A 72-h sedated porcine model of traumatic spinal cord injury.

Introduction: There is an increasing focus on the prevention of secondary injuries following traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI), especially through improvement of spinal cord perfusion and immunological modulation. Such therapeutic strategies require translational and controlled animal models of disease progression of the acute phases of human TSCI.

Research Question: Is it possible to establish a 72-h sedated porcine model of incomplete thoracic TSCI, enabling controlled use of continuous, invasive, and non-invasive modalities during the entire sub-acute phase of TSCI?

Material And Methods: A sham-controlled trial was conducted to establish the model, and 10 animals were assigned to either sham or TSCI.

Field conditions is a risk factor for traumatic injury in youth football-A joint venture of medicine and hydrology.

Introduction: The risk of traumatic injury in football has been suggested to be affected by field conditions. This study, therefore, aimed to investigate whether near surface water content of the football field, influenced the risk of traumatic injuries during a youth football tournament.

Methods: At Dana Cup, an annual international youth football tournament in Denmark, all injuries were registered and classified at the on-site emergency department over 7 years.

Contraction Patterns of Post-Fontan Single Right Ventricle Versus Normal Left and Right Ventricles in Children: Insights From Principal Strain Analysis.

Background: Principal strain (PS) analysis quantifies three-dimensional myocardial deformation using three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography. It defines both the amplitude and direction of the principal myocardial contraction, expressed as PS, and a perpendicular secondary strain of lower intensity. The aims of this study were to apply PS analysis to describe the contractile pattern in the single right ventricle (SRV) functioning as a systemic chamber in hypoplastic left heart syndrome, compared with the normal left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle (RV), and to compare SRV function using conventional echocardiographic evaluations.

Left ventricular active strain energy density is a promising new measure of systolic function.

The left ventricular ejection fraction does not accurately predict exercise capacity or symptom severity and has a limited role in predicting prognosis in heart failure. A better method of assessing ventricular performance is needed to aid understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms and guide management in conditions such as heart failure. In this study, we propose two novel measures to quantify myocardial performance, the global longitudinal active strain energy (GLASE) and its density (GLASED) and compare them to existing measures in normal and diseased left ventricles.