Function and morphology in macular retinoschisis associated with optic disc pit in a child before and after its spontaneous resolution

Optic disc pit (ODP) is a rare congenital defect within the optic nerve head. Macula elevation associated with ODP develops in 75-93% of the adult patients. Macular involvement in children with optic disc pit is rare, and only a few cases have been published to date. In the present case, we have observed morphology and function of the central retina in a child with ODP-associated macular detachment and following its spontaneous resolution. An 8-year-old white boy diagnosed with a macular detachment in an eye with an ODP. Optical coherent tomography (OCT) and multifocal electroretinography (mfERG), as well as visual acuity and visual field, were performed in the follow-up of the unilateral schisis—like retinal detachment. A large retinoschisis associated with ODP in a child showed a tendency to spontaneously resolve at 3months, which was confirmed on OCT. At this time, an mfERG revealed markedly reduced responses. Despite morphologic reattachment at follow-up and improvement in visual acuity, increased mfERG responses were still not the same as in the fellow healthy eye. In contrast to the OCT which is very helpful to assess the extent of the neurosensory detachment, the mfERG offers an additional tool for follow-up of retinal function in this disorder. The good visual outcome in our patient shows that in the presence of residual retinal function on mfERG and in the absence of further lesions on OCT, follow-up is a valid option in children with an ODP-associated macular detachmen

Electroencephalography as a Tool for Assessment of Brain Ischemic Alterations after Open Heart Operations

Cardiac surgery is commonly associated with brain ischemia. Few studies addressed brain electric activity changes after on-pump operations. Eyes closed EEG was performed in 22 patients (mean age: 45.2 ± 11.2) before and two weeks after valve replacement. Spouses of patients were invited to participate as controls. Generalized increase of beta power most prominent in beta-1 band was an unambiguous pathological sign of postoperative cortex dysfunction, probably, manifesting due to gamma-activity slowing (“beta buzz” symptom). Generalized postoperative increase of delta-1 mean frequency along with increase of slow-wave activity in right posterior region may be hypothesized to be a consequence of intraoperative ischemia as well. At the same time, significant changes of alpha activity were observed in both patient and control groups, and, therefore, may be considered as physiological. Unexpectedly, controls showed prominent increase of electric activity in left temporal region whereas patients were deficient in left hemisphere activity in comparison with controls at postoperative followup. Further research is needed in order to determine the true neurological meaning of the EEG findings after on-pump operations

Size of Left Cardiac Chambers Correlates with Cerebral Microembolic Load in Open Heart Operations

Background. Microemboli are a widely recognized etiological factor of cerebral complications in cardiac surgery patients. The present study was aimed to determine if size of left cardiac chambers relates to cerebral microembolic load in open heart operations. Methods. Thirty patients participated in the study. Echocardiography was performed in 2-3 days before surgery. A transcranial Doppler system was used for registering intraoperative microemboli. Results. Preoperative left atrium and left ventricular end-systolic and end-diastolic sizes significantly correlated with intraoperative microembolic load (rs = 0.48, 0.57 and 0.53, Ps < .01, resp.). The associations between left ventricular diameters and number of cerebral microemboli remained significant when cardiopulmonary bypass time was included as a covariate into the analysis. Conclusions. The present results demonstrate that increased size of left heart chambers is an influential risk factor for elevated cerebral microembolic load during open heart operations. Mini-invasive surgery and carbon dioxide insufflation into wound cavity may be considered as neuroprotective approaches in patients with high risk of cerebral microembolism

EEG spectral power and mean frequencies in early heroin abstinence

The purpose of the present study was to investigate cumulative heroin effects on brain functioning by studying relationships between EEG spectral power and mean frequencies and heroin abusing history. Eyes closed resting EEG data were collected from the 19 monopolar electrode sites in 33 heroin abusers and 13 age-matched healthy volunteers. The mean age of the patients was 23.1±4.5, the duration of daily heroin abuse (DDHA) ranged from 4 to 44 months, the i.v. doses of heroin ranged from 0.04 to 1.00 g/day, the abstinence length ranged from 6 days to 4.5 months. GLM repeated measures procedure revealed a significant group effect on the distribution of the mean power spectrum between bands and mean frequencies in almost all analyzed derivations. Further analysis demonstrated that these intergroup differences were diversely related to at least three aspects of heroin taking history. Frequency shifts in alpha2 range, most prominent in frontal and central derivations, were related to duration of daily heroin consumption. Slowing of alpha1 mean frequency, most prominent in central, temporal and occipital derivations, was registered mainly in heroin addicts who abused high doses of the drug. Spectral power characteristics of brain electrical activities in our patient population were strongly predicted by abstinence length. The present results give grounds to suppose that chronic heroin taking induces neuronal oscillation frequency changes, that may contribute to the development of antisocial trends and some semantic processes disturbances in these patients. Supplementary neurophysiological deficit is characteristic for heroin addicts, who takes high doses of the drug, however, its relation to heroin abusing remains unclear. Pronounced desynchronization is observed in acute heroin withdrawal, and spectral power characteristics tend to normalize almost completely during several weeks of abstinence

Heroin abusers’ performance on the Tower of London Test relates to the baseline EEG alpha2 mean frequency shifts

Planning function deficit is the most consistent finding in neuropsychological studies of heroin addicts. The performance on the Tower of London Test (TLT) correlated with the duration of daily heroin abuse (DDHA) in our previous study. Alpha2 mean frequency in anterior/central derivations was also predicted by DDHA in the same patient population. This retrospective study was undertaken in order to understand better the relationships between observed neurological deviations in heroin abusers. Thirty-three heroin addicts and 12 healthy males were evaluated with 14 neuropsychological tests and resting eyes-closed electroencephalography (EEG). Multivariate tests showed that performance on the difficult (five-move) problems of TLT was strongly predicted by the EEG alpha2 mean frequency shifts, and these relationships were generally mediated by chronic heroin length. However, post-hoc analyses at separate leads demonstrated that the relationships between cognitive variables and alpha2 mean frequencies in the left hemisphere were independent of chronic heroin effects, whereas elevation of alpha2 frequency in the right hemisphere was strongly predicted by chronic heroin intake length. The patients with extremely high alpha2 mean frequency at the left central region were especially prone to failure in TLT due to the inability of the hypothesized alpha2-generating network, which normally projects to the central and temporal derivations bilaterally and to the right posterior temporal derivation to function appropriately. Hence, it was concluded that planning dysfunction in heroin abusers is related to alpha2 mean frequency shifts predominantly at the central regions

Hygienic habits and adult-onset asthma data

<p>The data file contains demographic (age, sex, education, height and weight) and clinical (diagnosis, asthma duration, age of asthma onset) characteristics of the patients, and the number of points on the items of the hygienic questionnaire concerning frequency of shower taking (shower) and hand washing (hands).</p

Choroidal blood flow response to isometric exercise in glaucoma patients and patients with ocular hypertension

To analyze submacular choroidal blood flow (ChBF) response to isometric exercise in untreated patients with glaucoma and ocular hypertension

Choroidal Blood Flow Response to Isometric Exercise in Glaucoma Patients and Patients with Ocular Hypertension

PURPOSE. To analyze submacular choroidal blood flow (ChBF) response to isometric exercise in untreated patients with glaucoma and ocular hypertension. METHODS. ChBF was examined by means of confocal laser Doppler flowmetry during 5 minutes of baseline, during 90 seconds of isometric exercise with a Martin&apos;s vigorimeter and during 15 minutes of recovery. Values from one randomly chosen eye of 45 healthy subjects, the eye with more advanced damage in 45 primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients, and the eye with higher native intraocular pressure in 45 patients with ocular hypertension (OHT) were acquired, and parameters of ChBF as well as blood pressure response were analyzed. RESULTS. Healthy eyes demonstrated higher ChBF at baseline than did the eyes in both the other groups (5126 Ϯ 1487, 4186 Ϯ 1011, and 4437 Ϯ 1372 arbitrary units, ANOVA P ϭ 0.003). Both mean and diastolic arterial blood pressures at baseline were lower in POAG patients than in those with OHT and healthy controls (P Ͻ 0.03); however, the response of mean blood pressure to isometric exercise was comparable across groups (P ϭ 0.79). The ChBF response to exercise was stronger in the POAG group (ANOVA P ϭ 0.02), it was twice as high as in the controls (ϩ8.1% Ϯ 8.0% vs. ϩ3.7% Ϯ 6.7%; P ϭ 0.007) and borderline higher than in the OHT patients (ϩ5.0% Ϯ 8.0%; P ϭ 0.051). CONCLUSIONS. Baseline ChBF was lower in both the POAG and the OHT patients, compared with that in the controls. The stronger increase in ChBF in POAG patients in the face of an exercise-induced blood pressure increase indicates less active regulatory capacity in glaucoma patients (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00430209). (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52: 7068 -7073

The Effect of Fertilisation and Plant Care Practices on the Yield Structure of Black Currant

The article is focused on the influence of fertilisation and plant care on the productivity of the black currant variety 'Siuita Kyivska'. Black currant was planted on the Rodnikovka Experimental Farm of the Uman State Agrarian University. Better conditions for the development of such signs as the number of clusters per shrub and the length of a cluster were provided under the application of mineral fertilisation as a background and foliar application of fertiliser Riverm 5%, maintaining of interrow space as clean fallow and mulching plants in the row with straw. The best characteristics of clusters were obtained with N60P90K90 as background fertilisation. Foliar application of fertiliser Riverm 5% resulted in an increased (by 251.2−299.8) number of clusters per plant and longer (by 0.60−0.80 cm) clusters. A combination of clean fallow and application of Riverm 5% against the background of mineral fertilisation resulted in lower indicators of the fruit weight in a cluster compared to the control. This means that the yield structure of black currant under the effect of fertilisation and plant care changes towards an increase in the number of clusters, thereby reducing the number of fruits and the weight of fruits from one cluster. It was also found that foliar application of fertiliser Riverm 5% against the background of mineral fertilisation contributed to an increase in the yield of black currant. In the treatment with clean fallow between rows and mulching plants in rows, application of fertiliser Riverm 3% or 5% against the background of mineral fertilisation N60P90K90, the yield of fruits was 13.1 t/ha