Choice of Approach Does Not Affect Clinical and Radiologic Outcomes: A Comparative Cohort of Patients Having Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion and Patients Having Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion at 24 Months.

Study Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected registry data.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the clinical and radiologic outcomes between comparative cohorts of patients having anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) and patients having lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF).

Methods: Ninety consecutive patients were treated by a single surgeon with either ALIF (n = 50) or LLIF (n = 40).

Anterior lumbar interbody fusion using recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2: a prospective study of complications.

Object: The use of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) in anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) is controversial regarding the reported complication rates and cost. The authors aimed to assess the complication rates of performing ALIF using rhBMP-2.

Methods: This is a prospective study of consecutive patients who underwent ALIF performed by a single spine surgeon and a single vascular surgeon between 2009 and 2012.

Long-term mineralocorticoid receptor blockade ameliorates progression of experimental diabetic renal disease.

The final end point of diabetic renal disease is the accumulation of excess collagen. A number of studies have shown that aldosterone antagonism ameliorates progression of renal fibrosis. This study was designed to examine the effect of the mineralocorticoid receptor blocker eplerenone (EPL) on progression in streptozotocin (STZ)-treated spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), an accelerated model of Type I diabetes.

Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 deficiency is protective against nephropathy in type 2 diabetic db/db mice.

Diabetic nephropathy is a leading cause of end-stage renal failure and is a growing concern given the increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes. Diabetic nephropathy is associated with progressive kidney macrophage accumulation and experimental studies suggest that intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 facilitates kidney macrophage recruitment during type 1 diabetes. To ascertain the importance of ICAM-1 in promoting type 2 diabetic nephropathy, the development of renal injury in ICAM-1 intact and deficient db/db mice with equivalent hyperglycemia and obesity between ages 2 and 8 mo was examined and compared with results with normal db/+ mice.

Macrophages in streptozotocin-induced diabetic nephropathy: potential role in renal fibrosis.

Background: Renal fibrosis is central to the progression of diabetic nephropathy; however, the mechanisms responsible for fibroblast and matrix accumulation in this disease are only partially understood. Macrophages accumulate in diabetic kidneys, but it is unknown whether macrophages contribute to renal fibrosis. Therefore, we examined whether macrophage accumulation is associated with the progression of renal injury and fibrosis in type 1 diabetic nephropathy and whether macrophages exposed to the diabetic milieu could promote fibroblast proliferation.

Fatalities associated with the use of gamma-hydroxybutyrate and its analogues in Australasia.

Objective: To identify deaths in Australasia associated with overdose of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and its precursors (gamma-butyrolactone and 1,4-butanediol).

Design: A retrospective search of medical and scientific information sources, as well as popular newsprint, for the period January 2000-August 2003, with formal clinical, toxicological and forensic evaluation of retrieved data.

Main Outcome Measure: Death associated with forensic data implicating GHB or its analogues.

Historical controlled trial of OKT3 versus basiliximab induction therapy in simultaneous pancreas-renal transplantation.

Simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplant recipients are at high immunological risk of rejection. Antibody induction is beneficial but lymphocyte-depleting therapy is associated with a high incidence of side-effects. We performed a historical controlled trial to compare OKT3 versus anti-CD25 antibody (basiliximab) induction therapy with regard to patient, kidney and pancreas survival, as well as to examine for any differences in acute rejection, graft function, and infective complications.

Cardiovascular risk in dialysis patients: a comparison of risk factors and cardioprotective therapy between 1996 and 2001.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of mortality in dialysis patients. Aspirin, beta-blockers, statins, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors reduce CVD mortality in the general population, as may angiotensin II receptor antagonists. The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and usage rates of cardioprotective agents in end-stage renal failure are unknown.

Macrophages in mouse type 2 diabetic nephropathy: correlation with diabetic state and progressive renal injury.

Background: Macrophage-mediated renal injury has been implicated in progressive forms of glomerulonephritis; however, a role for macrophages in type 2 diabetic nephropathy, the major cause of end-stage renal failure, has not been established. Therefore, we examined whether macrophages may promote the progression of type 2 diabetic nephropathy in db/db mice.

Methods: The incidence of renal injury was examined in db/db mice with varying blood sugar and lipid levels at 8 months of age.

Health-related quality of life in Australian adults with renal insufficiency: a population-based study.

Background: Health-related quality of life is increasingly recognized as an important outcome in clinical research and patient care. Although there are a large number of reports of quality of life in the setting of end-stage renal disease, the impact of lesser degrees of renal impairment in the general population has not been described.

Methods: Data relating to quality of life measured by the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form (SF-36) was available for 10,525 participants (93.

Heterogeneity of antigen expression explains controversy over glomerular macrophage accumulation in mouse glomerulonephritis.

Background: Many antibody labelling studies have suggested that there are few or no glomerular macrophages in mouse models of glomerulonephritis, despite the presence of a prominent interstitial macrophage infiltrate. These findings conflict with studies of human and rat glomerulonephritis. Therefore, we examined whether heterogeneity of macrophage antigen expression could explain this apparent discrepancy.