[Ankle joint fractures in adults].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Richter.
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Between 1981 and 1994 at the Bergmannsheil Ruhr University Hospital in Bochum, Germany, we treated 145 patients with femoral diaphyseal nonunions following initial operative treatment. Of these patients, 138 received this initial operative treatment at an outside institution. The primary reconstructions for the fractures utilized plates in 112 cases, reamed nails in 24 cases and external fixators in 9 cases. The average age of the patients was 35 years and the mean time from the initial operative treatment was 2 years. Twenty-seven patients (19%) presented with a hypertrophic nonunion and 118 (81%) with an atrophic nonunion. There was a significant correlation between primary "classic" plating and development of an atrophic nonunion (chi 2-test: P < 0.01). We observed 34 wound infections (23%) with no significant correlation to the type of primary osteosynthesis. We determined that 73 of the pseudarthroses were due to improper osteosynthesis techniques. Of these cases, 41% involved the use of plates, 83% involved the use of reamed nails, and 78% involved the use of external fixators. Fracture location near the diaphyseal-metaphyseal junctions was common in this problematic group. Ninety-two percent of all plates led to atrophic nonunions. There were 21 open fractures and of these 90% (n = 19) developed an atrophic pseudarthrosis and 29% (n = 6) developed a wound infection. Fifty-seven (39%) of all patients had additional injuries, but we found that did not increase the risk of disturbed bone healing. Our revision operations focused on the elimination of wound infections, refreshment of bone healing, and improvement in fragment stability. Only 28% of all "classic" plates and 11% of all external fixators were changed to an intramedullary implant at the time of the first revision surgery. Hypertrophic nonunions required a mean of 1.3 revision operations to achieve bone healing whereas a mean of 2 revision operations were necessary to fuse atrophic bone ends (P < 0.05). In cases of diaphyseal pseudarthrosis healing time was not affected by the type of osteosynthesis used for primary reconstructions. Since lack of fracture healing can often already be observed directly from postoperative X-rays, we recommend that revision procedures be performed early. The prolonged length of time to care for femoral nonunions underlines the importance of appropriate primary fracture treatment. That takes into consideration both the biomechanical and the biological aspects of bone healing.
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OBJECTIVE: Do-not-resuscitate orders (DNR orders) and advance directives (AD) have been developed and their use by patients is increasing. The objective of the study was to evaluate the compliance with patient's wishes and doctors' and nurses' agreement on decision-making in the treatment of elderly patients from a cross-cultural perspective. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and four Swedish physicians and 122 nurses as well as 192 German physicians and 182 nurses from teaching and university hospitals were surveyed by a questionnaire based on a case-vignette with three scenarios of available information about patient's wishes for treatment. RESULTS: A relationship between the perceived level of help and the chosen treatment option was established for all four samples, especially for the scenario in which an AD was available. Two patterns of closely related determinants appeared: (a) 'patient's wishes', 'ethical concerns', and 'family wishes'; and (b) 'patient's age', 'level of dementia', and 'hospital costs'. CONCLUSIONS: An intensive and continuous education of physicians and nurses in medical ethics is required to promote patient autonomy in clinical practice. The ethical implications of patient's age and level of dementia in relation to hospital costs should constitute important topics of these educational programs.
Studies by comparative genomic hybridization revealed that the 19q13 chromosomal region is frequently amplified in bladder cancer. The cyclin E gene (CCNE), coding for a regulatory subunit of cyclin-dependent kinase 2, has been mapped to 19q13. To investigate the role of cyclin E alterations in bladder cancer, a tissue microarray of 2,317 specimens from 1,842 bladder cancer patients was constructed and analyzed for CCNE amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization and for cyclin-E protein overexpression by immunohistochemistry. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis showed amplification in only 30 of the 1,561 evaluable tumors (1.9%). Amplification was significantly associated with stage and grade (P: < 0.0005 each). Immunohistochemically detectable cyclin E expression was strong in 233 (12.4%), weak in 354 (18.9%), and negative in 1, 286 of the 1,873 interpretable tumors. The majority (62.1%) of CCNE-amplified tumors were strongly immunohistochemistry-positive (P: < 0.0001). The frequency of protein expression increased from stage pTa (22.2%) to pT1 (45.5%; P: < 0.0001) but then decreased for stage pT2-4 (29.4%; P: < 0.0001 for pT1 versus pT2-4). Low cyclin E expression was associated with poor overall survival in all patients (P: < 0.0001), but had no prognostic impact independent of stage. It is concluded that cyclin E overexpression is characteristic to a subset of bladder carcinomas, especially at the stage of early invasion. This analysis of the prognostic impact of CCNE gene amplification and protein expression in >1,500 arrayed bladder cancers was accomplished in a period of 2 weeks, illustrating how the tissue microarray technology remarkably facilitates the evaluation of the clinical relevance of molecular alterations in cancer.
OBJECTIVE: We wanted to determine whether the long-term bone marrow culture (LTBMC) transduction system would lead to efficient gene transfer and engraftment of murine repopulating hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), particularly in nonablated recipients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Congenic mouse strains expressing Ly 5.1 or Ly 5.2 and the GP+E86 cell line producing the MGirL22Y vector carrying the gene for enhanced GFP were used. Murine LTBMCs were established and demi-depopulated on days 7 and 14 with addition of vector supernatant on days 8 and 15. RESULTS: Cell recovery on day 21 was 21.3%+/-3.8% of input cells and CFU-C recovery was 9.7+/-3.4% as compared with CFU-C of input cells. In vitro transduction efficiency determined by CFU-C expressing GFP was 22.2%+/-1.6%. In irradiated (950 cGy) mice transplanted with 2x10(6) LTBMC cells, 94% of nucleated cells in the blood at week 16 were of donor origin. However, GFP was only detected at low level in a few animals at week 4 and not later. Analysis of bone marrow from these mice at week 20 did not show any GFP expression and semiquantitative PCR revealed a transgene level of <1%. When 3.5-20.8x10(6) LTBMC cells (corresponding to 20-100x10(6) fresh cells) were transplanted to nonablated recipients, no engraftment or GFP expression were detected. Competitive repopulation experiments showed that the long-term repopulation ability (LTRA) of the LTMC cells was only 7% of fresh cells. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that LTBMC transduction of murine cells leads to low-level transduction of progenitors, no gene transfer to repopulating stem cells, and reduction in LTRA in ablated and nonablated recipients.
International associations of scientists, set up to organize cooperative scientific investigations in an international scope and to lay down global binding standards of research, are of great and still growing importance for the advancement of science. This was also recognized at the beginning of the 20th century by the community of researchers in basic and clinical neurological sciences, who created their first international organization following the trend initiated by scholars in astronomy and geophysics. Thus, the so-called "Brain Commission" of the International Association of Academies was founded in 1903 and was active until the outbreak of the First World War. The Brain Commission had no successor for nearly half a century, until the "International Brain Research Organization" (IBRO) was founded in 1961. Although the Brain Commission could exert an impact on neurosciences only for one decade, this international scientific association inspired and promoted the foundation of a series of Brain Research Institutes, which in part still exist in Europe, and long-lasting innovations in the neurosciences.
A microphthalmic strain of mice was used to study immunoresponse of the retinoblastoma protein. Comparing wild-type, heterozygote and homozygote microphthalmic eyes, we found an increasing labelling of phosphorylated retinoblastoma protein (pRb) in the retinal pigment epithelium. Additionally, microphthalmic eyes expressed pRb in the neuroepithelium. Especially rosettes were strongly labelled.
BACKGROUND: Optimal preservation of post-ischemic organ function is a continuing challenge in clinical lung transplantation. Retrograde instillation of preservation solutions has the theoretic advantage of achieving homogeneous distribution in the lung because of perfusing both the pulmonary and the bronchial circulation. So far, we have seen no experimental studies that include stereologic analysis of intrapulmonary edema concerning the influence of retrograde preservation on post-ischemic lung function after preservation with Perfadex and Celsior. METHODS: In an extracorporeal rat model, we perfused 8 lungs, each, using either antegrade or retrograde perfusion technique with Celsior (CE(ant)/CE(ret)) and Perfadex (PER(ant)/PER(ret)). Results were compared with low-potassium Euro-Collins. Post-ischemic lungs were reventilated and reperfused mechanically. We continuously monitored relative oxygenation capacity (ROC), pulmonary artery pressure, flush time, and wet/dry ratio. Furthermore, we used stereologic means to evaluate edema formation. Statistics comprised different analysis of variance models. RESULTS: Relative oxygen capacity of CE(ant)-protected lungs was superior to that of PER(ant) preservation (p = 0.05). Use of PER(ret) resulted in significantly higher ROC as compared with PER(ant) (p < 0.001) and was comparable to results obtained with CE-preservation, which was not further improved with retrograde application. CONCLUSIONS: Celsior provides better lung preservation than does Perfadex when administered antegradely. Retrograde application of Perfadex results in significant functional improvement as compared with antegrade perfusion, which reaches the standard of Celsior-protected organs. Additional in vivo experiments in combination with ultrastructural analysis are warranted to further evaluate retrograde delivery of preservation solutions, which could be used in clinical lung transplantation to further optimize current results.
Ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, a major problem in clinical lung transplantation, is associated with surfactant dysfunction. The present study aimed to test the hypothesis that preservation related improvements in post-ischaemic lung function are associated with improved ultrastructural preservation of pulmonary surfactant. Rat lungs were flush perfused with modified Euro-Collins solutions (ECS), stored for 2 h at 4 degrees C, and reperfused for 40 min. Lungs were preserved with conventional (ECS 115: 115 mmol x L(-1) K+), medium-K+ (ECS 40: 40 mmol x L(-1) K+), or low-K+ (ECS 10: 10 mmol x L(-1) K+) ECS. Functional parameters were monitored during reperfusion (n=10 per group). After reperfusion, left lungs were prepared for electron microscopical and stereological analysis of surfactant (n=5 per group). In all three experimental groups notable I/R injury developed which was lowest in ECS 40 as indicated by significantly less intraalveolar oedema, higher perfusate oxygenation, and lower peak inspiratory pressure. This was associated with a significantly superior preservation of the ultrastructure of the surface active surfactant subtype tubular myelin in ECS 40 compared with ECS 115 and ECS 10. Stereological analysis revealed that the relative amount of tubular myelin was highest in ECS 40 (mean+/-SEM; 6.2+/-0.8%) compared with ECS 115 (3.0+/-1.0%) and ECS 10 (2.7+/-1.6%). Analysis of surfactant in its natural location within the organ showed that the severity of ischaemia/reperfusion injury correlates with differences in intraalveolar surfactant composition. Improved post-ischaemic respiratory function achieved by medium-K+ Euro-Collins solution is associated with superior ultrastructural preservation of tubular myelin. It is concluded that the integrity of surface active tubular myelin represents an important criterion for the assessment of lung preservation quality.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the cross-cultural feasibility of a new scale for assessing dysfunctional working models of self and others, and to evaluate its discriminative power. METHOD: Schizophrenic patients (N=351), non-psychotic patients (N= 86) and non-clinical subjects (N= 511) collected in 10 centres completed the DWM-S. Current psychopathology was assessed by means of the BPRS. RESULTS: Alpha coefficients were high in all samples. Mean scores on the DWM-S appeared to be comparable in all countries, suggesting cross-national generalizability. No significant correlation was found with sex, age, levels of psychopathology and duration of illness. Discriminant analyses showed that more than 70% of the schizophrenic patients are correctly classified. CONCLUSION: The DWM-S is an easily administered self-report instrument which allows to pinpoint internal dysfunctional working models of self and others in various types of patients. It is a useful tool for case conceptualization, especially when psychotherapeutic interventions are part of the treatment programme.
The Oxoid SPRINT Salmonella test was compared with the ISO method (ISO 6579: 1993) for the detection of Salmonella in milk and dairy products. Samples were artificially contaminated, in some cases with sublethally injured salmonellas. Experiments with raw milk, soft cheese made from heat-treated milk (mould-ripened and with smear) and soft cheese with smear made from raw milk showed no significant differences between the SPRINT and ISO methods. With dried milk products and mould-ripened soft cheese made from raw milk the reference method gave significantly more positive results. The addition of ferrioxamine E to pre-enrichment (ISO) or pre-enrichment/enrichment broth (SPRINT test) did not improve Salmonella detection.
Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury results in the impairment of surfactant activity. The hypothesis that the differences in lung preservation quality obtained by EuroCollins (EC) and Celsior (CE) solutions were related to surfactant alterations was tested. To avoid extensive structural damage and edema formation, which can secondarily affect the surfactant system, lungs were stored for a short ischemic period (2 h at 10 degrees C) and reperfused (50 min) in an isolated perfused rat lung model after preservation with either potassium-reduced (40 mmol) EC40 or with CE. Using a modified stereological approach ultrastructure, total amount and distribution of phospholipid membranes composing tubular myelin (tm) and small (s) and large (l) unilameliar vesicles (ul) were investigated in the organ in lungs fixed by vascular perfusion either in situ (controls) or after I/R (n = 5 per group). The total amount of intraalveolar surfactant was increased after I/R. However, a significant amount (p = 0.008) of tm was displaced into the alveolar lumen and showed wider meshes of the tm lattices than did the controls (p = 0.023) where almost all tm was epithelial. In lungs preserved with EC40, epithelial tm was significantly reduced (p = 0.018), resulting in a higher ratio (p = 0.034) of surface-inactive small ul (0.05 to 0.3 microm) to surface-active epithelial tm. In the CE group approximately 50% of the total tm pool was epithelial. This was accompanied by higher parenchymal air space and improved functional parameters. Epithelial and endothelial cell-specific immunostaining did not reveal any gross damage of the blood-gas barrier. In summary, improved lung function during reperfusion was associated with beneficial effects of lung preservation on tm integrity after I/R. These observations suggest that preservation solutions ameliorate events leading to surfactant disturbance even before extensive lung injury is manifested.
The authors describe a case of an allergic affection in a patient with occupational exposure to latex allergens with a history of anaphylactic reaction to poppy seed and reaction to the antigens of apples, oranges, tangerines, peanuts and bananas, revealed by the method CAP Phadiatop. A marked reaction was initiated after the use of a shampoo containing volatile banana oil. The authors emphasize the high incidence of latex allergy, the manifestations of which may be encountered also in clinical ophthalmology.
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Positron emission tomography (PET) is a new diagnostic technique. It is used to differentiate benign from malignant pulmonary nodules and to detect metastasis and lymph node involvement in primary lung cancer, but little has been published about its possible interest for detection of unknown primary tumors. We report the case of a man who underwent resection of a cerebral tumor. A histological diagnosis of cerebral metastasis from adenocarcinoma with a probable pulmonary origin was made. Preoperative staging (including thoracoabdominal CT-scan and bone scan) did not show any pathologic image, particularly in the thorax. A whole body FDG-PET-scan was then performed. An isolated (1.5 cm of diameter) hypermetabolic focus was discovered in the left upper lobe. Bronchoscopy was normal An upper left lobectomy confirmed the presence of the primary lung adenocarcinoma. In this particular case, FDG-PET proved to be a very useful diagnostic method. New indications are being developed for it.
Many cytogenetic alterations are known to occur in urinary bladder cancer, but the significance of most of them is poorly understood. To define these chromosomal regions where clinically relevant genes may be located, a series of 54 pT1 urinary bladder carcinomas with clinical follow-up information (median, 52 months; range, 5-167 months) were examined by comparative genomic hybridization. The most frequent alterations included DNA sequence copy number gains at 1q22-24 (33%), 20q11.2-ter (33%), 8q22 and 17q21 (28% each), and 6p22 (15%) as well as deletions at Y (37%), 9p (31%), 9q22-33 and 11p14-ter (28% each), 11q23 (26%), 8p (24%), 13q31 (19%), 2q35-ter (17%), and 2q22-33 (11%). Whereas the histological grade was unrelated to prognosis (P = 0.9752), the risk of tumor progression was significantly associated with the number of deletions per tumor (P = 0.0014). Individual cytogenetic alterations that were linked to subsequent tumor progression included gains of 3p22-24 (P = 0.0112) and 5p (P = 0.0003) as well as losses of 4p11-15 (P = 0.0052), 5q15-23 (P = 0.0410), 6q22-23 (P = 0.0090), 10q24-26 (P = 0.0232), and 18q12-23 (P = 0.0005). Genes with a role for bladder cancer progression may be located at these regions.
Almost 70% of urinary bladder neoplasms present as low-grade papillary noninvasive tumors (stage pTa). To determine which genomic alterations can occur in pTa tumors of different grades and to evaluate the prognostic significance of chromosomal imbalances, we analyzed 113 pTa tumors (40 grade 1, 55 grade 2, 18 grade 3) by comparative genomic hybridization. pTaG1 (1.9 +/- 2.0) and pTaG2 (3.1 +/- 2.9) tumors had only few genomic alterations with 9q- (44%), 9p- (36%), and -Y (21%) being most prevalent. Neither the total number of aberrations nor any individual alteration was linked to the risk of recurrence in 95 pTaG1/G2 tumors with clinical follow-up information. pTaG3 tumors were characterized by a high number of alterations (7.7 +/- 4.5; P < 0.0001 for G3 versus G2). Several chromosomal imbalances that have previously been reported to be typical for invasive bladder neoplasms were significantly more frequent in pTaG3 than in pTaG2 tumors, including 2q-, 5p+, 5q-, 6q-, 8p-, 10q-, 18q-, and 20q+. A malfunction of genes at these loci may contribute to the development of high-grade urothelial neoplasias. However, there is no evidence for a direct role of these alterations for development of invasive tumor growth.