Détermination de l'âge des moutons Djallonké du Nord de la Côte d'Ivoire par examen de leur dentition

A partir de 852 observations faites sur des moutons Djallonké entretenus en élevage semi-intensif, dont l'âge était connu avec précision, les auteurs ont étudié la dynamique du remplacement des incisives de lait dans le but d'établir des normes d'âge en fonction de l'état de la table dentaire. Les âges moyens à l'éruption des incisives définitives ainsi que la durée de chaque stade dentaire ont été estimés. Les normes suivantes ont été tirées de ces observations. Elles montrent que les Djallonké sont plus précoces que les races européennes. Cette table doit être utilisée avec précaution pour les Djallonké en élevage villageois traditionnel qui paraissent être moins précoces que ceux entretenus en élevage intensif ou semi-intensi

High failure rate of the interspinous distraction device (X-Stop) for the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis caused by degenerative spondylolisthesis

The X-Stop interspinous distraction device has shown to be an attractive alternative to conventional surgical procedures in the treatment of symptomatic degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. However, the effectiveness of the X-Stop in symptomatic degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis caused by degenerative spondylolisthesis is not known. A cohort of 12 consecutive patients with symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis caused by degenerative spondylolisthesis were treated with the X-Stop interspinous distraction device. All patients had low back pain, neurogenic claudication and radiculopathy. Pre-operative radiographs revealed an average slip of 19.6%. MRI of the lumbosacral spine showed a severe stenosis. In ten patients, the X-Stop was placed at the L4–5 level, whereas two patients were treated at both, L3–4 and L4–5 level. The mean follow-up was 30.3 months. In eight patients a complete relief of symptoms was observed post-operatively, whereas the remaining 4 patients experienced no relief of symptoms. Recurrence of pain, neurogenic claudication, and worsening of neurological symptoms was observed in three patients within 24 months. Post-operative radiographs and MRI did not show any changes in the percentage of slip or spinal dimensions. Finally, secondary surgical treatment by decompression with posterolateral fusion was performed in seven patients (58%) within 24 months. In conclusion, the X-Stop interspinous distraction device showed an extremely high failure rate, defined as surgical re-intervention, after short term follow-up in patients with spinal stenosis caused by degenerative spondylolisthesis. We do not recommend the X-Stop for the treatment of spinal stenosis complicating degenerative spondylolisthesis

Quantitative evaluation of vimentin expression in tumour stroma of colorectal cancer

Recent studies have identified vimentin, a type III intermediate filament, among genes differentially expressed in tumours with more invasive features, suggesting an association between vimentin and tumour progression. The aim of this study, was to investigate whether vimentin expression in colon cancer tissue is of clinical relevance. We performed immunostaining in 142 colorectal cancer (CRC) samples and quantified the amount of vimentin expression using computer-assisted image analysis. Vimentin expression in the tumour stroma of CRC was associated with shorter survival. Overall survival in the high vimentin expression group was 71.2% compared with 90.4% in the low-expression group (P=0.002), whereas disease-free survival for the high-expression group was 62.7% compared with 86.7% for the low-expression group (P=0.001). Furthermore, the prognostic power of vimentin for disease recurrence was maintained in both stage II and III CRC. Multivariate analysis suggested that vimentin was a better prognostic indicator for disease recurrence (risk ratio=3.5) than the widely used lymph node status (risk ratio=2.2). Vimentin expression in the tumour stroma may reflect a higher malignant potential of the tumour and may be a useful predictive marker for disease recurrence in CRC patients

A new orbital transfer engine

SIGLECopy held by FIZ Karlsruhe; available from UB/TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman