The detection and management of complications following the treatment of liver metastases

While once considered as incurable systemic disease, treatment options for liver metastases have increased over the last 30 years and safety has improved dramatically, such that for a selected group of patients the hope of cure can now be offered with radical treatment, and low morbidity interventions can be offered which prolong survival, even in patients with more widely disseminated disease. Advances have been made in selection and surgical technique for liver resection and several adjuncts to resection now exist in the form of portal vein embolization, thermal ablation and targeted drug or radiotherapy delivery options. A natural consequence of these developments has been the delivery of services within fewer specialist units, with the result that later complications of therapy may present to local hospitals, rather than directly to the specialist centres. This article will describe the current common liver-directed therapies and outline the presentation and management of their complications.     

Family medical leave. An employee benefit for working caregivers of elderly family members

Future trends include a decrease in the number of adult children, an increase in the number of individuals over age 65, single parent families, working women, and individuals with no health care insurance. As more women with multiple roles and responsibilities enter and continue as part of the work force, employers recognize the need for support of family issues. Currently many employers lack initiative to make these needed changes. The occupational health nurses' role in relation to future policy for working caregivers includes assessment of how employment and caregiving impact work performance, job satisfaction, and health; and participation in defining public policy issues.     

HP26PSEUDO‐ACHALASIA FOLLOWING A SLIPPED LAPAROSCOPICALLY PLACED ADJUSTABLE GASTRIC BAND: A CASE REPORT

Purpose To demonstrate that laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding may promote oesophageal dilatation or interfere with oesophageal motility. Methodology We report a case of a 67 year old female with a complex medical history who developed secondary achalasia from a slipped laparoscopic adjustable gastric band for weight loss. This led to recurring episodes of aspiration pneumonia requiring multiple admissions at North Shore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand. Results A decision was made to remove the gastric band, five years after its initial insertion. At one month follow up, she was swallowing normally and oesophageal manometry had returned to normal. Conclusion Oesophageal dysmotility is sometimes seen in patients who have bands that are adjusted too tightly or in whom the band has slipped. This can lead to serious complications if unrecognized and incorrectly treated. Oesophageal symptoms in patients with adjustable bands must be considered secondary to the band until proven otherwise ie removal of the band or complete deflation.     

Evidence for motility and pinocytosis in ramified microglia in tissue culture

Ramified microglial cells were investigated in primary cultures of dissociated cerebral cortical tissue from rats. The identification of these cells was confirmed through immunohistochemical staining with 7 monoclonal antibodies selective for microglia. While there was significant variation in staining intensity with different antibodies, all stained the identified ramified cells; the antibodies OX-42 and ED1 yielded the most intense immunoreactivity. Based on distinctive morphological features, the microglia could be identified in living cultures where they were monitored using time-lapse video recording. This technique revealed extremely dynamic features of cellular plasticity and motility. Ramified microglia exhibited constant and rapid alterations in the size and shape of their cell body with an associated extension and retraction of processes; concomitantly, the cells moved about in a circumscribed area. These features of plasticity and motility were unique to this cell type, and correlated with OX-42 immunostaining. The microglia also possessed a differentially high level of pinocytotic activity; this too was correlated with OX-42 staining. From the nature of their morphological plasticity and motility, high pinocytosis, and cellular distribution, it is hypothesized that the ramified microglia specifically function as a system of fluid cleansing in normal brain tissue.     

Investigations of a novel ferrocene-containing lipid by cyclic voltammetry and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy

A novel chiral redox-active ferrocene compound (FcVI) with amphiphilic properties has been synthesized. Cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy (cryo-TEM) has been used to estimate the shape and size of the FcVI aggregates in solution. Uni- and multi-lamellar vesicles (between 40 and 300 nm in diameter) were observed in water. Large particles (of more than 1 μm in diameter) with a hexagonal fine structure were found in 50 mM aqueous Na₂SO₄ solution. Sonication transformed the latter into ‘rosette’-like structures. Cyclic voltammetry has been employed to investigate the electrochemical properties of FcVI. The amphiphile adsorbed on graphite electrodes and a reversible electrochemical behaviour, characteristic of ferrocene, was observed with redox potentials between 330 and 350 mV.     

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.      

The role of image size and retinal motion in the computation of absolute distance by the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus)

In a series of experiments in which Mongolian gerbils were trained to jump over a variable gap, it was demonstrated that computation of the distance to be jumped was dependent on both image size and retinal motion, the latter cue being generated by the production of vertical translation movements of the head (head bobs). When image size was not a reliable cue, the animals produced more head bobs, thereby increasing the availability of retinal motion cues. The performance of the gerbils on various probe trials strongly suggested that they computed absolute distance by combining information about the velocity (or amplitude) of their head bobs with information about the velocity (or displacement) of the moving image of the landing platform.     

Cytochrome c mRNA levels decrease in senescent rat heart.

The concentration of mitochondria decrease in the heart as rodents age from maturity to senescence. The reason for this change is not known. One purpose of the present study was to determine if cytochrome c mRNA, representative of proteins of the inner mitochondrial membrane, decreased in the hearts of Fischer 344 rats as they aged from 12 to 24 months. Twenty-two percent less cytochrome c mRNA existed per given quantity of extracted RNA from the heart in 24-month-old rats as compared with the 12-month-old group. No change in the quantities of cardiac -actin mRNA, Ca²⁺/calmodulin protein kinase II mRNA or 18S rRNA was noted between 12- und 24-month-old hearts. Thus, the decrease in cytochrome c mRNA suggests that decreased in mRNAs for proteins of the inner mitochondrial membrane could play some role in the diminished concentration of mitochondria that exists in the senescent heart.     

Early complications of interventional balloon catheterisation in infants and children

Interventional balloon catheterisation is now the recommended procedure for several congenital heart defects. The overall complication rate in the first 160 children (median age 3 years) to undergo balloon intervention (excluding balloon atrial septostomy) at the Brompton Hospital was 24% (14% excluding haemorrhage and including three deaths (1.9%]. Most complications were related to vascular problems at the site of cardiac catheterisation. Complications were more common in the younger patient, especially neonates, and also in procedures that were ultimately unsuccessful. Most complications were transient and usually had no long term effects. Improvements in equipment design and technical expertise may reduce morbidity from these procedures.