4,259 research outputs found
Perioperative care of the geriatric patient for noncardiac surgery
Adults age 65 and over are the fastest growing segment of the population in the United States and around the world. As the size of this population expands, the number of older adults referred for surgical procedures will continue to increase. Due to the physiologic changes of aging and the increased frequency of comorbidities, older adults are at increased risk for adverse outcomes, and perioperative care is inherently more complex than in younger individuals. In this review, we discuss the physiologic changes of aging relevant to the surgical patient, comprehensive preoperative assessment, and postoperative management of common complications in older adults in order to promote optimal clinical outcomes both perioperatively and long-term
A controlled trial of natalizumab for relapsing multiple sclerosis.
Background: In patients with multiple sclerosis, inflammatory brain lesions appear to arise from autoimmune responses involving activated lymphocytes and monocytes. The glycoprotein (alpha)(sub 4) integrin is expressed on the surface of these cells and plays a critical part in their adhesion to the vascular endothelium and migration into the parenchyma. Natalizumab is an (alpha)(sub 4) integrin antagonist that reduced the development of brain lesions in experimental models and in a preliminary study of patients with multiple sclerosis.Methods: In a randomized, double-blind trial, we randomly assigned a total of 213 patients with relapsing-remitting or relapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis to receive 3 mg of intravenous natalizumab per kilogram of body weight (68 patients), 6 mg per kilogram (74 patients), or placebo (71 patients) every 28 days for 6 months. The primary end point was the number of new brain lesions on monthly gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging during the six-month treatment period. Clinical outcomes included relapses and self-reported well-being.Results: There were marked reductions in the mean number of new lesions in both natalizumab groups: 9.6 per patient in the placebo group, as compared with 0.7 in the group given 3 mg of natalizumab per kilogram (P<0.001) and 1.1 in the group given 6 mg of natalizumab per kilogram (P<0.001). Twenty-seven patients in the placebo group had relapses, as compared with 13 in the group given 3 mg of natalizumab per kilogram (P=0.02) and 14 in the group given 6 mg of natalizumab per kilogram (P=0.02). The placebo group reported a slight worsening in well-being (a mean decrease of 1.38 mm on a 100-mm visual-analogue scale), whereas the natalizumab groups reported an improvement (mean increase of 9.49 mm in the group given 3 mg of natalizumab per kilogram and 6.21 mm in the group given 6 mg of natalizumab per kilogram).Conclusions: In a placebo-controlled trial, treatment with natalizumab led to fewer inflammatory brain lesions and fewer relapses over a six-month period in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis
Hotter, Denser, Faster, Smaller...and Nearly-Perfect: What's the matter at RHIC?
The experimental and theoretical status of the ``near perfect fluid'' at RHIC
is discussed. While the hydrodynamic paradigm for understanding collisions at
RHIC is well-established, there remain many important open questions to address
in order to understand its relevance and scope. It is also a crucial issue to
understand how the early equilibration is achieved, requiring insight into the
active degrees of freedom at early times.Comment: 10 Pages, 13 Figures, submitted to the proceedings of the Second
Meeting of the APS Topical Group on Hadronic Physics, Nashville, TN, October
22-24, 200
Possible bite-induced abscess and osteomyelitis in Lufengosaurus (Dinosauria: sauropodomorph) from the Lower Jurassic of the Yimen Basin, China
We report an osseous abnormality on a specimen of the sauropod dinosaur Lufengosaurus huenei from the Fengjiahe Formation in Yuxi Basin, China. A gross pathological defect occurs on the right third rib, which was subjected to micro-computed tomographic imaging as an aid in diagnosis. The analysis of pathological characteristics and the shape of the abnormality is incompatible with impact or healed trauma, such as a common rib fracture, and instead suggests focal penetration of the rib, possibly due to a failed predator attack. The identification of characteristics based on gross morphology and internal micro-morphology presented by the specimen, suggests an abscess with osteomyelitis as the most parsimonious explanation. Osteomyelitis is a severe infection originating in the bone marrow, usually resulting from the introduction of pyogenic (pus-producing) bacteria into the bone. Micro-tomographic imaging of the lesion suggests a degree of healing and bone remodelling following post-traumatic wound infection with evidence of sclerotic bone formation at the site of pathological focus, indicating that L. huenei survived the initial trauma. However, as osteomyelitis can express through widespread systemic effects, including a lowering of immune response and overall condition, this disease may have been a contributing factor to the eventual death of the individual
Mutational Landscapes of Smoking-Related Cancers in Caucasians and African Americans: Precision Oncology Perspectives at Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center
Predicting organ failure at 24 hours from early clinical data in an ovine pneumonia-sepsis model
Airway resistance at maximum inhalation as a marker of asthma and airway hyperresponsiveness
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Asthmatics exhibit reduced airway dilation at maximal inspiration, likely due to structural differences in airway walls and/or functional differences in airway smooth muscle, factors that may also increase airway responsiveness to bronchoconstricting stimuli. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that the minimal airway resistance achievable during a maximal inspiration (R<sub>min</sub>) is abnormally elevated in subjects with airway hyperresponsiveness.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The R<sub>min </sub>was measured in 34 nonasthmatic and 35 asthmatic subjects using forced oscillations at 8 Hz. R<sub>min </sub>and spirometric indices were measured before and after bronchodilation (albuterol) and bronchoconstriction (methacholine). A preliminary study of 84 healthy subjects first established height dependence of baseline R<sub>min </sub>values.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Asthmatics had a higher baseline R<sub>min </sub>% predicted than nonasthmatic subjects (134 ± 33 vs. 109 ± 19 % predicted, p = 0.0004). Sensitivity-specificity analysis using receiver operating characteristic curves indicated that baseline R<sub>min </sub>was able to identify subjects with airway hyperresponsiveness (PC<sub>20 </sub>< 16 mg/mL) better than most spirometric indices (Area under curve = 0.85, 0.78, and 0.87 for R<sub>min </sub>% predicted, FEV<sub>1 </sub>% predicted, and FEF<sub>25-75 </sub>% predicted, respectively). Also, 80% of the subjects with baseline R<sub>min </sub>< 100% predicted did not have airway hyperresponsiveness while 100% of subjects with R<sub>min </sub>> 145% predicted had hyperresponsive airways, regardless of clinical classification as asthmatic or nonasthmatic.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings suggest that baseline R<sub>min</sub>, a measurement that is easier to perform than spirometry, performs as well as or better than standard spirometric indices in distinguishing subjects with airway hyperresponsiveness from those without hyperresponsive airways. The relationship of baseline R<sub>min </sub>to asthma and airway hyperresponsiveness likely reflects a causal relation between conditions that stiffen airway walls and hyperresponsiveness. In conjunction with symptom history, R<sub>min </sub>could provide a clinically useful tool for assessing asthma and monitoring response to treatment.</p
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