Publications by authors named "Alan Barber"

A free-floating disc shaped polycarbonate-urethane ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber reinforced medial compartment implant is designed for symptomatic postmedial meniscectomy syndrome. Because it is not sutured into place, an intact 2mm meniscus rim with intact anterior and posterior meniscal horns are required. In a recent 24-month follow-up study, only 64% of the original implants were retained.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Although the incidence and case-fatality of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) vary within countries, few countries have reported nationwide rates, especially for multi-ethnic populations. We assessed the nationwide incidence and case-fatality of SAH in New Zealand (NZ) and explored variations by sex, district, ethnicity and time.

Methods: We used administrative health data from the national hospital discharge and cause-of-death collections to identify hospitalised and fatal non-hospitalised aneurysmal SAHs in NZ between 2001 and 2018.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to describe the clinical features and outcomes of patients with myelopathy and neuropathy linked to recreational nitrous oxide use from 2016 to 2023.
  • Twelve patients (6 women, average age 27.5) showed symptoms like numbness, weakness, and mental changes, with some using large amounts of nitrous oxide and vitamin B12 supplements.
  • At follow-up, 75% of patients managed to achieve functional independence, highlighting the significant health concerns related to nitrous oxide abuse. *
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Patient outcome after stroke is frequently assessed with clinical scales such as the modified Rankin Scale score (mRS). Days alive and out of hospital at 90 days (DAOH-90), which measures survival, time spent in hospital or rehabilitation settings, readmission and institutionalization, is an objective outcome measure that can be obtained from large administrative data sets without the need for patient contact. We aimed to assess the comparability of DAOH with mRS and its relationship with other prognostic variables after acute stroke reperfusion therapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Knee meniscal repair shows favorable outcomes, especially if associated with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. However, a favorable clinical outcome does not mean that the meniscus has healed. There is no difference in clinical outcomes between all-inside and inside-out meniscal repair techniques.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Recently, all-suture, all-inside meniscal repair devices-including devices containing flat sutures or tapes-have been introduced. Similar to those in suture anchors, these modifications may have different performance characteristics than conventional sutures and polyether ether ketone (PEEK)-anchored devices.

Purpose: To compare the biomechanical characteristics of all-suture meniscal repair devices with those of a conventional PEEK-anchored device and an inside-out meniscal suture construct.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Deep learning using clinical and imaging data may improve pre-treatment prognostication in ischemic stroke patients undergoing endovascular thrombectomy (EVT).

Methods: Deep learning models were trained and tested on baseline clinical and imaging (CT head and CT angiography) data to predict 3-month functional outcomes in stroke patients who underwent EVT. Classical machine learning models (logistic regression and random forest classifiers) were constructed to compare their performance with the deep learning models.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Cardiovascular disease, particularly stroke incidence, is a significant health issue among Indigenous populations, yet there is limited research available on this topic.
  • A systematic review of literature from 1990 to 2022 identified 24 studies across seven developed countries, revealing higher stroke incidence rates among various Indigenous groups compared to non-Indigenous populations.
  • The studies varied in design and quality, with many lacking adequate involvement of Indigenous stakeholders and not meeting established reporting standards for Indigenous health research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Despite a high retear rate, repair of large rotator cuff tendon tear repairs shows good clinical outcomes. Unfortunately, these results often deteriorate with time, and large tears, not to mention progressively symptomatic retears, especially in compromised rotator cuff tissue, remain a problem. The solution could include augmenting repair with a patch such as an acellular collagen matrix.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: Evidence of effective multifactorial lifestyle interventions for primary stroke prevention is lacking, despite the significant contribution of lifestyle to stroke burden. We aimed to determine the efficacy of health and wellness coaching (HWC) for primary stroke and cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention in adults at a moderate-to-high CVD risk.

Methods: This was a parallel, 2-arm, open-label, single-blinded, phase III randomized controlled trial to determine the efficacy of HWC for primary stroke prevention in individuals 30 years and older with a 5-year CVD risk ≥10% as measured by 5-year absolute CVD risk (as measured by the PREDICT tool) at 9 months post-randomization.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cellular senescence is a fundamental mechanism seen in all age-related diseases. Human supraspinatus tendon and adjacent bursal specimens evaluated for cellular senescence by immunohistochemistry and gene expression show more senescent cells in older patients. This confirms the observation that older patients are more likely to have rotator cuff pathology, and older age is associated with lower rates of rotator cuff healing and more frequent tendon retears.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rotator cuff tears are potentially a career-ending injury for athletes. The surgeon must identify which patients will benefit from surgical repair. The factors to consider are age, type of sport, time since injury, athlete's level, and the patient's expectations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In ischemic stroke, selectively cooling the ischemic penumbra might lead to neuroprotection while avoiding systemic complications. Because penumbral tissue has reduced cerebral blood flow and brain temperature measurement remains challenging, the effect of different methods of therapeutic hypothermia on penumbral temperature are unknown. We used the COMSOL Multiphysics® software to model a range of cases of therapeutic hypothermia in ischemic stroke.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The pivot shift test, in contrast to the Lachman or anterior drawer, is a manually subjective clinical test that simulates the injury mechanism. It is the most sensitive test to determine ACL insufficiency. This paper reviews the history, development, research, and treatment associated with the pivot shift phenomenon which is associated with tearing and loss of function of the knee anterior cruciate ligament.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Quadriceps tendon suture anchor repair provides biomechanically greater and more consistent failure loads than transosseous tunnel repair, including less cyclic displacement (gap formation). Although satisfactory clinical outcomes are found with both repair techniques, few studies provide a side-to-side comparison. However, recent research demonstrates better clinical outcomes in using suture anchors, with equal failure rates.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The very elderly (⩾80 years) are under-represented in randomised endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) clinical trials for acute ischaemic stroke. Rates of independent outcome in this group are generally lower than the less-old patients but the comparisons may be biased by an imbalance of non-age related baseline characteristics, treatment related metrics and medical risk factors.

Patients And Methods: We compared outcomes between very elderly (⩾80) and the less-old (<80 years) using retrospective data from consecutive patients receiving EVT from four comprehensive stroke centres in New Zealand and Australia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study compares the risk of treatment complications between two medications, intravenous tenecteplase and alteplase, used for acute ischemic stroke, focusing mainly on symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage.
  • A systematic review included 26 studies with a total of 7913 patients, analyzing both comparative and noncomparative outcomes for patients treated with tenecteplase against alteplase.
  • Results showed the relative risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage for tenecteplase versus alteplase was 0.89, with varying risks depending on the dosing of tenecteplase used, suggesting generally lower risks but an increased risk at higher doses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Ethnic differences in post-stroke outcomes have been largely attributed to biological and socioeconomic characteristics resulting in differential risk factor profiles and stroke subtypes, but evidence is mixed.

Aims: This study assessed ethnic differences in stroke outcome and service access in New Zealand (NZ) and explored underlying causes in addition to traditional risk factors.

Methods: This national cohort study used routinely collected health and social data to compare post-stroke outcomes between NZ Europeans, Māori, Pacific Peoples, and Asians, adjusting for differences in baseline characteristics, socioeconomic deprivation, and stroke characteristics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study examined the costs and quality of life outcomes for stroke patients admitted to urban versus nonurban hospitals in New Zealand, highlighting a lack of existing evidence on the cost variances based on geographic location.
  • The research included data from 1510 stroke patients and found that urban hospital treatments resulted in significantly higher costs and better quality-adjusted life years compared to nonurban hospitals.
  • The cost-effectiveness analysis revealed that the cost per quality-adjusted life year was notably higher for treatments in urban hospitals, raising questions about whether the increased spending correlates to proportional health benefits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • International guidelines advise against using intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) in ischemic stroke patients who have recently taken direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC).
  • A multicenter study examined the risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) in 832 patients who underwent IVT within 48 hours of DOAC use, compared to over 32,000 controls without recent DOAC intake.
  • Results highlighted varied outcomes based on prior DOAC therapy, with focus on sICH incidence measured through established stroke scales, and included an analysis of DOAC levels and reversal treatments prior to IVT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) for large vessel occlusion ischemic stroke is either performed under general anesthesia (GA) or with non-GA techniques such as conscious sedation or local anesthesia alone. Previous small meta-analyses have demonstrated superior recanalization rates and improved functional recovery with GA when compared with non-GA techniques. The publication of further randomized controlled trials (RCTs) could provide updated guidance when choosing between GA and non-GA techniques.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) access in remote areas is limited. Preliminary data suggest that long distance transfers for EVT may be beneficial; however, the magnitude and best imaging strategy at the referring center remains uncertain. We hypothesized that patients transferred >300 miles would benefit from EVT, achieving rates of functional independence (modified Rankin Scale [mRS] score of 0-2) at 3 months similar to those patients treated at the comprehensive stroke center in the randomized EVT extended window trials and that the selection of patients with computed tomography perfusion (CTP) at the referring site would be associated with ordinal shift toward better outcomes on the mRS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF