Measurement of S1 foramen depth for ultrasound-guided S1 transforaminal epidural injection.

Background: Ultrasound-guided first sacral transforaminal epidural steroid injection (S1 TFESI) is a useful and easily applicable alternative to fluoroscopy or computed tomography (CT) in lumbosacral radiculopathy. When a needle approach is used, poor visualization of the needle tip reduces the accuracy of the procedure, increasing its difficulty. This study aimed to improve ultrasound-guided S1 TFESI by evaluating radiological S1 posterior foramen data obtained using three-dimensional CT (3D-CT).

Systemic and mucosal immunity induced by oral somatic transgene vaccination against glycoprotein B of pseudorabies virus using live attenuated Salmonella typhimurium.

Glycoprotein B mediates the absorption and penetration of the pseudorabies virus in the form of an immunodominant Ag, and represents a major target for the development of new vaccines. This study evaluated the efficiency of live attenuated Salmonella typhimurium SL7207 for the oral delivery of DNA vaccine encoding the pseudorabies virus glycoprotein B (pCI-PrVgB) in vivo, leading to the generation of both systemic and mucosal immunity against the pseudorabies virus Ag. An oral transgene vaccination of pCI-PrVgB using a Salmonella carrier produced a broad spectrum of immunity at both the systemic and mucosal sites, whereas the intramuscular administration of a naked DNA vaccine elicited no mucosal immunoglobulin (Ig)A response.