Spinal dural arteriovenous fistula presenting with paraplegia following lumbar puncture.

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas are rare lesions with an annual incidence of 1 per 100,000 population. In patients with this disease, an abnormal vascular dural shunt exists between a dural branch of a segmental artery and a subdural radicular vein that drains the perimedullary venous system, leading to venous hypertension and secondary congestive myelopathy. Generally, patients present with progressive paraparesis, urinary disturbances, and gait ataxia.

Tacrolimus monotherapy in liver transplantation: one-year results of a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Background: Minimal immunosuppression (IS) is desirable in organ transplantation to reduce side effects and to promote the process of tolerance induction.

Material And Methods: Between February 2000 and September 2004, 156 adults (>15 years old) receiving a primary liver graft were enrolled in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, investigator-driven single-center study comparing tacrolimus (TAC)-placebo (PL) and TAC-low-dose, short-term (64 days) steroid (ST) IS. There were no exclusion criteria at moment of randomization.