Topical anesthesia versus topical and subconjunctival anesthesia combined in diabetic retinopathy photocoagulation.

Purpose: comparison between two anesthetic techniques on the ability to reduce pain during panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) treatment.

Methods: Observational retrospective single center study. Medical charts of patients who underwent PRP for proliferative diabetic retinopathy were revised.

Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension Papillopathy due to Hormonal Changes during Pregnancy.

Background: The underlying mechanisms of papilledema associated with intracranial hypertension remain unclear. A case of bilateral papillary edema in a patient with chronic idiopathic intracranial hypertension who was asymptomatic during her two pregnancies is reported. .

Impulsivity traits and awareness of motor intention in Parkinson's disease: a proof-of-concept study.

Introduction: In patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), impulsivity is still a matter of investigation. It has been hypothesized that impulsive personality traits may favour impulse control disorder (ICD) onset during dopaminergic therapy. In healthy subjects, a relationship between the awareness of motor intention and impulsive personality traits assessed by the Barratt impulsivity scale (BIS-11) has been reported.

Bilateral diabetic papillopathy developed after starting insulin treatment. Potential toxic effect of insulin? A case report.

Background: Diabetic papillopathy is a complication of diabetes. It presents with edema, uni or bilateral and vascular alteration of the anterior optic nerve. Often this complication is observed in patients with severe diabetic retinopathy, but is rarely observed in isolated form.

Anti-MAG IgM: differences in antibody tests and correlation with clinical findings.

Objectives: Anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) antibody is associated with clinically heterogeneous polyneuropathies. Our purpose was to compare neuropathy phenotypes identified by different anti-MAG tests' results.

Methods: Cohort study: Sera from 40 neuropathy anti-MAG EIA positive patients were tested for anti-MAG by Western blot (WB), for anti-peripheral nerve myelin (PNM) on monkey nerve by immunofluorescence assay (IFA), and for anti-HNK1 on rat CNS slices by IFA.

X-ray absorption spectroscopy study of CuO-NiO/CeO-ZrO oxides: redox characterization and its effect in catalytic performance for partial oxidation of methane.

In this work we analyze the effect of adding CuO to a NiO/CeZrO oxide by X-ray absorption near-edge structure XANES technique in Ce L3, Ni K and Cu K absorption edges in terms of sample reducibility and catalytic activity. The oxidation states of Ce, Ni and Cu cations are followed up during temperature programmed reduction (TPR) experiments in diluted hydrogen and during catalytic tests for partial oxidation of methane (POM) reaction. Redox behavior was correlated to conventional fixed bed reactor results.

What is the impact of the fluid challenge technique on diagnosis of fluid responsiveness? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The fluid challenge is considered the gold standard for diagnosis of fluid responsiveness. The objective of this study was to describe the fluid challenge techniques reported in fluid responsiveness studies and to assess the difference in the proportion of 'responders,' (PR) depending on the type of fluid, volume, duration of infusion and timing of assessment.

Methods: Searches of MEDLINE and Embase were performed for studies using the fluid challenge as a test of cardiac preload with a description of the technique, a reported definition of fluid responsiveness and PR.

Severe Intraoperative Hyperglycemia Is Independently Associated With Postoperative Composite Infection After Craniotomy: An Observational Study.

Background: Postoperative infection after craniotomy carries an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Identification and correction of the risk factors should be prioritized. The association of intraoperative hyperglycemia with postoperative infections in patients undergoing craniotomy is inadequately studied.

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine: Brussels, Belgium. 15-18 March 2016.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.].

Association between acute motor axonal neuropathy and septic shock due to Acinetobacter baumannii.

In this report, we describe a case of acute motoral axonal neuropathy (AMAN) following septic shock due to Acinetobacter baumannii. The aetiology of AMAN is still not fully clarified. An association with a potential infection by Campylobacter jejuni, resulting in stimulation of autoimmune response against gangliosides mediated by a phenomenon of molecular mimicry, is believed to play a major role.

Narcolepsy Type 1 and Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenges in Dual Cases.

Study Objectives: The aim of this study is to describe the possible co-occurrence of narcolepsy type 1 and generalized epilepsy, focusing on diagnostic challenge and safety of dual treatments.

Methods And Results: Four patients with comorbidity for narcolepsy type 1 and idiopathic generalized epilepsy are reported: in three cases the onset of epilepsy preceded narcolepsy type 1 appearance, whereas in one case epileptic spells onset was subsequent. Patients presented with absences, myoclonic and tonic-clonic seizure type: in the patient with tonic-clonic seizures the dual pathology was easily recognized, in the other cases the first diagnosis caused the comorbid disease to be overlooked, independent of the time-course sequence.

IgM monoclonal gammopathy-associated neuropathies with different IgM specificity.

Background And Purpose:   Antibodies directed against myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) are believed to be the most frequent biologic marker of the neuropathies associated with IgM monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of antiganglioside and/or sulfatide-positive patients and their clinical findings, including therapeutic response, compared to anti-MAG-positive or seronegative patients.

Methods:   We prospectively followed 46 patients with MGUS who were diagnosed in our tertiary referral centers for polyneuropathy since 1997.

Optically tracked neuronavigation increases the stability of hand-held focal coil positioning: evidence from "transcranial" magnetic stimulation-induced electrical field measurements.

The stability of hand-held coil positioning with neuronavigated versus conventional transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is still underinvestigated. Eleven operators naïve for neuronavigation were asked to position and maintain a figure-of-eight-shaped coil over a dipole probe placed within of a polystyrene reproduction of the human head and scalp, in correspondence of the right primary motor cortex. Ten monophasic magnetic pulses were delivered at 46% maximal stimulator output (MSO) in two different experimental conditions: (1) assisted by an optically tracked neuronavigational system; and (2) without neuronavigation.

Health status of returnees to Kosovo: do living conditions during asylum make a difference?

Objective: From August 1999 to July 2001, asylum seekers who had come to Switzerland from Kosovo were repatriated. The present study aimed to assess the relationship between living conditions during asylum in Switzerland and health status among returnees.

Study Design: Cross-sectional survey of 319 ethnic Albanian families in Kosovo, selected from a list of 12900 heads of households who had received repatriation aid.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and the use of general health services in postwar Kosovo.

Studies conducted in high-income countries have demonstrated that posttraumatic stress symptoms are positively correlated with increased use of general health services; however, comparative data are lacking in postwar settings. This survey was conducted in Kosovo after the end of the conflict; 996 people, age 16 or older, were interviewed. Older age, lower education level, worse physical health, and current diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were associated with higher use of any health services.

Determinants of postconflict symptoms in Albanian Kosovars.

During the period from 1998 to 1999, more than 1 million civilians from the province of Kosovo in the Balkans were displaced as a consequence of organized violence and war. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a sample of the Albanian Kosovar population more than 2 years after the end of the conflict and to assess the effect of exposure to war-related events. A total of 340 households were randomly selected among 12,900 families returned from a country of asylum (Switzerland).

Clinicopathological findings in five cats with paw calcification.

This retrospective study describes the clinicopathological findings in five cats with soft tissue mineralisation of interdigital spaces and footpads. Paw disease was the reason for veterinary consultation in three out of five cats. All cats had laboratory findings suggestive of renal failure and high solubility product [calciumxphosphorus].

The information network of senior citizens in Geneva, Switzerland, and progress in flu vaccination coverage between 1991 and 2000.

Switzerland has lagged behind other industrialized countries in increasing vaccination coverage against flu in the elderly population. The information campaign "United against Flu", started in Geneva in 1993, gradually extended to other French and Italian speaking cantons in Switzerland and indirectly affected German-speaking cantons. Activities developed include the production of TV spots, press conferences, information forwarded to health professionals, an Internet site and information material such as leaflets and posters to risk groups.

Public health importance and risk factors for cercarial dermatitis associated with swimming in Lake Leman at Geneva, Switzerland.

Fifteen cohorts of healthy bathers were recruited at four Lake Leman beaches between 3 July and 23 August 1996 to assess the public health importance of cercarial dermatitis in Geneva, Switzerland. Telephone follow-up interviews were carried out after 2-7 days. Overall, 153 bathers out of 555 reported probable cercarial dermatitis at follow-up.

[Estimation of the efficacy of three strains of mumps vaccines during an epidemic of mumps in the Geneva canton (Switzerland)].

Background: The number of mumps cases reported in Switzerland markedly increased from 1993 to 1995 although vaccination coverage against mumps had risen steadily since the national MMR immunization program was launched in 1987. In 1991, an estimated 80% of children 27 to 36 month-old were immunized against mumps. The purpose of the present study was to assess the hypothesis that the epidemic was the consequence of a low vaccine efficacy of the Rubini strain--a mumps vaccine strain that has been widely used in Switzerland.

[Vaccination against influenza in Switzerland].

Influenza is still an important cause of morbidity and mortality in our country. The yearly vaccination of the population at risk is always the best method of prevention and for the limitation of health care costs. Today the protection of elderly people and health care professionals by vaccination is not sufficient.

Human heart rate variability and sleep stages.

With the aim of better understanding the dynamic changes in sympatho-vagal tone occurring during the night, human heart rate variability (HRV) during the various sleep stages was evaluated by means of autoregressive spectral analysis. Each recording consisted of an electroencephalogram, an electrooculogram, and electromyogram, and electrocardiogram, and a spirometry trace. All of the data were sampled and stored in digital form.

Risk factors for tuberculosis among HIV-infected patients in Switzerland. Swiss HIV Cohort Study.

The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors associated with tuberculosis among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons living in Switzerland, a country with low prevalence of tuberculous infection. We performed a nested case-control study and logistic regression. Cases (n = 239) were patients participating in the Swiss-HIV Cohort study (n = 7,103), diagnosed with bacteriologically confirmed tuberculosis.

[Comparison of the efficacy of various strains of mumps vaccine: a school survey].

Background: Since the beginning of the program of immunization of children against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) in 1987, various outbreaks of mumps have occurred in Switzerland, with a significant proportion of cases in immunized children. Previous studies have suggested a possible lack of efficacy of the Rubini vaccine strain, which has been much used in this country.

Methods: Incidence study of secondary cases of mumps in the schools of Geneva, between March 18th and June 30th 1994.