Long-term neuropathy and quality of life in colorectal cancer patients treated with oxaliplatin containing adjuvant chemotherapy.

Background: Oxaliplatin, combined with capecitabine (CAPOX) or infused 5-fluorouracil (FOLFOX), is standard of care in the adjuvant treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). Prospective data on prevalence of oxaliplatin induced acute and long-term neuropathy in a real-life patient population and its effects on quality of life (QOL) and survival is limited, and scarce in CAPOX versus FOLFOX treated, especially in a subarctic climate.

Methods: One hundred forty-four adjuvant CRC patients (all 72 CAPOX cases and 72 matched FOLFOX controls) were analyzed regarding oxaliplatin induced sensory neuropathy, which was graded according to NCI-CTCAEv3.

Transient Cardiac Arrest Induced by Adenosine: A Tool for Contralateral Clipping of Internal Carotid Artery-Ophthalmic Segment Aneurysms.

Background: The disadvantages of a contralateral approach (CA) include deep and narrow surgical corridors and inconsistent ability to achieve proximal control of the supraclinoid internal carotid artery (ICA). However, a CA remains as a microsurgical option for selected ICA-ophthalmic (opht) segment aneurysms.

Objective: To describe transient cardiac arrest induced by adenosine as an alternative tool to obtain proximal vascular control and soften the aneurysm sac in selected patients while performing a CA.

Contralateral Approach to Bilateral Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysms: Comparative Study, Angiographic Analysis, and Surgical Results.

Background: Bilateral aneurysms located between the 2 middle cerebral artery (MCA) bifurcations may be approachable through a single unilateral approach.

Objective: To identify anatomic parameters based on imaging that would favor a contralateral approach.

Methods: From January 1998 to December 2013, we retrospectively identified 173 patients with bilateral intracranial aneurysms.

Contralateral Approach to Internal Carotid Artery Ophthalmic Segment Aneurysms: Angiographic Analysis and Surgical Results for 30 Patients.

Background: Contralateral aneurysm clipping can be applied to bilateral intracranial aneurysms of the anterior circulation and to selected aneurysms on the medial wall of the internal carotid artery (ICA).

Objective: To identify anatomic and radiological parameters that would favor a contralateral microsurgical approach to ICA-ophthalmic segment (ICA-opht) aneurysms.

Methods: For the period January 1957 to December 2012, we retrospectively analyzed 268 patients with ICA-opht aneurysms treated in our institution.

Incidence, treatment and survival of paediatric patients with bone sarcomas in Finland from 1991 to 2005.

Aim: Our aims were to establish the 10-year overall and event-free survival rates among children and adolescents with bone sarcomas in Finland, estimate their respective incidences, evaluate the treatment given and describe the key prognostic factors.

Methods: We included 88 patients of <18 years of age diagnosed with a bone sarcoma during 1991-2005 in this retrospective, nationwide and population-based study. Median follow-up time was 12.

Early activation of the kynurenine pathway predicts early death and long-term outcome in patients resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Background: The kynurenine pathway (KP) is the major route of tryptophan (TRP) catabolism and is activated by inflammation and after cardiac arrest in animals. We hypothesized that the KP activation level correlates with severity of post-cardiac arrest shock, early death, and long-term outcome.

Methods And Results: Plasma was obtained from 245 patients enrolled in a prospective multicenter observational study in 21 intensive care units in Finland.

Kuopio treatment strategy after deep sternal wound infection.

Backgrounds And Aims: Infection of sternotomy wound is a rare potentially fatal complication because of the risk for deep sternal infection. Current treatment comprises antibiotics, debridement, negative pressure wound therapy and sometimes transposition of muscle or omental flaps to fill the anterior mediastinal dead space.

Material And Methods: The management of 60 consecutive deep sternotomy wound infections is reviewed.

Cerebrospinal fluid insulin-like growth factors IGF-1 and IGF-2 in infantile autism.

There has been little exploration of major biologic regulators of cerebral development in autism. We measured insulin-like growth factors (IGF) -1 and -2 from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by radio immunoassay in 25 children with autism (median age 5y 5mo; range 1y 11mo-15y 10mo; 20 males, 5 females), and in 16 age-matched comparison children without disability (median age 7y 4mo; range 1y 1mo-15y 2mo; eight males, eight females). IGF-1 and -2 concentrations were further correlated with age of patients and head size.

Nordic cooperation--expanding to the Baltic countries.

The paper describes the establishment in 1995 of the Nordic Association for Medical and Health Information, bringing together the five national associations from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland. Many forms of good and informal cooperation between these countries have always existed, but an association is needed to be able to officially act as a unified medical library community. Since the opening up of Eastern Europe to the West in the early 1990s, their need for professional updating and literature was paramount, and one of the current concerns of the Nordic Association is cooperation with the Baltic countries.

Metabolic defects in persistent impaired glucose tolerance are related to the family history of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Recent studies have suggested that the family history of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) influences glucose metabolism in subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT). However, it is not known whether the family history of NIDDM influences glucose metabolism in impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). We studied in a well-characterized group the impact of family history of NIDDM (diabetes mellitus [DM]-positive) in subjects with IGT on glucose disposal rate (GDR) measured by the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp technique combined with indirect calorimetry.

Differential effects of sepsis and trauma on urinary excretion of polyamines.

Urinary excretion of polyamines increases in patients with trauma and infection. To separate the effect of infection from the general metabolic response to sepsis, we studied 7 patients with sepsis and 13 patients with multiple trauma in the intensive-care unit. Urinary excretion of total and free polyamines, putrescine, spermidine, spermine, and their metabolites N1-acetylspermidine (N1-AcSPD) and N8-acetylspermidine (N8-AcSPD), and energy and nitrogen balance were measured.

Recovery of pulmonary function in farmer's lung. A five-year follow-up study.

The recovery of pulmonary function in farmer's lung (FL) was studied during a 5-yr follow-up in 101 patients (20 men and 81 women, mean age 47 yr). At the initial evaluation all patients had the first diagnosed attack of FL. Spirometry, measurement of pulmonary diffusing capacity, and arterial blood gas analysis were done at the time of the diagnosis and 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months thereafter.

Low power lasers in physical therapy: measurement of optical output power of devices.

This report outlines the most essential characteristics of low power lasers commonly used in physical medicine. The optical output power of two Helium-Neon (HeNe) lasers (CW scanner) and two collimated Infrared (IR) laser diodes was measured with a CoherentR Model 212 meter designed to measure output power and its power density. The energy of two collimated IR lasers was measured with a Laser Precision Energy Meter equipped with an RJP-735 probe.

Effects of the electrical stimulation of myofascial trigger points with tension headache.

The effects of electrical stimulation by simple pocket size stimulator were evaluated on myofascial trigger points by pain threshold (PTH) algometry. The study consisted 14 patients with 76 treated trigger points in randomly selected double blind cross-over study protocol. The effects of 30 seconds stimulation increased the PTH values 0.

Real-time evaluation of anaerobic threshold with rms-EMG of working and nonworking muscles during incremental bicycle ergometer test.

Surface rms-EMG measurement as a real time monitoring method for detecting the anaerobic threshold during a bicycle ergometer test was evaluated and compared with blood lactate and ventilatory parameters. The study group consisted of 12 healthy ice hockey players. The anaerobic threshold indicated as dislinearity of increase in blood lactate level, ventilatory parameters and myoelectrical activity was observed at the work level of 300 (range 270-330) W in each case.

Effects of PEEP on respiratory mechanics after open heart surgery.

Respiratory dysfunction, particularly atelectasis, is common after open heart surgery. Routine use of PEEP (5 to 10 cm H2O) in these patients has been advocated. We studied the effects of different levels of PEEP on respiratory mechanics in ten mechanically ventilated open heart surgery patients in the immediate postoperative period.

Class specific antibodies in serodiagnosis of farmer's lung.

The aim of the present study was to determine which microbes and which immunoglobulin (Ig) classes should be included in tests to discriminate between patients with farmer's lung and reference persons. The sera of a group of farmer's lung patients and their spouses were measured for IgG, IgA, IgM, and IgE antibodies against a panel of farmer's lung microbes. The concentrations of IgG, IgA, and IgE antibodies were higher in patients compared with their spouses.

Substrate specificity and reaction mechanism of human glycoasparaginase. The N-glycosidic linkage of various glycoasparagines is cleaved through a reaction mechanism similar to L-asparaginase.

Human glycoasparaginase (N4-(beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl)-L-asparaginase, EC 3.5.1.

Effect of corticosteroid treatment on the recovery of pulmonary function in farmer's lung.

The effect of corticosteroid treatment on the course of farmer's lung (FL) was studied in 36 patients randomly allocated in a double-blind placebo-controlled study. All patients were in the acute stage of the disease and had had the first diagnosed attack of FL. Twenty patients were given prednisolone treatment for 8 wk.

Expression of decorin in human tissues and cell lines and defined chromosomal assignment of the gene locus (DCN).

Earlier studies had shown that the expression of the gene coding for one eminent connective tissue proteoglycan, decorin (DCN), is deficient in the fibroblasts of 3 out of 15 Marfan patients (Pulkkinen et al., 1990). To obtain more information on the expression of this gene, various human tissues and cell lines were studied.

Capacitively coupled electrical field in the treatment of a leg fracture after total knee replacement.

Electrical stimulation has been used as treatment for nonunions of fractures since the early 1950s, with a reported success rate of 80-85%. We report a case of nonunion of a tibial fracture below a revised total knee prosthesis treated with a capacitively coupled electrical field. After 3 months of treatment, consolidation of this difficult fracture was evident with abundant callus formation.

Effects of intrauterine growth retardation and its subtypes on the development of the preterm infant.

The aim of this prospective study was to examine the neurological development of preterm children with asymmetric (A-SGA) or symmetric (S-SGA) intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). Twenty-six A-SGA preterm children, 27 S-SGA preterm children and 131 appropriate for gestational age (AGA) preterm children were compared with 121 full-term AGA children. They were assessed by one author at the corrected age of 18 months +/- 2 weeks using the modified Denver Developmental Screening Test.

Fixation of diaphyseal femoral osteotomy with self-reinforced biodegradable intramedullary implants: an experimental study on growing dogs.

Polyglycolic acid (PGA) was investigated for use as a biodegradable suture and fixation material for the repair of soft and osseous tissue. Self-reinforced (SR-) PGA has been used successfully since 1984 as an internal fixation material for fixation of cancellous bone fractures. The purpose of this study was to examine the possible usefulness of an intramedullary SR-PGA rod in the fixation of femoral shaft osteotomy in the growing dog.

Relation of coronary heart disease and apolipoprotein E phenotype in patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes.

Objectives: To examine the relation between coronary heart disease and the apolipoprotein E phenotypes in patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Design: Cross sectional study.

Setting: District around Kuopio University Central Hospital, East Finland.