Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Patients without Focal Lesion but with Behavioral Disorders: Shrinkage of Gray Matter Nuclei and Thalamus Revealed in a Pilot Voxel-Based MRI Study.

After a traumatic brain injury (TBI), behavioral disorders can occur without major focal brain lesion, and in these situations, their pathophysiology remains unclear. The aim of this study is to examine whether TBI patients with behavioral disorders but without any focal damage, as observed from an initial clinical CT scan, present subtle volumetric alterations that could be measured voxel-by-voxel in the whole brain with MRI. Eight male adults with severe TBI who had behavioral sequela but not major focal cerebral lesion and 17 age-matched controls underwent a volumetric T1-weighted 1.

Improvement in conformability of the latest generation of thoracic stent grafts.

Objective: Poor aortic arch apposition increases the risk of technical failure after thoracic endovascular repair. The aim of this study was to assess the conformability of the latest generation of thoracic stent grafts in relation to the degree of device oversizing and aortic arch angulation.

Methods: A benchtop pulsatile flow model was designed to test stent graft anchorage in a 2-cm-long proximal landing zone at varying landing zone angles (from 140° down to 70°) and stent graft oversizing (12%-28%).

Endoluminal treatment of dissecting aortic arch aneurysm after surgical treatment of acute type A dissection.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the short- and midterm results following endovascular repair of dissecting aortic arch aneurysm after surgical treatment of acute type A dissection.

Methods: Between 2003 and 2010, six consecutive patients previously operated for acute type A dissection underwent endovascular repair of dissecting aortic arch aneurysm (six men, mean age: 63 ± 9.8 years); one of the aneurysms was ruptured.

Hemi-aortic arch debranching for hybrid aortic arch repair by sequential transposition of the left common carotid and subclavian arteries.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the short-term and midterm results after hemi-aortic arch debranching for hybrid aortic arch repair by sequential transposition of the left common carotid artery and of the left subclavian artery.

Methods: From November 1998 to August 2011, 11 patients underwent a hybrid technique with supra-aortic debranching (by sequential transposition of the left common carotid artery and of the left subclavian) and simultaneous endovascular stent grafting for zone 1 lesions. There were 8 men and 3 women (mean age, 62.

The combination of polytetrafluoroethylene mesh and titanium rib implants: an innovative process for reconstructing large full thickness chest wall defects.

Objectives: The reconstruction of large full thickness chest wall defect after resection of T3/T4 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or primary chest wall tumours presents a technical challenge for thoracic surgeons and is a critical factor in determining post-operative outcome. When the defect is large, complications are common with a 27% mean rate of respiratory morbidity.

Methods: Since 2006, 31 patients underwent reconstruction for wide chest wall defects using titanium implants and strong mesh.

Impact of stent-graft development on outcome of endovascular repair of acute traumatic transection of the thoracic aorta.

Purpose: To analyze the impact of stent-graft design on the outcome of endovascular repair of acute traumatic thoracic aortic transection.

Methods: Forty-eight patients (38 men; mean age 37 ± 11 years) underwent endovascular repair for an acute traumatic aortic rupture between April 2001 and March 2011. Up to October 2007, 32 patients (mean age 41 ± 16 years; group 1) were treated with the first generation of commercially available thoracic stent-grafts (10 Talent, 20 Excluder/TAG, 2 Zenith).

Temporary extra-anatomic brain perfusion followed by total rerouting of the supra-aortic vessels for hybrid repair of a ruptured aortic arch aneurysm.

Hybrid repair of ruptured aortic arch repair has been proposed as a valuable approach. However, the presence of an anterior mediastinal hematoma must be carefully detected because of the inherent risk of rupture at sternotomy. We report the case of a patient presenting a ruptured aortic arch aneurysm with anterior rupture who underwent hybrid repair using a temporary extra-anatomic brain perfusion followed by total rerouting of the supra-aortic trunks.

Endovascular repair of aorto-iliac artery injuries after lumbar-spine surgery.

Objective: This study aims to describe the endovascular management of abdominal-aortic- or common-iliac-artery injuries after lumbar-spine surgery.

Methods: Patients treated for abdominal-aortic- or common-iliac-artery injuries after lumbar-spine surgery during a 13-year period were identified from an endovascular database, providing prospective information on techniques and outcome. The corresponding patient records and radiographic reports were analysed retrospectively.

Open versus endovascular repair for patients with acute traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta.

Objective: The study objective was to compare the outcome between open and endovascular repair of acute traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta.

Methods: Seventy-five patients (mean age 38.6 ± 10.

Decreased basal fMRI functional connectivity in epileptogenic networks and contralateral compensatory mechanisms.

A better understanding of interstructure relationship sustaining drug-resistant epileptogenic networks is crucial for surgical perspective and to better understand the consequences of epileptic processes on cognitive functions. We used resting-state fMRI to study basal functional connectivity within temporal lobes in medial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) during interictal period. Two hundred consecutive single-shot GE-EPI acquisitions were acquired in 37 right-handed subjects (26 controls, eight patients presenting with left and three patients with right MTLE).

Two case studies in the application of errorless learning techniques in memory impaired patients with additional executive deficits.

Primary Objective: The purpose of the present study was to examine in what extent errorless learning can be applied to amnesic patients with additional executive dysfunction.

Research Design: Two case studies were used in which two patients with severe closed head-injury were compared according to their different neuropsychological profiles.

Methods And Procedures: Patients were taught complex semantic information about their therapists and cognitive procedures needed to programme an electronic organizer.

[Changes in blood calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase levels in rheumatoid polyarthritis and other types of inflammatory rheumatism].

Albuminemia, calcemia, phosphoremia and alcaline phosphatasemia were measured in three groups of 52 subjects each : rheumatoid arthrits, inflammatory rheumatisms other than rheumatoid arthritis and lumbarthrosics serving as a reference group. Calcemia and albuminemia were significantly lower in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, whose calcemia corrected in relation to albuminemia is, on the other hand, normal : the increase in corrected calcemia pointed out by Kennedy, was not noted. Corrected calcemia was also normal in ankylosing spondylitis, but it was significantly higher in polymyalgia rheumatica.