Examination of the Pediatric Cervical Spine Under Anesthesia.

Cervical spine injuries in pediatric patients can have devastating consequences if not properly diagnosed. The standard workup for suspected cervical spine injuries includes cervical X-rays and a high-resolution CT. If suspicion still exists then a cervical MRI is obtained.

Do surgical helmet systems affect intraoperative wound contamination? A randomised controlled trial.

Background: Deep infection following arthroplasty remains a devastating complication. Some registry data suggests that modern positive-pressure surgical helmet systems (SHS) are associated with a paradoxical increase in infection rates, and as such their role in arthroplasty remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate whether SHS increase wound contamination in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and if this contamination can be reduced by placing tape around the gown/glove interface.

Do 'Surgical Helmet Systems' or 'Body Exhaust Suits' Affect Contamination and Deep Infection Rates in Arthroplasty? A Systematic Review.

This systematic review examined whether negative-pressure Charnley-type body exhaust suits (BES) or modern positive-pressure surgical helmet systems (SHS) reduce deep infection rates and/or contamination in arthroplasty. For deep infection, four studies (3990 patients) gave adjusted relative risk for deep infection of 0.11 (P = 0.

Who wants to be a surgeon? Patterns of medical student career choice.

Aim: NZ needs a surgical workforce with the capacity to meet the increasing health demands of an aging population. This study determined longitudinal patterns of medical student interest in a surgical career and factors influencing that choice.

Method: We studied medical students entering the Auckland medical programme from 2006-2008 who completed an entry and exit questionnaire on career intentions.

Atypical cortical language organization in epilepsy patients: evidence for divergent hemispheric dominance for receptive and expressive language function.

The central goal of presurgical language mapping is to identify brain regions that subserve cortical language function to minimize postsurgical language deficits. Presurgical language mapping in patients with epilepsy presents a key challenge because of the atypical pattern of hemispheric language dominance found in this population, with higher incidences of bilateral and right-biased language dominance than typical. In this prospective study, we combine magnetoencephalography with a panel of tasks designed to separately assess receptive and expressive function to provide a sensitive measure of language function in 15 candidates for resective surgery.

Rethinking clinical language mapping approaches: discordant receptive and expressive hemispheric language dominance in epilepsy surgery candidates.

Neuroimaging studies have shed light on cortical language organization, with findings implicating the left and right temporal lobes in speech processing converging to a left-dominant pattern. Findings highlight the fact that the state of theoretical language knowledge is ahead of current clinical language mapping methods, motivating a rethinking of these approaches. The authors used magnetoencephalography and multiple tasks in seven candidates for resective epilepsy surgery to investigate language organization.

Magnetic source imaging of cortical dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective: The goal was to determine whether magnetic source imaging could identify a signature for cortical involvement in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and to determine whether the method might provide insight into functional abnormalities associated with the disease process.

Design: Spontaneous brain activity recordings from whole-head 148-channel magnetoencephalography (MEG) were employed to look for localized dipolar sources of focal delta-theta (1-7 Hz) discharges in patients with ALS without dementia. Localized slow wave dipoles were mapped and counted by anatomic brain region, defined by MRI, and correlated against the revised ALS functional rating scale (a functional measure of ALS disability).

High-resolution magnetoencephalographic functional mapping of the cortical network mediating intentional movement.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a sensitive technique that can detect and map cortical electrophysiologic activations with high spatial (mm) and temporal (msecs) resolutions. We used 148-channel whole-head MEG to record the activation sequence for the somatosensory and motor cortical network during cued hand movements in a healthy 39-yr-old subject. The complex sequence and topography of cortical activations were superimposed onto the subject's brain magnetic resonance images.

Using magnetoencephalography to study patterns of brain magnetic activity in Alzheimer's disease.

The use of magnetoencephalography to study neurophysiologic abnormalities associated with Alzheimer's disease is reviewed. The most consistent observation is that Alzheimer's disease patients exhibit an increase in focal slow-wave activity that covaried with cognitive performance. It is still unclear whether generation of focal slow-wave activity precedes or is a consequence of Alzheimer's disease-related neuropathology.

Magnetoencephalogram recording from secondary motor areas during imagined movements.

This study determined whether the activity of the secondary motor cortex (M2) could be recorded during imagined movements (IM) of the right and left hand using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Results during IM were compared with a somatosensory trial during a passive tactile stimulation in one subject. During the somatosensory trial, dipoles were detected in somatosensory (SS) and motor primary (M1) areas, scoring 94.

Relationship of lumen diameter to type and degree of arterial remodeling at sites of expanding wall or plaque thickness in human carotid artery.

Background: Arterial remodeling exhibits a bidirectional capacity. Whether lumen size affects remodeling response to lesion change is unknown.

Methods: Prospective study by duplex ultrasonography over 2 years in 61 subjects with coronary artery disease.

Integration and added value of the modern noninvasive vascular laboratory in vascular diseases management.

Background And Purpose: Today's vascular laboratory technology offers broad applications throughout vascular medicine. We explore the diagnostic work-up and management of selected peripheral vascular diseases by benchmarking the institutional mix of invasive and noninvasive technology utilization and associated cost burdens.

Methods: Specialized diagnostic studies for prevention of stroke and pulmonary embolism, and diagnosis and management of femoral pseudoaneurysm were reviewed for our 355-physician clinic and hospital practice.