Management of biliary obstruction in patients with newly diagnosed alveolar echinococcosis: a Swiss retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Alveolar echinococcosis, an orphan zoonosis affecting the liver, is of increasing concern worldwide. Most symptomatic cases present at an advanced and inoperable stage, sometimes with biliary obstruction prompting biliary tract interventions. These are, however, associated with a high risk of infectious complications. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the effectiveness and safety of conservative and interventional treatment approaches in patients with newly diagnosed alveolar echinococcosis and biliary obstruction. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Alveolar echinococcosis patients treated at two referral centres in Switzerland, presenting with hyperbilirubinaemia (total bilirubin >1.5 Upper Limit of Normal) at diagnosis were included, unless another underlying aetiology, i.e. common bile duct stones or decompensated cirrhosis, was identified. Patients were divided into two groups, according to whether they initially received a biliary tract intervention. The primary endpoint was normalisation of bilirubin levels within a 6-month period. Secondary endpoints included, among others, the occurrence of early and late biliary complications, the need for biliary tract interventions during follow-up and overall duration of hospital stays for treatment initiation and for biliary complications. RESULTS: 28 patients were included in this study, of whom 17 received benzimidazole therapy alone and 11 additionally received a biliary tract intervention. Baseline characteristics did not differ between groups. All but one patient in each group achieved the primary endpoint (p=0.747). Biliary tract intervention was associated with faster laboratory improvement (t1/2 1.3 vs 3.0 weeks), but also with more frequent early biliary complications (7/11 vs 1/17, p=0.002) and longer initial hospital stay (18 days vs 7 days, p=0.007). CONCLUSION: Biliary obstruction in patients with newly diagnosed alveolar echinococcosis can be treated effectively with benzimidazole therapy alone. Biliary tract intervention, on the other hand, is associated with a high complication rate and should probably be reserved for patients with insufficient response to benzimidazole therapy

A case of a brain stem abscess with a favorable outcome

Background: A brain stem abscess is a rare and severe medical condition. Here, we present a rare case of a brain stem abscess in a young pregnant woman, requiring acute stereotactic intervention. Case Description: A 36-year-old woman presented with a headache, nausea, and vomiting, and computed tomography showed a space-occupying lesion in the brain stem. She became shortly after comatose, and we decided to perform an acute stereotactic aspiration of the abscess. Soon after surgery, her neurological condition improved dramatically. Conclusion: A brainstem abscess is a life-threatening condition with a potentially good outcome if treated adequately

Perioperative Technical Complications in Deep Brain Stimulation Surgeries

AIM: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgeries are multi-faceted and the various steps are interconnected. Since its first implementation, the method of DBS surgery has undergone changes. We have encountered several expected and also non-expected perioperative technical complications in the past seventeen years. Here, we describe the stereotactic frame, stereotactic localizer and planning station related complications and how we have managed them as much as possible. MATERIAL and METHODS: This study is a retrospective qualitative analysis of the documented technical events encountered during DBS surgeries from 1999 onwards. We have collected these events from a cohort of approximately 921 DBS electrodes implantations from the centers of the authors. RESULTS: Stereotactic frame related complications included movement related fixation problems, head anatomy related problems, and lack of maintenance related issues. Localizer related complications were compatibility issues of the stereotactic localizer and planning station, field of view effect on fiducials, air bubbles in localizers using liquid solutions, and disengaged localizer effect. Planning station related complications included image fusion failures and cerebrospinal fluid signal effect on image fusion. CONCLUSION: The road to success in DBS therapy passes through the ability to cope with surgical and technical complications. Each step is unconditionally connected to the other, and detection of the problems that can be encountered in advance and preparations for these negative conditions are the key to success for the group responsible for executing the therapy. We are still learning from these events and advance our surgical approaches

Quantification of PEFC Catalyst Layer Saturation via In Silico, Ex Situ, and In Situ Small-Angle X-ray Scattering

The complex natureof liquid water saturation of polymerelectrolytefuel cell (PEFC) catalyst layers (CLs) greatly affects the deviceperformance. To investigate this problem, we present a method to quantifythe presence of liquid water in a PEFC CL using small-angle X-rayscattering (SAXS). This method leverages the differences in electrondensities between the solid catalyst matrix and the liquid water filledpores of the CL under both dry and wet conditions. This approach isvalidated using ex situ wetting experiments, which aid the study ofthe transient saturation of a CL in a flow cell configuration in situ.The azimuthally integrated scattering data are fitted using 3D morphologymodels of the CL under dry conditions. Different wetting scenariosare realized in silico, and the corresponding SAXS data are numericallysimulated by a direct 3D Fourier transformation. The simulated SAXSprofiles of the different wetting scenarios are used to interpretthe measured SAXS data which allows the derivation of the most probablewetting mechanism within a flow cell electrode.ISSN:1944-8244ISSN:1944-825

Neotropical bats that co-habit with humans function as dead-end hosts for dengue virus

Several studies have shown Dengue Virus (DENV) nucleic acids and/or antibodies present in Neotropical wildlife including bats, suggesting that some bat species may be susceptible to DENV infection. Here we aim to elucidate the role of house-roosting bats in the DENV transmission cycle. Bats were sampled in households located in high and low dengue incidence regions during rainy and dry seasons in Costa Rica. We captured 318 bats from 12 different species in 29 households. Necropsies were performed in 205 bats to analyze virus presence in heart, lung, spleen, liver, intestine, kidney, and brain tissue. Histopathology studies from all organs showed no significant findings of disease or infection. Sera were analyzed by PRNT90 for a seroprevalence of 21.2% (51/241), and by PCR for 8.8% (28/318) positive bats for DENV RNA. From these 28 bats, 11 intestine samples were analyzed by RT-PCR. Two intestines were DENV RNA positive for the same dengue serotype detected in blood. Viral isolation from all positive organs or blood was unsuccessful. Additionally, viral load analyses in positive blood samples by qRT-PCR showed virus concentrations under the minimal dose required for mosquito infection. Simultaneously, 651 mosquitoes were collected using EVS-CO2 traps and analyzed for DENV and feeding preferences (bat cytochrome b). Only three mosquitoes were found DENV positive and none was positive for bat cytochrome b. Our results suggest an accidental presence of DENV in bats probably caused from oral ingestion of infected mosquitoes. Phylogenetic analyses suggest also a spillover event from humans to bats. Therefore, we conclude that bats in these urban environments do not sustain DENV amplification, they do not have a role as reservoirs, but function as epidemiological dead end hosts for this virus.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Salud::Facultad de MicrobiologíaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de BiologíaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales (CIET