Sensory recovery 1 year after bridging digital nerve defects with collagen tubes.

Purpose: To investigate digital nerve regeneration following implantation of collagen tubes in a prospective study.

Methods: Forty-five digital nerve defects (≤ 2.6 cm) in the hand were reconstructed in 35 patients (6 female, 29 male; mean age, 47 y).

Altered callosal function in cerebral microangiopathy.

Callosal dysfunction is known to be evident in a variety of neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system. Cerebral microangiopathy (CMA) may also affect callosal pathways by chronic demyelination. The aim of the present study was to investigate callosal function with respect to the extent of CMA.

[Neurophysiological investigations of information processing in the somato-sensory system].

The ability of the human hand to perform complex sensorimotor tasks such as tactile exploration and grasping is based on 1. exact encoding of somatosensory information by cutaneous mechanoreceptors, 2. elaborated processing of afferent signals in somatosensory relay stations and cortex fields, 3.

Evaluation of coated oxygenators in cardiopulmonary-bypass systems and their impact on neurocognitive function.

Introduction: Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is assumed to be associated with a decline of neurocognitive functions. This study was designed to analyse the neurocognitive function of patients with coronary heart disease before and after CABG and to determine possible protective effects of oxygenator surface coating on neurological outcome.

Methods: Forty patients scheduled for selective CABG were prospectively randomized into two groups of 20 patients each according to the type of hollow-fibre membrane oxygenator used.