Influence of luminal stenosis in aneurysmal and non-aneurysmal blunt cerebrovascular injury

Background

Current blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) grading grossly differentiates injury characteristics such as luminal stenosis (LS) and aneurysmal disease. The effect of increasing degree of LS beyond the current BCVI grading scale on stroke formation is unknown.

Interhemispheric visual competition after multisensory reversal of hemianopia

Unilateral lesions of visual cortex have the secondary consequence of suppressing visual circuits in the midbrain superior colliculus (SC), collectively producing blindness in contralesional space (“hemianopia”). Recent studies have demonstrated that SC visual responses and contralesional vision can be reinstated by a non‐invasive multisensory training procedure in which spatiotemporally concordant visual‐auditory pairs are repeatedly presented within the blind hemifield. Despite this recovery of visual responsiveness, the loss of visual cortex was expected to result in permanent deficits in that hemifield, especially when visual events in both hemifields compete for attention and access to the brain's visuomotor circuitry. This was evaluated in the present study in a visual choice paradigm in which the two visual hemifields of recovered cats were simultaneously stimulated with equally valent visual targets. Surprisingly, the expected disparity was not found, and some animals even preferred stimuli presented in the previously blind hemifield. This preference persisted across multiple stimulus intensity levels and there was no indication that animals were less aware of cues in the previously blind hemifield than in its spared counterpart. Furthermore, when auditory cues were combined with visual cues, the enhanced performance they produced on a visual task was no greater in the normal than in the previously blind hemifield. These observations suggest that the multisensory rehabilitation paradigm revealed greater inherent visual information processing potential in the previously blind hemifield than was believed possible given the loss of visual cortex.     

Deep Brain Stimulation Compared With Contingency Management for the Treatment of Cocaine Use Disorders: A Threshold and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

ObjectivesCocaine is the second most frequently used illicit drug worldwide (after cannabis), and cocaine use disorder (CUD)-related deaths increased globally by 80% from 1990 to 2013. There is yet to be a regulatory-approved treatment. Emerging preclinical evidence indicates that deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the nucleus accumbens may be a therapeutic option. Prior to expanding the costly investigation of DBS for treatment of CUD, it is important to ensure societal cost-effectiveness.AimsWe conducted a threshold and cost-effectiveness analysis to determine the success rate at which DBS would be equivalent to contingency management (CM), recently identified as the most efficacious therapy for treatments of CUDs.Materials and MethodsQuality of life, efficacy, and safety parameters for CM were obtained from previous literature. Costs were calculated from a societal perspective. Our model predicted the utility benefit based on quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and incremental-cost-effectiveness ratio resulting from two treatments on a one-, two-, and five-year timeline.ResultsOn a one-year timeline, DBS would need to impart a success rate (ie, cocaine free) of 70% for it to yield the same utility benefit (0.492 QALYs per year) as CM. At no success rate would DBS be more cost-effective (incremental-cost-effectiveness ratio <$50,000) than CM during the first year. Nevertheless, as DBS costs are front loaded, DBS would need to achieve success rates of 74% and 51% for its cost-effectiveness to exceed that of CM over a two- and five-year period, respectively.ConclusionsWe find DBS would not be cost-effective in the short term (one year) but may be cost-effective in longer timelines. Since DBS holds promise to potentially be a cost-effective treatment for CUDs, future randomized controlled trials should be performed to assess its efficacy.     

Diagnostic accuracy of lower extremity X-ray interpretation by 'specialized' emergency nurses.

OBJECTIVES: In the quest for a cost-effective and quality-preserving solution to manage crowding in the emergency department, the possibility of deploying regular emergency nurses for the treatment of acute ankle injuries was investigated. The aim of this study is to compare the diagnostic accuracy of emergency nurses with that of senior house officers in interpreting ankle and foot radiographs. METHODS: A prospective study comparing the assessment of 60 radiographs (30 feet and 30 ankles) by 16 emergency nurses before and after an educational session was performed. Each subset of 30 radiographs contained 12 fractures, hand-picked by a radiologist to represent everyday traumatology in the emergency department. The control group consisted of eight senior house officers representing everyday expertise. The outcome of the diagnostic assessment, represented as the pooled sensitivity and specificity for both groups, was compared using Z-statistics. RESULTS: Before the training session, the specialized emergency nurse group showed a sensitivity of 0.87 (confidence interval 0.83-0.91) compared with 0.93 (confidence interval 0.88-0.96) for the control group (P = 0.05). The specificity of specialized emergency nurses was 0.87 (confidence interval 0.81-0.92) compared with 0.93 (confidence interval 0.89-0.95) for the senior house officers (P < 0.05). After the training session, specialized emergency nurse diagnostic parameters did not differ significantly from the control group, displaying a sensitivity of 0.89 (confidence interval 0.86-0.92) and specificity of 0.92 (confidence interval 0.87-0.95). CONCLUSION: Before the training session, the specialized emergency nurse group showed a significantly lower accuracy than the SHO group. After training, however, the diagnostic accuracy did not differ significantly between groups. Therefore, we conclude that emergency nurses are able to accurately interpret foot and ankle radiographs after a short educational session.     

Ophthalmologic and electro-oculographic findings in Gardner's syndrome

We examined six patients with Gardner's syndrome, eight first-degree relatives, and 31 age- and sex-matched controls to document the presence, distribution, and morphologic features of congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium. Patients with Gardner's syndrome had multiple, bilateral lesions, with 288 of 346 foci (83%) located posterior to the equator. Linear-shaped congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium, a distinctive finding in these patients, accounted for 44 of 140 large lesions (31%). Despite multifocal fundus involvement, results of electro-oculography were normal in all eyes tested.     

Effect of chronic administration of different Bence Jones proteins on rat kidney

The role of Bence Jones proteins (BJPs) in the genesis of the renal dysfunction that develops in patients with multiple myeloma is not clearly defined. We previously evaluated renal function and morphology in a unique strain of rats (LOU/m) bearing tumors which synthesized BJPs with isoelectric points of 5.2, 4.3 and 6.7. Myeloma cast nephropathy developed in one tumor bearing group (pI 5.2), tubular necrosis was observed in another (pI 4.3), and renal function and histology remained normal in a third group (pI 6.7). To see if these renal outcomes were a function of the BJP being excreted or other factors which could be present in the tumor bearing animals, we have examined the effect of chronic intravenous administration of these three BJPs on renal function and histology in non-tumor-bearing LOU/m rats. Urine containing the BJP was collected from tumor bearing rats, sterilized by passage through a 0.2 mu millipore filter, concentrated to 50 mg/ml, and dialyzed extensively so as to remove material with a molecular weight less than 3500. Chronic indwelling-venous catheters were placed in non-tumor-bearing LOU/m rats and these rats were given 100 mg/day for five days of one of the three BJPs. Polyfructosan clearance (Cin) was measured prior to and following the five days of BJP administration. Renal histology was examined at the completion of the second Cin. In the pI 5.2 group (N = 6), a severe distal nephron cast nephropathy occurred and Cin fell from 2.88 +/- 0.24 to 0.90 +/- 0.17 ml/min (P less than 0.002).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Peri-ventricular grey stimulation versus motor cortex stimulation for post stroke neuropathic pain.

Central post stroke pain is often difficult to manage satisfactorily with conventional treatment modalities for pain. In the last decade functional neurosurgery has offered hope with motor cortex stimulation achieving significant alleviation of pain in some patients. Unfortunately this has led to the neglect of chronic stimulation of deep grey matter as another modality of treating this condition. In this article we present our experience with motor cortex stimulation and that with deep grey matter stimulation in patients with post stroke pain. We argue that both modalities have a significant role and that what is required are better methods of identifying particular patients who are more likely to respond to one or the other.     

Methodik und Ergebnisse von Stoffwechseluntersuchungen beim Krebs

Ohne ZusammenfassungMit 13 Textabbildungen