Successful Reversal of Acute Kidney Failure by Ultrasound-Accelerated Thrombolysis of an Occluded Renal Artery

Purpose. To describe the treatment of renal artery thrombosis with ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis and discuss the management of prolonged renal ischemia. Case. A 76-year-old patient with a single functional kidney, mild chronic renal impairment, and a recent history of endovascular repair of a thoracoabdominal aneurysm with an aortic branch graft presented with acute flank pain, anuria, and renal failure. The side branch from the aortic stent graft to his single, right, functional kidney appeared to be completely thrombosed. Symptoms had started after cessation of oral anticoagulants because of a planned mastectomy for breast cancer. After identification of the occlusion, ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis was started 19 hours after the onset of anuria. Angiography, 4 hours after beginning of therapy, already showed partial dissolution of the thrombus and angiographic control after 18 hours showed complete patency of the renal artery side branch. Despite a long period of ischemia, renal function was completely recovered. Conclusion. In patients with acute renal ischemia due to thrombosis of the renal artery, complete recovery of function can be achieved with ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis, even after prolonged periods of ischemia

Are the distributions of variations of circle of Willis different in different populations? – Results of an anatomical study and review of literature

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have proposed correlation between variants of the cerebral arterial circle (also known as circle of Willis) and some cerebrovascular diseases. Differences in the incidence of these diseases in different populations have also been investigated. The study of variations in the anatomy of the cerebral arterial circle may partially explain differences in the incidence of some of the cerebrovascular diseases in different ethnic or racial groups. While many studies have investigated the variations in the anatomy of each segment of the cerebral arterial circle, few have addressed the variants of the cerebral arterial circle as a whole. Similarly, the frequency of occurrence of such variants in different ethnic or racial groups has not been compared. METHODS: 102 brains of recently deceased Iranian males were dissected, in order to observe variations in the anatomy of the cerebral arterial circle. The dissection process was recorded on film and digitized. One resized picture from each dissection, showing complete circle has been made available online. The variations of the circle as whole and segmental variations were compared with previous studies. RESULTS: On the whole, the frequencies of the different variants of the entire cerebral arterial circle and segmental variations were comparable with previous studies. More specifically variants with uni- and bilateral hypoplasia of posterior communicating arteries were the most common in our study, similar to the previous works. No hypoplasia of the precommunicating part of the left anterior cerebral artery (A1), aplasia of A1 or the precommunicating part of the posterior cerebral artery (P1) was seen. In 3% both right and left posterior communcating arteries were absent. CONCLUSION: The anatomical variations found in the cerebral arterial circle of the Iranian males in the current study were not significantly different to those of more diverse populations reported in the literature. While taking into account potential confounding factors, the authors conclude that based on available studies, there is no evidence suggesting that the distributions of the variations of cerebral arterial circle differ in different populations

Dutch randomized trial comparing standard catheter-directed thrombolysis versus Ultrasound-accElerated Thrombolysis for thromboembolic infrainguinal disease (DUET): design and rationale

Background: The use of thrombolytic therapy in the treatment of thrombosed infrainguinal native arteries and bypass grafts has increased over the years. Main limitation of this treatment modality, however, is the occurrence of bleeding complications. Low intensity ultrasound (US) has been shown to accelerate enzymatic thrombolysis, thereby reducing therapy time. So far, no randomized trials have investigated the application of US-accelerated thrombolysis in the treatment of thrombosed infra-inguinal native arteries or bypass grafts. The DUET study (Dutch randomized trial comparing standard catheter-directed thrombolysis versus Ultrasound-accElerated Thrombolysis for thrombo-embolic infrainguinal disease) is designed to assess whether US-accelerated thrombolysis will reduce therapy time significantly compared with standard catheter-directed thrombolysis.Methods/design: Sixty adult patients with recently (between 1 and 7 weeks) thrombosed infrainguinal native arteries or bypass grafts with acute limb ischemia class I or IIa, according to the Rutherford classification for acute ischemia, will be randomly allocated to either standard thrombolysis (group A) or US-accelerated thrombolysis (group B). Patients will be recruited from 5 teaching hospitals in the Netherlands during a 2-year period. The primary endpoint is the duration of catheter-directed thrombolysis needed for uninterrupted flow in the thrombosed infrainguinal native artery or bypass graft, with outflow through at least 1 crural artery.Discussion: The DUET study is a randomized controlled trial that will provide evidence of whether US-accelerated thrombolysis will significantly reduce therapy time in patients with recently thrombosed infrainguinal native arteries or bypass grafts, without an increase in complications. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN72676102

Types of the cerebral arterial circle (circle of Willis) in a Sri Lankan Population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The variations of the circle of Willis (CW) are clinically important as patients with effective collateral circulations have a lower risk of transient ischemic attack and stroke than those with ineffective collaterals. The aim of the present cadaveric study was to investigate the anatomical variations of the CW and to compare the frequency of prevalence of the different variations with previous autopsy studies as variations in the anatomy of the CW as a whole have not been studied in the Indian subcontinent.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The external diameter of all the arteries forming the CW in 225 normal Sri Lankan adult cadaver brains was measured using a calibrated grid to determine the prevalence in the variation in CW. Chisquared tests and a correspondence analysis were performed to compare the relative frequencies of prevalence of anatomical variations in the CW across 6 studies of diverse ethnic populations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report 15 types of variations of CW out of 22 types previously described and one additional type: hypoplastic precommunicating part of the anterior cerebral arteries (A1) and contralateral posterior communicating arteries (PcoA) 5(2%). Statistically significant differences (p < 0.0001) were found between most of the studies except for the Moroccan study. An especially notable difference was observed in the following 4 configurations: 1) hypoplastic precommunicating part of the posterior cerebral arteries (P1), and contralateral A1, 2) hypoplastic PcoA and contralateral P1, 3) hypoplastic PcoA, anterior communicating artery (AcoA) and contralateral P1, 4) bilateral hypoplastic P1s and AcoA in a Caucasian dominant study by Fisher versus the rest of the studies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present study reveals that there are significant variations in the CW among intra and inter ethnic groups (Caucasian, African and Asian: Iran and Sri Lanka dominant populations), and warrants further studies keeping the methods of measurements, data assessment, and the definitions of hypoplasia the same.</p

Early childhood adversities and trajectories of psychiatric problems in adoptees: Evidence for long lasting effects

The aim of the present study is to investigate whether early childhood adversities determine the longitudinal course of psychiatric problems from childhood to adulthood; in particular if the impact of early maltreatment on psychopathology decreases as time passes. A sample of 1,984 international adoptees was followed (955 males and 1029 females; adopted at the mean age of 29 months). Parents provided information about abuse, neglect and numbe

Museums Brand Equity and Social Media: Looking into Current Research Insights and Future Research Propositions

Abstract. Extensive research has repeatedly acknowledged the link between traditional and digital marketing communication tools and branding performance. Particularly, both within For Profit Organizations (henceforth, FPOs) and Non-Profit Organizations (henceforth NPOs), social media as the milestone of the digital era has rebutted the foundations of corporate and personal communication through the emergence of new participatory communication terms, such as ''prod-user'' and “co-creation”. Consequently, a growing research trend has emerged towards e-e marketing tools and social media impact on destination branding, as well. Simultaneously, thanks to its multidimensional benefits both at the communicational, educational, and promotional levels, social media are emerging as an essential feature in the branding of the new museum era. To date, within the NPOs sector, few studies have investigated the effect of social media on brand equity. Moreover, far too little attention has been paid to the link between social media and museums' brand equity. Based on the systematic qualitative critical review methodology, this paper attempts to identify the basic trends and research status by 2018. Drawing on a review of 78 papers that are the result of systematic desk research, this study categorizes and presents, for the first time, the effects of social media use on museums’ brand components. The study offers new and valuable insights into the multidisciplinary research interests of the research and industry community relating to communication and marketing, NPOs, tourism, and museums context. Keywords: Social Media, Museums, Brand Equity, NPOs, Cultural Tourism