Long-term changes in the magnetic resonance image after chemonucleolysis

Summary After treatment of a symptomatic herniated disc with chymopapain, 14 patients were re-examined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at a mean follow-up of 72 months. Well-defined MRI findings before chemonucleolysis were compared with those after the procedure by an independent observer. Five MRI parameters were assessed. No significant change was noted in the signal intensity of the affected disc, the extent of osteochondrosis and endplate reaction of the affected segment. The height of the affected disc as well as the size of the disc herniation were reduced significantly. The loss of the height is seen as a direct result of chymopapain activity, whereas the alteration of the size of the herniation seems to depend on the natural history of a disc herniation and is probably not a simple result of the treatment.     

Food allergy as a risk factor for asthma morbidity in adults.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between food allergy and asthma morbidity in adults. METHODS: We interviewed a cohort of persistent asthmatics from an inner-city clinic. Allergies to food were assessed by patient report of convincing symptoms of acute allergic reactions. Outcome variables included health resource utilization and medication use. RESULTS: The prevalence of allergy to fish, peanut, tree-nut, shellfish, and seed allergies were 3%, 3%, 3%, 13%, and 1%. Patients with allergies to > 1 food had increased asthma hospitalizations, ED visits, and use of oral steroids (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). Specifically, allergy to fish was associated with a greater risk of health resource utilization and increased frequency of oral steroid use (p < or = 0.03 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported allergy to foods was associated with worse outcomes, suggesting that food allergy may be a risk factor for increased asthma morbidity in adults.     

Long-term follow-up after umbilical hernia repair: are there risk factors for recurrence after simple and mesh repair

Adult umbilical hernia is a common surgical condition mainly encountered in the fifth and sixth decade of life. Despite the high frequency of the umbilical hernia repair procedure, disappointingly high recurrence rates, up to 54% for simple suture repair, are reported. Since both mesh and suture techniques are used in our clinic we set out to investigate the respective recurrence rates and associated complications, retrospectively. Patients who were treated between January 1998 and December 2002 were identified from our hospital database and invited to attend the outpatient department for an extra follow-up, history taking and physical examination. The use of prosthetic material, occurrence of surgical site infection, body mass and height as well as recurrence were recorded at the time of this survey. In total, 131 consecutive patients underwent operative repair of an umbilical hernia. Twenty-eight percent of the patients were female (n=37). In 12 patients (11%) umbilical hernia repair was achieved with mesh implantation. Fourteen umbilical hernia recurrences were noted (13%); none had been repaired using mesh. No relationship was found between wound infection or obesity and umbilical hernia recurrence. In the light of these results it is necessary to re-evaluate our clinical “guidelines” on mesh placement in umbilical hernia repair: apparently not every umbilical fascial defect needs mesh repair. Research should focus on establishing risk factors for hernia recurrence.     

Lumbosacral fracture dislocation in a lumberjack

Summary Lumberjack fractures normally occur in the thoracic and upper lumbar spine as a result of hyperextension and shear. This case, however, involves a lumberjack who suffered a lumbosacral fracture dislocation without neurological deficits, which occurred as the result of shear and hyperflexion. Due to the high degree of instability of this lesion, the treatment consisted of dorsoventral fusion with instrumentation.     

Thoracoscopic interventions in deformities of the thoracic spine

AIM OF THE STUDY: We prospectively studied 9 patients with deformities of the thoracic spine who underwent thoracoscopic surgery to critically evaluate the benefits and limitations of thoracoscopy. METHODS: Seven patients with deformities of the thoracic spine (5 scoliosis, 2 kyphosis) underwent a thoracoscopic release and posterior correction and fusion in a single stage. In one case of a crankshaft-phenomenon a thoracoscopic epiphyseodesis und in another case of a posttraumatic kyphosis a thoracoscopic instrumentation and fusion were performed. The average age was 21 years, the follow-up was 18 months with a minimum of 12 months. The perioperative data including complications were collected and a radiographic analysis concerning curve correction was carried out. RESULTS: The scoliotic curves measured preoperatively 84 degrees on average with a Cobb angle of 62 degrees on the traction films and were corrected by 57% to averagely 36 degrees at follow-up. In the two cases of Scheuermann kyphosis a preoperative kyphosis of 94 degrees respectively 82 degrees was corrected to 52 degrees respectively 58 degrees. Between 4 and 5 discs were excised with an average operative time of 160 min and a blood loss of 380 ml. A conversion to open thoracotomy was not necessary in any case. There were no intraoperative neurovascular complications. CONCLUSIONS: Thoracoscopic procedures in deformities of the thoracic spine are technically demanding; however, it is a minimally invasive procedure with a reduced approach-related morbidity compared to open thoracotomy. The indications for a thoracoscopic release are rigid kyphosis and scoliosis with rigid curves between 80 and 90 degrees Cobb angle in which an anterior correction and instrumentation alone is not considered.     

Halm-Zielke-Instrumentation als primärstabile Weiterentwicklung der Zielke-VDS bei idiopathischen Skoliosen

Halm-Zielke Instrumentation (HZI) was developed to eliminate the disadvantage of ventral derotation spondylodesis (VDS)-Zielke in terms of lack of primary stability and in order to simplify sagittal plane control. Within a prospective clinical trial started in 1993, we have studied whether HZI fulfills these demands. HZI is an anterior double-rod system with a two screw per vertebral body fixation. The longitudinal components consist of a threaded VDS rod and a solid rod, which are attached to a hinge-conducted lid plate. Twenty-nine consecutive patients with idiopathic scoliosis and curves ranging from 36 degrees to 92 degrees were treated with HZI. The follow-up period ranged from 1 to 4 years. Correction of the frontal plane within the instrumented levels averaged 71.6% and 70.5% postoperatively and at follow-up, respectively. Derotation averaged 53.7% and mean correction of the tilt of the lowest instrumented vertebra was 69.5% at final follow-up. Thoracolumbar kyphosis was present in eight patients and was always completely corrected from +18.8 degrees to 3.3 degrees on average. One implant-related complication involved a screw breakage 18 months postoperatively without adverse effects. There was no case of pseudoarthrosis. All patients were mobilized without any additional external immobilization in terms of a brace or cast, and were allowed to go swimming for physiotherapeutical purposes immediately after wound healing. This study proves that HZI is a primary stable implant to perform VDS. Implant-related disadvantages typical of VDS are eliminated. Thereby, the period of rehabilitation is shortened by many months due to avoidance of cast and brace treatment.     

Guidelines for Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is common, costly, and clinically serious. Several national and international practice guidelines have been developed to promote more appropriate, cost-effective care for patients with CAP. This article compares and contrasts eight international practice guidelines for the management of CAP, describes the extent to which recommendations are reflected in practice, and proposes explanations for non-adherence to guidelines. We found consistency in recommendations across all the guidelines for the management of patients with CAP requiring intensive care. In this setting, all guidelines recommend chest radiography, sputum Gram stain and culture, blood cultures, testing for Legionella pneumophila, and timely administration of antibiotics active against both typical (i.e. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Hemophilus influenzae) and atypical organisms (i.e. Legionella spp., Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Chlamydia pneumoniae). Recommendations for the management of the average inpatient with pneumonia were more variable, with the greatest differences between the North American and European guidelines. The North American guidelines (in contrast to European ones), recommended empiric treatment of typical and atypical organisms in all inpatients. There were also differences in policies regarding the necessity of chest radiography, sputum studies, and serologic testing. Some guidelines explicitly embrace the use of prediction rules to inform the decision to hospitalize, while others do not. Some of these admission decision algorithms focus on identifying low risk patients, while others are most concerned with high risk patients. There was also considerable variation in the specificity and operationalization of clinical criteria for switching from parenteral to oral antibiotics or judging appropriateness for discharge. Many recommendations for key management decisions tended to lack explicit, objective, and actionable criteria that could be easily implemented in real world practice. Review of the pneumonia literature revealed that physician performance of guideline-recommended best practices is often suboptimal. Administration of timely antibiotics (< or =8 hours of presentation) and use of first-line antibiotics occurred in 75-85% and 18-79% of cases, respectively. Collection of blood cultures within 24 hours of presentation and prior to administration of antibiotics was achieved in 69-83% and 63-82% of cases, respectively. Screening the eligibility of CAP patients for hospital-based pneumococcal and influenza vaccination occurred on average in 11 and 14% of hospitalizations, respectively, in the US. Lack of awareness of guidelines, conflicting advice among them, and lack of specific, objective, actionable recommendations most likely contribute to nonadherence to CAP guidelines. Increased attention to these factors will be needed if professional society practice guidelines are to fulfill their promise as tools for improving the quality and outcomes of care for patients with pneumonia.