Posterior cervical arthrodesis for subacute odontoid fracture in a patient with osteopetrosis: case report.

Study Design: A case of subacute odontoid fracture in a patient with osteopetrosis treated with posterior cervical arthrodesis using transarticular screws and interspinous wiring.

Objectives: To report the first successful cervical arthrodesis in a patient with osteopetrosis and to highlight the potential perioperative pitfalls in this rare surgical population.

Summary Of Background Data: Osteopetrosis is a group of skeletal dysplasias characterized by osteoclast dysfunction, impaired bone resorption, and poor bone remodeling.

Competitiveness among Japanese, Chinese, and American undergraduate students.

Although research indicates that competitiveness, defined as the desire to win in interpersonal situations, is an important individual difference that influences a range of social interactions, little research has focused on competitiveness in cultures outside the United States. This study investigated competitiveness in three cultures by comparing Chinese (n=61), Japanese (n=232), and American (n=161) undergraduate college students. Nationality and sex were compared on two scales of the revised Competitiveness Index.

Delayed sodium thiosulfate as an otoprotectant against carboplatin-induced hearing loss in patients with malignant brain tumors.

Carboplatin is effective in the treatment of malignant brain tumors. However, when administered in conjunction with osmotic opening of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), carboplatin is ototoxic. The purpose of this study was to determine whether delayed administration of sodium thiosulfate (STS), given after BBB closure, provided protection against carboplatin ototoxicity.

Delayed administration of sodium thiosulfate in animal models reduces platinum ototoxicity without reduction of antitumor activity.

Platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents, such as carboplatin and cisplatin, are effective against many human tumors, but their use may be limited by a high incidence of ototoxicity. Delayed administration of the chemoprotective agent sodium thiosulfate (STS) reduces the ototoxicity of carboplatin in a guinea-pig model, when given up to 8 h after the chemotherapy, and also reduces hearing loss in patients given carboplatin with osmotic blood-brain barrier opening for treatment of brain tumors. We tested whether STS, given at times that achieved otoprotection, could impact the chemotherapeutic efficacy of carboplatin.