Attacks by the isopod Excorallana tricornis tricornis on Nassau grouper Epinephelus striatus caught in Antillean fish traps around Little Cayman Island, Cayman Islands, are recorded. Divers reported ...heavily parasitized fish during the study period, suggesting that trapping did not exclusively precipitate parasitism. Parasitic infestations were reported to be common in Nassau grouper immediately following their spawning season in mid‐winter.
We report a case of radiation-induced venous stenosis after pelvic irradiation to treat Paget's disease of the scrotum. During therapeutic anticoagulation, significant left lower extremity swelling ...developed due to an iliofemoral deep venous thrombosis (DVT). After percutaneous thrombectomy and thrombolysis, a high-grade stenosis was uncovered in the left external iliac vein, which was treated with an endoluminal stent. However, ipsilateral DVT recurred 2 months later despite continued anticoagulation therapy. Repeat treatment was successful. Pelvic radiation is a potential cause of iliac vein stenosis. Pharmacomechanical thrombectomy may have a useful role in management of complex iliofemoral DVT.
The impact of co-morbid conditions on early and late clinical outcomes after endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) was assessed in concurrent cohorts of patients stratified with ...respect to risk for intervention.
As a minimally invasive strategy for the treatment of AAA, endovascular repair has been embraced with enthusiasm for all prospective patients who are suitable anatomical candidates because of the promise of achieving a durable result with a reduced risk of perioperative morbidity and mortality.
From April 1994 to March 2001, endovascular AAA repair was performed in 236 patients using commercially available systems. A subset of patients considered at increased risk for intervention (n = 123) were categorized, as such, based on a preexisting history of ischemic coronary artery disease, with documentation of myocardial infarction (60%) or congestive heart failure (35%), or due to the presence of chronic obstructive disease (21%), liver disease, or malignancy.
Perioperative mortality (30-day) was 6.5% in the increased-risk patients as compared to 1.8% among those classified as low risk (P = NS). There was no difference between groups in age (74 +/- 9 years vs. 72 +/- 6 years; mean +/- SD), surgical time (235 +/- 95 minutes vs. 219 +/- 84 minutes), blood loss (457 +/- 432 mL vs. 351 +/- 273 mL), postoperative hospital stay (4.8 +/- 3.4 days vs. 4.0 +/- 3.9 days), or days in the ICU (1.3 +/- 1.8 days vs. 0.5 +/- 1.6 days). Patients at increased risk of intervention had larger aneurysms than low-risk patients (59 +/- 13 mm vs. 51 +/- 14 mm; P <.05). Stent grafts were successfully implanted in 116 (95%) increased-risk versus 107 (95%) low-risk patients (P = NS). Conversion rates to open operative repair were similar in increased-risk and low-risk groups at 3% and 5%, respectively. The initial endoleak rate was 22% versus 20%, based on the first CT performed (either at discharge or 1 month; P = NS). To date, increased-risk patients have been followed for 17.4 +/- 15 months and low-risk patients for 16.3 +/- 14 months. Kaplan-Meier analysis for cumulative patient survival demonstrated a reduced probability of survival among those patients initially classified as at increased risk for intervention (P <.05, Mantel-Cox test). Both cohorts had similar two-year primary and secondary clinical success rates of approximately 75% and 80%, respectively.
Early and late clinical outcomes are comparable after endovascular repair of AAA, regardless of risk-stratification. Notably, 2 years after endovascular repair, at least one in five patients was classified as a clinical failure. Given the need for close life-long surveillance and the continued uncertainty associated with clinical outcome, caution is dictated in advocating endovascular treatment for the patient who is otherwise considered an ideal candidate for standard open surgical repair.
The mu‐opioid system has a key role in hedonic and motivational processes critical to substance addiction. However, existing mu‐opioid antagonists have had limited success as anti‐addiction ...treatments. GSK1521498 is a selective and potent mu‐opioid antagonist being developed for the treatment of overeating and substance addictions. In this study, 28 healthy participants were administered single doses of GSK1521498 20 mg, ethanol 0.5 g/kg body weight, or both in combination, in a double blind placebo controlled four‐way crossover design. The primary objective was to determine the risk of significant adverse pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic (PK) interactions. The effects of GSK1521498 on hedonic and consummatory responses to alcohol and the attentional processing of alcohol‐related stimuli, and their modulation by the OPRM1 A118G polymorphism were also explored. GSK1521498 20 mg was well tolerated alone and in combination with ethanol. There were mild transient effects of GSK1521498 on alertness and mood that were greater when it was combined with ethanol. These effects were not of clinical significance. There were no effects of GSK1521498 on reaction time, hedonic or consummatory responses. These findings provide encouraging safety and PK data to support continued development of GSK1521498 for the treatment of alcohol addiction.
Cocaine-induced arterial thrombosis is uncommon, and most reported cases involved small-diameter vessels such as the cerebral and coronary arteries. This study was undertaken to review our experience ...with peripheral arterial thrombosis presumed caused by cocaine abuse.
Hospital records were reviewed for all patients admitted over 10 years with acute arterial occlusion involving the peripheral arterial system. Patients with confirmation of cocaine use or of its derivative, crack cocaine, within 24 hours of hospital admission formed the basis of this study. Symptoms at presentation, management, and outcome in these patients were reviewed.
Three hundred eighty-two patients with acute peripheral arterial occlusion were identified during the study period. The presumptive diagnosis of cocaine-induced arterial occlusion was made in 5 patients (4 men, mean age 38 years). Cocaine use was achieved via intranasal inhalation in 2 patients (40%), whereas the 3 remaining patients smoked crack cocaine (60%). The mean time between cocaine use and onset of arterial thrombosis was 9.2 hours (range, 2-20 hours). Symptoms at presentation included acute limb ischemia without pedal Doppler signals (3 patients, 60%) and abdominal pain without femoral pulses (2 patients, 40%). Arterial occlusion was confirmed on angiograms in all patients, which revealed aortic thrombosis in 1 patient (20%), iliac thrombosis in 2 patients (40%), superficial femoral artery thrombosis in 1 patient (20%), and popliteal artery occlusion in 1 patient (20%). Surgical thrombectomy was successfully performed in 4 patients (80%), and 1 patient (20%) underwent successful thrombolytic therapy for femoropopliteal artery occlusion. There was no perioperative mortality. All 5 patients who were discharged were available for follow-up (mean, 36 months; range, 6-75 months). There was 1 late death from myocardial infarction. In 1 patient recurrent lower extremity arterial thrombosis developed after 28 months, which was successfully treated with thrombolytic therapy.
Our study underscores cocaine abuse as a potential cause of acute arterial thrombosis. Cocaine-induced arterial thrombosis should be suspected in patients with recent history of cocaine abuse with acute limb ischemia without an identifiable source or overt cardiovascular risk factors. Prompt angiography with operative or endovascular intervention should be performed to avert arterial ischemic sequelae.
Purpose: Previous phases of trachoma mapping in Pakistan completed baseline surveys in 38 districts. To help guide national trachoma elimination planning, we set out to estimate trachoma prevalence ...in 43 suspected-endemic evaluation units (EUs) of 15 further districts.
Methods: We planned a population-based trachoma prevalence survey in each EU. Two-stage cluster sampling was employed, using the systems and approaches of the Global Trachoma Mapping Project. In each EU, residents aged ≥1 year living in 30 households in each of 26 villages were invited to be examined by trained, certified trachoma graders. Questionnaires and direct observation were used to evaluate household-level access to water and sanitation.
Results: One EU was not completed due to insecurity. Of the remaining 42, three EUs had trichiasis prevalence estimates in ≥15-year-olds ≥0.2%, and six (different) EUs had prevalence estimates of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in 1-9-year-olds ≥5%; each EU requires trichiasis and TF prevalence estimates below these thresholds to achieve elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. All six EUs with TF prevalences ≥5% were in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Household-level access to improved sanitation ranged by EU from 6% to 100%. Household-level access to an improved source of water for face and hand washing ranged by EU from 37% to 100%.
Conclusion: Trachoma was a public health problem in 21% (9/42) of the EUs. Because the current outbreak of extremely drug-resistant typhoid in Pakistan limits domestic use of azithromycin mass drug administration, other interventions against active trachoma should be considered here.
Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the effects of serelaxin on short-term changes in markers of organ damage and congestion and relate them to 180-day mortality in patients with acute ...heart failure. Background Hospitalization for acute heart failure is associated with high post-discharge mortality, and this may be related to organ damage. Methods The Pre-RELAX-AHF (Relaxin in Acute Heart Failure) phase II study and RELAX-AHF phase III study were international, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials in which patients hospitalized for acute heart failure were randomized within 16 h to intravenous placebo or serelaxin. Each patient was followed daily to day 5 or discharge and at days 5, 14, and 60 after enrollment. Vital status was assessed through 180 days. In RELAX-AHF, laboratory evaluations were performed daily to day 5 and at day 14. Plasma levels of biomarkers were measured at baseline and days 2, 5, and 14. All-cause mortality was assessed as a safety endpoint in both studies. Results Serelaxin reduced 180-day mortality, with similar effects in the phase II and phase III studies (combined studies: N = 1,395; hazard ratio: 0.62; 95% confidence interval: 0.43 to 0.88; p = 0.0076). In RELAX-AHF, changes in markers of cardiac (high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T), renal (creatinine and cystatin-C), and hepatic (aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase) damage and of decongestion (N-terminal pro–brain natriuretic peptide) at day 2 and worsening heart failure during admission were associated with 180-day mortality. Serelaxin administration improved these markers, consistent with the prevention of organ damage and faster decongestion. Conclusions Early administration of serelaxin was associated with a reduction of 180-day mortality, and this occurred with fewer signs of organ damage and more rapid relief of congestion during the first days after admission.
Thrombin injection as a means of inducing thrombus formation has recently received wide attention as an alternative treatment for pseudoaneurysm. We present a case of a 67-year-old man in whom a ...large mycotic pseudoaneurysm developed in the ascending aorta because of sternal osteomyelitis and mediastinitis after coronary artery bypass grafting. Transcatheter intra-arterial thrombin injection was performed, and it successfully induced pseudoaneurysm thrombosis. However, the procedure was complicated by a sudden transient ischemic attack caused by thrombus propagation into the cerebral circulation. Complete thrombus dissolution in the cerebral circulation with the resolution of neurologic symptoms was achieved by means of intravenous abciximab. (J Vasc Surg 2001;34:939-42.)
A study was conducted to determine the relation between the consumption of contaminated local fish and concentrations of total polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and 68 PCB congeners in the milk of ...nursing Mohawk women residing near three hazardous waste sites. From 1986 to 1992, 97 Mohawk women were interviewed and donated at least 50 ml of breast milk. The comparison population consisted of 154 Caucasians. After adjustment for potential confounders, Mohawk mothers who gave birth in 1986–1989 had a geometric mean milk total PCB concentration of 0.602 ppm (fat basis) compared with 0.375 ppm for the control group (p = 0.009). These Mohawk women also had significantly higher geometric mean concentrations of nine congeners. Beginning in 1990, however, there were no significantly differences between the Mohawk women and the comparison group. Estimated cumulative lifetime exposure from local fish consumption was significantly related to milk total PCB and to three congeners only among those Mohawks who gave birth from 1986 to 1989. The reduction in breast milk PCB concentrations parallels a corresponding decrease in local fish consumption and may be the result of the advisories that have been issued over the past decade recommending against the consumption of local fish by pregnant and nursing Mohawk women. Am J Epidemiol 1998;148:164–72.
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