A Novel Test, the Sternomental Distance Ratio, Used as a Predictor of Difficult Laryngoscopy in a Normal Population and in Thyroid Tumor Surgery Patients: A Preliminary Study.

Objective: The aim of the present preliminary study was to assess whether the sternomental distance ratio (SMDR) could be suitable as a predictor of difficult laryngoscopy, in both normal surgical patients and patients scheduled to undergo thyroid tumor surgery.

Methods: Two hundred and twenty-one consecutive adult patients (among them 122 patients with presumed normal airways and 33 patients with thyroid tumors), scheduled to undergo elective surgery under general anesthesia, were included in this study. Physical and airway characteristics, SMDR, difficult laryngoscopy (using Cormack-Lehane scale) and any kind of assisted intubation were assessed.

Sternomental Distance Ratio as a Predictor of Difficult Laryngoscopy: A Prospective, Double-Blind Pilot Study.

Background: No single test has shown to be an accurate predictor of difficult laryngoscopy.

Aims: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the ratio of the sternomental distance (SMD) in neutral and full neck extension position SMD ratio (SMDR) as a predictor of difficult laryngoscopy and any need of assisted intubation.

Settings And Design: Prospective, double-blind pilot study.

Parstatin inhibits viability of human retinal pigment epithelium cells: an in vitro cytotoxicity study.

Objective: Parstatin, the N-terminal 41-amino-acid peptide cleaved by thrombin from protease-activated-receptor 1, was shown to be highly effective in preventing ocular angiogenesis and as such it has potential therapeutic applications in ocular neovascular diseases. In the frame of a safety program in preclinical development, we investigated whether parstatin exerts any cytotoxic effect in critical ocular cell populations.

Materials And Methods: Human retinal pigment epithelium cell-19 line (ARPE-19) and the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetric assay were used to investigate parstatin's effect in cell cultures.

Fatality of Staphylococcus aureus infections in a Greek university hospital: role of inappropriate empiric treatment, methicillin resistance, and toxin genes' presence.

The aim of the present study was to identify predictors of fatality among patients with S. aureus infections requiring hospitalization. Cases hospitalized with S.