Minimally Invasive Surgical Approaches and Traditional Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Meta-Analysis of Radiological and Complications Outcomes

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive total hip arthroplasty (MITHA) remains considerably controversial. Limited visibility and prosthesis malposition increase the risk of post-surgical complications compared to those of the traditional method. METHODS: A meta-analysis was undertaken of all published databases up to May 2011. The studies were divided into four subgroups according to the surgical approach taken. The radiological outcomes and complications of minimally invasive surgery were compared to traditional total hip arthroplasty (TTHA) using risk ratio, mean difference, and standardized mean difference statistics. RESULTS: In five studies involving the posterolateral approach, no significant differences were found between the MITHA groups and the TTHA groups in the acetabular cup abduction angle (p = 0.41), acetabular anteversion (p = 0.96), and femoral prosthesis position (p = 0.83). However, the femoral offset was significantly increased (WMD = 3.00; 95% CI, 0.40-5.60; p = 0.02). Additionally, there were no significant differences among the complications in both the groups (dislocations, nerve injury, infection, deep vein thrombosis, proximal femoral fracture) and revision rate (p>0.05). In three studies involving the posterior approach, there were no significant differences in radiological outcomes or all other complications between MITHA or TTHA groups (p>0.05). Three studies involved anterolateral approach, while 2 studies used the lateral approach. However, the information from imaging and complications was not adequate for statistical analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Posterior MITHA seems to be a safe surgical procedure, without the increased risk of post-operative complication rates and component malposition rates. The posterolateral approach THA may lead to increased femoral offset. The current data are not enough to reach a positive conclusion that lateral and anterolateral approaches will result in increased risks of adverse effects and complications at the prosthesis site

Iron (III) Salalen Complexes for the Polymerisation of Lactide

Herein, we report the preparation and characterisation of iron (III) salalen complexes, with variation of ligand substituents and backbone investigated. Six new complexes were prepared and characterised by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry and X-ray crystallography. These complexes have been applied for the ring opening polymerisation (ROP) of rac-lactide in propylene oxide. Fe(1)Cl was found to have a moderate isotactic preference (Pm = 0.75 – 0.80) and demonstrated good molecular weight control in solution (Đ = 1.02 – 1.18). Fe(2-7)Cl were also active for ROP and activities could be related to ligand structure

Pharmacokinetic aspects of retinal drug delivery

Drug delivery to the posterior eye segment is an important challenge in ophthalmology, because many diseases affect the retina and choroid leading to impaired vision or blindness. Currently, intravitreal injections are the method of choice to administer drugs to the retina, but this approach is applicable only in selected cases (e.g. anti-VEGF antibodies and soluble receptors). There are two basic approaches that can be adopted to improve retinal drug delivery: prolonged and/or retina targeted delivery of intravitreal drugs and use of other routes of drug administration, such as periocular, suprachoroidal, sub-retinal, systemic, or topical. Properties of the administration route, drug and delivery system determine the efficacy and safety of these approaches. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic factors determine the required dosing rates and doses that are needed for drug action. In addition, tolerability factors limit the use of many materials in ocular drug delivery. This review article provides a critical discussion of retinal drug delivery, particularly from the pharmacokinetic point of view. This article does not include an extensive review of drug delivery technologies, because they have already been reviewed several times recently. Instead, we aim to provide a systematic and quantitative view on the pharmacokinetic factors in drug delivery to the posterior eye segment. This review is based on the literature and unpublished data from the authors' laboratory.Peer reviewe

Toxicoproteomic evaluation of carbon nanomaterials in vitro

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have already been successfully implemented in various fields, and they are anticipated to have innovative applications in medical science. However, CNTs have asbestos-like properties, such as their nanoscale size and high aspect ratio (> 100). Moreover, CNTs may persist in the body for a long time. These properties are thought to cause malignant mesothelioma and lung cancer. However, based on conventional toxicity assessment systems, the carcinogenicity of asbestos and CNTs is unclear. The reason for late countermeasures against asbestos is that reliable, long-term safety assessments have not yet been developed by toxicologists. Therefore, a new type of long-term safety assessment, different from the existing methods, is needed for carbon nanomaterials. Recently, we applied a proteomic approach to the safety assessment of carbon nanomaterials. In this review, we discuss the basic concept of our approach, the results, the problems, and the possibility of a long-term safety assessment for carbon nanomaterials using the toxicoproteomic approach.ArticleJournal of Proteomics. 74(12):2703-2712 (2011)journal articl

Stable N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-palladium(0) complexes as active catalysts for olefin cyclopropanation reactions with ethyl diazoacetate

The Pd(0) complexes NHCPdLn (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene ligand; L = styrene for n = 2 or PR3 for n = 1) efficiently catalyze the olefin cyclopropanation using ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) as the carbene source with activities that improve any other previous described catalytic system based on this metal. Mechanistic studies have shown that all those catalyst precursors deliver in solution the same catalytic species (IPr)Pd(sty), a 14e, unsaturated intermediate that further reacts with EDA to afford (IPr)Pd(=CHCO2Et)(sty), from which cyclopropane is formed.We thank Prof. P. J. Pérez (Univ. Huelva) for helpful and constructive comments on these studies. We thank the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grants CTQ2008–00042BQU and CTQ2011–24502) and the Junta de Andalucía (Proyecto P07-FQM-02794) for financial support. CM thanks the MEC for a research fellowshipWe thank Prof. P.J. Perez (Univ. Huelva) for helpful and constructive comments on these studies. We thank the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (grants CTQ2008-00042BQU and CTQ2011-24502) and the Junta de Andalucia (Proyecto P07-FQM-02794) for financial support. CM thanks the MEC for a research fellowship