BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Several studies report a favorable short-term outcome after nonoperatively treated two-column thoracic or lumbar burst fractures in patients without neurological deficits. Few reports have described the long-term clinical and radiological outcome after these fractures, and none have, to our knowledge, specifically evaluated the long-term outcome of the discs adjacent to the fractured vertebra, often damaged at injury and possibly at an increased risk of height reduction and degeneration with subsequent chronic back pain. PURPOSE: To evaluate the long-term clinical and radiological outcome after nonoperatively treated thoracic or lumbar burst fractures in adults, with special attention to posttraumatic radiological disc height reduction. STUDY DESIGN: Case series. PATIENT SAMPLE: Sixteen men with a mean age of 31 years (range, 19-44) and 11 women with a mean age of 40 years (range, 23-61) had sustained a thoracic or lumbar burst fracture during the years 1965 to 1973. Four had sustained a burst fracture Denis type A, 18 a Denis type B, 1 a Denis type C, and 4 a Denis type E. Seven of these patients had neurological deficits at injury, all retrospectively classified as Frankel D. OUTCOME MEASURES: The clinical outcome was evaluated subjectively with Oswestry score and questions regarding work capacity and objectively with the Frankel scale. The radiological outcome was evaluated with measurements of local kyphosis over the fractured segment, ratios of anterior and posterior vertebral body heights, adjacent disc heights, pedicle widths, sagittal width of the spinal canal, and lateral and anteroposterior displacement. METHODS: From the radiographical archives of an emergency hospital, all patients with a nonoperatively treated thoracic or lumbar burst fracture during the years 1965 to 1973 were registered. The fracture type, localization, primary treatment, and outcome were evaluated from the old radiographs, referrals, and reports. Twenty-seven individuals were clinically and radiologically evaluated a mean of 27 years (range, 23-41) after the injury. RESULTS: At follow-up, 21 former patients reported no or minimal back pain or disability (Oswestry Score mean 4; range, 0-16), whereas 6 former patients (of whom 3 were classified as Frankel D at baseline) reported moderate or severe disability (Oswestry Score mean 39; range, 26-54). Six former patients were classified as Frankel D, and the rest as Frankel E. Local kyphosis had increased by a mean of 3 degrees (p<.05), whereas the discs adjacent to the fractured vertebrae remained unchanged in height during the follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Nonoperatively treated burst fractures of the thoracic or lumbar spine in adults with or without minor neurological deficits have a predominantly favorable long-term outcome, and there seems to be no increased risk for subsequent disc height reduction in the adjacent discs. 相似文献
The aim of this study was to assess alcoholic inpatients' smoking and coffee intake variation following withdrawal. Only moderate smokers (less than 30 cigarettes/day) showed a significant increase of cigarette consumption after alcohol withdrawal. However, their urinary cotinine level did not vary, suggesting a behavioral, and not biological, compensation through smoking following alcohol withdrawal. Heavy smokers (30 cigarettes/day or more) showed no significant clinical or biological variation of smoking behavior. Coffee consumption increased after alcohol withdrawal in all patients, irrespective of smoking habits. 相似文献
A commercial flea and tick product containing 9.0% fenvalerate for use in dogs and cats was suspected of causing illness. An acute toxicity study was performed in 10 dogs and 10 cats exposed to the product orally (po) and dermally at differing doses. Samples were obtained for DEET and fenvalerate analysis. Oral dosing of dogs and cats produced severe clinical illness at doses as low as 0.66% of a can (7 ounce spray can)/kg body weight. Dermal application of the product resulted in minor clinical abnormalities in dogs. Oral exposure at 0.5% can/kg body weight resulted in severe illness, and dermal application caused severe illness or death in cats at 20% and 40% of a can/kg body weight. The cats receiving 10% of a can/kg body weight dermally became depressed for several hours but recovered uneventfully. Serum DEET concentrations closely paralleled the clinical signs observed in the animals. Serum concentrations of DEET above 20 ppm were considered diagnostic for intoxication. Urine concentrations of DEET above 1 ppm and tissue (liver, bile, and kidney) concentrations of DEET above 10 ppm were supportive of poisoning; values near 100 ppm were diagnostic for fatal poisoning. 相似文献
BACKGROUND: A simple, rapid, inexpensive method for measuring the flow in a
patient's vascular access would permit routine monitoring during
haemodialysis, and hence provide information of access graft deterioration
sufficiently early to increase the success of minimally invasive remedial
procedures. This paper reports the validation of such a method in animals.
METHODS: A PTFE graft was implanted in sheep between the carotid artery and
the jugular vein. While the sheep was under general anaesthesia and on an
haemodialysis circuit, ultrasound velocity in its blood was perturbed by
the injection of a 5-10 ml bolus of isotonic NaCl. The pump tubing flow was
measured by a transit-time blood flow meter. This flow was combined with
the areas of perturbation generated by the injection before and after
mixing in the access flow to estimate graft flow. The calculated graft flow
was compared to flow measured directly by a transit-time probe on the same
carotid artery. RESULTS: Over a 10-fold range, 120-1260 ml/min, graft flow
measured by ultrasound velocity dilution agreed well with graft flow
measured directly with a scatter of 76 ml/min about the regression line.
CONCLUSION: Ultrasound velocity dilution provides a method for measuring
flow in the graft accurate enough for clinical evaluation of patients on
dialysis.
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Background: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) after noncardiac surgery is strongly associated with increasing age in elderly patients; middle-aged patients (aged 40-60 yr) may be expected to have a lower incidence, although subjective complaints are frequent.
Methods: The authors compared the changes in neuropsychological test results at 1 week and 3 months in patients aged 40-60 yr, using a battery of neuropsychological tests, with those of age-matched control subjects using Z-score analysis. They assessed risk factors and associations of POCD with measures of subjective cognitive function, depression, and activities of daily living.
Results: At 7 days, cognitive dysfunction as defined was present in 19.2% (confidence interval [CI], 15.7-23.1) of the patients and in 4.0% (CI, 1.6-8.0) of control subjects (P < 0.001). After 3 months, the incidence was 6.2% (CI, 4.1-8.9) in patients and 4.1% (CI, 1.7-8.4) in control subjects (not significant). POCD at 7 days was associated with supplementary epidural analgesia and reported avoidance of alcohol consumption. At 3 months, 29% of patients had subjective symptoms of POCD, and this finding was associated with depression. Early POCD was associated with reports of lower activity scores at 3 months. 相似文献
The incidence (%) of hyperbilirubinemia (serum bilirubin ≥257 μmol/l) was similar in neonates with a combination of ABO incompatibility and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) deficiency (45%), with ABO incompatibility (54%) or G-6-PD deficiency (37%), alone (ns). Carboxyhemoglobin values, corrected for inspired CO, were similarly elevated in all three groups (0.87 ± 0.32%, 0.82 ± 0.29%, 0.76 ± 0.18%, respectively, ns), but correlated with bilirubin only in those with ABO incompatibility alone. ABO-incompatible/G-6-PD-deficient neonates, compared with those with either condition alone, are not at increased risk for hemolysis or hyperbilirubinemia. 相似文献
In a human in-vitro fertilization (IVF) programme, the effect of co-
culture of embryos with human fibroblasts was evaluated with respect to
pregnancy rate and embryo development. Patients were included in the study
after giving informed written consent. The IVF treatments were randomly
assigned by stratification of both age (<36 versus > or =36 years)
and previous IVF attempts (yes versus no). After fertilization was
established, the zygotes were transferred to a 4-well dish with or without
fibroblasts and cultured for 2 days. On the third day after ovum pick-up
(OPU), cell number and quality [5 (good) to 1 (poor)] of the embryos were
scored and a maximum of three embryos was transferred. Supernumerary
embryos of good quality were cryopreserved. The design of this study was a
group sequential trial with the objective of detecting differences between
pregnancy rates following IVF with conventional incubation or incubation in
co-culture with fibroblasts. This design included one evaluation at
half-way data collection. In the study, 148 patients had an OPU, of whom 77
were allocated to the co-culture group. There was no statistically
significant difference in pregnancy rate, cell number and embryo quality
between the two groups. The ongoing pregnancy rate per embryo transfer was
27% in co-culture and 30% in the conventional culture group. The
implantation rates per transferred embryo were 17 and 18% respectively.
Using a multivariate logistic regression model for the probability of
ongoing pregnancies, the odds ratio of co-culture, adjusted for age and
previous IVF attempts, was not statistically significant. In conclusion,
co-culture with human fibroblasts does not contribute to an improvement of
embryo quality nor to a higher pregnancy rate after IVF in an unselected
group of patients.
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The endothelins are signalling peptides that act via two receptors, ET(A)
and ET(B). In the human endometrium, endothelin receptors have been
demonstrated in glands and stroma and have been shown to vary during the
course of the menstrual cycle. The present study was undertaken to
determine whether or not expression of endothelin receptors changes during
pregnancy or after administration of exogenous progestagens. The expression
of the receptors was correlated with the appearance of basement membrane
components during decidualization of the endometrial stroma. Decidual
specimens (n = 15) were obtained during the first trimester of pregnancy
and 10 at term. Sixteen pairs of endometrial biopsies were obtained from
women with menorrhagia before and after exposure to exogenous progestagens.
A total of 15 hysterectomy specimens were used as controls for the
expression of stromal basement membrane proteins in the absence of
decidualization. Autoradiography was carried out with selective ligands for
ET(A) ([125I]-PD 151242) and ET(B) ([125I]-BQ3020). The distribution of
ligand binding was then compared with the distribution of laminin alpha2
light chain and collagen IV. ET(A), ET(B), laminin alpha2 light chain, and
collagen IV were expressed in stromal decidual cells in the first trimester
of pregnancy. ET(B) was also found on endometrial glandular epithelium.
Quantitative macro-autoradiography and multiple regression analysis
demonstrated a highly significant positive correlation (P < 0.001)
between expression of ET(B) and laminin alpha2 light chain. In the third
trimester qualitative examination suggested a reduction of ET(A) in the
stroma. Progestagen-induced decidua exhibited a similar pattern to that
found in first trimester decidua. This study has demonstrated up-regulation
of ET(B) during the progesterone- dependent process of decidualization and
suggests a paracrine or autocrine role for endothelins in the decidua.
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