Is pre-operative block-test with lidocaine injection efficient in predicting the functional result of revision total hip arthroplasty?

Background: While performing a hip joint aspiration for culture, a lidocaine diagnostic injection called block test can be performed during the investigation of painful total hip arthroplasties (THA). This test was formerly applied to limited series in pre-operative and without assessing the predictive value on the results of THA revision. Therefore we investigated a consecutive series of THA revisions who underwent pre-operative aspiration-block test to determine if patients with pre-operative positive block test (disappearance of symptoms) have a better clinical improvement after revision.

Dopamine builds and reveals reward-associated latent behavioral attractors.

Phasic variations in dopamine levels are interpreted as a teaching signal reinforcing rewarded behaviors. However, behavior also depends on the motivational, neuromodulatory effect of phasic dopamine. In this study, we reveal a neurodynamical principle that unifies these roles in a recurrent network-based decision architecture embodied through an action-perception loop with the task space, the MAGNet model.

Comparative performance analysis of Synovasure™ and Leukocyte Esterase assays for the diagnosis of periprosthetic infections in complex microbiological situations.

Introduction: Osteoarticular infections (OAI) after prosthetic surgery have serious functional and economic consequences. Rapid tests for alpha-defensin (TAD) and leukocyte esterase (TLE) are two intra-articular markers involved in the diagnosis of OAIs. TLE cannot be applied in the presence of blood unless centrifugation is used, but the rate of "non-application" of the test for this reason is unknown in complex microbiological situations (discordant or negative puncture, ongoing antibiotic treatment).

Performance of the GeneXpert® MRSA/SA SSTI Test in Periprosthetic Joint Infections: Rate of failure, Outcomes and Risk Factors.

Background: The GeneXpert® MRSA/SA SSTI test allows early detection of methicillin-resistant staphylococci in intraoperative samples of prosthetic joint infections (PJI) in order to stop early broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Questions/purpose: (1) What is the rate of false-negative GeneXpert® MRSA/SA SSTI test results? (2) Does a false-negative GeneXpert® MRSA/SA SSTI test result increase the risk of treatment failure for the patient with a PJI? (3) What are the risk factors of a false-negative result?

Method: A retrospective study was carried out to compare all GeneXpert® assays to conventional cultures in prosthetic joint infections from April 1, 2012 to October 1, 2016. False-negative (FN) results (absence of methicillin-resistant staphylococci (MRS) with GeneXpert® test, but presence in the culture) were identified.

Individualistic reward-seeking strategies that predict response to nicotine emerge among isogenic male mice living in a micro-society.

Individual animals differ in their traits and preferences, which shape their social interactions, survival, and susceptibility to disease, including addiction. Nicotine use is highly heterogenous and has been linked to the expression of personality traits. Although these relationships are well documented, we have limited understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms that give rise to distinct behavioral profiles and their connection to nicotine susceptibility.