Global-local interference is related to callosal compromise in alcoholism: a behavior-DTI association study.

Background: Visuospatial ability is a multifactorial process commonly impaired in chronic alcoholism. Identification of which features of visuospatial processing are affected and which are spared in alcoholism, however, has not been clearly determined. We used a global-local paradigm to assess component processes of visuospatial ability and MR diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine whether alcoholism-related microstructural degradation of the corpus callosum contributes to disruption of selective lateralized visuospatial and attention processes.

[Posterior operative correction of idiopathic scoliosis. Value of pedicle screws versus hooks].

Posterior correction and fusion of scoliosis with multisegmental instrumentation systems was developed by Cotrel-Dubousset in the 1980s. Initially correction and instrumentation was performed using hooks only. Later pedicle screws were implemented first for the lumbar and then for the thoracic spine.

A level-1 pilot study to evaluate of ultraporous beta-tricalcium phosphate as a graft extender in the posterior correction of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

The objective of this study is to compare the clinical and radiographic results of ultraporous beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) versus autogenous iliac crest bone graft (ICBG), through prospective randomized pilot study (EBM-Level 1), as graft extenders in scoliosis surgery. In the posterior correction of scoliosis, local bone resected as part of the procedure is used as the base bone graft material. Supplemental grafting from the iliac crest is considered the gold-standard in posterior spinal fusion.

Hemihyperplasia-multiple lipomatosis syndrome (HHML): a challenge in spinal care.

A 15-year-old girl developed a progressive paraparesis over a period of six months, secondary to spinal cord compression by a lipomatous mass and anomalies of the vertebral column. Clinically, a right hemihyperplasia affecting the trunk and lower limb was evident, as well as a right convex lumbar scoliosis. CT and MRI demonstrated severe spinal cord compression resulting from intraspinal lipomatosis, overgrowth of right facet joints (T8 to L5), and kyphoscoliosis.

Sleep disturbances after posterior scoliosis surgery with an intraoperative wake-up test using remifentanil.

Background: The intraoperative wake-up test is a standard procedure for early recognition of neurologic complications after posterior correction of idiopathic scoliosis. In this prospective, single-blinded cohort study, the impact of the wake-up test and the opioid used for anesthesia on the quality of the patients' sleep after scoliosis surgery was investigated up to 12 months postoperatively.

Methods: Patients were classified into three groups: posterior instrumentation with wake-up test using remifentanil, anterior instrumentation without wake-up test using sufentanil, and posterior instrumentation with wake-up test using sufentanil.

[Value of adjuvant physiotherapy in postoperative pain management].

In times of limited financial and human resources the application of adjuvant physiotherapy postoperatively in orthopaedic patients requires reevaluation. In the early postoperative course physiotherapy improves the patients' mobility. However, it is not able to reduce the need for pain medication.

The extent of lung parenchyma resection significantly impacts long-term quality of life in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Secondary to clinical outcome, health-related quality of life (QOL) after resection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is of particular interest. However, few studies have explored QOL following lung resection.

Methods: Between January 1998 and December 2004, a total of 159 patients with NSCLC underwent surgical resection and were enrolled in this prospective study.

A cell-based approach to the minimization of immunosuppression in renal transplantation.

Five renal transplant recipients were preoperatively treated with transplant acceptance-inducing cells (TAICs) in a Phase-I safety study of TAICs as an adjunct immune-conditioning therapy in living-donor kidney transplantation. Initially, patients received anti-thymocyte globulin induction therapy in combination with tacrolimus and steroid immunosuppression. Over the course of 12 weeks, steroids were withdrawn and tacrolimus therapy was minimized.

The effect of dynamic, semi-rigid implants on the range of motion of lumbar motion segments after decompression.

Undercutting decompression is a common surgical procedure for the therapy of lumbar spinal canal stenosis. Segmental instability, due to segmental degeneration or iatrogenic decompression is a typical problem that is clinically addressed by fusion, or more recently by semi-rigid stabilization devices. The objective of this experimental biomechanical study was to investigate the influence of spinal decompression alone, as well as in conjunction with two semi-rigid stabilizing implants (Wallis, Dynesys) on the range of motion (ROM) of lumbar spine segments.

Raster stereography versus radiography in the long-term follow-up of idiopathic scoliosis.

Study Design: Raster-stereographic and radiographic evaluation of idiopathic scoliosis without braces in a retrospective longitudinal long-term follow-up study.

Objective: To investigate the reliability and accuracy of raster stereography in comparison with radiography as the gold standard, using a longitudinal long-term study design in idiopathic scoliosis, to reduce the number of radiographs required during follow-up in scoliosis patients.

Summary Of Background Data: It has been confirmed that raster stereography produces reliable data in patients with conservatively and surgically treated idiopathic scoliosis, up to a Cobb angle of 80 degrees.

Increased risk of myeloid leukaemia in patients with ankylosing spondylitis following treatment with radium-224.

Objective: To investigate long-term health effects in AS patients treated with (224)Ra.

Methods: A prospective epidemiological study has been carried out on 1471 AS patients treated with repeated intravenous injections of (224)Ra between 1948 and 1975. These patients have been followed together with a control group of 1324 AS patients not treated with radioactive drugs and/or X-rays.

Disorder-induced order in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates.

We propose and analyze a general mechanism of disorder-induced order in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates, analogous to corresponding effects established for XY spin models. We show that a random Raman coupling induces a relative phase of pi/2 between the two BECs and that the effect is robust. We demonstrate it in one, two, and three dimensions at T=0 and present evidence that it persists at small T>0.

Callosal Compromise Differentially Affects Conflict Processing and Attentional Allocation in Alcoholism, HIV, and Their Comorbidity.

Diffusion tensor imaging was used to study the combined effects of HIV-infection and alcoholism (ALC) on corpus callosum (CC) integrity in relation to processes of attentional allocation and conflict resolution assessed by a novel Stroop Match-to-Sample task. We tested 16 ALC, 19 HIV, 20 subjects with combined disorder and 17 controls. In ALC, low fractional anisotropy and high mean diffusivity throughout the CC correlated with poor Stroop-match performance, i.

Acquired spondylolysis after implantation of a lumbar ProDisc II prosthesis: case report and review of the literature.

Study Design: A case of acquired lumbar spondylolysis following lumbar disc arthroplasty L5-S1 in an 40-year-old woman and review of the literature.

Objectives: To present and discuss a case of acquired lumbar spondylolysis after implantation of an artificial disc L5-S1 that may have impaired a good clinical result requiring additional posterior lumbar instrumentation and fusion in order to improve understanding of this condition and to propose an effective method of surgical management.

Summary Of Background Data: Lumbar disc arthroplasty is a possible surgical option for patients with degenerative disc disease.

Alcoholism, craving, and hormones: the role of leptin, ghrelin, prolactin, and the pro-opiomelanocortin system in modulating ethanol intake.

Evidence is growing that appetite regulating peptides such as leptin and ghrelin, but also other hormones including prolactin are altered in alcoholism. The brain pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) system which has important mediating roles in alcohol intake also has important functions in prolactin regulation and energy homeostasis. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated to be functionally integrated with leptin regulation.

Presence of symptom distress and prostate cancer-related anxiety in patients at the beginning of cancer rehabilitation.

Background: A growing body of research points towards a substantial number of prostate cancer patients experiencing distress and anxiety. This study examines the frequency and character of cancer- and treatment-related problems and its association with symptom distress and prostate cancer-related anxiety in patients at the beginning of an oncological rehabilitation program.

Patients And Methods: 197 prostate cancer patients who had undergone prostatectomy (92.

Outcome after failed traumatic anterior shoulder instability repair with and without surgical revision.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and reasons of recurrent instability in patients with traumatic anterior shoulder instability and to document the clinical results with regard to the number of stabilizing procedures. Twenty-four patients with failed primary open or arthroscopic anterior shoulder stabilization were followed for a mean of 68 (36-114) months. Following recurrence of shoulder instability, eight patients chose not to be operated on again, whereas 16 underwent repeat stabilization.

[Mass of the pelvis minor--the coloproctological point of view].

The pelvis minor is cranial defined by the promontory and caudal by the pelvic diaphragm. It contains the pelvic organs like the inner genital organs of women, the urinary bladder the rectum and parts of the anus. The rectum is the origin of benign and malign tumors.

Disc height reduction in adjacent segments and clinical outcome 10 years after lumbar 360 degrees fusion.

Adjacent segment degeneration (ASD) is discussed to impair long-term outcome after lumbar interbody fusion. Nevertheless the amount and origin of degeneration and its clinical relevance remain unclear. Only little data is published studying quantitative disc height reduction (DHR) as indicator for ASD in long-term follow-up.

Changes in disc height and posteroanterior displacement after fusion in patients with idiopathic scoliosis: a 9-year follow-up study.

Introduction: In scoliosis patients treated with long segment spinal fusion, degenerative changes like retrolisthesis and disc space narrowing below fusion have been observed. However, there is disagreement concerning their incidence and dependency on the location of the lowest instrumented vertebra.

Materials And Methods: To evaluate temporal changes in disc height and posteroanterior displacement (indicating listhesis) below fusion, 40 patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, mainly treated with Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation, were retrospectively investigated in this longitudinal study with a follow-up of on average 9.