Frontiers in surgery
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Frontiers in surgery · Jan 2015
ReviewPreeclampsia - will orphan drug status facilitate innovative biological therapies?
It is generally accepted that the development of novel therapies to treat pregnancy-related disorders, such as preeclampsia, is hampered by the paucity of research funding. Hence, it is with great interest to become aware of at least three novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of this disorder: exploiting either the anticoagulant activity of antithrombin, the free radical scavenging activity of alpha-1-microglobulin, or the regenerative capacity of placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells. As these projects are being carried out by small biotech enterprises, the question arises of how they are able to fund such undertakings. ⋯ Other strategies to supplement meager research funds, especially to test novel approaches, could be crowdfunding, a venture that relies on intimate interaction with advocacy groups. In other words, preeclampsia meets Facebook. Perhaps similar strategies can be adopted to examine novel therapies targeting either the imbalance in pro- or anti-angiogenic growth factors, complement activation, reduced levels of placenta protein 13, or excessive neutrophil activation evident in preeclampsia.
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Frontiers in surgery · Jan 2015
Five-Year Outcome after Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery in Survivors of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). ⋯ Early and 5-year survival rates after CABG in OHCA patients are excellent even when cardioverter defibrillator is very selectively implanted. The early and intermediate results CABG suggest a confident approach toward surgical revascularization in this critically ill patient population.
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Frontiers in surgery · Jan 2015
Acute Kidney Injury in Critically Ill Vascular Surgery Patients is Common and Associated with Increased Mortality.
Vascular surgery patients have multiple risk factors for renal dysfunction, but acute kidney injury (AKI) is poorly studied in this group. The purpose of this study was to define the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of AKI in high-risk vascular patients. ⋯ AKI is common among critically ill vascular surgery patients. Importantly, the type of surgical procedure appears to be less important than intra- and perioperative management in determining renal dysfunction. Regardless of its severity, AKI is a clinically significant complication that is associated with substantially worse patient outcomes.
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Frontiers in surgery · Jan 2015
ReviewPrevention of a Parastomal Hernia by Biological Mesh Reinforcement.
In the field of hernia prevention, the prophylactic mesh-reinforcement of stoma-sites is one of the most controversially discussed issues. The incidence of parastomal hernias in the literature reported to be up to 48.1% after end colostomy and up to 30.8% after loop of colostomy, but still remains uncertain due to diagnostic variety of clinical or radiological methods, heterogeneous patient groups and variable follow-up intervals. Anyway, the published data regarding the use of synthetic or bio-prostethic meshes in the prevention of parastomal hernia at the primary operation are very scarce. ⋯ Thus, so far two RCT and two case-control studies are published with prophylactic bio-prosthetic reinforcement in stoma sites. The majority revealed significant better results in terms of parastomal herniation and without any mesh-related complications in comparison to the non mesh group. Further, multicenter RCT are required to achieve a sufficient level of recommendation.