Skeletal Anchorage Augmentation in Extraction/Nonextraction Orthodontic Treatment: A Randomized Clinical Study

AIM

To evaluate and compare skeletal, dental, and soft tissue parameters by therapeutic extraction of first premolar and nonextraction distalization of maxillary and mandibular arches in bimaxillary proclination using the skeletal anchorage system.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

About 40 orthodontic patients undergoing extraction or nonextraction treatment are enrolled in a randomized clinical trial. Participants are randomly assigned to either the extraction or nonextraction group and receive treatment augmented with skeletal anchorage. Mini implants were placed in the extraction group for retraction and infra-zygomatic crest (IZC) and buccal shelf screws were placed in the nonextraction group for distalization.

OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS

Comparison between the ages of the patients among both Groups showed no significant difference. A significant difference is observed in dental and soft tissue parameters before and after the treatment in group A, whereas skeletal parameters also showed significant changes along with dental and soft tissue parameters in group B.

CONCLUSION

There is a significant change in the position of incisors by retraction and facial profile improves gradually in group A while for group B, a marked change in lower facial height was even seen. On comparing both the groups, a highly significant difference can be seen with respect to the amount of incisor retraction and change in molar inclination. The time taken for retraction of incisors is less in comparison to distalization.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

With this, we can easily avoid premolar extraction, and in cases of impacted third molars distalization as when indicated can be helpful as a part of the nonextraction treatment plan.

Umbilical cord blood graft engineering: challenges and opportunities

We are entering a very exciting era in umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT), where many of the associated formidable challenges may become treatable by ex vivo graft manipulation and/or adoptive immunotherapy utilizing specific cellular products. We envisage the use of double UCBT rather than single UCBT for most patients; this allows for greater ability to treat larger patients as well as to manipulate the graft. Ex vivo expansion and/or fucosylation of one cord will achieve more rapid engraftment, minimize the period of neutropenia and also give certainty that the other cord will provide long-term engraftment/immune reconstitution. The non-expanded (and future dominant) cord could be chosen for characteristics such as better HLA matching to minimize GvHD, or larger cell counts to enable part of the unit to be utilized for the development of specific cellular therapies such as the production of virus-specific T-cells or chimeric-antigen receptor T-cells which are reviewed in this study.

Perioperative outcomes and hospital reimbursement by type of radical prostatectomy: results from a privately insured patient population

BACKGROUND

With the increasing use of robotic surgery in the United States, the comparative effectiveness and differences in reimbursement of minimally invasive radical prostatectomy (MIRP) and open prostatectomy (ORP) in privately insured patients are unknown. Therefore, we sought to assess the differences in perioperative outcomes and hospital reimbursement in a privately insured patient population who were surgically treated for prostate cancer.

METHODS

Using a large private insurance database, we identified 17,610 prostate cancer patients who underwent either MIRP or ORP from 2003 to 2010. The primary outcomes were length of stay (LOS), perioperative complications, 90-day readmissions rates and hospital reimbursement. Multivariable regression analyses were used to evaluate for differences in primary outcomes across surgical approaches.

RESULTS

Overall, 8981 (51.0%) and 8629 (49.0%) surgically treated prostate cancer patients underwent MIRP and ORP, respectively. The proportion of patients undergoing MIRP markedly rose from 11.9% in 2003 to 72.5% in 2010 (P<0.001 for trend). Relative to ORP, MIRP was associated with a shorter median LOS (1.0 day vs 3.0 days; P<0.001) and lower adjusted odds ratio of perioperative complications (OR: 0.82; P<0.001). However, the 90-day readmission rates of MIRP and ORP were similar (OR: 0.99; P=0.76). MIRP provided higher adjusted mean hospital reimbursement compared with ORP (US $19,292 vs. US $17,347; P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Among privately insured patients diagnosed with prostate cancer, robotic surgery rapidly disseminated with over 70% of patients undergoing MIRP by 2009-2010. Although MIRP was associated with shorter LOS and modestly better perioperative outcomes, hospitals received higher reimbursement for MIRP compared with ORP.

Recurrent limb pain and migraine: case reports and a clinical review

Recurrent limb pain (RLP) is a well-known entity in childhood. It is considered a precursor of migraine. The temporal relationship of RLP with headache in childhood is lacking in the literature. However, there are many cases with limb pain in a close temporal relationship with migraine headache in adults. We report six female patients with RLP and migraine and delineate the temporal relationship between the two. Three patients had a history of RLP in childhood and developed migraine headache after many years. Conversely, two patients had a long history of migraine headache and later developed RLP. One patient developed RLP and migraine headache at the same age. Isolated limb pain was frequent in all six patients. It was mild to severe, for a few minutes to a few days, and predominantly located in the upper extremities. Only one patient reported allodynia. The patients showed response to preventive measures (all six patients) and abortive therapies (four patients), even in those attacks of RLP that were not associated with headache episodes. We also review the clinical profiles of the patients in whom RLP and migraine were related to each other, and speculate on the possible mechanisms for RLP in the patients with migraine.

Primary chondrosarcoma of the lung with cutaneous and skeletal metastases

Extraosseous chondrosarcomas are rare tumours. Primary chondrosarcoma of the lung is very rare, and is considered to be a slow-growing, well-circumscribed tumour, with rare incidence of extra-thoracic metastasis. We report a 60-year-old man who had chondrosarcoma of the lung with two local recurrences, namely: recurrent cutaneous metastases and a skeletal metastasis. Cutaneous metastases were treated by excision with adequate margins each time and they did not recur at the same site. Metastasis in the C5 vertebrae was treated by corpectomy and bone grafting. The patient is well six years after diagnosis.

Shift from predominantly white to predominantly black staff: a retrospective study relating to surgical care

This nine-year study on hysterectomy patients at Southwest Community Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, indicates that a shift in hospital staff from predominantly white to predominantly black had no detrimental effect on quality of care. The study also shows that the number of consultations increased with the influx of obstetrical/gynecological (ob/gyn) physicians. At the same time, there was an approximately 90 percent positive correlation between clinical and pathological diagnoses with the influx of black ob/gyn physicians to the staff.