Barriers to participation in a placebo-surgical trial for lumbar spinal stenosis

© 2019 Background: Placebo-controlled trials are an important tool when assessing the efficacy of spinal surgical procedures. The most common spinal surgical procedure in older adults is decompression for lumbar spinal stenosis. Before conducting a placebo-surgical trial on decompression surgery, an investigation of patients’ willingness to participate in a placebo-controlled trial of decompression surgery and barriers to participation were explored. Materials: An online survey. Methods: Descriptive analyses of demographic and clinical data, and participants' willingness to participate in a placebo-surgical trial. Logistic regression was used to examine potential predictors of willingness to participate. Two independent researchers performed a coded framework analysis of patients’ barriers to participation. Results: 68 patients were invited and 63 participants completed the survey (91.3% response, mean (SD) age 69.5 (10.9) years, 52% females), 71% suffered from moderate to very severe pain. Ten participants (15.9%) were willing to participate in a placebo-controlled trial. Being married was associated with decreased odds of participating (OR: 0.2; 95% CI, 0.05 to 0.8; P = 0.03), while the main barriers were a lack of information about the procedure, reassurance of a positive outcome with participation, and concerns about the risks and benefits of placebo surgery. Conclusions: A minority of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis were willing to participate in a placebo-controlled trial of surgery. The identified barriers indicate that educating eligible patients about: the need for placebo-surgical trials, the personal risks and benefits of participation, and the importance and potential benefits of placebo trials to others, may be crucial to ensure adequate recruitment into the placebo-controlled surgical trial. Conclusions should be read cautiously however, given the small sample size present in this study

Collateral pial circulation relates to the degree of brain edema on CT 24 hours after ischemic stroke

Background Cerebral edema is frequent in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) who undergo reperfusion therapy and is associated with high mortality. The impact of collateral pial circulation (CPC) status on the development of edema has not yet been determined. Methods We studied consecutive patients with AIS and documented M1-middle cerebral artery (MCA) and/or distal internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion who underwent reperfusion treatment. Edema was graded on the 24-hour non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) scan. CPC was evaluated at the acute phase (≤6 hours) by transcranial color-coded Doppler, angiography and/or CT angiography. We performed an ordinal regression model for the effect of CPC on cerebral edema, adjusting for age, baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score (ASPECTS) on admission, NCCT, parenchymal hemorrhagic transformation at 24 hours and complete recanalization at six hours. Results Among the 108 patients included, 49.1% were male and mean age was 74.2 ± 11.6 years. Multivariable analysis showed a significant association between cerebral edema and CPC status (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.08-0.59, p = 0.003), initial ASPECTS (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.57-0.92, p = 0.007) and parenchymal hemorrhagic transformation (OR 23.67, 95% CI 4.56-122.8, p < 0.001). Conclusions Poor CPC is independently associated with greater cerebral edema 24 hours after AIS in patients who undergo reperfusion treatment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Doença de Kawasaki: casuística do Hospital Fernando da Fonseca

Introdução: A doença de Kawasaki (DK) é a doença cardíaca adquirida mais importante da infância, em países desenvolvidos. Vinte por cento das crianças não tratadas desenvolvem doença das coronárias, sendo as complicações a nível cardiovascular que determinam a morbilidade e mortalidade da doença. Objectivo: Avaliar a epidemiologia, clínica e alterações laboratoriais e ecocardiográficas dos casos de DK diagnosticados no H. Fernando Fonseca e identificar os eventuais factores que possam influenciar o prognóstico da doença. População e Métodos: Estudo retrospectivo, Junho 1996 a Dezembro de 2003, das crianças internadas no Hospital Fernando Fonseca com Doença Kawasaki. O diagnóstico baseou-se na presença de febre associada a 4 dos 5 critérios clássicos ou 3 deles em associação com aneurismas coronários. Analisaram-se parâmetros demográficos, clínica, exames complementares, terapêutica e evolução. A análise estatística foi realizada em SPSS, utilizando os testes de Mann-whitney e Teste Exacto de Fisher. Resultados: Registaram-se 23 crianças com DK. A incidência foi de 8,2 por 100 000 crianças < 5 anos. A idade variou entre os 6 meses e os 5 anos (mediana - 20 meses) Vinte e uma (91 %) tinham < 5 anos, dos quais 13 tinham < 2 anos. Houve um predomínio do sexo masculino (74 %) e da raça caucasiana (83 %). Nove casos residiam na mesma área geográfica. Foi documentada patologia infecciosa concomitante em 10 (43%)crianças (Parvovirus, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Vírus sincicial respiratório, Enterovirus e Herpes vírus 6). Vinte crianças preenchiam os critérios de DK clássica. Em 22 crianças foi administrada terapêutica combinada com aspirina e imunoglobulina endovenosa, em média foi administrada ao 7.º dia de doença. Sete (30 %) crianças apresentaram envolvimento das artérias coronárias. A idade inferior a 2 anos foi significativa para a lesão coronária. O tempo médio de seguimento foi de 16 meses. Não se registou mortalidade e actualmente apenas uma criança mantém aneurisma. Conclusões: O risco de lesões cardíacas associou-se à idade inferior a 2 anos, como descrito em outras séries. A origem geográfica em comum e a presença de diversos agentes infecciosos, pode indiciar, a importância da causa infecciosa como desencadeadora do processo

Description of the Immatures of the Ant, Myrmelachista catharinae

The Neotropical ant genus Myrmelachista Roger comprises 69 described species and subspecies, and still is a poorly studied group. Larvae play a paramount role in colony nutrition in social hymenopterans and bear considerable value in the reconstruction of group phylogenies, however, they are generally neglected. Larvae of different instars of Myrmelachista catharinae Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are herein described in detail by light and scanning electron microscopy. The number of larval instars was estimated as three based on the frequency distribution of maximum head capsule widths. The described larvae confirmed some traits typical of the genus: general shape of body and mandibles, general aspect and distribution of body hairs, and the number of sensilla on the palps and galea. Differently from other Myrmelachista larvae previously described, M. catharinae presented two distinct kinds of second instars, some additional types of body hairs, different number of antennal sensilla, and a distinct labrum shape. M. catharinae presented ten pairs of spiracles, which is the first record for this genus

Meningite por echovirus tipo 13

As infecções por echovirus tipo 13 são raras. Até ao ano de 2000 não tinha havido registo de infecções por este agente em Portugal, altura em que 11 casos de meningite foram internados no Serviço de Pediatria do Hospital Fernando Fonseca. Em Inglaterra e Espanha, no mesmo ano, foram documentados surtos de meningite por este agente. A propósito destes factos os autores fazem uma análise epidemiológica da sua casuística

Endothelial Progenitor Cells influence acute and subacute stroke hemodynamics

BACKGROUND: Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPCs) are a circulating stem cell population with in vivo capacity of promoting angiogenesis after ischemic events. Despite the promising preclinical data, their potential integration with reperfusion therapies and hemodynamic evolution of stroke patients is still unknown. Our aim was to determine the association of EPCs with acute, subacute and chronic hemodynamic features. METHODS: In this prospective study, we included consecutive patients with ages between 18 and 80years and non-lacunar ischemic stroke within the territory of a middle cerebral artery. All patients were subject to hemodynamic evaluation by ultrasound at baseline, seven days and three months. We quantified cerebral blood flow (CBF) and assessed early recanalization and collateral flow. Hemorrhagic transformation was graded in Magnetic Resonance imaging performed at seven days. EPCs were isolated from peripheral venous blood collected in the first 24h and seven days, counted and submitted to functional in vitro tests. RESULTS: We included 45 patients with a median age of 70±10years. The angiogenic and migratory capacities of EPCs were associated with increased collateral flow in the acute stage and day seven CBF, without statistically significant associations with recanalization nor haemorrhagic transformation. The number of EPCs was not associated with any hemodynamic variable. CONCLUSIONS: The functional properties of EPCs are associated with acute and subacute stroke hemodynamics, with no effect on haemorrhagic transformation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Blood Pressure Variability in Acute Ischemic Stroke: The Role of Early Recanalization

We performed a retrospective study with the aim of investigating the association between blood pressure (BP) variability in the first 24 h after ischemic stroke and functional outcome, regarding arterial recanalization status. A total of 674 patients diagnosed with acute stroke and treated with revascularization therapies were enrolled. Systolic and diastolic BP values of the first 24 h after stroke were collected and their variation quantified through standard deviation. Recanalization state was evaluated at 6 h and clinical outcome at 3 months was assessed by modified Rankin Scale. In multivariate analyses systolic BP variability in the first 24 h post-stroke showed an association with 3 months clinical outcome in the whole population and non-recanalyzed patients. In recanalyzed patients, BP variability did not show a significant association with functional outcome.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio