Femoral quadriceps neuromuscular electrical stimulation after total knee arthroplasty: a systematic review.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in patients submitted to total knee arthroplasty. This was a systematic review with no language or publication status restriction. Our search was made in Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase and LILACS.

Meta-analysis: rectal indomethacin for the prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis.

Background: Despite initial evidence in the literature, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have not been widely used to prevent post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis (PEP).

Aim: To complete a meta-analysis of high-quality RCTs that included the latest available literature published after past meta-analytical efforts

Methods: A comprehensive electronic literature search was carried out for RCTs comparing peri-procedural rectal indomethacin and placebo in preventing PEP. Methodological quality was assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias tool.

Reading-related habitual eye movements produce a directional anisotropy in the perception of speed and animacy.

Judgments of speed and animacy from monolingual English readers were compared with those of bilingual readers of both English and a language read from right to left. Participants viewed a pair of dots moving horizontally across a screen at the same speed. Using a two-alternative forced-choice task, participants judged which dot in a pair moved faster (a direct measure of speed perception) or appeared to be alive (an indirect and correlated judgment of speed perception).

Actual and illusory differences in constant speed influence the perception of animacy similarly.

The ability to perceive objects as alive is the first step in social cognition. When the status of an object is ambiguous--if far away or fast moving--animacy is best perceived using motion cues. Previous studies have revealed that acceleration is a robust cue to animacy.

Genome-wide association study for Crohn's disease in the Quebec Founder Population identifies multiple validated disease loci.

Genome-wide association (GWA) studies offer a powerful unbiased method for the identification of multiple susceptibility genes for complex diseases. Here we report the results of a GWA study for Crohn's disease (CD) using family trios from the Quebec Founder Population (QFP). Haplotype-based association analyses identified multiple regions associated with the disease that met the criteria for genome-wide significance, with many containing a gene whose function appears relevant to CD.

Esophageal-left atrial fistula: intraoperative diagnosis and management.

Nontraumatic esophageal-atrial fistulas are usually fatal and are diagnosed postmortem. We report a rare case of intraoperative diagnosis and successful surgical management of an esophageal-left atrial fistula in a 70-year-old woman with a history of brachytherapy, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy for esophageal cancer who presented with progressive dysphagia and hematemesis.

The safety and usefulness of high-dose-rate endoluminal brachytherapy as a boost in the treatment of patients with esophageal cancer with external beam radiation with or without chemotherapy.

Purpose: This study reports the results of a single-institution experience with high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDRBT) used as a boost in the treatment of esophageal cancer with external beam radiation therapy (ERT) with or without chemotherapy.

Methods And Materials: Patients without evidence of metastatic disease were identified. HDRBT was given before ERT with a dose of 20 Gy in 5 fractions.

The role of ciprofloxacin in prolonging polyethylene biliary stent patency: a multicenter, double-blinded effectiveness study.

Plastic stents are the mainstay of the palliation of malignant jaundice but are complicated by recurrent obstruction. Previous trials have failed to demonstrate any improvement in patency with the use of antibiotics. Patients with malignant jaundice were randomized in a double-blind fashion, after polyethylene stent insertion, to receive ciprofloxacin or placebo.

Psychosocial correlates of patient-physician discordance in inflammatory bowel disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the independent psychosocial correlates of patient-physician discordance in adult outpatients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in three university-affiliated tertiary care settings. Psychological distress, social support, perceived stress, and negative life events were assessed, as were demographic, lifestyle, and clinical characteristics.

Psychological distress, social support, and disease activity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to compare the psychological status of patients in active and inactive disease states, to assess social support, and to identify correlates of psychological distress in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 200 patients (mean age 36.7 yr [SD = 14.

Coloured peptides: synthesis, properties and use in preparation of peptide sub-library kits.

Several methods were developed for the solid-phase synthesis (SPPS) of coloured peptides and peptide libraries. At first a bifunctional red compound, 4-(4-(N-ethyl-N-(3-(tert-butyloxycarbonyl)aminopropyl)amino)phenylazo)be nzoic acid (Boc-EPAB), was coupled with chloromethyl resin to obtain a new solid support suitable for SPPS using Boc chemistry. Peptides synthesized on this coloured resin had the chromophore at their C-termini.

Absorption and presystemic metabolism of selegiline hydrochloride at different regions in the gastrointestinal tract in healthy males.

Purpose: The absorption and disposition of selegiline (SEL) and its metabolites N-desmethylselegiline (DMS), L-methamphetamine (MET), and L-amphetamine (AMP) were assessed in 8 healthy male volunteers at proximal and distal regions of the intestine relative to oral administration (in the stomach) to determine if intestinal site dependence contributed to the erratic oral absorption of selegiline hydrochloride which is manifest as low and variable bioavailability.

Methods: An open-label, four-way crossover, single dose pharmacokinetic study comparing the bioavailability of 10 mg selegiline hydrochloride administered to healthy young males as a solution by the oral route (in the stomach) and by a nasoenteric tube to the following three sites: duodenum, jejunum and terminal ileum was conducted. Infusions were administered over a 1 minute interval and a two week washout was observed between treatments.

The effect of single intravenous doses of cimetidine or ranitidine on gastric secretion.

Intravenous cimetidine, 300 mg or 400 mg, or ranitidine, 50 mg, was administered as a single dose to 36 volunteers in a randomized, crossover fashion. Aspirates of gastric juice were obtained after dosing, and the pH, titratable acidity, gastric fluid volume, and gastric acid output were determined from baseline through 71/2 hours for each subject. Each intervention significantly increased pH and suppressed hydrogen ion concentration, gastric fluid volume, and gastric acid output.

The effect of age on ranitidine pharmacokinetics.

Oral ranitidine was given to 68 healthy subjects between 18 and 75 years old at a dosage of 150 mg twice a day for seven doses. Fifteen subjects were 18 to 35 years old (group I), 19 subjects were 36 to 50 years old (group II), 19 subjects were 51 to 65 years old (group III), and 15 subjects were 66 to 75 years old (group IV). Venous blood samples were drawn and the AUC from 0 to 12 hours, the maximum plasma concentration, the time of the maximum plasma concentration, the minimum plasma concentration, and the elimination t1/2 were determined.

Minimization of gastric damage with enteric-coated aspirin granules compared to buffered aspirin.

This study involved a randomized parallel groups comparison of the effects of aspirin formulated as enteric-coated granules (25 subjects) or as buffered tablets (26 subjects) with that of a lactose placebo (5 subjects), on the gastric and duodenal mucosa, as determined by endoscopic examination 2 h after a fasting single 975-mg dose. A grading scale of 0 (no damage) to 4 (severe damage) was used. The granule formulation produced a statistically significant (p less than 0.

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. A review of the rewards and indications.

Indications for endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERCP) have been poorly defined. We studied the symptoms in 161 patients who underwent ERCP and evaluated the results from four groups of indications: cholestasis, pancreatitis, suspected carcinoma of the pancreas, and pain of unknown etiology. The likelihood of finding abnormalities is discussed.