Relationship between EEG spectral power and dysglycemia with neurodevelopmental outcomes after neonatal encephalopathy.

Objective: We investigated how electroencephalography (EEG) quantitative measures and dysglycemia relate to neurodevelopmental outcomes following neonatal encephalopathy (NE).

Methods: This retrospective study included 90 neonates with encephalopathy who received therapeutic hypothermia. EEG absolute spectral power was calculated during post-rewarming and 2-month follow-up.

Anatomy and Functional Morphology of the Mysticete Rorqual Whale Larynx: Phonation Positions of the U-Fold.

Many Mysticetes (baleen whales) are acoustically active marine mammals. This is epitomized by rorquals, and specifically male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) whose complex songs comprise a wide range of vocalizations. The sound production mechanism of odontocetes (toothed whales, including dolphins and porpoises) is well described, in contrast to that of mysticetes whose vocalization mechanism remains a subject of active scientific investigation.

Pain Modulation: From Conditioned Pain Modulation to Placebo and Nocebo Effects in Experimental and Clinical Pain.

Accumulating evidence reveal important applications of endogenous pain modulation assessment in healthy controls and in patients in clinical settings, as dysregulations in the balance of pain modulatory circuits may facilitate pain and promote chronification of pain. This article reviews data on pain modulation, focusing on the mechanisms and translational aspects of pain modulation from conditioned pain modulation (CPM) to placebo and nocebo effects in experimental and clinical pain. The specific roles of expectations, learning, neural and neurophysiological mechanisms of the central nervous system are briefly reviewed herein.

Vascular endothelial growth factor-loaded injectable hydrogel enhances plasticity in the injured spinal cord.

We hypothesized that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-containing hydrogels that gelify in situ after injection into a traumatized spinal cord, could stimulate spinal cord regeneration. Injectable hydrogels composed of 0.5% Pronova UPMVG MVG alginate, supplemented or not with fibrinogen, were used.

Effects of subcortical cerebrovascular lesions on cortical hemodynamic parameters assessed by perfusion magnetic resonance imaging.

A simultaneous decrease of cerebral blood volume (CBV) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) has been described after subcortical stroke with positron emission tomography. However, this imaging modality cannot be applied routinely to stroke patients. Dynamic susceptibility contrast-enhanced MRI techniques (DSC-MRI) might be interesting in the assessment of these effects.

Effects of thalamic hemorrhage on cortical hemodynamic parameters assessed by perfusion MR imaging: preliminary report.

Thalamic lesions may induce a diffuse hypometabolism and subsequent decrease of cortical cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and cerebral blood volume (rCBV). Up to now PET was used to assess these changes. However this latter method cannot be applied routinely to stroke patients because it is expensive and not currently available.

Can cerebrovascular reactivity be assessed by dynamic susceptibility contrast-enhanced MRI?

The acetazolamide (ACZ) test is performed to evaluate the decrease in cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) by investigation of vasomotor reactivity (VMR). Our aim was to study cerebral blood flow and blood volume changes induced by the ACZ test in healthy control subjects using dynamic susceptibility contrast-enhanced gradient-echo MRI (DSC-MRI). A FLASH sequence was used to produce susceptibility-weighted images during an intravenous injection of 0.

Assessment of left ventricular stiffness and compliance.

Invasive and non-invasive methods exist to assess left ventricular compliance (LVC). This work has two parts, one experimental and one clinical. We estimated left chamber stiffness in dogs by using volume data from radionuclide ventriculography (RNV) and left ventricular pressure data, synchronized with a gating system to the intraventricular dp/dt max to obtain volume and pressure data from a mean cardiac cycle.

[Role of isotope methods in the evaluation of cardiac function in intensive care].

Radioisotopic cardiac investigation techniques still have a limited role in intensive care units, mainly due to cumbersome traditional equipment, even if in some cases favourable local circumstances exist, such as the proximity of a nuclear medicine unit or the availability of a mobile gamma camera. Nevertheless, nuclear techniques show a number of interesting features, mainly related to the fact that measurements of cardiac chamber volumes and of their variations can be directly derived from activity counts, without any geometrical hypothesis as it is necessary for other methods such as contrast angiography or echocardiography. The whole cardiac cycle (its systolic part as well as its diastolic part) can therefore be evaluated.

Incidence of pre-operative deep venous thrombosis in abdominal surgery.

In order to determine the incidence of pre-operative and postoperative deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in patients not receiving prophylactic anticoagulant therapy, bilateral phlebography was performed in a prospective study pre-operatively and on the 9th postoperative day, in 51 consecutive patients submitted for major abdominal surgery. The presence of a DVT before surgery was demonstrated in 15.7 per cent of the patients.

Evolution of antithrombin III during the postoperative period.

In a prospective study, antithrombin III (AT III) was performed preoperatively, peroperatively immediately after the surgical procedure and daily during the 8 postoperative days in 57 consecutive patients who underwent major abdominal surgery without prophylactic anticoagulant therapy. On d 8, according to the results of a bilateral radiological phlebography, the patients were divided into 2 groups: Group I: presence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT): n = 28 (49%) and Group 2: absence of deep venous thrombosis: n = 29 (52%). The results of the study showed that the preoperative AT III value did not constitute a marker of the postoperative DVT risk.

Presence of alveolar macrophages as a criterion for determining the suitability of sputum specimens for bacterial culture.

The microscopic and bacteriological findings in paired saliva and sputum specimens from 66 patients with chronic bronchitis were compared in order to determine whether the presence of alveolar macrophages is a valid criterion for determining the suitability of a sputum specimen for bacterial culture. Alveolar macrophages were mainly present in sputum specimens, the culture results of which differed from the culture results of the matching saliva specimen (p less than 0.001).

Amikacin assay: correlation between rapid bioassay, enzyme immuno-assay (EMIT) and fluoro-immuno-assay (FIA).

Three methods (rapid bioassay, enzyme immunoassay and fluoroimmunoassay) for the determination of amikacin level in serum are compared. The statistical analysis of the results show correlation coefficients equal to 0.967 (EMIT versus FIA), 0.