Tanzania IR Initiative: Training the First Generation of Interventional Radiologists

Despite a population of nearly 60 million, there is currently not a single interventional radiologist in Tanzania. Based on an Interventional Radiology (IR) Readiness Assessment, the key obstacles to establishing IR in Tanzania are the lack of training opportunities and limited availability of disposable equipment. An IR training program was designed and initiated, which relies on US-based volunteer teams of IR physicians, nurses, and technologists to locally train radiology residents, nurses, and technologists. Preliminary results support this strategy for addressing the lack of training opportunities and provide a model for introducing IR to other resource-limited settings.     

Differentiating benign from malignant cardiac tumors with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Background

The purpose of this analysis is to describe the differences in cardiac magnetic resonance characteristics between benign and malignant tumors, which would be helpful for surgical planning.

Computed tomographic investigation of serosal and intramural gastrointestinal pathology

Various cases are presented demonstrating the role of computed tomography (CT) in the assessment of serosal and bowel wall pathology. Reference is made to the morphology of the lesions. Illustrative examples of tumors, secondary malignant dissemination, irradiation injury to the gut, and intramural gas associated with ulcerative colitis, are all illustrated.     

Case manager alliance with clients in an older cohort

It was hypothesized that members of an older cohort of seriously mentally ill community mental health clients would develop stronger alliances with intensive case managers. Eighty-six clients participating in a study of case management services completed a measure of working alliance and structured interviews. It was found that older cohort clients, those age 45 or older, showed much stronger alliances with their case managers than younger clients.This research is funded by NIMH/SAMHSA grant R18MH46082.     

Cryptococcal Meningitis in Patients with the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

The optimum therapy for cryptococcal meningitis in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) remains unresolved. Traditional therapy consists of amphotericin B with or without flucytosine. Obstacles exist in administering these agents to patients with AIDS. Mortality rates during initial therapy are relatively high. Given the lack of proved benefit, we do not recommend adding flucytosine to amphotericin B routinely. The search for more efficacious and less toxic agents continues. The oral triazoles, especially fluconazole, have increased the options for treatment of this disease. New strategies and novel approaches in managing cryptococcal meningitis in patients with AIDS continue to be developed.     

The effect of arteriovenous malformation resection on cerebrovascular reactivity to carbon dioxide

To investigate the cerebral hemodynamic changes associated with obliteration of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), we studied 26 patients undergoing total microsurgical AVM resection during isoflurane and N2/O2 anesthesia. Detectors were placed 5 to 6 cm from the margin of the lesion and in a homologous contralateral position. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured using the intravenous xenon-133 technique before and after AVM resection, during both hypocapnia and normocapnia at each stage. Intraoperative changes in CBF were related to a risk score system based on the patient's history and preoperative angiograms. Seven otherwise healthy patients undergoing spinal surgery were studied to control for anesthetic effects. Patient demographic and clinical data for the AVM group conformed to the expected strata of a large AVM population. The CBF increased after excision (22 +/- 1 ml/100 g/min before excision to 30 +/- 2 ml/100 g/min after excision; mean +/- SE, n = 25, P less than 0.002) without a hemispheric difference. CO2 reactivity increased slightly after excision (4.2 +/- 0.3% change/mm Hg before excision to 4.7 +/- 0.3% change/mm Hg after excision; n = 14, P less than 0.02). The baseline CBF and CO2 reactivity were not different from the control group. There was a weak correlation between the risk score and the percentage of change in the ipsilateral CBF, with a trend for the patients with the lowest risk to have the lowest CBF changes after resection. There was no relationship between CO2 reactivity and risk grade. None of the patients awoke from anesthesia with unexpected neurological deficits. The highest CBF increases were associated with postoperative brain swelling in one patient and fatal intracerebral hemorrhage in another. Both patients had normal CO2 reactivity before excision. One patient suffered postoperative intracerebral hemorrhage, attributable to technical problems, and had no increase in CBF. We conclude that, with an acute increase in the arteriovenous pressure gradient (and cerebral perfusion pressure) that results from shunt obliteration, there is an immediate global effect of AVM resection to increase CBF. Cerebrovascular reactivity to CO2 remains intact both before and after excision.     

Preliminary evidence for a role of apolipoprotein E alleles in identifying haemodialysis patients at high vascular risk

Conventional risk factors have very low predictive power in identifying haemodialysis patients at high risk of vascular accidents. A role for apolipoprotein E isotypes was looked for in a small, but rigorously defined, cohort of longterm haemodialysis patients. In individuals with high vascular risk, as identified by higher common carotid intima/media thickness, we found an excess of apolipoprotein E4 alleles. This preliminary result requires confirmation in large patient cohorts.