Radiofrequency volumetric tissue reduction for treatment of turbinate hypertrophy: a pilot study.

Objectives: Ideal treatment for nasal obstruction caused by turbinate hypertrophy remains in question. Medical therapy is often ineffective. Surgical procedures have associated morbidity including pain, bleeding, crusting, adhesion, infection, and dryness.

Preclinical evaluation of the novel hypoxic marker 99mTc-HL91 (Prognox) in murine and xenograft systems in vivo.

Purpose: The 99mTc-labelled amine oxime 99mTc-HL91 (Prognox) is under investigation as a potential noninvasive clinical marker of tumour hypoxia whose uptake can be monitored by gamma camera imaging. The aim was to assess its retention in 3 tumours under control and enhanced oxygenation conditions.

Materials And Methods: The SaF murine sarcoma, grown subcutaneously in CBA mice, and human colon carcinoma HT29 and lung adenocarcinoma A549, grown as xenografts in SCID mice, were used at 6-8 mm diameter.

Long-term results of surgical management of sleep disordered breathing: are our patients really benefiting?

The etiology of sleep disordered breathing (SDB), which includes upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), is collapse or obstruction of the upper airway during sleep. Surgical management was the first treatment modality available for SDB. Since the introduction of the tracheotomy to treat OSAS, there have been numerous procedures discovered to address the various sites of obstruction of the upper airway.

Surgical management of the hypopharyngeal airway in sleep disordered breathing.

The etiology of sleep disordered breathing is collapse or obstruction of the upper airway during sleep. This obstruction may be localized to one or two areas or may encompass the entire upper airway passages to include the nasal cavity, nasopharynx, oropharynx, hypopharynx, and larynx. The presurgical evaluation, which includes polysomnography, a comprehensive head and neck physical examination, fiberoptic nasopharyngoscopy, and lateral cephalometric analysis is essential in directing surgical therapy in a site specific approach.

Molecular cloning of a 32-kilodalton lipoprotein component of a novel iron-regulated Staphylococcus epidermidis ABC transporter.

Our previous studies identified two iron-regulated cytoplasmic membrane proteins of 32 and 36 kDa expressed by both Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus. In this study we show by Triton X-114 phase partitioning and tritiated palmitic acid labelling that these proteins are lipoproteins which are anchored into the cytoplasmic membrane by their lipid-modified N termini. In common with those of some other gram-positive bacteria, these highly immunogenic lipoproteins were released from the bacterial cell into the culture supernatants, with release being promoted by growth of the bacteria under iron-restricted conditions.

Radiofrequency volumetric tissue reduction of the palate in subjects with sleep-disordered breathing.

Study Objectives: To evaluate pain, swallowing, speech, edematous response, tissue shrinkage, sleep, snoring, and safety (energy limits and adverse effects) following radiofrequency (RF) treatment to the palate in 22 subjects with sleep-disordered breathing.

Design: This investigation is a prospective nonrandomized study. Polysomnography, radiographic imaging, and infrared thermography, along with questionnaires and visual analog scales, were used to evaluate the effects of RF treatment to the palate.

Surgical management of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

This article discusses the history of operative management of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and reviews a protocol for surgical intervention. An overview of diagnostic procedures and evaluation is also presented, and emerging technology for the management of this disorder is touched on.

Differential binding of apo and holo human transferrin to meningococci and co-localisation of the transferrin-binding proteins (TbpA and TbpB).

Apo-transferrin (apo-hTf) and holo-transferrin (holo-hTf) were separately conjugated to 15-nm colloidal gold. Iron-restricted Neisseria meningitidis strain SD (B:15:P1.16) bound up to three-fold more holo-hTf than apo-hTf (p <0.

Ruthenium complexes as nitric oxide scavengers: a potential therapeutic approach to nitric oxide-mediated diseases.

1. Ruthenium(III) reacts with nitric oxide (NO) to form stable ruthenium(II) mononitrosyls. Several Ru(III) complexes were synthesized and a study made of their ability to bind NO, in vitro and also in several biological systems following expression of the inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS).

Obstructive sleep apnea surgery: risk management and complications.

Background: Hypoxemia, hypertension, airway obstruction, and death have been associated with surgery for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Patient analysis was undertaken to identify potential factors that could affect risk-management outcome.

Methods: One hundred eighty-two consecutively treated patients with OSAS undergoing 210 procedures were evaluated.

Elevated expression of messenger ribonucleic acid encoding IL-13 in the bronchial mucosa of atopic and nonatopic subjects with asthma.

Local secretion of cytokines by T cells within the bronchial mucosa, with consequent selective eosinophil influx, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. The cytokine IL-13 exhibits activities (selective eosinophil vascular adhesion by very late antigen-4/vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 interaction and promotion of IgE synthesis and "T112-type" T cell responses) that may be relevant to this process. We hypothesized that, compared with conditions in control subjects, elevated expression of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) encoding IL-13 is a feature of the bronchial mucosa of both atopic (positive skin prick test result to at least one of a range of common aeroallergens) and nonatopic (negative skin prick test results and serum total IgE concentrations within the normal range) subjects with asthma.

Radiofrequency volumetric reduction of the tongue. A porcine pilot study for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Study Objective: To investigate, in an animal model, the feasibility of radiofrequency (RF) volumetric tongue reduction for the future purpose of determining its clinical applications in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).

Design: The study was performed in three stages, one in vitro bovine stage and two in vivo porcine stages. The last stage was a prospective investigation with histologic and volumetric analyses to establish outcomes.

Passive constriction of the upper airway during central apneas: fiberoptic and EMG investigations.

We studied five adult male patients with central sleep apnea syndrome (> 75% of the monitored events being central) during sleep using a fiberoptic scope and EMG monitoring of the superior and middle constrictors of the pharynx and the genioglossus and geniohyoid muscles. The fiberoptic investigation revealed a spontaneous decrease in the size of the airway during central apneas, without negative intrathoracic pressure or activation of the superior and middle pharyngeal constrictor muscles. We found a mean maximum decrease of 71 +/- 7% in the cross-sectional area of the airway and an absence of superior-middle pharyngeal constrictor EMG discharge.

The friction of explanted hip prostheses.

Charnley prostheses, retrieved at revision surgery, were studied to assess the effects of friction on the total hip replacement procedure. Frictional resistance was measured using the Durham hip function simulator under both dry and lubricated conditions. The friction factor values (f) for the explanted prostheses were found to have a non-Gaussian distribution with medians of 0.

Increased expression of mRNA encoding RANTES and MCP-3 in the bronchial mucosa in atopic asthma.

The selective recruitment of eosinophils into the mucosal lining of the airways is a prominent feature of atopic asthma, and is believed to be an important component in the disease pathogenesis. The precise stimuli responsible for the influx of eosinophils remain unclear. Using a semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique, the numbers of copies (relative to the "housekeeping" gene beta-actin) of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) encoding the eosinophil-active chemotactic cytokines, the factor regulated upon activation in normal T-cells expressed and secreted (RANTES) and monocyte chemotactic protein-3 (MCP-3), was measured in bronchial biopsies from atopic asthmatic patients (n = 9), and compared with atopic nonasthmatic (n = 8) and nonatopic nonasthmatic (n = 8) control subjects.

Antigenicity, cross-reactivity and surface exposure of the Neisseria meningitidis 37 kDa protein (Fbp).

The 37 kDa iron-repressible protein, Fbp, was purified from two Neisseria meningitidis strains by metal-affinity chromatography and used to obtain mouse monospecific polyclonal immune sera. Dot-blot, immunoblotting and whole cell ELISA results demonstrate that the Fbp is present in all 16 N. meningitidis and four commensal Neisseria species tested, is highly antigenic in mouse when injected in pure form, and shows intra- and inter-species antigenic homogeneity, anti-Fbp antibodies being fully cross-reactive using the techniques mentioned.

Evidence that guanylate cyclase is involved in modulating the resting tension and neurally-induced contraction of the guinea pig tracheal muscle.

Electrical field stimulation of guinea-pig tracheal muscle strips produced a frequency-dependent biphasic response consisting of an initial cholinergic contraction followed by relaxation. Both phases of the response were of neural origin. In the presence of methylene blue, a guanylate cyclase inhibitor, the resting tension and the contraction were increased, but the accompanying relaxation was inhibited.

A reversible uvulopalatal flap for snoring and sleep apnea syndrome.

Velopharyngeal incompetence (VPI) is a recognized complication of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) for obstructive sleep apnea. A new uvulopalatal flap (UPF) technique that modifies the UPPP and reduces this risk is presented. The technique achieves the same anatomic results as the UPPP but is reversible.

Blocking of iron uptake from transferrin by antibodies against the transferrin binding proteins in Neisseria meningitidis.

Neisseria meningitidis, when cultured in iron-restricted environments, synthesises new outer-membrane proteins, many of which are necessary for their survival and growth. Some of these proteins e.g.

Cell surface properties of Clostridium difficile: haemagglutination, relative hydrophobicity and charge.

Five well characterised strains of Clostridium difficile of differing virulence and two Escherichia coli strains, a verotoxigenic O157:H7 isolate and a urinary isolate, were examined for cell surface hydrophobicity and charge, and haemagglutinating ability. Phase partition in hexadecane or octan-1-ol was similar for C. difficile and E.

Serum survival and plasmid possession by strains of Salmonella enteritidis, Salm. typhimurium and Salm. virchow.

Strains of Salmonella enteritidis, Salm. typhimurium and Salm. virchow, carrying different numbers of plasmids, were examined for the ability to multiply in sera.

Temporal efficacy of selected nematicides on meloidogyne species on tobacco.

Aldicarb, ethoprop, and fenamiphos were evaluated for their efficacy in controlling various species of root-knot nematodes on flue-cured tobacco and for their residual activity, as determined through periodic sampling and bioassays of soil taken from field plots. Field experiments were conducted at five locations over 2 years with flue-cured tobacco. Soil in plots treated with nematicides were formed into high, wide beds before transplanting with 'Coker 371-Gold' or 'K 326' tobacco.

Buoyant density of Escherichia coli is determined solely by the osmolarity of the culture medium.

In previous studies, we had shown that the buoyant density of Escherichia coli is determined by the osmolarity of the growth medium by varying the osmolarity of the medium with NaCl or sucrose. However, the buoyant density of the cells always exceeded that of the growth medium. Here we determined the effect of medium with a buoyant density greater than the expected buoyant density of cells by adding Nycodenz to Luria broth.

Correlation of change in phage type with pulsed field profile and 16S rrn profile in Salmonella enteritidis phage types 4, 7 and 9a.

Using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and 16S rRNA (rrn) analysis (ribotyping), the in vivo derivation of strains of Salmonella enteritidis PTs 9a and 7 from a strain of S. enteritidis PT 4 has been demonstrated. All strains were isolated from a single patient over a 6-week period.

Familial aggregates in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) was diagnosed in157 subjects based on clinical symptoms, physical evaluation, cephalometric x-ray films, and polysomnography. These index cases identified 844 living first-degree relatives. Mailings were sent to 792 (94%).