Fully covered self-expanding metal stents (FC-SEMSs), which can be removed from the bile duct, have recently been used in the main pancreatic duct (MPD) in chronic pancreatitis. The aim of this study ...was to investigate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of FC-SEMSs in painful chronic pancreatitis with refractory pancreatic strictures. The primary endpoints were technical success and procedure-related morbidity. Secondary endpoints were pain relief at the end of follow-up and resolution of the dominant pancreatic stricture at endoscopic retrograde pancreatography. Over 5 months, 10 patients with painful chronic pancreatitis and refractory dominant pancreatic duct strictures were treated with FC-SEMSs. All FC-SEMSs were successfully released and removed, although two stents were embedded in the MPD at their distal end and treated endoscopically without complications. Mild abdominal pain was noted in three patients after stent release. During treatment, pain relief was achieved in nine patients, but one continued to take morphine, because of addiction. Cholestasis developed in two patients and was treated endoscopically; no patient developed acute pancreatitis or pancreatic sepsis. After stent removal, the diameter of the narrowest MPD stricture had increased significantly from 3.5 mm to 5.8 mm. Patients were followed up for a mean of 19.8 months: two patients who continued drinking alcohol presented with mild acute pancreatitis; one patient developed further chronic pancreatic pain; and one had a transient pain episode. At the end of the study, nine patients no longer had chronic pain and no patients had required surgery. Endoscopic treatment of refractory MPD stricture in chronic pancreatitis by placement of an FC-SEMS appears feasible, safe, and potentially effective.
Recent developments in therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) have enabled new approaches to the management of refractory gastrointestinal bleeding, including EUS-guided sclerotherapy and vessel ...embolization. Few cases have been reported in the literature. Eight patients were admitted for severe, refractory gastrointestinal bleeding, seven of whom were actively bleeding. Causes of bleeding were gastric varices secondary to portal hypertension (n = 3); gastroduodenal artery aneurysm or fundal aneurysmal arterial malformation (n = 3); and Dieulafoy's ulcer (n = 2); the latter five patients having arterial bleeding. During the procedures, the bleeding vessel was punctured with a 19-gauge needle then injected with a sclerosing agent (cyanoacrylate glue n = 6 or polidocanol 2 % n = 2) under Doppler control. The median follow-up time was 9 months (3 - 18 months). In all 10 endoscopic procedures were performed. The procedure was successful at the first attempt in seven out of eight patients (87.5 %). No clinical complications were observed, although in one case there was diffusion of cyanoacrylate in the hepatic artery. The seven successful cases all showed immediate and complete disappearance of the Doppler flow signal at the end of the procedure. This retrospective study highlights the utility of EUS-guided vascular therapy. However, more large randomized studies should be conducted to confirm these results.
To characterize the functional impairments of a cohort of patients undergoing inpatient rehabilitation after surviving severe COVID-19 illness, in order to better understand the ongoing needs of this ...patient population.
This study consisted of a retrospective chart review of consecutive patients hospitalized for COVID-19 and admitted to a regional inpatient rehabilitation hospital from April 29th to May 22nd, 2020. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics and complications from acute hospitalization were examined. Measures of fall risk (Berg Balance Scale), endurance (6 Minute Walk Test), gait speed (10 Meter Walk Test), mobility (transfer and ambulation independence), cognition, speech and swallowing (American Speech and Hearing Association National Outcomes Measurement System Functional Communication Measures) were assessed at rehabilitation admission and discharge.
The study population included 29 patients and was 70% male, 58.6% white and with a mean age of 59.5. The mean length of acute hospitalization was 32.2 days with a mean of 18.7 days intubated. Patients spent a mean of 16.7 days in inpatient rehabilitation and 90% were discharged home. Patients demonstrated significant improvement from admission to discharge in measures of fall risk, endurance, gait speed, mobility, cognition, speech and swallowing, (p< 0.05). At discharge, a significant portion of the population continued to deficits in cognition (attention 37%; memory 28%; problem solving 28%), balance (55%) and gait speed (97%).
Patients admitted to inpatient rehabilitation after hospitalization with COVID-19 demonstrated deficits in mobility, cognition, speech and swallowing at admission and improved significantly in all of these domains by discharge. However, a significant number of patients exhibited residual deficits at discharge highlighting the post-acute care needs of this patient population.
To determine the frequency with which specific Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) subscale scores co-occur as a means of providing clinicians and researchers with an empirical method of assessing ...CRS-R data quality.
We retrospectively analyzed CRS-R subscale scores in hospital inpatients diagnosed with disorders of consciousness (DOCs) to identify impossible and improbable subscore combinations as a means of detecting inaccurate and unusual scores. Impossible subscore combinations were based on violations of CRS-R scoring guidelines. To determine improbable subscore combinations, we relied on the Mahalanobis distance, which detects outliers within a distribution of scores. Subscore pairs that were not observed at all in the database (ie, frequency of occurrence=0%) were also considered improbable.
Specialized DOC program and university hospital.
Patients diagnosed with DOCs (N=1190; coma: n=76, vegetative state: n=464, minimally conscious state: n=586, emerged from minimally conscious state: n=64; 794 men; mean age, 43±20y; traumatic etiology: n=747; time postinjury, 162±568d).
Not applicable.
Impossible and improbable CRS-R subscore combinations.
Of the 1190 CRS-R profiles analyzed, 4.7% were excluded because they met scoring criteria for impossible co-occurrence. Among the 1137 remaining profiles, 12.2% (41/336) of possible subscore combinations were classified as improbable.
Clinicians and researchers should take steps to ensure the accuracy of CRS-R scores. To minimize the risk of diagnostic error and erroneous research findings, we have identified 9 impossible and 36 improbable CRS-R subscore combinations. The presence of any one of these subscore combinations should trigger additional data quality review.
To conduct a systematic review of behavioral assessment scales for disorders of consciousness (DOC); provide evidence-based recommendations for clinical use based on their content validity, ...reliability, diagnostic validity, and ability to predict functional outcomes; and provide research recommendations on DOC scale development and validation.
Articles published through March 31, 2009, using MEDLINE, CINAHL, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Biomedical Reference Collection, and PsycINFO. Thirteen primary terms that defined DOC were paired with 30 secondary terms that defined aspects of measurement. Scale names, abbreviations, and authors were also used as search terms. Task force members identified additional articles by using personal knowledge and examination of references in reviewed articles.
Primary criteria included the following: (1) provided reliability, diagnostic validity, and/or prognostic validity data; (2) examined a cohort, case control, or case series sample of persons with DOC who were age older than or equal to 18 years; and (3) assessed in an acute care or rehabilitation setting. Articles were excluded if peer review was not conducted, original data were not reported, or an English language article was not available. The initial search yielded 580 articles. After paired rater review of study abstracts, guideline development was based on 37 articles representing 13 DOC scales.
Rater pairs classified studies addressing diagnostic and prognostic validity by using the American Academy of Neurology 4-tier level of evidence scheme, and reliability by using a task force-developed 3-tier evidence scheme. An independent quality review of ratings was conducted, and corrections were made.
The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R), Sensory Stimulation Assessment Measure (SSAM), Wessex Head Injury Matrix (WHIM), Western Neuro Sensory Stimulation Profile (WNSSP), Sensory Modality Assessment Technique (SMART), Disorders of Consciousness Scale (DOCS), and Coma/Near-Coma Scale (CNC) have acceptable standardized administration and scoring procedures. The CRS-R has excellent content validity and is the only scale to address all Aspen Workgroup criteria. The SMART, SSAM, WHIM, and WNSSP demonstrate good content validity, containing items that could distinguish persons who are in a vegetative state, are in a minimally conscious state (MCS), or have emerged from MCS. The Full Outline of UnResponsiveness Score (FOUR), WNSSP, CRS-R, Comprehensive Levels of Consciousness Scale (CLOCS), and Innsbruck Coma Scale (INNS) showed substantial evidence of internal consistency. The FOUR and the CRS-R showed substantial evidence of good interrater reliability. Evidence of diagnostic validity and prognostic validity in brain injury survivor samples had very high levels of potential bias because of methodologic issues such as lack of rater masking.
The CRS-R may be used to assess DOC with minor reservations, and the SMART, WNSSP, SSAM, WHIM, and DOCS may be used to assess DOC with moderate reservations. The CNC may be used to assess DOC with major reservations. The FOUR, INNS, Glasgow-Liege Coma Scale, Swedish Reaction Level Scale-1985, Loewenstein Communication Scale, and CLOCS are not recommended at this time for bedside behavioral assessment of DOC because of a lack of content validity, lack of standardization, and/or unproven reliability.
Widespread loss of cerebral connectivity is assumed to underlie the failure of brain mechanisms that support communication and goal-directed behaviour following severe traumatic brain injury. ...Disorders of consciousness that persist for longer than 12 months after severe traumatic brain injury are generally considered to be immutable; no treatment has been shown to accelerate recovery or improve functional outcome in such cases. Recent studies have shown unexpected preservation of large-scale cerebral networks in patients in the minimally conscious state (MCS), a condition that is characterized by intermittent evidence of awareness of self or the environment. These findings indicate that there might be residual functional capacity in some patients that could be supported by therapeutic interventions. We hypothesize that further recovery in some patients in the MCS is limited by chronic underactivation of potentially recruitable large-scale networks. Here, in a 6-month double-blind alternating crossover study, we show that bilateral deep brain electrical stimulation (DBS) of the central thalamus modulates behavioural responsiveness in a patient who remained in MCS for 6 yr following traumatic brain injury before the intervention. The frequency of specific cognitively mediated behaviours (primary outcome measures) and functional limb control and oral feeding (secondary outcome measures) increased during periods in which DBS was on as compared with periods in which it was off. Logistic regression modelling shows a statistical linkage between the observed functional improvements and recent stimulation history. We interpret the DBS effects as compensating for a loss of arousal regulation that is normally controlled by the frontal lobe in the intact brain. These findings provide evidence that DBS can promote significant late functional recovery from severe traumatic brain injury. Our observations, years after the injury occurred, challenge the existing practice of early treatment discontinuation for patients with only inconsistent interactive behaviours and motivate further research to develop therapeutic interventions.
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