Posterior arterial circle of Willis anatomic variations and coronary artery dominance: is there a correlation?

Anatomic variations and anomalies in the arteries from the circle of Willis or the heart are common, sometimes even more common than the classic morphology. There is no reference in the literature to a correlation between variations and anomalies in these two organs. Coronaries and circle of Willis from 50 cadavers were dissected and analyzed. Eight percent presented a left dominant pattern of heart circulation, 4% were undetermined, and 88% were right dominant. Eighteen percent presented significant anomalies in the posterior circulation of the circle of Willis. The posterior cerebral artery originated from the internal carotid artery on the left in 2%, on the right in 12%, and on both sides in 4% of the cases. For every case that presented a left coronary dominant pattern, there was a concomitant anomaly in the posterior cerebral circulation (p = 0.0006). However, there is still no explanation for this finding

Correlation between the degree of correction of neuromuscular scoliosis and patient quality of life

OBJECTIVE: There are few data on patient satisfaction with surgery for the correction of neuromuscular scoliosis or on the correlation between patient satisfaction and the degree of curve correction achieved by surgery. Our aim was to determine the correlations between both patient satisfaction and perception of quality of life and the degree of curve correction. METHODS: We interviewed 18 patients and administered a questionnaire that collected social and economic data and information about functional ability, comorbidities and satisfaction. Statistical analysis was performed using chi-square tests, Pearson correlation and paired t-tests. RESULTS: The mean correction achieved was 42.8%, i.e., 34.17 degrees. Early and late complication rates were low (11.1% each). Almost all of the patients (94.4%) were satisfied with the surgery, and expectations were met for 61.1% of them. Quality of life and aesthetics were improved in 83.4% and 94.4% of cases, respectively. No correlation was found between satisfaction and degree of correction. CONCLUSION: Our surgical results are similar to those of other studies with respect to the degree of correction and patient satisfaction. The disparity between satisfaction and fulfillment of expectations may be due to unrealistic initial expectations or misunderstanding of the objective of surgery. Our findings corroborate the hypothesis that satisfaction is multifactorial and not restricted to a quantitative goal. The satisfaction of patients who undergo operation for neuromuscular scoliosis does not depend directly on the degree of deformity correction. The relationship between satisfaction and the success of the correction procedure is complex and multifactorial

The relation between quality of clinical trials and acupuncture efficacy

Introduction: Clinical trials of acupuncture not always have concordant results, mostly due to their great heterogeneity. Two indexes have been developed to analyze the quality of acupuncture trials. This study hypothesizes that, the more adequate the intervention and the control techniques, the more efficacious the acupuncture. Methods: Both indexes were applied to 27 randomized clinical trials comparing acupuncture to placebo. Results were compared by using the Mann-Whitney test. Results: Studies favorable to acupuncture had a intervention score’s median of 11.5; for the unfavorable ones, it was 7, p: 0.0017. Articles with and without statistically significant differences, though, had the same median for their scores in the control index: 6. Discussion: There is a positive relation between a better score for acupuncture technique and a statistically significant difference between acupuncture and interventional control. However, due to the little heterogeneity in the degree of physiological effect from each article, the control index had no statistical significance. Conclusion: This study established that, among acupuncture RCT controlled by placebo or sham of moderate physiological effect, the adequacy of the technique is more important than the adequacy of control in establishing a statistically significant difference between acupuncture and interventional control

Treatment and partial recovery of ischemic stroke hemiplegy through acupuncture

ABSTRACT We present the case of a patient with hemiplegy and dysphonia due to an ischemic stroke in the pons who was treated through classical systemic and scalpean acupuncture and electroacupuncture, presenting considerable improvement in speaking, walking and moving her right arm after three months of treatment