300 research outputs found
Prediction of outcome following acute variceal haemorrhage
Between August 1979 and September 1982, acute
variceal haemorrhage has been managed in the University
Department of Surgery, Glasgow Royal Infirmary by a
policy of oesophageal tamponade and injection
sclerotherapy. Haemorrhage was controlled in 90% of
admissions with an admission mortality of 28%.
Recurrent haemorrhage occurred in half the patients
surviving their first admission to hospital despite
entering a programme of elective sclerotherapy. The
results of this management policy are reviewed and the
means of selecting patients for more aggressive therapy
discussed. The deficiencies of a modified Child's
classification in selection of patients are highlighted
and overcome by the development of a prognostic index
obtained by regression analysis on data collected on
patients managed over this 3 year period. The admission prognostic index clearly defines
'high' and 'low' risk groups and 'predicts' outcome
following admission in 90% of patients. The use of this
index is validated in a further group of patients
managed by a similar policy. Further regression
analysis is used to obtain a prognostic index for
alcohol cirrhotic patients alone and to determine the
factors associated with one year survival. These
indices are used to audit the management policy.
Prothrombin, creatinine and encephalopathy are shown to
have a clear association with outcome when measured at
the time of variceal haemorrhage whereas other factors such as albumin and haemoglobin emerge as having
prognostic value when measured one month following the
acute episode.
The possible applications of these prognostic
indices are investigated in a prospective two centre
study assessing the efficacy of propranolol in
preventing recurrent variceal haemorrhage. It is shown
that they can be used to exclude patients from entry
into a study assessing the longterm benefit of
propranolol when the prospects of short-term survival
are limited. Their value in auditing management and
their possible use in withdrawing treatment are shown.
The prognostic indices are used to compare results of
treatment at the two hospitals and are shown to be of
value in analysing the results of the trial.
These prognostic indices provide an objective
means of evaluating patient management and may allow
selection of patients for consideration of other
treatment options
Needle Track Seeding of Primary and Secondary Liver Carcinoma After Percutaneous Liver Biopsy
Seeding of tumour in the needle track following percutaneous needle biopsy of liver neoplasms is rarely
reported. We describe two such cases following the needle biopsy of an hepatocellular carcinoma and
secondary colorectal carcinoma respectively. The risk of needle track recurrence of liver tumours should
not be regarded as insignificant. The diagnosis of liver neoplasms may be achieved by non-invasive
modalities, and their needle biopsy should be reserved for cases not amenable to surgical resection
Tuning Actions and Observables in Lattice QCD
We propose a strategy for conducting lattice QCD simulations at fixed volume
but variable quark mass so as to investigate the physical effects of dynamical
fermions. We present details of techniques which enable this to be carried out
effectively, namely the tuning in bare parameter space and efficient stochastic
estimation of the fermion determinant. Preliminary results and tests of the
method are presented. We discuss further possible applications of these
techniques.Comment: 17 pages, 4 eps figures; affiliation correction in this header +
minor post-referee addition
Factors in perioperative care that determine blood loss in liver surgery
AbstractObjectivesExcessive blood loss during liver surgery contributes to postoperative morbidity and mortality and the minimizing of blood loss improves outcomes. This study examines pre- and intraoperative factors contributing to blood loss and identifies areas for improvement.MethodsAll patients who underwent elective hepatic resection between June 2007 and June 2009 were identified. Detailed information on the pre- and perioperative clinical course was analysed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify factors associated with intraoperative blood loss.ResultsA total of 175 patients were studied, of whom 95 (54%) underwent resection of three or more segments. Median blood loss was 782ml. Greater blood loss occurred during major resections and prolonged surgery and was associated with an increase in postoperative complications (P= 0.026). Peak central venous pressure (CVP) of >10cm H2O was associated with increased blood loss (P= 0.01). Although no differences in case mix were identified, blood loss varied significantly among anaesthetists, as did intraoperative volumes of i.v. fluids and transfusion practices.ConclusionsThis study confirms a relationship between CVP and blood loss in hepatic resection. Intraoperative CVP values were higher than those described in other studies. There was variation in the intraoperative management of patients. Collaboration between surgical and anaesthesia teams is required to minimize blood loss and the standardization of intraoperative anaesthesia practice may improve outcomes following liver surgery
Surgical management and longterm follow-up of non-parasitic hepatic cysts
BACKGROUND: Despite the increasing use of laparoscopic techniques, the optimal surgical approach for cystic liver disease has not been well defined. This study aims to determine the optimum operative approach for these patients. METHODS: Data were identified from the Lothian Surgical Audit, case note review and general practitioner contact. Patients were contacted and asked to complete the SF-36 questionnaire on quality of life. RESULTS: A total of 102 patients (67 with simple cysts, 31 with polycystic liver disease [PCLD], four with cystic tumours) underwent 62 laparoscopic deroofings, 15 open deroofings, 36 resections and one liver transplant between June 1985 and April 2006. The median follow-up was 77 months (range 3–250 months). Morbidity and recurrent symptom rates after laparoscopic surgery were greater in PCLD patients compared with simple cyst patients, at 31% (four patients) vs. 15% (seven patients) and 85% (11 patients) vs. 29% (24 patients), respectively. Four patients with simple cysts and eight with PCLD required further surgery. All patients with simple cysts had comparable quality of life after surgery. Patients with recurrent symptoms after surgery for PCLD had a significantly better quality of life following laparoscopic deroofing than after resection. CONCLUSIONS: Most simple cysts can be managed laparoscopically, but there is a definite role for open resection in some patients. Open deroofing is the preferred approach for a dominant cyst pattern in PCLD, whereas resection is necessary for diffuse cystic disease
Fan Cells in Layer 2 of the Lateral Entorhinal Cortex Are Critical for Episodic-like Memory
This work was supported by a Carnegie Trust Collaborative Research Grant to J.A. and M.F.N, a Henry Dryerre scholarship from the Royal Society of Edinburgh to B.V., and grants from Wellcome Trust (200855/Z/16/Z) to M.F.N, and BBSRC (BB/M025454/1) to M.F.N.Episodic memory requires different types of information to be bound together to generate representations of experiences. The lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) and hippocampus are required for episodic-like memory in rodents [1, 2]. The LEC is critical for integrating spatial and contextual information about objects [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Further, LEC neurons encode objects in the environment and the locations where objects were previously experienced and generate representations of time during the encoding and retrieval of episodes [7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]. However, it remains unclear how specific populations of cells within the LEC contribute to the integration of episodic memory components. Layer 2 (L2) of LEC manifests early pathology in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related animal models [13, 14, 15, 16]. Projections to the hippocampus from L2 of LEC arise from fan cells in a superficial sub-layer (L2a) that are immunoreactive for reelin and project to the dentate gyrus [17, 18]. Here, we establish an approach for selectively targeting fan cells using Sim1:Cre mice. Whereas complete lesions of the LEC were previously found to abolish associative recognition memory [2, 3], we report that, after selective suppression of synaptic output from fan cells, mice can discriminate novel object-context configurations but are impaired in recognition of novel object-place-context associations. Our results suggest that memory functions are segregated between distinct LEC networks.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Surgical Helmets and SARS Infection
Performance testing of two brands of surgical helmets indicated that their efficiency at in vivo filtration of sub–micrometer-sized particles is inadequate for their use as respirators. These helmets are not marketed for respiratory protection and should not be used alone for protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome when performing aerosol-generating procedures
Methyl 1-{4-[(S)-2-(methoxycarbonyl)pyrrolidin-1-yl]-3,6-dioxocyclohexa-1,4-dien-1-yl}pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate
The complete molecule of the title diproline ester quinone, C18H22N2O6, is generated by a crystallographic twofold axis, which passes through the centre of the benzene ring. Both –CO2Me groups are orientated to the same side of the benzene ring, with the carbonyl groups pointing roughly towards each other. The conformation of the proline residue is an envelope. In the crystal, a three-dimensional network is sustained by C—H⋯O interactions involving both the quinone and carbonyl O atoms
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