Standardizing nomenclature in regional anesthesia: an ASRA-ESRA Delphi consensus study of upper and lower limb nerve blocks.

Background: Inconsistent nomenclature and anatomical descriptions of regional anesthetic techniques hinder scientific communication and engender confusion; this in turn has implications for research, education and clinical implementation of regional anesthesia. Having produced standardized nomenclature for abdominal wall, paraspinal and chest wall regional anesthetic techniques, we aimed to similarly do so for upper and lower limb peripheral nerve blocks.

Methods: We performed a three-round Delphi international consensus study to generate standardized names and anatomical descriptions of upper and lower limb regional anesthetic techniques.

Age Impacts Risk of Mixed Chimerism Following Reduced-Intensity Conditioning Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Non-Severe Combined Immune Deficiency Inborn Errors of Immunity.

Alemtuzumab, fludarabine, and melphalan containing-reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) is commonly used in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for definitive treatment of high-risk inborn errors of immunity (IEI). Although survival is favorable, there is an increased risk of mixed chimerism leading to secondary graft failure. This study evaluated factors associated with the risk of developing mixed chimerism, particularly the influence of age in patients undergoing allogeneic HCT for non-severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) IEI who received a uniform RIC regimen that included intermediate schedule alemtuzumab, fludarabine, and melphalan.

COVID-19 Vaccination In Patients with Inborn Errors of Immunity Reduces Hospitalization and Critical Care Needs Related to COVID-19: A USIDNET Report.

Background: The CDC and ACIP recommend COVID-19 vaccination for patients with inborn errors of immunity (IEI). Not much is known about vaccine safety in IEI and whether vaccination attenuates infection severity in IEI.

Objective: To estimate COVID-19 vaccination safety and examine effect on outcomes in patients with IEI.

TCF3 haploinsufficiency defined by immune, clinical, gene-dosage, and murine studies.

Background: TCF3 is a transcription factor contributing to early lymphocyte differentiation. Germline monoallelic dominant negative and biallelic loss-of-function (LOF) null TCF3 mutations cause a fully penetrant severe immunodeficiency. We identified 8 individuals from 7 unrelated families with monoallelic LOF TCF3 variants presenting with immunodeficiency with incomplete clinical penetrance.

Relationship of Reaction History to Positive Penicillin Skin Tests.

Background: Previous data suggest that up to one-third of patients classified as allergic based on positive penicillin skin tests have a vague reaction history. Direct oral challenge (DOC) has been recommended for patients with a low-risk reaction history. A variety of published models stratify reaction risk to guide the use of DOC.

Increased Hazard Risk of First Malignancy in Adults with Undetectable Serum IgE: a Retrospective Cohort Study.

Purpose: The clinical relevance of IgE-deficiency is not established. Previous studies have postulated a relationship between absent serum IgE and the incidence of specific malignancies. We sought to examine the relationship between undetectable total serum IgE (< 3 IU/mL) and first malignancy, considering both general all-cause malignancy risk and risk of specific malignancy subtypes in adult subjects.

Standardizing nomenclature in regional anesthesia: an ASRA-ESRA Delphi consensus study of abdominal wall, paraspinal, and chest wall blocks.

Background: There is heterogeneity in the names and anatomical descriptions of regional anesthetic techniques. This may have adverse consequences on education, research, and implementation into clinical practice. We aimed to produce standardized nomenclature for abdominal wall, paraspinal, and chest wall regional anesthetic techniques.

Evaluating the Quality of Social Work Supervision in UK Children's Services: Comparing Self-Report and Independent Observations.

Understanding how different forms of supervision support good social work practice and improve outcomes for people who use services is nearly impossible without reliable and valid evaluative measures. Yet the question of how best to evaluate the quality of supervision in different contexts is a complicated and as-yet-unsolved challenge. In this study, we observed 12 social work supervisors in a simulated supervision session offering support and guidance to an actor playing the part of an inexperienced social worker facing a casework-related crisis.

Thoracic paravertebral blockade in breast surgery: Is pneumothorax an appreciable concern? A review of over 1000 cases.

There has been a substantial increase in ambulatory day-case breast surgery in recent decades. This has been largely due to improvements in anesthetic procedures and pre-emptive analgesia. Thoracic paravertebral blockade (TPVB) is increasing in popularity, though concerns over iatrogenic injury remain, especially pneumothorax.

Burden of carotid artery atherosclerosis in Chinese adults: Implications for future risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Background Population-based studies of ultrasound measures of carotid atherosclerosis are informative about future risks of cardiovascular disease. Design Cross-sectional studies of carotid artery atherosclerosis in 24,822 Chinese adults from the China Kadoorie Biobank and 2579 Europeans from the UK Biobank. Methods Mean intima-media thickness of the common carotid arteries and presence of carotid artery plaque were examined in the China Kadoorie Biobank study.

Temporal behavior of seizures and interictal bursts in prolonged intracranial recordings from epileptic canines.

Objective: Epilepsy is a chronic disorder, but seizure recordings are usually obtained in the acute setting. The chronic behavior of seizures and the interictal bursts that sometimes initiate them is unknown. We investigate the variability of these electrographic patterns over an extended period of time using chronic intracranial recordings in canine epilepsy.

Intervertebral disk disease in 3 striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis).

Objective: To describe diagnostic findings, surgical technique, and outcome in 3 striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) with a history of paraparesis.

Study Design: Case series.

Animals: Skunks (n = 3) with paraparesis.

Role of transversus abdominis plane block after caesarean delivery.

Purpose Of Review: The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a relatively new regional anaesthesia technique that has shown analgesic benefit in abdominal and pelvic surgery. There has been recent interest in expanding this regional technique to enhance analgesia following caesarean delivery.

Recent Findings: We will discuss the gross anatomy and neuroanatomy relevant to the TAP, contrast studies looking at the spread of solution within the TAP and the clinical analgesia achieved with the TAP block.

Evaluating Amazon's Mechanical Turk as a tool for experimental behavioral research.

Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) is an online crowdsourcing service where anonymous online workers complete web-based tasks for small sums of money. The service has attracted attention from experimental psychologists interested in gathering human subject data more efficiently. However, relative to traditional laboratory studies, many aspects of the testing environment are not under the experimenter's control.

Evaluation of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 in the cerebrospinal fluid of dogs with intracranial tumors.

Objective: To identify matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9 in CSF from dogs with intracranial tumors.

Sample: CSF from 55 dogs with intracranial tumors and 37 control dogs.

Procedures: Latent and active MMP-2 and -9 were identified by use of gelatin zymography.

Transversus abdominis plane block.

Purpose Of Review: Since the publication of original work on the transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block, the translation of the research into clinical practice has resulted in some 146 articles being published in peer-reviewed journals. However, there continues to be controversies over the best approach to be used. The introduction of ultrasound should have aided the development of this block, but in fact it has caused more questions to be asked.