The current status of surgical pilonidal sinus disease therapy in Germany

European Surgery - Treatment of pilonidal sinus disease (PSD) requires a tailored approach. A national guideline was published in 2014. The current status of surgical PSD therapy...     

Constructing robust selves after brain injury: positive identity work among members of a female self-help group

Despite common experiences of identity damage, decline, and deterioration, many brain injury survivors succeed in reconstructing robust identities in the wake of injury. Yet, while this accomplishment greatly benefits survivors’ quality of life, little is known about how positive identity work might be facilitated or enhanced in therapeutic institutions. Drawing on data from a women’s self-help group, we argue that an egalitarian, reflective, strength-focused, and gender-segregated environment can provide female ABI (acquired brain injury) survivors with a fertile scene for identity enhancement and offer unique opportunities for collective identity development. Sociolinguistic interactional analysis revealed four types of positive identity work undertaken within the group: constructing competent selves; tempering the threat of loss and impairment; resisting infantilisation and delegitimisation; and asserting a collective gender identity. This identity work was facilitated by specific programme attributes and activities and contributed to the global project of decentring disability and destigmatising impairments and losses. We call for increased attention to identity issues in brain injury rehabilitation and argue that gender-segregated programming can provide a unique space for female survivors to construct empowering individual and collective identities after injury.     

Epitope load identifies kidney transplant recipients at risk of allosensitization following minimization of immunosuppression

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Short History of Interventional Neuroradiology What about the Future？

1 Short historical background of interventional neuroradiology Even if a number of us were among the pioneers of Interventional Neuroradiology, this specialty has now reached its period of maturity. Schematically, the era of the pioneers began forty years ago and lasted about 15 years, between 1960 and 1975. During that period, on the initiative of Fedor Serbinenko （Russia） and Ren6 Djindjian （France）, ＂intracerebral navigation ＂ using small balloons, which became gradually ＂detachable＂, has been invented. At the same time, we discovered how to use these balloons to occlude intracranial vascular lesions, inaccessible or hardly accessible to traditional open skull neurosurgery, for example, carotid cavernous fistulas. Very rapidly, a lot of different embolic particles were successively tested, ranging at first from pieces of muscle, to small glass or silastic beads, gelfoam and dura mater pieces... During this period, parallel progress of hyperselective catheterization and consequently of microangiography allowed to establish new classifications of main vascular pathologies （distinction between brain arteriovenous malformations and dural fistulas ... ）. These new classifications allowed a better understanding of physiopathology. This first period was thus primarily devoted to development of very precise diagnosis and techniques of hyperselective endovascular occlusion.     

Comparison of rat liver preservation with Eurocollins and a modified University of Wisconsin solution: transplantation and isolation of hepatocytes for culture

The efficiency of Eurocollins or modified University of Wisconsin (UW) solution (MUW) in preserving rat livers was compared. After cold storage with one of the solutions, the livers were transplanted or perfused by collagenase for isolation of hepatocytes. Five of the 6 rats receiving a graft preserved with MUW versus none of the 6 rat receiving a graft preserved with Eurocollins solution survived 24 h or more. A significantly greater number of hepatocytes were isolated from livers preserved with MUW than from livers preserved with Eurocollins solution. This suggests a better reperfusion of MUW-preserved livers by collagenase resulting from less endothelial injury. LDH release by cultured hepatocytes, ketone body production and stimulation by glucagon were not significantly different between the two groups. These results confirm the superiority of MUW solution over Eurocollins in preserving liver grafts. They suggest that the advantage of MUW solution results from better protection of vascular endothelium rather than of hepatocytes.