The single-incision laparoscopic surgery technique has questionable advantages in colorectal surgery.

Background: Laparoscopic procedures have increasingly been accepted as standard in surgical treatment of benign and malignant entities, resulting in a continuous evolution of operative techniques. Since one of the aims in laparoscopic colorectal surgery is to reduce access trauma, one possible way is to further reduce the surgical site by the single-incision laparoscopic surgery technique (SLS). One of the main criticisms concerning the use of SLS is its questionable benefit combined with its technical demands for the surgeon.

Guideline appraisal with AGREE II: online survey of the potential influence of AGREE II items on overall assessment of guideline quality and recommendation for use.

Background: The AGREE II instrument is the most commonly used guideline appraisal tool. It includes 23 appraisal criteria (items) organized within six domains. AGREE II also includes two overall assessments (overall guideline quality, recommendation for use).

and Loci Associate with Plasma Osmolality.

Disorders of water balance, an excess or deficit of total body water relative to body electrolyte content, are common and ascertained by plasma hypo- or hypernatremia, respectively. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study meta-analysis on plasma sodium concentration in 45,889 individuals of European descent (stage 1 discovery) and 17,637 additional individuals of European descent (stage 2 replication), and a transethnic meta-analysis of replicated single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 79,506 individuals (63,526 individuals of European descent, 8765 individuals of Asian Indian descent, and 7215 individuals of African descent). In stage 1, we identified eight loci associated with plasma sodium concentration at <5.

Guideline appraisal with AGREE II: Systematic review of the current evidence on how users handle the 2 overall assessments.

Introduction: The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument is the most commonly used guideline appraisal tool. It includes 23 appraisal criteria (items) organized within 6 domains and 2 overall assessments (1. overall guideline quality; 2.

Performance of the Peto odds ratio compared to the usual odds ratio estimator in the case of rare events.

For the calculation of relative measures such as risk ratio (RR) and odds ratio (OR) in a single study, additional approaches are required for the case of zero events. In the case of zero events in one treatment arm, the Peto odds ratio (POR) can be calculated without continuity correction, and is currently the relative effect estimation method of choice for binary data with rare events. The aim of this simulation study is a variegated comparison of the estimated OR and estimated POR with the true OR in a single study with two parallel groups without confounders in data situations where the POR is currently recommended.

Single-incision versus standard multi-incision laparoscopic colectomy in patients with malignant or benign colonic disease: a systematic review, meta-analysis and assessment of the evidence.

Background: Single-incision laparoscopic colectomy (SILC) requires only one umbilical port site and (depending on technique) a specimen extraction site. The aim of this study was the assessment of the available evidence for the comparison of SILC to conventional multi-port laparoscopic colectomy (MLC) in adult patients, in whom elective colectomy is indicated because of malignant or benign disease. First, previous meta-analyses on this topic were assessed.

[Transanal extraction vs. minilaparotomy : For laparoendoscopic left-sided colon resection].

Background: Recent developments in classical minimally invasive surgical procedures for colon resection aimed to minimize or even eliminate abdominal wall incisions, thus improving postoperative pain, patient recovery and aesthetics. A promising approach is the total laparoendoscopic colectomy (LEC) with transanal sample extraction. The aim of this study was the comparison of total LEC with conventional laparoscopic assisted surgery (LAS) and extraction incision.

Information on new drugs at market entry: retrospective analysis of health technology assessment reports versus regulatory reports, journal publications, and registry reports.

Background: When a new drug becomes available, patients and doctors require information on its benefits and harms. In 2011, Germany introduced the early benefit assessment of new drugs through the act on the reform of the market for medicinal products (AMNOG). At market entry, the pharmaceutical company responsible must submit a standardised dossier containing all available evidence of the drug's added benefit over an appropriate comparator treatment.

Development of an ion activation stage for atmospheric pressure ionization sources.

Rationale: The ion-molecule chemistry in typical atmospheric pressure ion sources is essentially thermodynamically controlled. Methods relying on gas-phase protonation reactions, e.g.

The Peto odds ratio viewed as a new effect measure.

Meta-analysis has generally been accepted as a fundamental tool for combining effect estimates from several studies. For binary studies with rare events, the Peto odds ratio (POR) method has become the relative effect estimator of choice. However, the POR leads to biased estimates for the OR when treatment effects are large or the group size ratio is not balanced.

Approaches to assessing the benefits and harms of medical devices for application in surgery.

Background: The surgical community and the medical device industry enjoy a fruitful cooperation for the benefit of patients, but during the last years several high-risk products have led to problems and scandals, thus highlighting the need for reforms in European CE marking requirements. In October 2013, the European Parliament voted on a draft regulation on medical devices that intends to replace the current directives in 2014.

Purpose: This article offers guidance to surgeons on how to select and assess medical devices for clinical use.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies six new Loci for serum calcium concentrations.

Calcium is vital to the normal functioning of multiple organ systems and its serum concentration is tightly regulated. Apart from CASR, the genes associated with serum calcium are largely unknown. We conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of 39,400 individuals from 17 population-based cohorts and investigated the 14 most strongly associated loci in ≤ 21,679 additional individuals.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and not depression is associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length: findings from 3,000 participants in the population-based KORA F4 study.

Background: A link between severe mental stress and shorter telomere length (TL) has been suggested. We analysed the impact of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on TL in the general population and postulated a dose-dependent TL association in subjects suffering from partial PTSD compared to full PTSD.

Methods: Data are derived from the population-based KORA F4 study (2006-2008), located in southern Germany including 3,000 individuals (1,449 men and 1,551 women) with valid and complete TL data.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of the electrocardiographic early repolarization pattern.

Background: The early repolarization pattern (ERP) is common and associated with risk of sudden cardiac death. ERP is heritable, and mutations have been described in syndromatic cases.

Objective: To conduct a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies to identify common genetic variants influencing ERP.

Polymorphisms of the drug transporter gene ABCB1 predict side effects of treatment with cabergoline in patients with PRL adenomas.

Introduction: Treatment with dopamine agonists in patients with prolactin (PRL) adenomas and Parkinson's disease is associated with central side effects. Central side effects may depend on a substance's ability to pass the blood-brain barrier, which can be actively controlled by transporter molecules such as the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) encoded by the ABCB1 gene.

Materials And Methods: We aimed to determine whether cabergoline is transported by the P-gp and whether polymorphisms of its encoding ABCB1 gene predict central side effects of cabergoline therapy in patients with PRL adenomas.

Interrelated neuropsychological and anatomical evidence of hippocampal pathology in the at-risk mental state.

Background: Verbal learning and memory deficits are frequent among patients with schizophrenia and correlate with reduced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) volumes of the hippocampus in these patients. A crucial question is the extent to which interrelated structural-functional deficits of the hippocampus reflect a vulnerability to schizophrenia, as opposed to the disorder per se.

Method: We combined brain structural measures and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) to assess hippocampal structure and function in 36 never-medicated individuals suspected to be in early (EPS) or late prodromal states (LPS) of schizophrenia relative to 30 healthy controls.

Neural correlates of temporal context discrimination.

This study investigated event-related potential (ERP) effects when judgments about temporal context (recency judgments) required the retrieval of different amount of information. Subjects studied two consecutively presented word lists and at test made recency judgments to word pairs composed of two previously studied words, one drawn from each list ('Old + Old different' pairs), both drawn from the same list ('Old + Old same' pairs), or two unstudied words ('New + New' pairs). A frontopolar old/new effect was elicited by correct recency judgments which did not differ between both 'Old + Old' pairs.

Remembering or knowing: electrophysiological evidence for an episodic memory deficit in schizophrenia.

Background: In schizophrenia, impaired conscious retrieval of past events and facts may represent a selective cognitive deficit of declarative memory against a background of a generalized neuropsychological impairment. We aimed to disentangle the neural subprocesses leading to this deficit applying the 'Remember/Know procedure'.

Method: Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded as 14 schizophrenic patients and 14 controls recognized an equal mixture of previously presented old and new words.

Methohexital-induced changes in spectral power of neuromagnetic signals: beta augmentation is smaller over the hemisphere containing the epileptogenic focus.

Previous research has suggested that methohexital, a short-term barbiturate, alters activity in the primary epileptogenic area. It can be assumed that drug-induced activation of the epileptogenic focus provides a rapid and safe method to obtain a sufficient amount of information relevant for the lateralization and localisation of the primary epileptogenic area. This study shows that methohexital changes spectral power in the beta band derived from magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals over the hemisphere ipsilateral to the primary epileptogenic area.

Possibilities and limitations of magnetic source imaging of methohexital-induced epileptiform patterns in temporal lobe epilepsy patients.

The usefulness of MEG-based techniques in lateralizing and localizing the epileptogenic area was investigated in the present study. Spontaneous and methohexital-induced spikes were studied in a group of 15 patients with temporomesial epilepsy using a 37-channel neuromagnetometer. The accuracy of the magnetic source imaging was compared to the results of electrocorticographic (ECoG) recordings.

Human temporal lobe potentials in verbal learning and memory processes.

Animal experiments and lesion studies have shown the importance of temporal lobe structures for language and memory. We recorded intracranial cognitive potentials from the human lateral and medial temporal lobe in 26 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy undergoing presurgical evaluation, using a word- and a picture-recognition paradigm. Neuropsychological testing included word fluency, verbal reasoning, sustained attention and a verbal learning memory test (VLMT), which was an adapted version of the Rey auditory verbal learning test.

The apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 allele is not associated with early onset temporal lobe epilepsy.

A polymorphism of the apolipoprotein E gene, in particular the epsilon 4 allele (ApoE4), has been associated with impaired neuronal phospholipid metabolism and synapse reorganization and has been implicated in several neurodegenerative disorders. Since selective neuronal cell lose and aberrant axonal reorganization represent hall-marks of Ammon's horn sclerosis (AHS) in patients with chronic temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the ApoE polymorphism was studied in 125 patients with TLE. The genotype analysis revealed a frequency of 15.

[Lead and cadmium content in deciduous teeth of children of Stolberg and other cities of North-Rhine-Westphalia: a chronological trend 1968-1993].

The levels of lead and cadmium were determined in deciduous teeth (incisors only) of children living in Stolberg and some other cities located in North-Rhine-Westfalia, Germany. The Stolberg children were born in 1968-1973 (group 1; n = 103) and 1982/1983 (group 2; n = 103). The other children (n = 109) were born between 1979 and 1986.

Complex partial seizures of temporal lobe origin in children of different age groups.

The semiology of complex partial seizures (CPS) of temporal lobe origin in adults is well known and is important in establishing seizure localization in patients considered for epilepsy surgery. In contrast, the behavioral features of temporal lobe seizures (TLS) in children described in the literature have not been consistent. In the present study, we investigated children with TLS to compare their attacks to TLS occurring in adults.