Diagnostic Accuracy of the Neck Tornado Test as a New Screening Test in Cervical Radiculopathy.

Background: The Spurling test, although a highly specific provocative test of the cervical spine in cervical radiculopathy (CR), has low to moderate sensitivity. Thus, we introduced the neck tornado test (NTT) to examine the neck and the cervical spine in CR.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to introduce a new provocative test, the NTT, and compare the diagnostic accuracy with a widely accepted provocative test, the Spurling test.

Suxamethonium induces a prompt increase in the bispectral index.

Upon inducting general anesthesia in the operating room, we have observed a prompt increase in the bispectral index (BIS) after the intravenous injection of suxamethonium. We hypothesized that the cause of this BIS increase is muscle hyperactivity owing to fasciculation. However, no reports have been published regarding this abrupt increase in the BIS upon the induction of general anesthesia by suxamethonium.

Computational analysis of the effect of valvular regurgitation on ventricular mechanics using a 3D electromechanics model.

Using a three-dimensional electromechanical model of the canine ventricles with dyssynchronous heart failure, we investigated the relationship between severity of valve regurgitation and ventricular mechanical responses. The results demonstrated that end-systolic tension in the septum and left ventricular free wall was significantly lower under the condition of mitral regurgitation (MR) than under aortic regurgitation (AR). Stroke work in AR was higher than that in MR.

A patient-specific model of virtual ablation for atrial fibrillation.

The purpose of this study was to propose a patient-specific model of atrial fibrillation (AF) and apply it to virtual radiofrequency ablation (RFA). We obtained patient-specific geometries of the left atrium (LA) from CT data and constructed three-dimensional (3D) simulation models. A bidomain Courtemanche model was used to simulate the 3D electric waves on the LA surface, and an S1-S2 protocol was applied to induce AF in the model.