Sphincter injury after anal dilatation demonstrated by anal endosonography.

Anal dilatation is still used in the treatment of anal fissure and haemorrhoids. Using anorectal physiology and anal endosonography we have studied 12 men presenting with faecal incontinence following anal dilatation. Resting anal pressures were low, pudendal nerve latencies were normal; 11 men had a disrupted internal anal sphincter and in ten this was extensively fragmented. Three also had defects of the external anal sphincter. These findings demonstrate for the first time the nature of the structural injury which may be caused by anal dilatation.     

Automated measurement of 224Ra and 226Ra in water.

We present a new simple approach for automated, non-destructive measurement of the alpha-emitting radium isotopes ((223)Ra, (224)Ra, and (226)Ra) in water based on the emanation of their respective radon daughters ((219)Rn, (220)Rn, and (222)Rn). The method combines the high adsorption uptake of MnO(2) Resin for radium (K(d)=2.4 x 10(4)ml/g) over a wide pH range with the simplicity of the activity registration using a commercial radon-in-air analyzer (RAD7, DURRIDGE Company, Inc). Radium is first adsorbed onto the MnO(2) Resin by passing a water sample through the resin packed in a gas-tight glass cartridge. The same cartridge is then connected to the radon analyzer via a simple tubing system to circulate air through the resin and a drying system. The efficiency of the proposed system is determined by running standards prepared in the same manner. Our results indicate that the efficiency for (226)Ra is >22% if both (218)Po and (214)Po counts are collected. This is comparable with typical efficiencies for alpha spectrometry but with much less sample preparation. We estimate that an MDA of 0.8 pCi/L for (226)Ra may be obtained with this new approach using a 1L water sample and less than 4h of counting.     

Flavocoxid is as effective as naproxen for managing the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee in humans: a short-term randomized,double-blind pilot study

Flavocoxid (Limbrel), a proprietary mixture of flavonoid molecules (baicalin and catechin), was tested against a traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, naproxen, for the management of the signs and symptoms of moderate osteoarthritis (OA) in humans. Discomfort and global disease activity were used as the primary end points, and safety assessments were also taken for both treatments as a secondary endpoint. In this double-blind study, 103 subjects were randomly assigned to receive either flavocoxid [500 mg twice daily (BID)] or naproxen (500 mg BID) in a 1-month onset of action trial. Outcome measures included the short Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index, subject Visual Analogue Scale for discomfort and global response, and investigator Visual Analogue Scale for global response and fecal occult blood. Both flavocoxid and naproxen showed significant reduction in the signs and symptoms of knee OA (P ≤ .001). There were no statistically detectable differences between the flavocoxid and naproxen groups with respect to any of the outcome variables. Similarly, there were no statistically detectable differences between the groups with respect to any adverse event, although there was a trend toward a higher incidence of edema and nonspecific musculoskeletal discomfort in the naproxen group. In this short-term pilot study, flavocoxid was as effective as naproxen in controlling the signs and symptoms of OA of the knee and would present a safe and effective option for those individuals on traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors. A low incidence of adverse events was reported for both groups.     

The many uses of the U tube

U tube placement was employed as an adjunct to complicated biliary procedures in 14 patients. We found the transhepatic tubes to be useful for stenting biliary anastomoses, maintaining biliary drainage, delivering localized irradiation, and acting as permanent external conduits. The tubes remained in placed an average of 15 months and as long as 40 months. The frequency of cholangitis was minimized by frequent tube exchange. The U-shaped configuration makes tube exchange easy and inexpensive to perform.     

Vasonatrin peptide: a unique synthetic natriuretic and vasorelaxing peptide.

This study reports the cardiovascular and renal actions of a novel and newly synthesized 27-amino acid peptide termed vasonatrin peptide (VNP). VNP is a chimera of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP). This synthetic peptide possesses the 22-amino acid structure of CNP, which is a cardiovascular selective peptide of endothelial origin and is structurally related to ANP. VNP also possesses the five-amino acid COOH terminus of ANP. The current study demonstrates both in vitro and in vivo that VNP possesses the venodilating actions of CNP, the natriuretic actions of ANP, and unique arterial vasodilating actions not associated with either ANP or CNP.     

创伤后迟发性脑肿胀的临床特点与治疗

目的 探讨创伤后迟发性脑肿胀的临床特点、发病机制与治疗。方法 回顾性分析1998年1月～2005年6月年收治的17例迟发性脑肿胀患者的临床特点和救治情况。结果 所有颅脑损伤患者采用保守治疗后均有好转，但于伤后5-10d出现恶化，CT复查有脑肿胀，经加强综合脱水等治疗后16例治愈，1例死亡。结论 迟发性脑肿胀好发于对冲性额、颞叶挫裂伤伴明显蛛网膜下腔出血、硬膜下薄层血肿及早期CT有脑肿胀者。其发病机制可能与创伤后的迟发性脑血管痉挛、微循环障碍、静脉回流障碍及甘露醇作用下降等因素有关。此类患者病情隐蔽性强，应加强观察、积极行CT复查，如能早期明确诊断，保守治疗多数效果良好。     

Atrial natriuretic factor inhibits hypertonic saline-mediated decreases in renal hemodynamics

The present study in the anesthetized dogs was designed to test the hypothesis that atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) attenuates whole kidney tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF) mediated decreases in renal blood flow (RBF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) produced by hypertonic saline (HS). Secondly, as adenosine (AD) has been implicated as a metabolic mediator of TGF, we also hypothesized that ANF would antagonize the renal actions of AD. To test this hypothesis, RBF and GFR were assessed in response to hypertonic saline (HS, 16%, i.r.) or adenosine (AD, 0.1 mumol/min, i.r.) in the presence and absence of exogenous ANF (100 ng/kg/min, i.r.). ANF attenuated HS-mediated reductions in GFR (HS, -39.6 +/- 9.8 ml/min vs. HS + ANF, -14.3 +/- 4.5 ml/min, P less than 0.05) and in RBF (HS, -143 +/- 35 ml/min vs. HS + ANF, -5 +/- 22 ml/min, P less than 0.05). GFR was reduced by AD (-9.2 +/- 3.0 ml/min, P less than 0.05), but maintained by AD + ANF (-0.4 +/- 2.0 ml/min, NS). A transient adenosine-mediated vasoconstriction was attenuated by ANF (AD, -54.5 +/- 3.6 ml/min vs. AD + ANF, -3.7 +/- 3.1 ml/min, P less than 0.005). We conclude that ANF at pharmacologic concentrations attenuates at the whole kidney level hypertonic saline and adenosine-mediated reductions in RBF and GFR.     

The renal action of atrial natriuretic peptide during control of glomerular filtration

Studies were performed in anesthetized dogs (N = 7) to determine the effects of synthetic atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) on sodium excretion in the presence and absence of control of glomerular filtration rate produced by suprarenal aortic clamping. Intrarenal infusion of synthetic atrial natriuretic peptide (0.3 micrograms/kg/min) significantly increased glomerular filtration rate from 29.3 +/- 3.0 to 43.2 +/- 4.4 ml/min, urinary sodium excretion from 20.1 +/- 10.3 to 223.3 +/- 52.3 microEq/min, fractional sodium excretion from 0.47 +/- 0.19 to 3.75 +/- 0.59%. In contrast, aortic clamping blocked the increase in glomerular filtration rate in association with an attenuated natriuresis. Urinary sodium excretion increased from 6.3 +/- 2.3 to 68.3 +/- 23.4 microEq/min and fractional sodium excretion increased from 0.15 +/- 0.04 to 0.90 +/- 0.30%. Despite this differential response in glomerular filtration rate and sodium excretion, whole kidney fractional delivery of sodium from the proximal tubule as estimated by the fractional excretion of lithium increased during both unclamped (17.7 +/- 1.8 to 30.4 +/- 0.8%) and clamped (12.9 +/- 2.1 to 23.9 +/- 2.7%) periods. These studies demonstrate that atrial natriuretic peptide-induced natriuresis is importantly mediated by an increase in glomerular filtration rate and decrease in tubular reabsorption.     

Retrorenal colon: implications for percutaneous diskectomy

It has been recommended that computed tomography (CT) with the patient prone be performed in every patient undergoing percutaneous diskectomy; this would enable detection of a retrorenal location of the colon, which could interfere with the percutaneous procedure. In this evaluation of 346 prone CT studies, only one patient (0.29%) was found to have retrorenal or retropsoas bowel that would have been perforated at diskectomy. Because of this extremely low prevalence, the performance of prone CT in every patient undergoing percutaneous lumbar diskectomy is not believed to be necessary.