. From this porcine experiment, we conclude that the combination of laparoscopy, a tissue destroyer and an endobag for the entrapment of kidney seem to be a promising technique for clinical nephrectomy.     

Visual completion processing in human face perception.

Subjects discriminated whether two sequentially presented human face pictures (S1 and S2) were identical while event-related potentials were recorded to explore the neural basis of visual completion for occluded objects. Four kinds of stimulus trials were employed: S2 and S1 were identical (match-complete); S2 and S1 were identical, but S2 was partially occluded (match-incomplete); S2 was a different face from S1 (mismatch-complete); S2 was different from S1, and was partially occluded (mismatch-incomplete). Incomplete faces enhanced the amplitude of N1 compared with complete faces. The peak latency of N2 elicited by incomplete faces was delayed about 20 ms compared with complete faces. The enhancement of N1 is related to visual completion processing that requires additional time.