Is carotid ultrasound a useful tool in assessing cardiovascular disease in individuals with diabetes?

Coronary heart disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in North America. Its prevention is therefore an important clinical goal. Individuals with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes mellitus are at increased risk of developing heart disease as compared with those without diabetes. Carotid ultrasound is now a well-validated tool to study the presence and progression of cardiovascular disease. Using ultrasound one can determine elastic properties of the vessel wall (distensibility and compliance) as well as intima-media thickness (IMT). Several large studies have shown that IMT is a useful predictor of future cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction and stroke, and is well correlated with other traditional risk factors such as blood pressure, lipids, level of glycemic control, and smoking. For this reason, carotid ultrasound may add valuable clinical information above and beyond that provided by traditional risk factors. The use of carotid ultrasound in the pediatric and adolescent population is increasing, and one study has shown decreased distensibility in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes mellitus versus controls. However, IMT measurements in the children and teens with Type 1 diabetes have yielded conflicting results, and larger, longitudinal studies are needed in this area.     

Simple device to determine the pressure applied by pressure clips for the treatment of earlobe keloids

Background:Keloids of the ear are common problems. Various treatment modalities are available for the treatment of ear keloids. Surgical excision with intralesional steroid injection along with compression therapy has the least recurrence rate. Various types of devices are available for pressure therapy. Pressure applied by these devices is uncontrolled and is associated with the risk of pressure necrosis. We describe here a simple and easy to use device to measure pressure applied by these clips for better outcome.Objectives:To devise a simple method to measure the pressure applied by various pressure clips used in ear keloid pressure therapy.Results:The pressure applied by different clips was variable. The spring clips were adjustable by slight variation in the design whereas the pressure applied by binder clips and magnet discs was not adjustable.Conclusion:The uncontrolled/suboptimal pressure applied by certain pressure clips can be monitored to provide optimal pressure therapy in ear keloid for better outcome.KEY WORDS: Clips, device, earlobe, magnetic discs, measure, pressure therapy, splint     

Botulinum injection for the management of myofascial pain in the masticatory muscles. A prospective outcome study

We prospectively analysed the outcome after botulinum injection in patients who did not recover after conservative measures to manage masticatory myofascial pain, and who were not willing to take low dose tricyclic antidepressants as a muscle relaxant. We prospectively 62 patients were assessed with visual analogue scores (VAS) for pain on the affected side before, and 6 weeks after botulinum injection(s) (50 units Dysport^® in up to 3 sites), and measured mouth opening in mm. Of those treated 49 (79%) showed at least some improvement (pain reduced by more than 25%). Patients reported more than a 90% reduction in the VAS for 25 (30%) of the 84 sides of the face treated. Only 22 of the 62 patients had more than one course of treatment to the same side. Interincisal distance improved by a mean/median of 0.9 mm (p < 0.03) after treatment. Side effects included 3 cases of temporary weakness of a facial muscle. Ranking the VAS pain scores using the Wilcoxon test before and after injection showed a significant reduction in pain (median change −29.5, interquartile range −53 to −16, p < 0.0001). The treatment significantly improved patients’ pain scores and the overall mean/median reduction in pain was 57%. Botulinum injection does not guarantee complete resolution of myofascial pain, but it usually has some beneficial effect in improving the symptoms, and should be considered as an alternate treatment for masticatory myofascial pain if conservative methods have failed.     

Role of the vein of marshall in atrial fibrillation recurrences after catheter ablation: therapeutic effect of ethanol infusion

Vein of Marshall Ethanol in Recurrent AF. Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) or flutter can recur after pulmonary vein (PV) antral isolation (PVAI). The vein of Marshall (VOM) has been linked to the genesis of AF. We hypothesized that the VOM may play a role in AF recurrences and that VOM ethanol infusion may have therapeutic value in this setting. Methods and Results: Sixty-one patients with recurrent AF or flutter after PVAI were studied. The VOM was successfully cannulated in 54; VOM and PV electrograms were recorded, and differential PV-VOM pacing was performed. VOM signals were present in all patients; however, VOM triggers of AF could not be demonstrated. VOM tachycardia was present in 1 patient. Left inferior (LIPV) and left superior (LSPV) reconnection was present in 32 and 30 patients, respectively. Differential pacing in VOM and LIPV showed VOM-mediated LIPV reconnection in 5/32 patients. In others, VOM and PV connected indirectly via left atrial tissues. Up to four 1 cc infusions of 98% ethanol were delivered in the VOM. Regardless of the reconnection pattern, ethanol infusion eliminated LIPV and LSPV reconnection in 23/32 and 13/30 patients, respectively. Ethanol terminated VOM and LIPV tachycardias in 2 patients. There were no acute procedural complications. Conclusions: VOM signals are consistently present in recurrent AF. VOM may rarely play a role in PV reconnection. However, VOM ethanol infusion can be useful in patients with recurrent AF after PVAI, assisting in achieving redisconnection of reconnected left PVs.     

Partial cystectomy for invasive bladder cancer

Thirty two patients—23 males and 9 females with a mean age of 52.5 years—underwent planned partial cystectomy for histologically proved muscle invasive bladder cancer. Twenty patients had transitional cell carcinoma and 12 had adenocarcinoma of the bladder. One patient had well-differentiated, 18 had moderately differentiated, and 13 had poorly differentiated tumours. The tumour size was <2 cm in 7 patients, 2–4 cm in 19 patients, and >4 cm in 6 patients. Patients with single primary muscle invasive tumours situated in the upper half of the bladder were considered eligible for partial cystectomy. The presence of multicentric urothelial disease, of dysplasia, or carcinoma-in-situ in bladder mucosa away from the tumour on multiple random punch biopsies was considered contraindications to partial cystectomy. All patients underwent partial cystectomy with bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy. The tumour-free margins of resection were confirmed by intraoperative frozen section examination. The bladder was closed primarily in all patients, although three patients required re-implantation of the ureter. No patient received adjuvant radiation or chemotherapy. Five patients had pathological stage Bl (T2), 18 had B2 (T3A), and 9 had C (T3B) disease. No patient had metastatic pelvic lymph nodes. There was one postoperative death due to unrelated medical cause. Five patients had minor complications that resolved with conservative measures. All patients had adequate bladder capacity of >250 cc at 6 months after surgery, and none had symptoms attributable to reduced bladder capacity. The overall actuarial survival was 80.1% at 5 years. The 5-year survival for patients with stage T2 tumours was 100%, for stage T3A 88.5%, and for stage T3B 45.7% (P = 0.028). The 5-year survival for patients with tumour size < 2 cm was 100% compared to 83. 1% for 2-4 cm and 50% for size more than 4 cm (P = 0.078). There was no significant difference in survival for patients with transitional cell carcinoma (83.8%) and adenocarcinoma (74.1%) (P = 0.511). Patients with well-differentiated tumours had a 5-year survival of 100% as compared to 94.4% for moderately and 53.5% for poorly differentiated tumours (P < 0.001). Fourteen patients relapsed—12 in the bladder and 2 in the lungs without relapse in the bladder. Of the 12 patients who relapsed in the bladder, 5 had noninvasive (stage Ta/Tl) relapses and were salvaged with transurethral resection of the tumours. Seven patients had invasive tumours at relapse that were related to tumour stage and grade. Four of these could be salvaged with radical total cystectomy, where as the remaining three and the two patients with distant relapses died due to disseminated disease. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.