Open Access DOI:10.23937/2377-4630/2/2/1025

Retention of Finger Blood Flow against Postural Change Has the Potential to Become a New Indicator of Sympathetic Block in the Upper Limb - A Preliminary Study

Toshihiko Nakatani, Tatsuhito Miyamoto, Tatsuya Hashimoto and Yoji Saito

Article Type: Original Article | First Published: March 23, 2015

Increased skin temperature and decreased sweating are used to identify the adequacy of sympathetic block in the upper limb. This, however, requires a thermography device to precisely evaluate skin temperature and a diaphoremeter to measure sweating. Baroreflexes elicited by postural change induce a reduction in peripheral blood flow to sustain systemic blood pressure and cerebral blood flow. We hypothesized that sympathetic blockade in the upper limb results in minimal changes in finger skin blo...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3656/1410022

Effect of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy on Left Ventricular Diastolic Function

Kammoun Ikram, Marrakchi Sonia, Jebri Faten and Kachboura Salem

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: March 23, 2015

Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) improves systolic performance in Heart Failure (HF). However, the effects of CRT on Left Ventricular (LV) diastolic function were variable and not fully understood. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy on LV diastolic filing pattern and the relation between the diastolic filing pattern and the response to CRT....

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5718/1510001

Electromyographic Cross-Spectral Analysis of Antagonist Muscle Coactivation

Travis W. Beck

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: March 20, 2015

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to compare the responses for traditional EMG amplitude measures with those from the crossspectrum approach for assessing agonist-antagonist interaction, and (2) to examine changes in the agonist-antagonist interaction for the elbow flexors and extensors with increases in movement velocity. Eighteen healthy, college-aged subjects (mean ± SD age = 21.8 ± 2.7 yrs) volunteered to perform maximal, concentric isokinetic contractions of the dominant elbow fle...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5742/1510003

A Comparison of Prostatic Acinar Adenocarcinoma Gleason 3+4 versus 4+3 in Different Laboratory Practice Settings

Celia Maria Jesuino Bittencourt, Daniel Abensur Athanazio, Andreia Carvalho dos Santos, Erica Curvelo Dantas Senna, Tania Maria Correia Silva and Luiz Antonio Rodrigues de Freitas

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: March 20, 2015

Objective: To evaluate Gleason 7 tumors from radical prostatectomy specimens that were stratified by 3+4 and 4+3 status, focusing on the clinical and morphologic features. Methods and results: In the first series of 20 Gleason 7 tumors processed by total embedding, cases with 4+3 status were associated with a higher proliferation index. In a second series of 106 Gleason 7 tumors processed by partial embedding, 4+3 status was associated with higher preoperative serum prostate-specific antigen lev...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3397/1410020

Prospective Analysis and Technical Recommendations for Repair of Small Ventral/Umbilical Hernias Using the Ventralex Hernia Patch

Kejia Wang and Christophe R. Berney

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: March 12, 2015

The aim of this study was to examine the short- and long-term clinical outcomes of the technique, and to address the possible limiting factors. Methods: Open mesh repair following strict surgical methodology was performed on 100 consecutive patients with small ventral/ umbilical hernia defects of 1-3cm in diameter between April 2007 and December 2012. Short-term clinical outcome was obtained at 2- and 6-week post-operative visits, and long-term results were assessed by telephone interview with s...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5734/1510004

Recurrent Osseous Choristoma Involving the Mandibular Buccal Vestibule: A Case Report

Curtis Gregoire, Clayton Davis, Martin Bullock and Thomas Steeves

Article Type: Case Report | First Published: March 19, 2015

This case report is the third ever reported of a recurrent intraoral osseous choristoma. The lesion had manifested twice in the left mandibular buccal vestibule of a 63-year-old Caucasian female. The patient was treated with wide local excision on both occasions. We believe that the lesions may have arisen as a result of previous trauma, although the exact etiology of the lesions is unknown. Interestingly, the recurrent lesion contained satellite nodules of bone, which suggests that the osseous ...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-3397/1410019

The New Paradigm for the Treatment of Chronic Pancreatitis

Rainer W.G. Gruessner

Article Type: Opinion | First Published: March 10, 2015

Effective treatment of chronic pancreatitis remains one of the greatest surgical challenges to date. Th incidence of chronic pancreatitis ranges from 3 to 10 cases per 100,000 populations per year worldwide. In the United States alone, more than 50,000 hospitalizations per year are caused by this disease. Chronic pancreatitis is an inflammatory process, progressive and irreversible in nature that eventually leads to complete destruction of pancreatic parenchyma and ductal structures....

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2378-2951/1410023

Erythropoietin Treatment Improves Peak VO2 and Oxygen Uptake Efficiency Slope without Changing VE vs. VCO2 Slope in Anemic Patients

Ayumi Goda, Haruki Itoh, Yoshiko Ebi, Kumiko Kondo, Tomoko Maeda and Toshitsune Shimada

Article Type: Research Article | First Published: March 20, 2015

The aim of this study was to evaluate the improvement in hemodynamic, metabolic, and ventilatory response during exercise along with the improvement of anemia with EPO treatment in anemic hemodialysis patients. Methods: Thirty-seven hemodialysis patients with anemia (48.8 +/- 13.6 years) received EPO (1500 or 3000 unit, 3 times a week). Parameters measured prospectively before and after EPO treatment included hemoglobin, cardiac output by dye dilution method, echocardiography, and cardiopulmonar...

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5750/1510001

Quick Detection of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer by Histopathology: Feasibility and Diagnostic Accuracy of Immediate Cutaneous Diagnosis

Umbert-Millet Pablo, Sola-Ortigosa Joaquim, Campos Begona and Bassas-Vila Julio

Article Type: Original Article | First Published: March 16, 2015

Background: Dermoscopy, diagnostic cytology, confocal microscopy are used to improve diagnostic accuracy. Frozen section techniques have been used to control margins but not for diagnosis. Objectives: We used a new frozen section technique called immediate cutaneous diagnosis for nonmelanoma skin cancer, assessing its feasibility and accuracy in obtaining a result within 15 minutes and recording limitations....

 Open Access DOI:10.23937/2377-4630/2/1/1024

The Concentration for Loss of Consciousness by Propofol does not differ between Morning and Afternoon

Kumiko Tanabe, Shigemi Matsumoto, Mayumi Nakanishi and Hiroki Iida

Article Type: Short Communication | First Published: March 20, 2015

Background: Circadian rhythms influence the pharmacology and effects of anesthetic agents such as local anesthetics, general anesthetics, and muscle relaxants. However, the influences of the circadian rhythm on new anesthetics such as propofol are unknown. Results: Thirty-seven patients underwent induced anesthesia at 8:30. Twenty-eight patients were induced between 14:00 and 16:00.There was no significant difference between the two groups in the predicted blood concentration, the predicted effe...