339 research outputs found
Surgical treatment for Parkinson's disease
Advances in stereotactic and functional neurosurgical techniques have brought about new developments in the surgical treatment for Parkinson's disease, including methods such as ablative therapy, chronic brain stimulation, stereotactic radiosurgery and transplantation. Significant benefits can be provided for patients who have become refractory to medical therapy or developed adverse side-effects after prolonged administration of levodopa.published_or_final_versio
Combined simultaneous transcranial and transsphenoidal resection of large-to-giant pituitary adenomas
Background: While large-to-giant pituitary adenomas (PAs) may be safely removed by experienced surgeons through a single route, the procedure is technically challenging. We present the outcome of a simultaneous combined transcranial and transsphenoidal approach and discuss its applications. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on 12 consecutive patients. Surgical complications, visual and endocrinological functions, and tumour control were reviewed. Results: There were four men and eight women, with a mean age of 47.6 years. All but one patient had non-functioning PAs. The mean tumour height was 4.1 cm (range: 2.3-5.5). The predominant presenting symptoms were visual field loss in eight patients, headache in three patients and mental confusion in one patient. There was no operative mortality. Post-operative cerebrospinal fluid leakage occurred in one patient. Five of the eight patients who presented with visual field loss achieved full recovery, and three had partial improvement. Two patients developed permanent diabetes insipidus after surgery. Panhypopituitarism occurred in one patient. Gross total removal (GTR) was achieved in five, and subtotal removal (STR) in seven patients. Seven patients received post-operative external irradiation. All patients who had GTR remained tumour-free and all those with STR had stable diseases after a mean follow-up period of 53.1 months (range: 14.1-92.1). Conclusion: The simultaneous 'above and below' approach is a safe and effective surgical strategy for large-to-giant PAs, particularly when expertise in endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery is unavailable. Its use, however, should be limited to a carefully selected group of patients, and tailored to individual user's expertise and experience. © 2011 The Author(s).published_or_final_versio
Paediatric Epilepsy Surgery Programme in Hong Kong: experience in Queen Mary Hospital / Duchess of Kent Children's Hospital
Poster: no. P6BACKGROUND: Surgery is a well-established treatment for adults with intractable seizures. Increasingly, infants and children are being considered for epilepsy surgery. In a growing child, epilepsy surgery has the additional benefit of aborting cognitive decline and improving development and behaviour ...published_or_final_versio
Paediatric Epilepsy Surgery Programme in Hong Kong: experience in Queen Mary Hospital/Duchess of Kent Children's Hospital
Poster: no. P6BACKGROUND: Surgery is a well-established treatment for adults with intractable seizures. Increasingly, infants and children are being considered for epilepsy surgery. In a growing child, epilepsy surgery has the additional benefit of aborting cognitive decline and improving development and behaviour. METHODS: The paediatric epilepsy surgery programme ...published_or_final_versio
A community study on burden and depressive symptoms among carers of demented relatives
Background: Most mild to moderate demented patients
are cared at home. Studies have shown that carers face
increased stress and are prone to depression. In order to
understand their needs, a collaboration study between
District Board, Community Rehabilitation Network and
local hospitals was done. Objective: (1) To understand
care needs of demented patients and their carers in the
family. (2) To assess difficulties faced by carers and evaluate
their stress. (3) To find out which factors may aggravate
or relieve carer stress. Method: The study was performed
by interviewing 100 carers by questionnaire. Three main
themes were studied: (1) presence of depression by Center
for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), (2)
caregiver burden by Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), patients’
memory and behavioural problems by Revised Memory
and Behaviour Problems Checklist (RMBPC), patient ADL
performance, and (3) carer coping abilities by Brief COPE
and perceived social support by Multidimensional Scale
of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Results: 49% of
patients are in moderate to severe stage, with moderate to
high ADL dependency level (mean ADL score: 62.4, with
40% of patients scoring 60 or below). On average carers
spent 13.8 hours per day on their relative. 24% of carers
have rated self-perceived health status as poor or very
poor. 36% have little or no knowledge about the dementia
illness. Regarding carer depression, 49% had CES-D score
in the moderately and severely depressed range. Caregiver burden was high with ZBI score of 38.2 (>24 being highly
associated with depression). Memory and behavioural
symptoms were common with mean RMBPC 38.2. Carer
coping abilities as measured by Brief COPE was 24.6.
Perceived social support as measured by MSPSS was
56.2. Carer depression was found to be correlated with
cognitive and behaviour problems as well as carer burden;
whereas it was negatively correlated with social support.
After multiple linear regression analysis, caregiver burden
was the most significant factor contributing to caregiver
depression (β=0.55, T=5.43, p<0.001). Conclusions: This
cohort of carers, having spent long hours caring for their
demented relatives had limited knowledge, poor perceived
health and emotional problems. They had high burden
and showed signs of depression. Caregiver depression
was found to be associated with a higher level of burden.published_or_final_versio
Intrathecal lidocaine pretreatment attenuates immediate neuropathic pain by modulating Nav1.3 expression and decreasing spinal microglial activation
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Intrathecal lidocaine reverses tactile allodynia after nerve injury, but whether neuropathic pain is attenuated by intrathecal lidocaine pretreatment is uncertain.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixty six adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three treatment groups: (1) sham (Group S), which underwent removal of the L<sub>6 </sub>transverse process; (2) ligated (Group L), which underwent left L<sub>5 </sub>spinal nerve ligation (SNL); and (3) pretreated (Group P), which underwent L<sub>5 </sub>SNL and was pretreated with intrathecal 2% lidocaine (50 ÎĽl). Neuropathic pain was assessed based on behavioral responses to thermal and mechanical stimuli. Expression of sodium channels (Nav<sub>1.3 </sub>and Nav<sub>1.8</sub>) in injured dorsal root ganglia and microglial proliferation/activation in the spinal cord were measured on post-operative days 3 (POD<sub>3</sub>) and 7 (POD<sub>7</sub>).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Group L presented abnormal behavioral responses indicative of mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia, exhibited up-regulation of Nav<sub>1.3 </sub>and down-regulation of Nav<sub>1.8</sub>, and showed increased microglial activation. Compared with ligation only, pretreatment with intrathecal lidocaine before nerve injury (Group P), as measured on POD<sub>3</sub>, palliated both mechanical allodynia (<it>p </it>< 0.01) and thermal hyperalgesia (<it>p </it>< 0.001), attenuated Nav<sub>1.3 </sub>up-regulation (<it>p </it>= 0.003), and mitigated spinal microglial activation (<it>p </it>= 0.026) by inhibiting phosphorylation (activation) of p38 MAP kinase (<it>p </it>= 0.034). p38 activation was also suppressed on POD<sub>7 </sub>(<it>p </it>= 0.002).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Intrathecal lidocaine prior to SNL blunts the response to noxious stimuli by attenuating Nav<sub>1.3 </sub>up-regulation and suppressing activation of spinal microglia. Although its effects are limited to 3 days, intrathecal lidocaine pretreatment can alleviate acute SNL-induced neuropathic pain.</p
Hippocampal Desynchronization of Functional Connectivity Prior to the Onset of Status Epilepticus in Pilocarpine-Treated Rats
Status epilepticus (SE), a pro-epileptogenic brain insult in rodent models of temporal lobe epilepsy, is successfully induced by pilocarpine in some, but not all, rats. This study aimed to identify characteristic alterations within the hippocampal neural network prior to the onset of SE. Sixteen microwire electrodes were implanted into the left hippocampus of male Sprague-Dawley rats. After a 7-day recovery period, animal behavior, hippocampal neuronal ensemble activities, and local field potentials (LFP) were recorded before and after an intra-peritoneal injection of pilocarpine (350 mg/kg). The single-neuron firing, population neuronal correlation, and coincident firing between neurons were compared between SE (n = 9) and nonSE rats (n = 12). A significant decrease in the strength of functional connectivity prior to the onset of SE, as measured by changes in coincident spike timing between pairs of hippocampal neurons, was exclusively found in SE rats. However, single-neuron firing and LFP profiles did not show a significant difference between SE and nonSE rats. These results suggest that desynchronization in the functional circuitry of the hippocampus, likely associated with a change in synaptic strength, may serve as an electrophysiological marker prior to SE in pilocarpine-treated rats
Rapid expression and purification of the hepatitis delta virus antigen using the methylotropic yeast Pichia pastoris
Objective: Patients with dual hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis D (HDV) virus infection are at an increased risk of progression to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma than patients with a single viral infection. Treatment of viral hepatitis due to dual HBV/HDV infection represents a challenge. Currently there is no vaccine against HDV. Recombinant production of HDV antigen (HDAg) is the first step towards a potential vaccine candidate and the development of assays for HDV detection. Results: This study demonstrates the expression of one HDAg isoform, S-HDAg, in Pichia pastoris. A recombinant vector carrying a tagged gene encoding S-HDAg under the control of the methanol-inducible promoter AOX1 was designed and integrated into P. pastoris X33. The protein, which was purified using a Ni2+ affinity column and eluted at 100-150 mM imidazole, has potential as a recombinant antigen for further study
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