Nasal septal angle deviation: effect on lateral wall in nasal obstruction

Background: Deviation of the nasal septum (DNS) refers to the convexity of the septum to one side disturbing the nasal physiology with obstructed nasal breathing leading to lateral nasal wall abnormalities and paranasal sinuses (PNS) mucosal disease. Knowledge of nasal morphological parameters plays an important role in planning successful nasal surgery. Our aim was to evaluate the angle of septal deviation (ASD) on CT scan and study its influence on the lateral nasal wall abnormalities and PNS mucosal disease.Methods: A prospective cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 130 patients with clinical evidence of DNS and chronic sinusitis. The direction and severity of DNS was recorded on CT scan along with evaluation of lateral nasal wall and sinus mucosal abnormalities.Results: Increasing ASD had statistically significant correlation with the lateral nasal wall abnormalities, most commonly, contralateral middle and inferior turbinate hypertrophy (p-value <0.0001). No significant association was found with the incidence of ipsilateral or contralateral osteomeatal complex (OMC) obstruction and sinus mucosal disease.Conclusions: The direction and severity of septal deviation has significant impact on contralateral middle and inferior turbinate hypertrophy. The analysis of these ancillary pathologies can be of great help to the surgeon in better management of patients with nasal obstruction

The effects of multi-domain versus single-domain cognitive training in non-demented older people: a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Whether healthy older people can benefit from cognitive training (CogTr) remains controversial. This study explored the benefits of CogTr in community dwelling, healthy, older adults and compared the effects of single-domain with multi-domain CogTr interventions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A randomized, controlled, 3-month trial of CogTr with double-blind assessments at baseline and immediate, 6-month and 12-month follow-up after training completion was conducted. A total of 270 healthy Chinese older people, 65 to 75 years old, were recruited from the Ganquan-area community in Shanghai. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups: multi-domain CogTr, single-domain CogTr, and a wait-list control group. Twenty-four sessions of CogTr were administrated to the intervention groups over a three-month period. Six months later, three booster training sessions were offered to 60% of the initial training participants. The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS, Form A), the Color Word Stroop test (CWST), the Visual Reasoning test and the Trail Making test (TMT) were used to assess cognitive function.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Multi-domain CogTr produced statistically significant training effects on RBANS, visual reasoning, and immediate and delayed memory, while single-domain CogTr showed training effects on RBANS, visual reasoning, word interference, and visuospatial/constructional score (all <it>P </it>< 0.05). At the 12-month posttest, the multi-domain CogTr showed training effects on RBANS, delayed memory and visual reasoning, while single-domain CogTr only showed effects on word interference. Booster training resulted in effects on RBANS, visual reasoning, time of trail making test, and visuospatial/constructional index score.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Cognitive training can improve memory, visual reasoning, visuospatial construction, attention and neuropsychological status in community-living older people and can help maintain their functioning over time. Multi-domain CogTr enhanced memory proficiency, while single-domain CogTr augmented visuospatial/constructional and attention abilities. Multi-domain CogTr had more advantages in training effect maintenance.</p> <p>Clinical Trial Registration</p> <p>Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. Registration number: ChiCTR-TRC-09000732.</p

Packages of Care for Dementia in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

In the fifth in a series of six articles on packages of care for mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries, Martin Prince and colleagues discuss the treatment of dementia