Blog Archive

Αλέξανδρος Γ. Σφακιανάκης

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Acute Flaccid Paralysis in a Child: It Is Not Guillain-Barré Syndrome Always!

xlomafota.13 shared this article with you from Inoreader

Message:

The most common etiology of acute flaccid paralysis in this entire population was neuroparalytic snake envenomation, which was responsible for 51.9% of the cases, followed by the Guillain Barre syndrome (33.1%). These two etiologies accounted for 85% of all patients.

Acute Flaccid paralysis in adults: Our experience - NCBI - NIHhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › articles › PMC4126112

Michael Wilson, MD, senior author of the study that found acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is caused by an enterovirus. AFM is a polio-like illness that causes permanent, sometimes life-threatening paralysis. There're 500 confirmed cases of AFM since 2012.Oct 21, 2019

'Missing' Virus Detected in Dozens of Children Paralyzed by Polio ...https://www.ucsf.edu › news › 2019/10 › missing-virus-d..

View on the web

High Flow Nasal Cannula Therapy as a Primary Mode of Respiratory Support in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

xlomafota.13 shared this article with you from Inoreader

Abstract

Objective

To assess efficacy and safety of High flow nasal cannula therapy (HFNC) as primary mode of treatment for children with respiratory distress.

Methods

Consecutive patients (1 mo-16 years) with respiratory distress were assessed for respiratory clinical score, COMFORT score and saturation to FiO2 (SF) ratio.

Results

A total of 188 (91.7%) patients out of 205 responded to HFNC alone. The respiratory clinical score and COMFORT score were lower with higher SF ratio in these than 17 patients who required ventilation (P<0.001). Median (IQR) time to failure was 2 (1.75–24) hours. Air leak was seen in 2 (1%) patients.

Conclusions

HFNC is an effective and safe primary mode of respiratory support in children with respiratory distress. Children who succeed on HFNC show a favorable clinical response within first few hours.

View on the web

Clotting functional stability of withdrawing blood in storage for acute normovolemic hemodilution: a pilot study

xlomafota.13 shared this article with you from Inoreader

540.jpg

Abstract

Purpose

This study was conducted to time-course changes of clotting function of withdrawing blood for acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH).

Methods

Twelve enrolled patients who underwent ANH from August, 2018 to January, 2019. Blood was withdrawn into blood collection pack and shaken at 60–80 rpm for 24 h in room temperature. Clot formation was evaluated using rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM™) just after blood withdrawal (control) and 4, 8, 12 and 24 h after blood withdrawal. We compared with the control value and each value of extrinsically-activated test with tissue factor (EXTEM), intrinsically-activated test using ellagic acid (INTEM) and fibrin-based extrinsically activated test with tissue factor (FIBTEM).

Results

Maximum clot firmness (MCF) of FIBTEM did not change significantly. MCF of EXTEM was significantly decreased time-dependent manner but all MCF of EXTEM were within a normal range. Maximum percent change in MCF of EXTEM was 12.4% [95% confidence interval (CI): 9.0–15.8%]. The difference in the maximum clot elasticity (MCE) between EXTEM and FIBTEM (MCEEXTEM−MCEFIBTEM) was significantly decrease from 8 h after blood withdrawal. Maximum percent change in MCEEXTEM−MCEFIBTEM was 30.2% (95% CI:17.6–42.9%) at 24 h after blood withdrawal.

Conclusion

Even though the MCE significantly decreased in a time-dependent manner, MCF of FIBTEM and EXTEM was normal up to 24 h storage. The blood of ANH can use for the purpose of hemostasis at least 8 h stored at room temperature after blood withdrawal. Future studies are needed to elucidate the clinical impact on the patient after delayed transfusion of ANH blood with regard to patient's hemostasis.

View on the web

Intrathecal Administration of an Anti‐nociceptive Non-CpG Oligodeoxynucleotide Reduces Glial Activation and Central Sensitization

xlomafota.13 shared this article with you from Inoreader

Abstract

Inflammatory pain associates with spinal glial activation and central sensitization. Systemic administration of IMT504, a non-CpG oligodeoxynucleotide originally designed as an immunomodulator, exerts remarkable anti-allodynic effects in rats with complete Freund´s adjuvant (CFA)-induced hindpaw inflammation. However, the anti-nociceptive mechanisms of IMT504 remain unknown. Here we evaluated whether IMT504 blocks inflammatory pain-like behavior by modulation of spinal glia and central sensitization. The study was performed in Sprague Dawley rats with intraplantar CFA, and a single lumbosacral intrathecal (i.t.) administration of IMT504 or vehicle was chosen to address if changes in glial activation and spinal sensitization relate to the pain-like behavior reducing effects of the ODN. Naïve rats were also included. Von Frey and Randall-Selitto tests, respectively, exposed significant reductions in allodynia and mechanical hypersensitivity, lasting at least 24&n bsp;h after i.t. IMT504. Analysis of electromyographic responses to electrical stimulation of C fibers showed progressive reductions in wind-up responses. Accordingly, IMT504 significantly downregulated spinal glial activation, as shown by reductions in the protein expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein, CD11b/c, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and the phosphorylated p65 subunit of NFκB, evaluated by immunohistochemistry and western blot. In vitro experiments using early post-natal cortical glial cultures provided further support to in vivo data and demonstrated IMT504 internalization into microglia and astrocytes. Altogether, our study provides new evidence on the central mechanisms of anti-nociception by IMT504 upon intrathecal application, and further supports its value as a novel anti-inflammatory ODN with actions upon glial cells and the TLR4/NFκB pathway.

Graphical Abstract

Intrathecal administration of the non-CpG ODN IMT504 fully blocks CFA-induced mechanical allodynia and hypersensitivity, in association with reduced spinal sensitization. Administration of the ODN also results in downregulated gliosis and reduced TLR4-NF-κB pathway activation. IMT504 uptake into astrocytes and microglia support the concept of direct modulation of CFA-induced glial activation

View on the web

Multi-branch sharing network for real-time 3D brain tumor segmentation

xlomafota.13 shared this article with you from Inoreader

Abstract

Brain tumors are one of the most lethal diseases in the world. The segmentation of brain tumor is of great significance for physician in formulating appropriate diagnostic and treatment plans, not only accurate but also efficient 3D segmentation algorithms are urgently demanded in clinical practice. Nowadays, several 3D convolution neural networks have achieved impressive segmentation performance. However, these architectures come with extremely high computational overheads due to the extra depth dimensionality in 3D convolution, which may make these models prohibitive from practical large-scale clinic application. In this work, we aim at designing a more efficient and lightweight network without accuracy reduction for real-time segmentation of magnetic resonance images. To this end, we propose a multi-branch sharing network which consists of novel multi-branch sharing units. Different from other works, our proposed multi-branch sharing units focus the informatio n sharing and communication between grouped layers by leveraging a Multiplexer operation, which can reduce the computational cost significantly while maintaining decent performance. Extensive experimental results on the BraTS2018 challenge dataset show that the proposed architecture achieve real-time inference while maintaining high accuracy for 3D brain magnetic resonance image segmentation.

View on the web

Integrated PET/MRI scanner with oxygen-15 labeled gases for quantification of cerebral blood flow, cerebral blood volume, cerebral oxygen extraction fraction and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen

xlomafota.13 shared this article with you from Inoreader

12149.jpg

Abstract

Objectives

Measurement of cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV), cerebral oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) by PET with oxygen-15 labeled gases is useful for diagnosis and treatment planning in cases of chronic occlusive cerebrovascular disease. In the present study, CBF, CBV, OEF and CMRO2 were measured using the integrated design of PET/MRI scanner system. This is a first attempt to measure cerebral perfusion and oxygen metabolism using PET/MRI with oxygen-15 labeled gases.

Methods

PET/MRI measurements with the steady-state method of oxygen-15 labeled gases, carbon monoxide (C15O), oxygen (15O2), and carbon dioxide (C15O2) were performed on nine healthy men. Two kinds of attenuation correction for PET were performed using MRI with Dixon sequence (DIXON) and Dixon sequence with model-based bone segmentation (DIXONbone). A real-time motion correction of PET images was also performed using simultaneously measured MR images to detect head motion.

Results

Mean and SD values of CBF, CBV, OEF, and CMRO2 in the cerebral cortices with attenuation correction by DIXON were 31 ± 4 mL/100 mL/min, 2.7 ± 0.2 mL/mL, 0.40 ± 0.07, and 2.5 ± 0.3 mL/100 mL/min without real-time motion correction, and 33 ± 4 mL/100 mL/min, 2.7 ± 0.2 mL/mL, 0.40 ± 0.07, and 2.6 ± 0.3 mL/100 mL/min with real-time motion correction, respectively. Values with of CBF, CBV, OEF, and CMRO2 with attenuation correction by DIXONbone were 35 ± 5 mL/100 mL/min, 2.8 ± 0.2 mL/mL, 0.40 ± 0.07, and 2.8 ± 0.3 mL/100 mL/min without real-time motion correction, and 38 ± 5 mL/100 mL/min, 2.8 ± 0.2 mL/mL, 0.40 ± 0.07, and 3.0 ± 0.4 mL/100 mL/min with real-time motion correction, respectively.

Conclusions

Using PET/MRI with oxygen-15 labeled gases, CBF, CBV, OEF, and CMRO2 could be measured. Values of CBF, CBV, and CMRO2 measured with attenuation correction by DIXON were significantly lower than those measured with correction by DIXONbone. One of the reasons for this is that attenuation correction of DIXON does not take into consideration of the photon absorption by bone. OEF values, corresponding to ratios of CMRO2 to CBF, were not affected by attenuation correction methods. Values of CBF and CMRO2 with a real-time motion correction were significantly higher than those without correction. Using PET/MRI with adequate corrections, similar values of CBF, CBV, OEF, and CMRO2 as PET alone scanner system reported previously were obtained.

Trail registration

The UMIN clinical trial number: UMIN000033382.

View on the web

Sportsmanship Interventions for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: a Systematic Literature Review

xlomafota.13 shared this article with you from Inoreader

40489.jpg

Abstract

This systematic review summarizes and analyzes the literature on sportsmanship interventions for individuals with autism. Electronic database searches (i.e., PsycNet, ERIC) and ancestral searches were conducted to find relevant articles. Twenty-eight studies were included in this study that used experimental designs that targeted sportsmanship behaviors. The results were summarized across participants, targeted behaviors, settings, interventions, and methodological rigor of the included studies. Although most studies reported positive outcomes on the targeted social-communication behaviors, methodological limitations should be considered when interpreting the results. Limitations of this review and implications for future research are discussed.

View on the web

Alternative Heterologous Expression of l -Arabinose Isomerase from Enterococcus faecium DBFIQ E36 By Residual Whey Lactose Induction

xlomafota.13 shared this article with you from Inoreader

12033.jpg

Abstract

This study reports an alternative strategy for the expression of a recombinant l-AI from Enterococcus faecium DBFIQ E36 by auto-induction using glucose and glycerol as carbon sources and residual whey lactose as inducer agent. Commercial lactose and isopropyl β-d-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) were also evaluated as inducers for comparison of enzyme expression levels. The enzymatic extracts were purified by affinity chromatography, characterized, and applied in the bioconversion of d-galactose into d-tagatose. l-AI presented a catalytic activity of 1.67 ± 0.14, 1.52 ± 0.01, and 0.7 ± 0.04 U/mL, when expressed using commercial lactose, lactose from whey, and IPTG, respectively. Higher activities could be obtained by changing the protocol of enzyme extraction and, for instance, the enzymatic extract produced with whey presented a catalytic activity of 3.8 U/mL. The sp ecific activity of the enzyme extracts produced using lactose (commercial or residual whey) after enzyme purification was also higher when compared to the enzyme expressed with IPTG. Best results were achieved when enzyme expression was conducted using 4 g/L of residual whey lactose for 11 h. These results proved the efficacy of an alternative and economic protocol for the effective expression of a recombinant l-AI aiming its high-scale production.

View on the web

Rare case of adult intestinal hypoganglionosis and review of the literature

xlomafota.13 shared this article with you from Inoreader

12328.jpg

Abstract

Intestinal hypoganglionosis is a rare condition in adults. We report a case of intestinal hypoganglionosis in the mid-distal transverse colon to splenic flexure in a 65-year-old female patient presenting with altered bowel habit and abdominal distension, and reviewed the current literature on this topic. Our patient had a medical history of neurofibromatosis type 1. A preoperative computed tomography (CT) scan demonstrated a grossly dilated transverse colon without obstruction. A laparotomy for subtotal colectomy was performed, with histopathology demonstrating intestinal hypoganglionosis.

View on the web

The parameters of gait analysis related to ambulatory and balance functions in hemiplegic stroke patients: a gait analysis study

xlomafota.13 shared this article with you from Inoreader

Abstract

Background

Ambulatory and balance functions are important for maintaining general health in humans. Gait analysis allows clinicians and researchers to identify the parameters to be focused on when assessing balance and ambulatory functions. In this study, we performed gait analysis with pressure sensors to identify the gait-analysis parameters related to balance and ambulatory functions in hemiplegic stroke patients.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 102 patients with hemiplegic stroke who underwent gait analysis. Correlations between various temporospatial parameters in the gait analysis and the motor and balance functions assessed using functional ambulation category, modified Barthel index, and Berg balance scale were analyzed.

Results

Gait speed/height and the lower-limb stance-phase time/height were the only temporal and spatial parameters, respectively, that showed a statistical correlation with motor and balance functions.

Conclusions

Measurements of walking speed and stance-phase time of the unaffected lower limb can allow clinicians to easily assess the ambulatory and balance functions of hemiplegic stroke patients. Rehabilitative treatment focusing on increasing gait speed and shortening the stance-phase time of the unaffected side may improve the ambulatory and balance functions in these patients.

View on the web

Self-efficacy beliefs mediate the association between pain intensity and pain interference in acute/subacute whiplash-associated disorders

xlomafota.13 shared this article with you from Inoreader

586.jpg

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate whether a set of pre-accident demographic, accident-related, post-accident treatment and psychosocial factors assessed in people with acute/subacute whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) mediate the association between pain intensity and: (1) pain interference and (2) expectations of recovery, using Bayesian networks (BNs) analyses. This study also explored the potential mediating pathways (if any) between different psychosocial factors.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study conducted on a sample of 173 participants with acute/subacute WAD. Pain intensity, pain interference, pessimism, expectations of recovery, pain catastrophizing, and self-efficacy beliefs were assessed. BN analyses were conducted to analyse the mediating effects of psychological factors on the association between pain intensity and pain-related outcomes.

Results

The results revealed that self-efficacy beliefs partially mediated the association between pain intensity and pain interference. Kinesiophobia partially mediated the association between self-efficacy and pain catastrophizing. Psychological factors did not mediate the association between pain intensity and expectations of recovery.

Conclusion

These results indicate that individuals with acute/subacute WAD may present with lesser pain interference associated with a determined pain intensity value when they show greater self-efficacy beliefs. As the cross-sectional nature of this study limits firm conclusions on the causal impact, researchers are encouraged to investigate the role that patient's self-efficacy beliefs play in the transition to chronic WAD via longitudinal study designs.

View on the web