Importance of tissue morphology relative to patient reports of symptoms and functional limitations resulting from median nerve pathology.

Significant data exist for the personal, environmental, and occupational risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome. Few data, however, explain the interrelationship of tissue morphology to these factors among patients with clinical presentation of median nerve pathology. Therefore, our primary objective was to examine the relationship of various risk factors that may be predictive of subjective reports of symptoms or functional deficits accounting for median nerve morphology.

Risk stratification in acute heart failure: rationale and design of the STRATIFY and DECIDE studies.

Background: A critical challenge for physicians facing patients presenting with signs and symptoms of acute heart failure (AHF) is how and where to best manage them. Currently, most patients evaluated for AHF are admitted to the hospital, yet not all warrant inpatient care. Up to 50% of admissions could be potentially avoided and many admitted patients could be discharged after a short period of observation and treatment.

Pulsatile dry cupping in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee - a randomized controlled exploratory trial.

Introduction: Cupping is used in various traditional medicine forms to relieve pain in musculoskeletal diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of cupping in relieving the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: In a two-group, randomized controlled exploratory pilot study patients with a clinically and radiological confirmed knee OA (Kellgren-Lawrence Grading Scale: 2-4) and a pain intensity > 40 mm on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) were included.

Galectin 3 complements BNP in risk stratification in acute heart failure.

Background: Galectin 3 (G3) is a mediator of fibrosis and remodeling in heart failure.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with and treated for Acute Heart Failure Syndromes were prospectively enrolled in the Decision Making in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure multicenter trial.

Results: Patients with a higher G3 had a history of renal disease, a lower heart rate and acute kidney injury.

Does pet ownership in infancy lead to asthma or allergy at school age? Pooled analysis of individual participant data from 11 European birth cohorts.

Objective: To examine the associations between pet keeping in early childhood and asthma and allergies in children aged 6-10 years.

Design: Pooled analysis of individual participant data of 11 prospective European birth cohorts that recruited a total of over 22,000 children in the 1990s. EXPOSURE DEFINITION: Ownership of only cats, dogs, birds, rodents, or cats/dogs combined during the first 2 years of life.

The effect of neighborhood on crime and safety: a review of the evidence.

There is a growing, multidisciplinary body of evidence on the effects that neighborhoods have on family outcomes. This evidence is important for social workers as we work with clients and communities from a person-in-environment perspective. In this article the authors present findings from a systematic, integrative review of neighborhood effects specifically for crime and safety.

Elevated urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalcin after acute heart failure treatment is associated with worsening renal function and adverse events.

Aims: Reliable detectors of worsening renal function (WRF) in Emergency Department (ED) patients with acute heart failure (AHF) are limited. We hypothesized that initial urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalcin (NGAL) levels, and changes in urinary NGAL levels after initial ED AHF therapy, would be associated with WRF and adverse events.

Methods And Results: Urinary NGAL upon ED presentation and 12-24 h after ED treatment was measured in a cohort of ED patients with AHF.

Ready-to-use therapeutic food for catch-up growth in children after an episode of Plasmodium falciparum malaria: an open randomised controlled trial.

Background: Catch-up growth after an infection is essential for children to maintain good nutritional status. To prevent malnutrition, WHO recommends that children are given one additional healthy meal per day during the 2 weeks after onset of illness. We investigated to what extent ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) promotes catch-up growth in children after an acute, uncomplicated episode of Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

Relationship between intraneural vascular flow measured with sonography and carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosis based on electrodiagnostic testing.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to document and analyze intraneural vascular flow within the median nerve using power and spectral Doppler sonography and to determine the relationship of this vascular flow with diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome based on electrodiagnostic testing.

Methods: Power and spectral Doppler sonograms in the median nerve were prospectively collected in 47 symptomatic and 44 asymptomatic subjects. Doppler studies were conducted with a 12-MHz linear transducer.

An analysis of occupational factors related to shoulder discomfort in diagnostic medical sonographers and vascular technologists.

Objective: Three-fourths of diagnostic medical sonographers (DMS) and vascular technologists (VT) experiencing discomfort due to job demands indicate having discomfort in the shoulder region. An analysis of factors related to shoulder discomfort highlighted salient factors requiring further investigation and intervention.

Participants: The respondents were a convenient sample of DMS and VT that answered a survey, hosted on a secure website.

Endovenous laser ablation with and without high ligation compared with high ligation and stripping in the treatment of great saphenous varicose veins: initial results of a multicentre randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: To compare reflux recurrences at the saphenofemoral junction after endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) with or without high ligation with high ligation and stripping (HL/ST) of the great saphenous vein (GSV) in patients with varicosity of the GSV. Design Multicentre, randomized, three-arm, parallel trial. Material and Methods Patients with varicosity of the GSV were randomized to one of three groups: HL/ST, laser ablation (980 nm) or a combination of laser ablation with high ligation (EVLA/HL).

Factors determining the quality of screening colonoscopy: a prospective study on adenoma detection rates, from 12,134 examinations (Berlin colonoscopy project 3, BECOP-3).

Background: Screening colonoscopy (SC) outcome quality is best determined by the adenoma detection rate (ADR). The substantial variability in the ADRs between endoscopists may reflect different skills, experience and/or equipment.

Objective: To analyse the potential factors that may influence ADR variance, including case volume.

Acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Acupuncture is commonly used to treat migraine. We assessed the efficacy of acupuncture at migraine-specific acupuncture points compared with other acupuncture points and sham acupuncture.

Methods: We performed a multicentre, single-blind randomized controlled trial.

Morphologic Characterization of Intraneural Flow Associated With Median Nerve Pathology.

A prospective cohort of 47 symptomatic patients who reported for nerve conduction studies and 44 asymptomatic controls was examined with sonography to evaluate the median nerve. Doppler studies of the median nerve were collected with handheld sonography equipment and a 12-MHz linear broadband transducer. Strict inclusion criteria were established for assessing 435 waveforms from 166 wrists.

Screening for carpal tunnel syndrome using sonography.

Objectives: The use of sonography in musculoskeletal research and clinical applications is increasing; however, measurement techniques for diagnosing carpal tunnel syndrome with sonography continue to be inconsistent. Novel methods of measurement using internal comparisons to identify swelling of the median nerve require investigation and comparison to currently used techniques.

Methods: The flattening ratio of the median nerve, bowing of the flexor retinaculum, and cross-sectional area of the median nerve were collected in the forearm, at the radiocarpal joint, and at the level of the pisiform in both symptomatic patients and asymptomatic control participants.

Efficacy of injections with Disci/Rhus toxicodendron compositum for chronic low back pain--a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Background: The effectiveness of injection therapy for low-back pain is still debatable. We compared the efficacy of local injections of the homeopathic preparation Disci/Rhus toxicodendron compositum (verum) with placebo injections and with no treatment in patients with chronic low back pain.

Methodology/principal Findings: In a randomized controlled partly double blind multicenter trial patients with chronic low back pain from 9 German outpatient clinics were enrolled and randomly allocated in a 1∶1∶1 ratio to receive subcutaneous injections (verum or placebo) into painful sites on the lower back over 12 treatment sessions within eight weeks, or no treatment (rescue pain medication with paracetamol or NSAIDs).

Latest generation, wide-angle, high-definition colonoscopes increase adenoma detection rate.

Background & Aims: Improvements to endoscopy imaging technologies might improve detection rates of colorectal cancer and patient outcomes. We compared the accuracy of the latest generation of endoscopes with older generation models in detection of colorectal adenomas.

Methods: We compared data from 2 prospective screening colonoscopy studies (the Berlin Colonoscopy Project 6); each study lasted approximately 6 months and included the same 6 colonoscopists, who worked in private practice.

Comparison of the spread of three botulinum toxin type A preparations.

Botulinum toxins are frequently used in esthetics to improve the appearance of facial wrinkles. In this setting, precise localization of the neurotoxin is required to produce the desired clinical effects. Unwanted effects can occur if the neurotoxin diffuses into untargeted muscle.

Pharmacokinetics of isoniazid, rifampin, and pyrazinamide in children younger than two years of age with tuberculosis: evidence for implementation of revised World Health Organization recommendations.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently issued revised first-line antituberculosis (anti-TB) drug dosage recommendations for children. No pharmacokinetic studies for these revised dosages are available for children <2 years. The aim of the study was to document the pharmacokinetics of the first-line anti-TB agents in children <2 years of age comparing previous and revised WHO dosages of isoniazid (INH; 5 versus 10 mg/kg/day), rifampin (RMP; 10 versus 15 mg/kg/day), and pyrazinamide (PZA; 25 versus 35 mg/kg/day) and to investigate the effects of clinical covariates, including HIV coinfection, nutritional status, age, gender, and type of tuberculosis (TB), and the effect of NAT2 acetylator status.

Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography vs. electromyography in carpal tunnel syndrome: a systematic review of literature.

A plethora of research investigates sonography vs. electrodiagnostic testing (EDX) for diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Through database searches, hand searches and communication with authors, 582 abstracts published from 1999 to 2009 were identified.

Platelet transfusions in neonates: practices in the United States vary significantly from those in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

Background: Thrombocytopenia affects 20% to 35% of patients admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Platelet (PLT) transfusions are usually administered to neonates with thrombocytopenia at higher thresholds than those used for older children or adults, although there is a paucity of evidence to guide these decisions.

Study Design And Methods: In this study, we used a Web-based survey to investigate the PLT transfusion thresholds used in Level 1 NICUs (equivalent to Level 3 in the US) in three European countries (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland [AUT/GER/SUI]).

Dental indications for the instrumental functional analysis in additional consideration of health-economic aspects.

Background: Besides clinical and radiological examination instrumental functional analyses are performed as diagnostic procedures for craniomandibular dysfunctions. Instrumental functional analyses cause substantial costs and shows a considerable variability between individual dentist practices.

Objectives: On the basis of published scientific evidence the validity of the instrumental functional analysis for the diagnosis of craniomandibular dysfunctions compared to clinical diagnostic procedures; the difference of the various forms of the instrumental functional analysis; the existence of a dependency on additional other factors and the need for further research are determined in this report.

Neuroendocrine tumors of midgut and hindgut origin: tumor-node-metastasis classification determines clinical outcome.

Background: Prognostic classification of neuroendocrine tumor (NET) patients is difficult due to the complexity of current classification systems. A recent proposal for a tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification and a grading system based on the proliferative fraction proved valid in NETs of foregut origin. The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of a proposal for TNM staging and grading for midgut and hindgut NETs.

Effectiveness of the combined use of lactic acid film and polypropylene mesh in the formation of intraperitoneal adhesions--an experimental model in rats.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a lactic acid biomaterial (SurgiWrap®) as a protector of the polypropylene mesh (Marlex®) regarding the formation of intraperitoneal adhesions in rats.

Methods: Forty Wistar rats formed the following groups: Group 0 (Sham)--only laparotomy; Group I--polypropylene mesh; Group II--polypropylene mesh protected by a film of lactic acid. These animals were submitted to laparotomy and placement (or not) of the meshes at closing.