Articles: function.
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Observational Study
Introducing a free-breathing MRI method to assess peri-operative myocardial oxygenation and function: A volunteer cohort study.
Induction of general anaesthesia has many potential triggers for peri-operative myocardial ischaemia including the acute disturbance of blood gases that frequently follows alterations in breathing and ventilation patterns. Free-breathing oxygenation-sensitive cardiovascular magnetic resonance (OS-CMR) imaging may provide the opportunity to continuously quantify the impact of such triggers on myocardial oxygenation. ⋯ http://links.lww.com/EJA/A922.
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Intensive interdisciplinary pain treatments (IIPTs) are programs that aim to improve functioning in youth with severe chronic pain. Little is known about how the brain changes after IIPT; however, decreased brain responses to emotional stimuli have been identified previously in pediatric chronic pain relative to healthy controls. We examined whether IIPT increased brain responses to emotional stimuli, and whether this change was associated with a reduction in pain interference. ⋯ Contrary to our hypothesis, IIPT was associated with a reduction in MFG activation to emotional stimuli, and this change was associated with reduced pain interference. The MFG is a highly interconnected brain area involved in both pain chronification and antinociception. With further validation of these results, the MFG may represent an important biomarker for evaluating patient treatment response and target for future pain interventions.
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Chronic hip pain is one of the most common and difficult-to-treat causes of disability. Our study's primary aim was to investigate the effects of ultrasound and fluoroscopy-guided radiofrequency thermocoagulation of the femoral and obturator nerve articular branches on chronic hip pain, and the secondary aim was to determine its effects on hip function and quality of life. ⋯ We concluded that radiofrequency thermocoagulation application to the articular branches of the femoral and obturator nerves provides pain relief, hip function improvement, and better quality of life (better physical component scores but no improvement in mental component scores in SF-12) for up to 6 months in chronic hip pain.
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Acute renal dysfunction and subsequent acute renal failure after cardiac surgery are associated with high mortality and morbidity. Early therapeutic or preventive intervention is hampered by the lack of an early biomarker for acute renal injury. Recent studies showed that urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL or lipocalin 2) is upregulated early (within 1 to 3 h) after murine renal injury and in pediatric acute renal dysfunction after cardiac surgery. The authors hypothesized that postoperative urinary NGAL concentrations are increased in adult patients developing acute renal dysfunction after cardiac surgery compared with patients without acute renal dysfunction. ⋯ Patients developing postoperative acute renal dysfunction had significantly higher urinary NGAL concentrations early after cardiac surgery. Urinary NGAL may therefore be a useful early biomarker of acute renal dysfunction after cardiac surgery. These findings may facilitate the early detection of acute renal injury and potentially prevent progression to acute renal failure.