Ultrasound-guided intermediate cervical plexus and additional peripheral facial nerve block for carotid endarterectomy : A prospective pilot study.

Background And Objectives: Ultrasound-guided intermediate cervical plexus block with perivascular local anesthetic infiltration is an established anesthetic procedure for carotid endarterectomy. In this prospective pilot study an additional subplatysmal block of the superficial ansa cervicalis is presented for the first time. The target structures are the anastomoses between the facial nerve (cervical and marginal mandibular branches) and cervical plexus.

Folliculotropic mycosis fungoides.

Accepted by the WHO and EORTC as a variant of classic mycosis fungoides, folliculotropic (syn.: follicular or pilotropic) mycosis fungoides (FMF) is characterized by a broad clinical and histological spectrum with numerous differential diagnoses. Recent studies have shown that FMF can be divided into two prognostically different subgroups, both marked by histological as well as clinical differences.

The femoral vein diameter and its correlation with sex, age and body mass index - An anatomical parameter with clinical relevance.

Background: The femoral vein diameter is a critical factor when assessing endoprosthetic valve size for the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency. To examine the previously stated correlation between body mass index and femoral vein diameter and to re-assess the anatomical and physiological demands for a valve implant for chronic venous insufficiency treatment, we measured the femoral vein diameter in 82 subjects.

Method: Femoral vein diameters (164 legs) were measured with B-mode sonography both in supine position at rest and in upright position during Valsalva maneuver.

Efficacy and Safety of Peginterferon Alfa-2a (40KD) in Children With Chronic Hepatitis B: The PEG-B-ACTIVE Study.

Children with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) represent an area of unmet medical need, attributed to increased lifetime risk of CHB sequelae and limited therapeutic options compared with adult CHB patients. The PEG-B-ACTIVE (NCT01519960) phase III study evaluated peginterferon (PegIFN) alfa-2a treatment in children aged 3 to <18 years with CHB. A total of 161 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive immune-active patients without advanced fibrosis (AF)/cirrhosis were randomized (2:1) to PegIFN alfa-2a (Group A, n = 101) or no treatment (Group B, n = 50); patients with AF were assigned to PegIFN alfa-2a (Group C, n = 10).

Cardiogenic Causes of Fever.

Background: Persistent fever of unknown cause is only rarely of cardiac origin, but heart disease must be considered in the differential diagnosis. Aside from endocarditis, pericarditis and various other conditions may be responsible.

Methods: This review is based on pertinent articles retrieved by a selective search in PubMed and Google Scholar employing the term "fever" in combination with "myocardial infarction," "pericarditis," "endocarditis," and "postcardiac injury," with additional consideration of current cardiological guidelines.

Neonatal exposure to hyperoxia leads to persistent disturbances in pulmonary histone signatures associated with NOS3 and STAT3 in a mouse model.

Background: Early pulmonary oxygen exposure is one of the most important factors implicated in the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

Methods: Here, we analyzed short- and long-term effects of neonatal hyperoxia on NOS3 and STAT3 expression and corresponding epigenetic signatures using a hyperoxia-based mouse model of BPD.

Results: Early hyperoxia exposure led to a significant increase in NOS3 (median fold change × 2.

Cutaneous disorders characterized by elastolysis or loss of elastic tissue.

Along with collagen, elastic fibers are integral components of cutaneous connective tissue. A decrease in elastic fibers or loss thereof has been described in a number of clinically distinct skin diseases, both hereditary and acquired. In disorders associated with inflammation, elastophagocytosis is an important histological hallmark.

Moxifloxacin in Pediatric Patients With Complicated Intra-abdominal Infections: Results of the MOXIPEDIA Randomized Controlled Study.

Background: This study was designed to evaluate primarily the safety and also the efficacy of moxifloxacin (MXF) in children with complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAIs).

Methods: In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled study, 451 pediatric patients aged 3 months to 17 years with cIAIs were treated with intravenous/oral MXF (N = 301) or comparator (COMP, intravenous ertapenem followed by oral amoxicillin/clavulanate; N = 150) for 5 to 14 days. Doses of MXF were selected based on the results of a Phase 1 study in pediatric patients (NCT01049022).

Reduced-Intensity Delayed Intensification in Standard-Risk Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Defined by Undetectable Minimal Residual Disease: Results of an International Randomized Trial (AIEOP-BFM ALL 2000).

Purpose Delayed intensification (DI) is an integral part of treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but it is associated with relevant toxicity. Therefore, standard-risk patients of trial AIEOP-BFM ALL 2000 (Combination Chemotherapy Based on Risk of Relapse in Treating Young Patients With ALL) were investigated with the specific aim to reduce treatment intensity. Patients and Methods Between July 2000 and July 2006, 1,164 patients (1 to 17 years of age) with standard-risk ALL (defined as the absence of high-risk cytogenetics and undetectable minimal residual disease on days 33 and 78) were randomly assigned to either experimental reduced-intensity DI (protocol III; P-III) or standard DI (protocol II; P-II).

PET-guided treatment in patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma (HD18): final results of an open-label, international, randomised phase 3 trial by the German Hodgkin Study Group.

Background: The intensive polychemotherapy regimen eBEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone in escalated doses) is very active in patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma, albeit at the expense of severe toxicities. Individual patients might be cured with less burdensome therapy. We investigated whether metabolic response determined by PET after two cycles of standard regimen eBEACOPP (PET-2) would allow adaption of treatment intensity, increasing it for PET-2-positive patients and reducing it for PET-2-negative patients.

Evaluation of therapy management and outcome in Takotsubo syndrome.

Background: To date there is no validated evidence for standardized treatment of patients with Takotsubo syndrome (TTS). Medication therapy after final TTS diagnosis remains unclear. Previous data on patient outcome is ambivalent.

Does the approach influence the success rate for ultrasound-guided rectus sheath blocks? An anatomical case series.

The anterior cutaneous branches of the thoracolumbar spinal nerves enter the rectus sheath at its lateral border and perforate the muscle after travelling a short distance in the ventral direction. In this anatomical case series, we show that dye injection at the medial margin did not lead to reliable impregnation of the target nerves. The local anesthetic should therefore be injected at the lateral edge of the rectus sheath.

Sofosbuvir and ribavirin in adolescents 12-17 years old with hepatitis C virus genotype 2 or 3 infection.

Unlabelled: Children with chronic hepatitis C virus infection have limited treatment options. We evaluated the all-oral combination of sofosbuvir and ribavirin in adolescents aged 12-17 with hepatitis C virus genotype 2 or 3 (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02175758).

Lifetime exercise intolerance with lactic acidosis as key manifestation of novel compound heterozygous ACAD9 mutations causing complex I deficiency.

We report a 36-year-old female having lifetime exercise intolerance and lactic acidosis with nausea associated with novel compound heterozygous Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase 9 gene (ACAD9) mutations (p.Ala390Thr and p.Arg518Cys).

Analysis of the German DRG data for livedoid vasculopathy and calciphylaxis.

Background: Livedoid vasculopathy and calciphylaxis are rare skin disorders. Large cohorts of patients have been missing so far for detailed analysis.

Patients And Methods: Data from diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) of hospitalized cases of livedoid vasculopathy (n = 1357) and calciphylaxis (n = 699) were analysed for the years 2008-2013 concerning sex, age and frequency of diagnosis.

Technique of Suprafascial Anastomosis With Reduced Risk of Stenosis of the Efferent Outlet in Continent Catheterizable Urinary Diversion.

Objective: To describe our technique and long-term experience with a technique of a suprafascial anastomosis for the efferent continent segment in continent cutaneous urinary diversion, which aims to reduce the rate of stomal strictures.

Materials And Methods: Between 1998 and 2013, up to 191 patients underwent continent cutaneous urinary diversion with a suprafascial anastomosis technique at our institution. A complete follow-up was achievable in 82 patients.

The "Guidewire-Coil"-Technique to prevent retrograde stone migration of ureteric calculi during intracorporeal lithothripsy.

Background: Stone retropulsion represents a challenge for intracorporeal lithotripsy of ureteral calculi. The consequences are an increased duration and cost of surgery as well as decreased stone-free rates. The use of additional tools to prevent proximal stone migration entails further costs and risks for ureteral injuries.

Compression therapy in patients with venous leg ulcers.

Wund-D.A.CH.

Transurethral biopsy of the prostatic urethra is associated with final apical margin status at radical cystoprostatectomy.

Purpose: Biopsy of the prostatic urethra is an integral part of clinical staging in patients prior to radical cystoprostatectomy (RC) and urinary diversion. We examined whether preoperative transurethral resection (TUR) biopsy was associated with final apical urethral margin status and hypothesized that a negative biopsy could replace intraoperative frozen section for decision making regarding the feasibility of orthotopic neobladder reconstruction.

Methods: TUR biopsy, frozen section, urethrectomy, and final apical urethral margin pathologic data were extracted from the charts of men who had undergone RC at the Houston Methodist Hospital between 1987 and 2013.