The cost-of-illness for invasive meningococcal disease caused by serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis (MenB) in Germany

Introduction

Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a severe disease mainly affecting infants and young children. The most common serogroup causing IMD in Germany is the serogroup type B Neisseria meningitidis (MenB). The aim of the present study is to estimate the economic burden of MenB-related IMD in Germany.

Reconstruction of parietal bone defects with adiposederived mesenchymal stem cells. Experimental study

Purpose:This study assessed the regeneration potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from adipose tissue associated with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in bone regeneration.Methods:Thirty Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus albinos) were divided into five groups (according to the grafting material and time to euthanasia): (1) autograft - 14 days (control), (2) autograft - 28 days (control), (3) MSC + PRP - 14 days, (4) MSC + PRP + papaverine - 14 days and (5) MSC + PRP + papaverine - 28 days. After euthanasia, the graft was removed and histological slides were prepared. They were assessed by a blinded pathologist using a previously published histological scale as parameter.Results:There was some degree of neoformed bone trabeculae (NBT) in 93.3% of the samples, as well as osteoblastic activity (OA). The autograft groups (14 and 28 days) had higher levels in the formation of bone trabeculae. Nonparametric data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test and proved not to be statistically significant at p < 0.05.Conclusions:Experimental parietal bone reconstruction, combining MSC, PRP and papaverine presented regeneration in all groups with no significant difference among them.Key words: Bone Regeneration, Platelet-Rich Plasma, Tissue Engineering, Rats     

Giant right atrium and subvalvular pulmonary stenosis: A case report of an interesting combination

A 20‐year‐old Congolese woman presented with presyncope, dyspnea, and anasarca. Past medical history was unremarkable. Echocardiography revealed a rare combination of giant right atrium (RA), a dilated and hypertrophied right ventricle, subvalvular pulmonary stenosis (subPS), severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR), pericardial effusion and what appeared to be a spontaneously closed ventricular septal defect (VSD). Cardiac Magnetic Resonance and Cardiac Computed Tomography confirmed the findings excluding the presence of intra‐cardiac and extra‐cardiac shunt and other associated congenital anomalies. The patient underwent subPS resection, right atrioplasty, and tricuspid annuloplasty. Multimodality approach facilitated the detection of the abnormalities and provided clarity when determining the optimal surgical strategy.