Novel heavy tamponade for vitreoretinal surgery.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to produce a heavy tamponade with a specific gravity greater than 1.06 g/mL that was optically transparent, could be manufactured using simple processing, could be injected using standard clinical equipment, and would have appropriate biocompatibility.

Methods: Aerosil silica was added to a phenyl trimethicone and mixed via a roller, overhead stirring, and ultrasonics.

Emulsification of silicone oil and eye movements.

Purpose: Emulsification is an inherent problem of silicone oil used in vitreoretinal surgery. It has been shown that silicone oil can be made more resistant to emulsification and easier to inject by adding high-molecular-weight components (5% or 10% 423-kDa polydimethylsiloxane [PDMS]) to normal 1000 mPa · s silicone oil. The authors hypothesize that this might also reduce the movement of oil within an eye.

Increasing the extensional viscosity of silicone oil reduces the tendency for emulsification.

Purpose: The purpose was to study the emulsification of silicone oil tamponade agents that cause clinical complications. This study aimed to increase the emulsification resistance of silicone oil 1,000 to be at least as resistant as silicone oil 5,000 while maintaining the shear viscosity <5,000 mPa/s to aid injection and removal.

Methods: High-molecular-weight (423 kDa) poly(dimethyl siloxane) was added to silicone oil 1,000 at 5% and 10% w/w concentration.

NAG level differences in panic disorder and agoraphobia.

It is not clear if panic disorder (PD) and agoraphobia are variants of the same disorder or distinct diseases. A laboratory test could help resolve this issue. Research has shown that levels of the urinary lysosomal enzyme N-acetyl-beta-glusosaminidase (NAG) differ between patients with various psychiatric disorders.

Pharmacodynamic considerations in the treatment of moderate to severe pseudomonal infections with cefepime.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the more common and clinically difficult-to-treat causes of hospital-acquired infections. Cefepime is a broad-spectrum cephalosporin with potent in vitro activity against Gram-positive cocci, enteric Gram-negative bacilli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Cephalosporins exhibit time-dependent bactericidal activity and lack prolonged post-antibiotic effects against Enterobacteriaceae and P.