One-Year Results of a Low-Profile Endograft in Acute, Complicated Type B Aortic Dissection.

Background: The safety and effectiveness of the RelayPro endograft (Terumo Aortic) was assessed for the treatment of acute, complicated type B aortic dissection (TBAD).

Methods: A prospective pivotal trial analyzed a primary end point of all-cause mortality at 30 days. Secondary end points included technical success, major adverse events (disabling stroke, renal failure, and paraplegia/paralysis), endoleaks, patency, rupture, device integrity, false lumen perfusion, reinterventions, aortic expansion, and migration evaluated to 5 years.

A 10-year follow up of publishing ethics in China: what is new and what is unchanged.

Background: Organ donation and transplantation in China are ethically complex due to questionable informed consent and the use of prisoners as donors. Publishing works from China can be problematic. The objective of this study was to perform a 10-year follow up on Chinese journals active in donation and transplant publishing regarding the evolution of their publishing guidelines.

Forward Collision Warning: Clues to Optimal Timing of Advisory Warnings.

We examined the effectiveness of a heads-up Forward Collision Warning (FCW) system in 39 younger to middle aged drivers (25-50, mean = 35 years) and 37 older drivers (66-87, mean = 77 years). The warnings were implemented in a fixed based, immersive, 180 degree forward field of view simulator. The FCW included a visual advisory component consisting of a red horizontal bar which flashed in the center screen of the simulator that was triggered at time-to-collision (TTC) 4 seconds.

Term infants fed formula supplemented with selected blends of prebiotics grow normally and have soft stools similar to those reported for breast-fed infants.

Objectives: The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of 2 different combinations of prebiotic ingredients, polydextrose (PDX), galactooligosaccharides (GOS), and lactulose (LOS), at 2 different intake levels on the overall growth and tolerance in healthy term infants up to 120 days of age.

Patients And Methods: Healthy, formula-fed, term infants (n = 226) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 study formula groups: control group (n = 76), PG4 group (control formula supplemented with 4 g/L of a prebiotic blend, n = 74), or PGL8 group (control formula supplemented with 8 g/L of a prebiotic blend, n = 76). Anthropometric measurements were taken at 14, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days of age, and 24-hour dietary recall and 24-hour tolerance recall were recorded at 30, 60, 90, and 120 days of age.

The role of ERCP in patients with pancreatico-biliary problems in the setting of hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

Background: Patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant may develop pancreatico-biliary complications that may require ERCP. Due to their immunocompromised state, these patients may be at higher risk of procedure-related complications.

Objective: To determine the role of ERCP in the diagnosis and treatment of patients who have undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplant and the patients' clinical outcomes.

Evaluation and management of malfunctioning sacral neuromodulator.

Objectives: To describe a strategy for revising the malfunctioning InterStim device and to provide an algorithm for evaluation and management.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 82 patients who had undergone InterStim placement. Ten patients (eight women and two men) experienced complications and subsequently underwent revision of their device between October 2001 and October 2003.

Diagnostic accuracy of palpation-guided and image-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the thyroid.

We conducted a retrospective study to compare the sensitivity and specificity of traditional palpation-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) performed by clinicians and pathologists with that of image-guided FNAB performed by radiologists for the evaluation of thyroid nodules. We reviewed the medical records of 89 patients who had undergone thyroid FNAB and subsequent surgical excision and pathology. Of this group, 58 patients had undergone palpation-guided FNAB performed by a clinician, 20 had undergone palpation-guided FNAB performed by a pathologist, and 11 had undergone image-guided FNAB performed by a radiologist.

A 10-year follow-up evaluation of lumbar spine fusion with pedicle screw fixation.

Study Design: A retrospective cohort study was conducted.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term results of lumbar spine fusion supplemented with pedicle screw fixation.

Summary Of Background Data: Pedicle screw fixation of the lumbar spine is widely used, yet there is little long-term follow-up information on the technique.

Marijuana alters the human cerebellar clock.

The effects of marijuana on brain perfusion and internal timing were assessed using [15O] water PET in occasional and chronic users. Twelve volunteers who smoked marijuana recreationally about once weekly, and 12 volunteers who smoked daily for a number of years performed a self-paced counting task during PET imaging, before and after smoking marijuana and placebo cigarettes. Smoking marijuana increased rCBF in the ventral forebrain and cerebellar cortex in both groups, but resulted in significantly less frontal lobe activation in chronic users.

Failure of BRCA1 dysfunction to alter ovarian cancer survival.

Purpose: Many factors modify ovarian cancer survival. There are conflicting reports regarding survival of individuals with hereditary BRCA1-related ovarian cancer. None have controlled for other mechanisms of BRCA1 silencing in the control cohort.

Placental abruption.

Unlabelled: Placental abruption complicates approximately 1% to 2% of all pregnancies and remains a significant cause of both maternal and fetal morbidity. Proposed pathophysiology of both acute placental abruption and the more common partial placental separation are discussed. The contribution of placental abruption to both preterm labor and preterm premature rupture of membranes is discussed.

Blood pressure elevation in a patient treated with salsalate.

Objective: To report a case of increased blood pressure associated with the use of salsalate in an elderly patient with no prior history of hypertension.

Case Summary: A 78-year-old white man with no prior history of hypertension initiated salsalate therapy for low-back pain. Over the 15 months prior to the initiation of salsalate, his blood pressure averaged 127 +/- 7 mm Hg systolic and 84 +/- 6 mm Hg diastolic (mean +/- SD).

Long-term follow-up of extended aortoplasty for supravalvular aortic stenosis.

Extended aortoplasty is an operation that was designed to provide a symmetric reconstruction of the aortic root in patients with supravalvular aortic stenosis. The aim of this report is to provide long-term follow-up of the original cohort of 15 patients who underwent extended aortoplasty between 1975 and 1983. Follow-up was obtained in 14 patients.

Plasma clozapine concentrations as a predictor of clinical response: a follow-up study.

We investigated the relationship between plasma clozapine concentrations and clinical response in treatment-refractory schizophrenic patients. In a previous study, we found that plasma drug concentrations above 350 ng/mL maximized clinical response in a group of 29 patients. This study represents a follow-up of these original 29 patients over approximately 2 1/2 years of clozapine treatment.

Fetal medicine.

Fetal therapy continues to be an exciting yet controversial field. In utero treatment of a variety of fetal conditions is discussed: parvovirus B19 infection, fetal thyroid dysfunction, fetal ovarian cysts, twin-twin transfusion syndrome, and fetal hemolytic disease. Fetal surgery continues to be controversial.

Tinnitus as a function of duration and etiology: counselling implications.

Based on the data of 528 tinnitus patients, information is presented concerning: (a) conditions and/or activities that affect tinnitus severity, (b) tinnitus symptoms as a function of etiology, and (c) changes in tinnitus symptoms as a function of time since onset. The four most common conditions and/or activities that reduce tinnitus severity were sleep, listening to TV/radio, being in noise, or being in quiet. Many conditions and/or activities increased tinnitus severity.

Use of infrared videography to detect and record iris transillumination defects.

We have developed a technique of detecting and recording iris transillumination defects using an infrared sensitive video camera. This method is useful for assessing the loss of posterior iris pigment in patients with the pigmentary dispersion syndrome and pigmentary glaucoma. Some patients with no transillumination defects on slit-lamp examination were noted to have discrete defects on infrared videography.