Effectiveness of acetylcysteine on preventing renal dysfunction in patients undergoing coronary procedures.

Objective: Experimental studies have shown that acetylcysteine is beneficial in preserving kidney function during coronary procedures. However, its role in routine clinical practice is not known.

Methods: We studied 75 consecutive patients undergoing coronary procedures who received acetylcysteine, and compared them with 56 consecutive similar patients who served as control.

Culture-proven endogenous endophthalmitis: clinical features and visual acuity outcomes.

Purpose: To investigate clinical features and visual acuity outcomes associated with endogenous endophthalmitis.

Design: Retrospective, observational case series.

Methods: Twenty-one eyes of 21 patients treated at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute for culture-proven endogenous endophthalmitis between 1996 and 2002 were reviewed.

Hertel exophthalmometry versus computed tomography and optical 3D imaging for the determination of the globe position in zygomatic fractures.

It has been the aim of the present study, to introduce the combination of computed tomography and optical 3D imaging to exophthalmometry and to compare the resulting data to the classic Hertel method. Twenty patients without orbital pathology and 12 patients were included in the study, who were subjected to a preoperative computed tomography. Optical 3D images of the facial surface were assessed and Hertel exophthalmometry was carried out to determine protrusion.

Correlation of AFM and SFA measurements concerning the stability of supported lipid bilayers.

Phospholipid bilayers were studied by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and a surface force apparatus (SFA). The stability of the supported bilayers was described by the amount of irregularities in the topography of the membrane by means of AFM and by the occurrence of hemifusion in the SFA, which is an indicator of defective bilayers. The bilayers, composed of lipids having the same headgroup but different chain lengths in the two leaflets, were prepared by Langmuir-Blodgett deposition and transferred at different surface pressures.

Salvage external beam radiotherapy of retinal capillary hemangiomas secondary to von Hippel-Lindau disease: visual and anatomic outcomes.

Objective: To examine the visual and anatomic outcomes of patients with retinal capillary hemangiomas secondary to von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease treated with globe-salvaging fractionated external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) after progression of hemangiomas despite initial therapy.

Design: Retrospective noncomparative consecutive case series.

Participants: Review of medical records of 5 patients with retinal capillary hemangiomas secondary to VHL disease.

Electron shuttling via humic acids in microbial iron(III) reduction in a freshwater sediment.

The biological and chemical potential for electron shuttling via humic acids was evaluated by analyzing the depth distribution of humic-acid-reducing and iron-reducing bacteria in a freshwater sediment, and correlating it to the redox characteristics of humic acids and iron. Physicochemical analysis of profundal sediments of Lake Constance revealed a distinct stratification, with oxygen respiration, microbial iron and sulfate reduction, and methanogenesis allocatable to defined layers. Among the acid-extractable iron in the surface layer, ferric iron (Fe(III)) was dominant, whereas ferrous iron (Fe(II)) prevailed below 2 cm depth.

Endophthalmitis isolates and antibiotic sensitivities: a 6-year review of culture-proven cases.

Purpose: To investigate the spectrum of organisms causing culture-proven endophthalmitis and their sensitivities to commonly used antimicrobial agents.

Design: Retrospective, noncomparative, consecutive case series.

Methods: Medical records were reviewed of all patients with culture-proven endophthalmitis at a single institution between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 2001.

Relative en- and exophthalmometry in zygomatic fractures comparing optical non-contact, non-ionizing 3D imaging to the Hertel instrument and computed tomography.

Aim: It is the aim of the present study to introduce non-contact, non-invasive optical 3D imaging to relative exophthalmometry and to compare the resulting data to exophthalmometry values assessed by the Hertel instrument and computed tomography.

Patients And Methods: 20 patients (3 female, 17 male, 44.4+/-16.

Acute psychological and physiological effects of psilocybin in healthy humans: a double-blind, placebo-controlled dose-effect study.

Rationale: Serotonin (5-Hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) receptors play an important role in perception, affect regulation and attention. Pharmacological challenge with the 5-HT(2A) agonist psilocybin (PY) is useful in studying the neurobiological basis of cognition and consciousness.

Objective: Investigation of dose-dependent effects of PY on psycho(patho)logical and physiological parameters.

Magnetically integrated microporous implant: safety and efficacy of secondary posting.

Objective: To evaluate the surgical technique and morbidity related to secondary posting of a previously implanted 12-mm microporous high-density polyethylene implant (MEDPOR) and the enhanced motility associated with magnetic coupling of the prosthesis and the implant in a rabbit model.

Methods: Eight New Zealand rabbits underwent primary evisceration surgery with implantation of a 12-mm microporous high-density polyethylene implant. At 6 weeks, a 4 x 6-mm stainless steel, titanium-coated post was secondarily inserted in 6 rabbit eyes using a bilevel incision.

Acute endophthalmitis following intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide injection.

Purpose: To report the clinical features, causative organisms, management, and visual acuity outcomes of eight eyes of eight patients who developed acute postoperative endophthalmitis following intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA).

Design: Retrospective, multicenter, interventional, case series.

Methods: A retrospective, interventional, case series of all patients with acute postoperative endophthalmitis following IVTA at seven academic clinical centers between March 2001 and July 2002.

Uveal melanoma presenting as acute angle-closure glaucoma: report of two cases.

Purpose: To present two cases of uveal melanoma presenting as acute angle-closure glaucoma.

Design: Observational case reports. Assessment and management of two patients with uveal melanoma presenting with acute angle-closure glaucoma.

Microvascular basal lamina antigen loss after traumatic brain injury in the rat.

The loss of microvascular basal lamina antigen is known to be a consequence of cerebral ischemia, but little information is available on its role in traumatic brain injury (TBI). The aim of our study was (1) to test the hypothesis that there is damage to the basal lamina of brain microvasculature after TBI, (2) to localize microvascular damage, and (3) to compare this loss with that in ischemia. Rats (n=14) were either sham operated (n=5) or subjected to fluid percussion injury (n=9; TBI=1.

Validation of in vivo assessment of facial soft-tissue volume changes and clinical application in midfacial distraction: a technical report.

The purpose of this study was to validate the assessment of visible volume changes of the facial soft tissue with an optical three-dimensional sensor and to introduce new parameters for the evaluation of the soft-tissue shape achieved from three-dimensional data of selected cases of midfacial distraction. Images of a truncated cone of known volume were assessed repeatedly with an optical three-dimensional sensor based on phase-measuring triangulation to calculate the volume. Two cubic centimeters of anesthetic solution was injected into the right malar region of 10 volunteers who gave their informed consent.

Comparison of retinoblastoma reduction for chemotherapy vs external beam radiotherapy.

Objective: To determine the time course and extent of tumor reduction associated with systemic chemotherapy or external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in the treatment of advanced intraocular retinoblastoma.

Methods: Retrospective review of children with Reese-Ellsworth stages IV and V retinoblastoma undergoing primary globe-conserving therapy with either systemic chemoreduction or EBRT. Study variables were recorded at baseline, at monthly intervals for the first 6 months, and at 12 months after the initiation of treatment.

Progressive outer retinal necrosis in immunocompetent patients treated initially for optic neuropathy with systemic corticosteroids.

Purpose: To report two cases of progressive outer retinal necrosis occurring in immunocompetent individuals after treatment with corticosteroids for presumed optic neuropathy.

Design: Observational case report.

Setting: University-based tertiary eye hospital.

Influence of early hard palate closure in unilateral and bilateral cleft lip and palate on maxillary transverse growth during the first four years of age.

Objective: To evaluate and compare the effects of early primary closure of the hard palate on the anterior and posterior width of the maxillary arch in children with bilateral (BCLP) and unilateral (UCLP) cleft lip and palate during the first 4 years of life.

Design: A retrospective, mixed-longitudinal study.

Setting: Cleft Palate Center of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

Increased diode laser uptake in inner retinal layers after indocyanine green staining of the internal limiting membrane.

Intraoperative use of indocyanine green to stain the internal limiting membrane assists in its visualization and removal. This article describes increased uptake of diode laser energy by the superficial layers of the retina after indocyanine green staining of the internal limiting membrane in a patient with diabetic macular edema and a taut, attached posterior hyaloid. The patient was undergoing pars plana vitrectomy, removal of the posterior hyaloid, and indocyanine green-assisted peeling of the internal limiting membrane.

Analysis and processing of samples for a carbon-14 monitoring program at a radioactive waste storage site.

A monitoring program was undertaken to determine the levels of airborne radioactive 14CO2 in an operating waste management area, and it its vicinity. As a part of this program, alkaline microporous pellets, recently developed, were used to sample the 14CO2 in air near waste storage structures and near the waste management area. These pellets were never fully characterized for their ability to capture high levels of 14CO2, and the processing and analysis needed to be improved to provide data on recoveries and consistencies, for an eventual method validation, with independent calibrations and standards.

Retinal detachment in patients with a preexisting glaucoma drainage device: anatomic, visual acuity, and intraocular pressure outcomes.

Purpose: To report anatomic, visual acuity, and intraocular pressure (IOP) outcomes after retinal detachment (RD) repair in patients with a preexisting glaucoma drainage device.

Methods: Consecutive case series including patients with a preexisting glaucoma drainage device who underwent RD repair at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute between 1989 and 1999.

Results: Ten patients were identified with a mean follow-up of 18 months.

Iron metabolism in anoxic environments at near neutral pH.

Anaerobic dissimilatory ferric iron-reducing and ferrous iron-oxidizing bacteria gain energy through reduction or oxidation of iron minerals and presumably play an important role in catalyzing iron transformations in anoxic environments. Numerous ferric iron-reducing bacteria have been isolated from a great diversity of anoxic environments, including sediments, soils, deep terrestrial subsurfaces, and hot springs. In contrast, only few ferrous iron-oxidizing bacteria are known so far.

Reduced human growth hormone (hGH) bioactivity without a defect of the GH-1 gene in three patients with rhGH responsive growth failure.

Background: A GH deficiency-like phenotype with normal or high hGH secretion, pathologically low IGF-I serum levels, and catch-up growth under treatment with recombinant hGH is suggestive of the presence of biologically inactive hGH syndrome, whose presumably heterogenous molecular basis is substantially unknown.

Design: Serum samples from patients who fulfilled the above criteria and from controls with idiopathic short stature were measured by polyclonal hGH-RIA, Nb2 rat lymphoma proliferation assay, and hGH immunofunctional assay (IFA). If assays were suggestive of the presence of bioinactive GH, mutational analysis of the hGH-1 gene was performed.