Myocardial viability assessment by PET: (82)Rb defect washout does not predict the results of metabolic-perfusion mismatch.

Unlabelled: PET is a sensitive technique for the identification of viable myocardial tissue in patients with coronary disease. Metabolic assessment with (18)F-FDG is considered the gold standard for assessment of viability before surgical revascularization. Prior research has suggested that viability may be assessed with washout of (82)Rb between early and late resting images.

Risk factors for progression of tibiofemoral osteoarthritis: an analysis based on fluoroscopically standardised knee radiography.

Objective: To evaluate risk factors for progressive radiographic changes of knee osteoarthritis using a standardised fluoroscopically assisted protocol for knee radiography.

Subjects: (n = 319) with unilateral or bilateral knee osteoarthritis underwent a fluoroscopically standardised x ray examination of the knees (semiflexed AP view) and assessment with the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) osteoarthritis index at baseline and at 30 months. Tibiofemoral joint space narrowing and osteophytosis were graded in randomly ordered serial radiographs by consensus of two readers using standard pictorial atlases.

Postconditioning reduces infarct size via adenosine receptor activation by endogenous adenosine.

Objective: This study tested the hypothesis that brief cycles of iterative ischemia-reperfusion at onset of reperfusion (termed "postconditioning", post-con) delays washout of intravascular adenosine and thereby increases endogenous adenosine receptor (AR) activation during the early moments of reperfusion (R).

Methods: Isolated mouse hearts were subjected to 20 min global ischemia (I) and 30 min R with or without post-con (3 or 6 cycles of 10 s R&I). Intravascular purines in coronary effluent were analyzed by HPLC.

Massage therapy versus traditional therapy for low back pain relief: implications for holistic nursing practice.

This study explored whether there is a significant difference in perceived low back pain relief between patients receiving massage versus traditional therapy, using a 2-variable by 3-variable fully crossed, factorial, comparative research design. Statistical results showed slightly more efficacy for traditional therapy; however, the additional benefits of massage add to its value for holistic nursing practice.

Hypoxic postconditioning reduces cardiomyocyte loss by inhibiting ROS generation and intracellular Ca2+ overload.

We have shown that intermittent interruption of immediate reflow at reperfusion (i.e., postconditioning) reduces infarct size in in vivo models after ischemia.

Myocardial protection with postconditioning is not enhanced by ischemic preconditioning.

Background: Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) has been used in off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB) to reduce potential injury secondary to ligation of the target vessel. Previous studies have shown that a brief period of repetitive coronary occlusion applied at the onset of reperfusion, postconditioning (postcon), attenuates myocardial injury. This study tested the hypothesis that coincident application of IPC and postcon would provide more cardioprotection than either intervention alone by inhibiting oxidant-mediated injury after ischemia and reperfusion.

Lumbar interbody fusion: state-of-the-art technical advances. Invited submission from the Joint Section Meeting on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves, March 2004.

During the past few decades, three techniques have been used to achieve circumferential lumbar interbody fusion (LIF). They include posterior LIF, anterior LIF with supplemental posterior fixation, and transforaminal LIF. In this article, the authors describe the indications and contraindications for the use of interbody fusion.

Contribution of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 to the rapid creation of interbody fusion when used in transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: a preliminary report. Invited submission from the Joint Section Meeting on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves, March 2004.

Object: The authors compared fusion rates in transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIFs) when using either autograft or bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) placed in the interbody space.

Methods: Between September 2002 and December 2003, the authors performed 44 TLIF operations. Follow-up data were available for 40 patients.

Novel targeted agents in the treatment of lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the US. Although an improvement in outcome is possible with the continued advancement of cytotoxic-based treatment, clinical research is currently focused on utilising novel molecular targets with proven efficacy in preclinical models and a low toxicity profile. This is the result of advances in understanding of tumour biology and molecular pathways that have been implicated in cancer pathogenesis and progression.

Molecular biological design of novel antineoplastic therapies.

Novel therapies represent a new strategy for the development of anticancer agents. New targets derived from the knowledge of the molecular structure and genetic defects has been useful in developing anticancer drugs that prolong or stabilise the progression of tumours with minimal systemic toxicities. In this review, the mechanism of action and the most significant trials regarding monoclonal antibodies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, angiogenesis and cyclooxygenase inhibitor-based therapies, farnesyl transferase inhibitors and proteasome inhibitors are discussed.

Oxidative stress-elicited myocardial apoptosis during reperfusion.

Myocardial apoptosis primarily triggered during reperfusion has been associated with cardiac dysfunction and extension of infarction. Although potential signaling pathways involved in triggering apoptosis remain to be clearly defined, an increasing number of experiments have implicated the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Increased levels of ROS have been shown to cause inflammatory and endothelial cell-cell interactions and calcium overload, resulting in enhanced release of pro-apoptotic genes from mitochondria.

Recombivax-HB: perspectives past, present and future.

Hepatitis B disease has caused a heavy burden worldwide. The development of an immunogenic, efficacious and safe vaccine to combat this problem has already eased this burden to some extent. The incorporation of the vaccine into the infant and childhood immunization schedule has led to a decrease in the number of new hepatitis B cases reported each year, and there has been a significant decline in hepatocellular carcinoma in children.

Postconditioning attenuates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting events in the early minutes of reperfusion.

Objective: We previously showed that brief intermittent ischemia applied during the onset of reperfusion (i.e., postconditioning) is cardioprotective in a canine model of ischemia-reperfusion.

Pain relief and palliative care in Hong Kong.

Palliative care started in Hong Kong in 1982. It gradually established an increasingly important role in cancer care. Hong Kong is fortunate because analgesic drugs and expertise from various disciplines and specialties in pain management are readily available.

Estimating the economic impact of secondhand smoke on the health of a community.

Purpose: This study provides a model to estimate the health-related costs of secondhand smoke exposure at a community level.

Model Development: Costs of secondhand smoke-related mortality and morbidity were estimated using national attributable risk values for diseases that are causally related to secondhand smoke exposure for adults and children. Estimated costs included ambulatory care costs, hospital inpatient costs, and loss of life costs based on vital statistics, hospital discharge data, and census data.

Reduction of infarct size and preservation of endothelial function by multidose intravenous adenosine during extended reperfusion.

It has been proposed that infarct extension is developed from the early to the late phase of reperfusion (R). This study compares the protective effect of single or multidose administration of adenosine (Ado) on infarct size during early and late phases of R by attenuating neutrophil (PMN) recruitment. Forty-one dogs underwent 60-min left anterior descending artery (LAD) ischemia followed by 6, 24, and 48 h of R, respectively.

Maxillofacial injuries in sport.

Maxillofacial injuries occur in contact and noncontact sports. Despite advancements in protective equipment and rule changes, there is still an unacceptably high rate of maxillofacial injuries. These injuries are clinically challenging.

Congestive heart failure: what should be the initial therapy and why?

Left ventricular systolic dysfunction is associated with neurohormonal activation which contributes to progressive ventricular remodeling and worsening clinical heart failure. Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone and sympathetic nervous systems are activated, not only in patients with clinically overt heart failure, but also in patients with asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Activation of the angiotensin and adrenergic systems produces deleterious effects on systemic and coronary hemodynamics, promotes myocyte hypertrophy and fibroblast growth, and myocyte necrosis and apoptosis.

Impact of the life skills training curriculum on middle school students tobacco use in Marion County, Indiana, 1997-2000.

Evaluation of school-based tobacco prevention and control programs have yielded mixed results. This study assessed the impact of the Life Skills Training curriculum on Marion County, Ind., middle school students' knowledge, attitudes, and ability to make good lifestyle decisions.

Pretreatment with phenoxybenzamine attenuates the radial artery's vasoconstrictor response to alpha-adrenergic stimuli.

Background: Although the radial artery bypass conduit has excellent intermediate-term patency, it has a proclivity to vasospasm. We tested the hypothesis that brief pretreatment of a radial artery graft with the irreversible adrenergic antagonist phenoxybenzamine attenuates the vasoconstrictor response to the vasopressors phenylephrine and norepinephrine compared with the currently used papaverine/lidocaine.

Methods: Segments of human radial artery grafts were obtained after a 30-minute intraoperative pretreatment with a solution containing 20 mL of heparinized blood, 0.

Is knee radiography useful for studying the efficacy of a disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug in humans?

Recent research on the radiographic imaging of knee OA has helped clarify the features of imaging protocols that contribute to accurate representation of disease severity--specifically, the thickness of articular cartilage--and to sensitive detection of disease progression. The absence of standards for reproducible positioning of the knee in the conventional standing AP view obscures the true rate and variability of JSN in knee OA. Moreover, the standing AP view is susceptible to systematic bias insofar as longitudinal changes in knee pain might lead to over- or underestimation of radiographic JSW depending on the direction of change in pain.