Non-invasive volumetric assessment of aortic atheroma: a core laboratory validation using computed tomography angiography.

Aortic atherosclerosis has been linked with worse peri- and post-procedural outcomes following a range of aortic procedures. Yet, there are currently no standardized methods for non-invasive volumetric pan-aortic plaque assessment. We propose a novel means of more accurately assessing plaque volume across whole aortic segments using computed tomography angiography (CTA) imaging.

The going home initiative: getting critical care patients home with hospice.

Although considerable effort is being directed at providing patients and their families with a "good death," most patients in intensive care units, if given the choice, would prefer to die at home. With little guidance from the literature, the palliative care committee of an intensive care unit developed guidelines to get patients home from the intensive care unit to die. In the past few years, the unit has transferred many patients home with hospice care, much to the delight of their families.

Bonding of self-adhesive (self-etching) root canal sealers to radicular dentin.

The latest generation of methacrylate resin-based sealers has eliminated the use of separate self-etching primers by incorporating acidic resin monomers in the sealers to render them self-adhesive to dentin. This study examined the adhesive strengths, interfacial ultrastructure, and tracer penetration of a nonetching (EndoREZ; Ultradent, South Jordan, UT) and two self-adhesive methacrylate resin-based sealers (MetaSEAL; Parkell, Farmington, NY, and RealSeal SE; SybronEndo, Orange, CA) when they were applied to radicular dentin following the manufacturers' recommended use of EDTA as the active final rinse. A modified push-out testing design was used to evaluate the dislodgement of core-free sealers.

Contemporary methacrylate resin-based root canal sealers exhibit different degrees of ex vivo cytotoxicity when cured in their self-cured mode.

The cytotoxicity of four methacrylate resin-based sealers was investigated by the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-thiazoyl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide assay, which measures cell viability by assessing its succinate dehydrogenase activity. The sealers were polymerized in the self-cured mode to simulate the setting condition upon their extrusion into periradicular tissues. Disks were prepared from EndoREZ (Ultradent, South Jordan, UT), RealSeal (SybronEndo, Orange, CA), MetaSEAL (Parkell, Farmington, NY), and RealSeal SE (SybronEndo) together with positive and negative controls.

A study of functional outcomes following implantation of a total distal radioulnar joint prosthesis.

This paper reports a long-term follow-up measuring pain, range of motion and weight-bearing ability, following implantation of a total distal radioulnar joint prosthesis. This prosthesis differs from excision arthroplasties and ulnar head replacements by replacing all three components of the distal radioulnar joint, viz. the sigmoid notch, the ulnar head and the triangular fibrocartilage.