Neuromuscular Blockade Monitoring: Having It but Knowing When Not to Trust It.

Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is an enzyme involved in the degradation of depolarizing and non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBA), such as succinylcholine and mivacurium, respectively. Its deficiency is inherited or acquired, and results in paralysis of skeletal muscles after NMBA administration. We report a case of a 32-year-old pregnant woman proposed for cesarean section.

Gastric barotrauma induced by the Sellick maneuver performed to enable endoscopic submucosal dissection.

A 55-year-old male underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), under general anesthesia and orotracheal intubation, of a 22 mm Paris 0-IIa+0-IIb lesion located in the greater curvature of the medium/distal antrum. It was not possible to start the procedure after several attempts due to permanent belching and inability to maintain adequate gastric distension. ESD was only feasible after performing the Sellick maneuver (manual pressure application at the cricoid cartilage to occlude the upper esophagus), which allowed sustained gastric distension throughout the procedure (60 minutes).

MR arthrography of the shoulder using an anterior approach: optimal injection site.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to optimize anterior MR arthrography of the shoulder by comparing three injection sites.

Materials And Methods: Seventy-eight patients were divided into three groups of 26 each, according to the injection site selected: the upper third of the medial part of the humeral head, the lower third of the medial part of the humeral head, or the area between the middle and lower thirds of the glenohumeral joint. A marker plate with radiopaque coordinates was used in performing the technique.

Reproducibility of sonographic measurements of the median nerve.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of median nerve cross-sectional area (CSA) measurements using the indirect method (ellipsoid formula) and the direct or tracing method.

Methods: The median nerve CSA was measured in 22 wrists of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome by means of high-frequency sonography. Measurements were made at the level of the pisiform bone by a standardized sonographic examination protocol.

Natural killer receptors on CD8 T cells and natural killer cells from different HLA-C phenotypes in melanoma patients.

Purpose: Because immune mechanisms involved in cutaneous melanoma have not been fully elucidated, efforts have been made to achieve prognosis markers and potential targets for immune therapies, but they have not been entirely fruitful thus far. Therefore, the goal of this study was to investigate the involvement of early changes in CD8 T cells and CD56 natural killer (NK) cells expressing NK receptors in different HLA-C dimorphism groups of melanoma patients.

Experimental Design: CD8 T cells and CD56 NK cells were analyzed in 41 patients and 39 sex- and age-matched controls with different HLA-C genotypes by flow cytometry.

Changes in the number of CD80(+), CD86(+), and CD28(+) peripheral blood lymphocytes have prognostic value in melanoma patients.

Our aim was to evaluate whether the number of circulating lymphocytes expressing costimulatory molecules can be associated with melanoma prognosis. We determined the concentration of peripheral blood lymphocytes, which expressed the CD80/CD86 or CD28/CTLA-4 molecules, in 38 patients with cutaneous melanoma and 27 controls. The number of each cell subset was compared between patients and controls, as well as between groups of patients stratified according to Breslow thickness of the primary tumor (< or = 2 mm vs > 2 mm) or to survival after 3 years.