A Yorkshire swine (Sus scrofa domesticus) model for nerve regeneration and ischemia based on the sciatic nerve and femoral artery.

Animal studies are essential to biomedical research and the cornerstone is a reproducible animal model. While there are many reports on rodent peripheral nerve injury models, a large animal model is essential to confirm the effects of nerve regeneration over the longer distances of regeneration required in humans. Swine have long been used as a large animal model for other surgical and biomedical studies.

Pathogenic and rare deleterious variants in multiple genes suggest oligogenic inheritance in recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis.

Exertional rhabdomyolysis is a metabolic event characterized by the release of muscle content into the circulation due to exercise-driven breakdown of skeletal muscle. Recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis has been associated with metabolic myopathies and mitochondrial disorders, a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of predominantly autosomal recessive, monogenic conditions. Although genetics factors are well recognized in recurrent rhabdomyolysis, the underlying causes and mechanisms of exercise-driven muscle breakdown remain unknown in a substantial number of cases.

Combat Injury of the Sciatic Nerve - An Institutional Experience.

Introduction: Combat injury of the sciatic nerve tends to be severe with variable but often profound consequences, is often associated with widespread soft tissue and bone injuries, significant neurologic impairment, severe neuropathic pain, and a prolonged recovery time. There is little contemporary data that describes the treatment and outcome of this significant military acquired peripheral nerve injury. We describe our institution's experience treating patients with combat-acquired sciatic nerve injury in the recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

High-resolution ultrasound in combat-related peripheral nerve injuries.

Introduction: Peripheral nerve injuries (PNI) sustained in combat are typically severe and are frequently associated with marked soft tissue damage, anatomic distortion, and retained metallic fragments. These features complicate clinical and electrodiagnostic assessment and may preclude MRI.

Methods: We describe 4 cases of military personnel who sustained high-velocity gunshot wounds or blasts with metal fragment injuries in which high resolution peripheral nerve ultrasound (US) proved beneficial.

Ethical considerations in elective amputation after traumatic peripheral nerve injuries.

Traumatic peripheral nerve injuries often complicate extremity trauma, and may cause substantial functional deficits. We have encountered patients who request amputation of such injured extremities, with the goal of prosthetic replacement as a means to restore function. Data on long-term outcomes of limb salvage vs amputation are limited and somewhat contradictory, leaving how to respond to such requests in the hands of the treating physician.

Diagnosis and treatment of somatoform disorders.

Many patients with somatoform disorders present to the neurology clinic, often after extensive evaluation that has left the patient and multiple other physicians frustrated. Knowledge of the typical characteristics of particular disorders enables the clinician to arrive at a positive diagnosis and facilitate referral to appropriate services. Using a series of representative cases, we review the somatoform disorders most likely to present to the practicing neurologist, highlighting the epidemiologic features, typical presentations, and possible therapeutic approaches to each condition.