as a Predictor for Sepsis after Polytrauma - Is Procalcitonin Useful for Identifying Septic Polytrauma Patients?

IBM and the University Hospital Zurich have developed an online tool for predicting outcomes of a patient with polytrauma, the . The three predicted outcomes are Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis within 21 days as well as early death within 72 hours since the admission of the patient. The validated offers insights into the most common laboratory parameters, such as procalcitonin (PCT).

Anatomical Injury Clusters in Polytrauma Patients.

Polytrauma is a major cause of death in young adults. The trial was to identify clusters of interlinked anatomical regions to improve strategical operational planning in the acute situation. A total of 2219 polytrauma patients with an ISS (Injury Severity Score) ≥ 16 and an age ≥ 16 years was included into this retrospective cohort study.

The Role of Lactate for Sepsis in Polytrauma Patients, a Time related Analysis using the IBM Watson Trauma Pathway Explorer.

The is an outcome prediction tool invented by the University Hospital of Zurich in collaboration with IBM, representing an artificial intelligence application to predict the most adverse outcome scenarios in polytrauma patients: Systemic Inflammatory Respiratory Syndrome (SIRS), sepsis within 21 days and death within 72 h. The hypothesis was how lactate values woud be associated with the incidence of sepsis. Data from 3653 patients in an internal database, with ongoing implementation, served for analysis.

Virtiol - Simulation of Quality of Vision with Multifocal and Edof Intraocular Lenses.

Unlabelled: Pupose: To experimentally compare the visual acuity and the subjective perception of different types of multifocal intraocular lenses (IOL) using a VirtIOL device/simulator in a group of volunteers with artephakia.

Material And Methods: This was an experimental study involving a total of 20 volunteers with artephakia (35 eyes). Each volunteer rated 5 types of IOLs, 4 presbyopia-correcting IOLs - WIOL-CF, Tecnis Symphony ZXR00, Acrysof IQ PanOptix TFNT00, M-flex 630 F, and as a reference lens, we used the monofocal IOL Acrysof SA60AT.

[Injury of upper cervical spine].

Injuries of the upper cervical spine represent 1/3 of all cervical spine injuries and approximately 40 % result by the death. Every level of the cervical spine can be injured - fractures of condyles of the occipital bone (CO), atlantooccipital dislocation (AOD), fractures of the Atlas (C1), atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD) and fractures of the axis (C2). Most of cases in younger patients are caused by high-energy trauma, while by elderly people, because of the osteoporosis, is needed much less energy and even simple falls can cause the injury of the cervical spine.

[Long-term results of surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy using open-door laminoplasty].

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is a serious disease which, in its advanced form, can markedly disable the patient. The aim of the present work was a prospective evaluation of a group of CSM patients treated by open-door laminoplasty. MATERIAL AND METHODS We evaluated 89 patients (59 men and 30 women; average age, 62 years; range, 39 to 81 years) who underwent surgery in the years 2001 to 2011.

Outcomes and their predictors in lumbar spinal stenosis: a 12-year follow-up.

Purpose: The aim of this prospective observational cohort study was to evaluate long-term outcomes in patients with mild-to-moderate lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and to analyse the predictors of clinical outcomes.

Methods: A group of 53 patients were re-examined after a median period of 139 months. Evaluations were made of subjective clinical outcome, objective clinical outcome and its predictors, any correlation between subjective and objective outcome, and the development of changes in radiological and electrophysiological parameters after 12 years.

[Atypical fracture of metatarsal bone in a patient with multiple myeloma who was treated long-term with bisphosphonates].

The first reports found in professional literature on the use of bisphosphonates as a treatment date back to 1972. We found the first report on the use of a bisphosphonate comprising nitrogen in its molecule in a publication from 1990. Some of the adverse effects of the particular types of bisphosphonates were described in the registration studies.

[Evaluation of treatment outcomes in tuberculosis of knee and hip joints in 2005-2012].

Purpose Of The Study: Tuberculosis (TB) in a joint region presents high risk of damage to the joint. Consequences of a late diagnosis and inadequate therapy may be serious particularly in the large joints of lower extremities. Tuberculosis of knee and hip joints accounts for about 25% to 35% of osteoarticular tuberculosis (OAT).

[Comparison of two surgical methods for treatment of idiopathic thoracic scoliosis - anterior versus posterior approaches].

Purpose Of The Study: The aim of this retrospective randomised study is a comparison of two surgical approaches (anterior versus posterior) for the treatment of idiopathic thoracic scoliosis by corrective spondylodesis with segmental instrumentation in adolescents aged 13 to 20 years.

Material And Methods: The study included patients with right-sided idiopathic thoracic scoliosis (Cobb's angle, 40°-70°; Lenke type I). The group of patients treated from the posterior approach by fusion and segmental instrumentation, involving the use of a hybrid, tworod system or screws only, comprised 31 girls with an average age of 14.

[Successful treatment of Erdheim-Chester disease by 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine-based chemotherapy. Two case studies and a literature review].

Introduction: Erdheim-Chester disease is an extremely rarely occuring condition and thus an optimal treatment is not known. Two new cases have been diagnosed in our centre in 2008 and 2009. Both patients had diabetes insipidus, B symptoms (subfebrile to febrile states) and pain in long bones of lower limbs.

[Quality of life in the patients treated for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis: a three-year follow-up study].

Purpose Of The Study: The aim of the study was to evaluate the quality of life in patients treated for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis at 3 years of follow-up.

Material And Methods: Between October 2005 and 2008, answers to Oswestry, quality-of-life (SF-36) and VAS questionnaires were obtained from 117 patients indicated for lumbar spine surgery due to spinal stenosis. There were 52 men and 65 women, with an average age of 62 years.

[Treatment of deep cartilage defects of the knee with autologous chondrocyte transplantation: long-term results].

Purpose Of The Study: The authors present the long-term results of surgical treatment of deep chondral defects of the knee (medial or lateral femoral condyle). They used the transplantation of autologous cultured chondrocytes in the form of a solid chondral graft.

Material And Methods: Indications for autologous chondrocyte transplantation most frequently included acute trauma to the knee.

[Dynamic neutralization using the Dynesys system for treatment of degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine].

Purpose Of The Study: Degenerative disc disease (DDD) is a spinal condition resulting from degeneration of the intervertebral discs. It is associated with symptoms of sciatica, back pain and leg weakness and also with degenerative instability of the spine. To arrest the degenerative cascade of disc disease, and taking into consideration stress placed on the adjacent discs managed by decompression and stabilisation by instrumented fusion, the lumbar spine was treated by dynamic posterior stabilisation of the segments affected.

Ion channel activity of transmembrane segment 6 of Escherichia coli proton-dependent manganese transporter.

Synthetic peptides corresponding to the sixth transmembrane segment (TMS6) of secondary-active transporter MntH (Proton-dependent Manganese Transporter) from Escherichia coli and its two mutations in the functionally important conserved histidine residue were used as a model for structure-function study of MntH. The secondary structure of the peptides was estimated in different environments using circular dichroism spectroscopy. These peptides interacted with and adopted helical conformations in lipid membranes.

[Adjacent segment degeneration after lumbosacral fusion in spondylolisthesis: a retrospective radiological and clinical analysis].

Purpose Of The Study: Whereas the posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) technique with pedicle screw fixation has shown satisfactory clinical results, solid fusion has been reported to accelerate degenerative changes at adjacent unfused levels, especially at the cranial level. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate a group of patients with adjacent segment disease (ASD) developed after 360-degrees lumbar fusion for spondylolisthesis performed by PLIF with transpedicular fixation and posterolateral fusion (PLF).Radiographic examinations were focused on the origin or progression of degenerative changes at the adjacent segments after the operation, with statistical evaluation of some parameters.

New applications of pHluorin--measuring intracellular pH of prototrophic yeasts and determining changes in the buffering capacity of strains with affected potassium homeostasis.

pHluorin is a pH-sensitive variant of green fluorescent protein for measuring intracellular pH (pH(in)) in living cells. We constructed a new pHluorin plasmid with the dominant selection marker KanMX. This plasmid allows pH measurements in cells without auxotrophic mutations and/or grown in chemically indefinite media.

[Neurological findings in patients treated surgically for spinal metastatic disease].

Purpose Of The Study: We present a group of patients with spinal metastatic disease surgically treated at our department, with an evaluation of their neurological outcomes in relation to the initial disease and the surgical technique used.

Material: Between 1989 and 2007 we operated on 748 patients with spinal tumour. Of these, 380 had metastatic disease.

[Our experience with chordoma treatment].

Purpose Of The Study: The aim of the study was to evaluate the group of patients operated on for chordoma at our department. We present diagnostic and surgical management options relevant to the localisation of chordoma in the spine, and evaluate the results in terms of post-operative complications, tumour recurrence and patient survival.

Material And Methods: Between 1989 and 2002 a total of 20 patients diagnosed with chordoma were treated.

[Evaluation of the quality of life in patients with degenerative disorders of lumbar spine].

The review article deals with issues related to the evaluation of life quality, using questionnaire techniques, in patients with degenerative disorders of the lumbar spine. The topic is introduced with the complexity of health definition and life quality evaluation. Then degenerative spinal disorders are defined.

[Simple bony fusion or instrumented hemivertebra excision in the surgical treatment of congenital scoliosis].

Purpose Of The Study: In a retrospective study, to analyze long-term radiographic results of two surgical procedures used to treat congenital scoliosis.

Material And Methods: A total of 685 patients with congenital scoliosis were treated at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Bohunice Teaching Hospital in Brno, between 1976 and 2007. Of these, 102 patients, with an average age of 6.

[Neuromuscular deformity of the pelvis and its surgical treatment].

Purpose Of The Study: To evaluate the efficacy of surgical treatment in pelvic deformities associated with neuromuscular spine deformity, using radiographic parameters and clinical outcome analysis. In the lumbo-pelvic region, spinal deformity is most frequently combined with pelvic obliquity, lumbar hyperlordosis, hip deformity and leg-length discrepancy. Pelvic deformities include an excessive posterior or anterior pelvic tilt, obliquity or rotation and windblown hip syndrome.

[Surgical management of posterior cruciate ligament avulsion fracture].

Purpose Of The Study: Injury to the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) is relatively rare and, if combined with avulsion fracture of the PCL insertion site, it accounts for only a small number of knee injuries. This is why PCL avulsion fracture is an easily missed diagnosis resulting in knee instability and arthritis development. The aim of this study was to show the necessity of surgical treatment of these injuries.

Solute carrier 11 cation symport requires distinct residues in transmembrane helices 1 and 6.

Ubiquitous solute carriers 11 (SLC11) contribute to metal-ion homeostasis by importing Me(2+) and H(+) into the cytoplasm. To identify residues mediating cation symport, Escherichia coli proton-dependent manganese transporter (MntH) was mutated at five SLC11-specific transmembrane (TM) sites; each mutant activity was compared with wild-type MntH, and the biochemical results were tested by homology threading. Cd(2+) and H(+) uptake kinetics were analyzed in whole cells as a function of pH and temperature, and right-side out membrane vesicles were used to detail energy requirements and to probe site accessibility by Cys replacement and thiol modification.

The role of the autonomic nervous system in the etiology of idiopathic scoliosis: prospective electron microscopic and morphometric study.

Objects: The exact etiology of scoliosis is still unknown. The main purpose of this study is to search for the possible causation of scoliosis in the development changes of autonomic nervous structures. In this prospective study, we followed-up the changes in peripheral nerve structures and its discrepancies regarding the concavity and convexity of the scoliotic curve.