Prospective cross sectional study on anatomical variation with special emphasis on critical anatomical landmark in patients undergoing multi detector computed tomography of paranasal sinuse

Introduction: Paranasal sinuses are best evaluated by multi-detector computed tomography. Evaluation of sphenoid sinus pneumatization, lamina papyracea, onodi cell, cribriform plate, types of optic canal and supraorbital pneumatisation are useful for evaluation of the surgical anatomy of paranasal sinuses for the radiologist which guides the surgeon to take a correct approach for surgery without major complications of crucial structures. CT is recently used as a investigation of choice in the assessment of the paranasal sinuses and surrounding structures. Aims and Objective: To study the types of anatomical variation of paranasal sinuses and osteomeatal complex and clinical importance of these various of paranasal sinus on pre-operative computed tomography. Materials and Methods: Over a period of 18 months, 104 patients referred for CT scan of PNS region G.K.General hospital were evaluated for the presence of normal variants of the paranasal region. Unenhanced CT of the PNS was performed for these patients in the coronal plane, complemented by axial views in selected cases. Results: Out of 109 patients who fulfilled inclusion criteria were studied from that most common is type II cribriform plate found in 80.7% of patients, Presence of haller cells was noted in 11.01% of individuals. Most of the uncinate process was attached to lamina papyracea in 88.9% individuals. Onodi cell was identified among 41% patients. Depending on the pneumatization of the sphenoid sinus, type I course of optic nerve was most common. Sellar variety of sphenoid sinus was more common observed in 82.5% patients. Presence of supraorbital pneumatization was identified in 72.4% patients among total subjects. Conclusion: The presence of anatomical variants does not indicate a predisposition to sinus pathology but these variations may predispose patients to increased risk of intraoperative complication

Cysteamine decreases low density lipoprotein oxidation, causes regression of atherosclerosis and improves liver and muscle function in LDL receptor deficient mice

Background: We have shown previously that low density lipoprotein (LDL) can be oxidized in the lysosomes of macrophages, that this oxidation can be inhibited by cysteamine, an antioxidant which accumulates in lysosomes, and that this drug decreases atherosclerosis in LDL receptor-deficient mice fed a high-fat diet. We have now carried out a regression study with cysteamine, which is of more relevance to the treatment of human disease. Methods and Results: LDL receptor-deficient mice were fed a high fat diet to induce atherosclerotic lesions. They were then reared on chow diet and drinking water containing cysteamine or plain drinking water. Aortic atherosclerosis was assessed, and samples of liver and skeletal muscle analysed. There was no regression of atherosclerosis in the control mice, but cysteamine caused regression of between 32 and 56% compared to the control group, depending on the site of the lesions. Cysteamine substantially increased markers of lesions stability, decreased ceroid, and greatly decreased oxidised phospholipids in the lesions. The liver lipid levels and expression of CD68, ACAT2, CYP27 and pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines were decreased by cysteamine. Skeletal muscle function and oxidative fibers were increased by cysteamine. There were no changes in the plasma total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol or triacylglycerol concentrations due to cysteamine. Conclusions: Inhibiting the lysosomal oxidation of LDL in atherosclerotic lesions by antioxidants targeted at lysosomes causes the regression of atherosclerosis and improves liver and muscle characteristics in mice and might be a promising novel therapy for atherosclerosis in patients

Bi-allelic Loss-of-Function CACNA1B Mutations in Progressive Epilepsy-Dyskinesia.

The occurrence of non-epileptic hyperkinetic movements in the context of developmental epileptic encephalopathies is an increasingly recognized phenomenon. Identification of causative mutations provides an important insight into common pathogenic mechanisms that cause both seizures and abnormal motor control. We report bi-allelic loss-of-function CACNA1B variants in six children from three unrelated families whose affected members present with a complex and progressive neurological syndrome. All affected individuals presented with epileptic encephalopathy, severe neurodevelopmental delay (often with regression), and a hyperkinetic movement disorder. Additional neurological features included postnatal microcephaly and hypotonia. Five children died in childhood or adolescence (mean age of death: 9 years), mainly as a result of secondary respiratory complications. CACNA1B encodes the pore-forming subunit of the pre-synaptic neuronal voltage-gated calcium channel Cav2.2/N-type, crucial for SNARE-mediated neurotransmission, particularly in the early postnatal period. Bi-allelic loss-of-function variants in CACNA1B are predicted to cause disruption of Ca2+ influx, leading to impaired synaptic neurotransmission. The resultant effect on neuronal function is likely to be important in the development of involuntary movements and epilepsy. Overall, our findings provide further evidence for the key role of Cav2.2 in normal human neurodevelopment.MAK is funded by an NIHR Research Professorship and receives funding from the Wellcome Trust, Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital Charity, and Rosetrees Trust. E.M. received funding from the Rosetrees Trust (CD-A53) and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. K.G. received funding from Temple Street Foundation. A.M. is funded by Great Ormond Street Hospital, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and Biomedical Research Centre. F.L.R. and D.G. are funded by Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. K.C. and A.S.J. are funded by NIHR Bioresource for Rare Diseases. The DDD Study presents independent research commissioned by the Health Innovation Challenge Fund (grant number HICF-1009-003), a parallel funding partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (grant number WT098051). We acknowledge support from the UK Department of Health via the NIHR comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre award to Guy's and St. Thomas' National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London. This research was also supported by the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre. J.H.C. is in receipt of an NIHR Senior Investigator Award. The research team acknowledges the support of the NIHR through the Comprehensive Clinical Research Network. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, Department of Health, or Wellcome Trust. E.R.M. acknowledges support from NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, an NIHR Senior Investigator Award, and the University of Cambridge has received salary support in respect of E.R.M. from the NHS in the East of England through the Clinical Academic Reserve. I.E.S. is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (Program Grant and Practitioner Fellowship)

Association of Serum Erythropoietin With Cardiovascular Events, Kidney Function Decline, and Mortality

BackgroundStudies suggest that in patients with heart failure (HF), high serum erythropoietin is associated with risk of recurrent HF and mortality. Trials of erythropoietin-stimulating agents in persons with kidney disease have also suggested an increased incidence of adverse clinical events. No large studies of which we are aware have evaluated the association of endogenous erythropoietin levels with clinical outcomes in the community-living older adults.Methods and resultsErythropoietin concentration was measured in 2488 participants aged 70-79 years in the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study. Associations of erythropoietin with incident HF, coronary heart disease, stroke, mortality, and ≥ 30% decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate were examined using Cox proportional hazards and logistic regression over 10.7 years of follow-up. Mean (SD) age was 75 (3) years and median (quartile 1, quartile 3) erythropoietin was 12.3 (9.0, 17.2) mIU/mL. There were 503 incident HF events, and each doubling of serum erythropoietin was associated with a 25% increased risk of incident HF 1.25 (95% confidence interval 1.13, 1.48) after adjusting for demographics, prevalent cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular disease risk factors, kidney function, and serum hemoglobin. There was no interaction of serum erythropoietin with chronic kidney disease or anemia (P > 0.50). There were 330 incident coronary heart disease events, 161 strokes, 1112 deaths, and 698 outcomes of ≥ 30% decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate. Serum erythropoietin was not significantly associated with these outcomes.ConclusionsHigher levels of endogenous erythropoietin are associated with incident HF in older adults. Studies need to elucidate the mechanisms through which endogenous erythropoietin levels associate with specific outcomes

Identification of novel candidate disease genes from de novo exonic copy number variants

Background: Exon-targeted microarrays can detect small ( Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 63,127 patients referred for clinical chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) at Baylor Genetics laboratories, including 46,755 individuals tested using exon-targeted arrays, from 2007 to 2017. Small CNVs harboring a single gene or two to five non-disease-associated genes were identified; the genes involved were evaluated for a potential disease association. Results: In this clinical population, among rare CNVs involving any single gene reported in 7200 patients (11%), we identified 145 de novo autosomal CNVs (117 losses and 28 intragenic gains), 257 X-linked deletion CNVs in males, and 1049 inherited autosomal CNVs (878 losses and 171 intragenic gains); 111 known disease genes were potentially disrupted by de novo autosomal or X-linked (in males) single-gene CNVs. Ninety-one genes, either recently proposed as candidate disease genes or not yet associated with diseases, were disrupted by 147 singlegene CNVs, including 37 de novo deletions and ten de novo intragenic duplications on autosomes and 100 X-linked CNVs in males. Clinical features in individuals with de novo or X-linked CNVs encompassing at most five genes (224 bp to 1.6 Mb in size) were compared to those in individuals with larger-sized deletions (up to 5 Mb in size) in the internal CMA database or loss-of-function single nucleotide variants (SNVs) detected by clinical or research whole-exome sequencing (WES). This enabled the identification of recently published genes (BPTF, NONO, PSMD12, TANGO2, and TRIP12), novel candidate disease genes (ARGLU1 and STK3), and further confirmation of disease association for two recently proposed disease genes (MEIS2 and PTCHD1). Notably, exon-targeted CMA detected several pathogenic single-exon CNVs missed by clinical WES analyses. Conclusions: Together, these data document the efficacy of exon-targeted CMA for detection of genic and exonic CNVs, complementing and extending WES in clinical diagnostics, and the potential for discovery of novel disease genes by genome-wide assay.Peer reviewe