Assessment of Patients' Willingness to Participate in a Randomized Trial of Spinal versus General Anesthesia for Lumbar Spine Surgery.

Background: Prospective nonrandomized studies have found less postoperative fatigue and improved quality of life in patients undergoing awake spine surgery under spinal anesthesia compared with general anesthesia. Randomized trials are needed to validate these findings.

Objective: To prospectively investigate patients' willingness to enroll in randomized trials of lumbar spine surgery under spinal versus general anesthesia and identify any potential barriers.

Bifrontal Osteoplastic Flap: An Option to Decrease Infection in Bifrontal Craniotomies with Skull Base Osteotomies.

Infection can be a common complication following bifrontal craniotomy with skull base osteotomies given the potential violation of sinuses and entry into the nasal structures. Our objective was to examine our series of patients who underwent a bifrontal craniotomy with skull base osteotomies and describe the infection rate. We propose the bifrontal osteoplastic flap as an adjunct to infection prevention.

Modern Approaches to Evacuating Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Purpose Of Review: The present review aims to discuss the recent advances in surgical management of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), safety and efficacy of minimally invasive surgical techniques, and the existing evidence supporting their use.

Recent Findings: Newer surgical techniques, collectively referred to as minimally invasive surgery (MIS), have been evaluated and studied in management of ICH. Stereotactic evacuation of intracerebral hemorrhage using aspiration-irrigation technique has showed significant reductions in the hematoma volume with minimal intra-operative bleeding.

Characteristics of Accredited Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound Laboratories in the United States.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe in detail the characteristics and accreditation compliance of laboratories in the United States applying for Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) transcranial Doppler (TCD) accreditation.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of all applicant laboratories from 2012 to 2015. We used the IAC database to extract laboratory characteristics and guideline compliance metrics.

A Series of Cerebral Venous Sinus Thromboses Treated with Intra-Arterial tPA infused over Ten Hours with a 0.027-inch Catheter and Literature Review.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) can have devastating results, with mortality reported in 44% of cases. No randomized trials exist in order to define what qualifies as failure of conservative therapy, and there is no specific intervention to date which is considered safe and effective. Case series suggest that thrombolysis infusion is safer than thrombectomy, but methods of administration, dose, and duration of therapy tend to vary widely.

Effect of serotonin on platelet function in cocaine exposed blood.

5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) reuptake inhibitors counteract the pro-thrombotic effect of elevated plasma 5-HT by down-regulating the 5-HT uptake rates of platelets. Cocaine also down-regulates the platelet 5-HT uptake rates but in contrast, the platelets of cocaine-injected mice show a much higher aggregation rate than the platelets of control mice. To examine the involvement of plasma 5-HT in cocaine-mediated platelet aggregation, we studied the function of platelets isolated from wild-type and transgenic, peripheral 5-HT knock-out (TPH1-KO) mice, and cocaine-insensitive dopamine transporter knock in (DAT-KI) mice.

Impact of elevated plasma serotonin on global gene expression of murine megakaryocytes.

Background: Serotonin (5-HT) is a biogenic amine that also acts as a mitogen and a developmental signal early in rodent embryogenesis. Genetic and pharmacological disruption of 5-HT signaling causes various diseases and disorders via mediating central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and serious abnormalities on a growing embryo. Today, neither the effective modulators on 5-HT signaling pathways nor the genes affected by 5-HT signal are well known yet.

Down-regulation of the serotonin transporter in hyperreactive platelets counteracts the pro-thrombotic effect of serotonin.

An elevated plasma concentration of serotonin ([5-HT]) is a common feature of cardiovascular disease often associated with enhanced platelet activation and thrombosis. Whether elevated in vivo plasma 5-HT per se represents an independent risk factor for platelet hyperreactivity or only is an epiphenomenon of cardiovascular disease is poorly understood. We examined in vitro and in vivo platelet function following a 24h elevation of plasma [5-HT] in mice.

Communication between 5-HT and small GTPases.

Advances over the past decade have improved our understanding of the serotonin (5-HT) biology outside the central nervous system specifically the molecular mechanisms of serotonergic signaling in association with small GTPases. It is now recognized that the communication between 5-HT and GTPases plays important roles in peripheral tissues, vascular cells and are involved in coagulation, hypertension, inflammation, healing and protection. Furthermore, 5-HT receptors as heterotrimeric GTP-binding protein-coupled receptors act as effector protein on the small GTPases.

The cellular distribution of serotonin transporter is impeded on serotonin-altered vimentin network.

Background: The C-terminus of the serotonin transporter (SERT) contains binding domains for different proteins and is critical for its functional expression. In endogenous and heterologous expression systems, our proteomic and biochemical analysis demonstrated that an intermediate filament, vimentin, binds to the C-terminus of SERT. It has been reported that 5HT-stimulation of cells leads to disassembly and spatial reorientation of vimentin filaments.