BioMed research international
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Current cancer treatment regimens do not only target tumor cells, but can also have devastating effects on the spermatogonial stem cell pool, resulting in a lack of functional gametes and hence sterility. In adult men, fertility can be preserved prior to cancer treatment by cryopreservation of ejaculated or surgically retrieved spermatozoa, but this is not an option for prepubertal boys since spermatogenesis does not commence until puberty. ⋯ Although recent progress has brought clinical application of spermatogonial stem cell autotransplantation in closer range, there are still a number of important issues to address. In this paper, we describe the state of the art of spermatogonial stem cell transplantation and outline the hurdles that need to be overcome before clinical implementation.
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Liver disease is accompanied by profound hemostatic disturbances. We investigated the influences of pro- and anticoagulation factors on global coagulation tests including prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and thrombin generation assay (TGA) in cirrhosis. We also investigated whether cirrhotic patients exhibit hypo- or hypercoagulability using the TGA. ⋯ PT and the TGA are sensitive to protein C levels. Even with prolonged PT, the TGA can detect hypercoagulability in cirrhosis. Further studies should evaluate global coagulation status in cirrhosis patients using the newly devised TGA system.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Percutaneous vertebroplasty in adult degenerative scoliosis for spine support: study for pain evaluation and mobility improvement.
We evaluate the efficacy-safety of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) as primary treatment in adult degenerative scoliosis. During the last 4 years, PV was performed in 18 adult patients (68 vertebral bodies) with back pain due to degenerative scoliotic spine. Under anaesthesia and fluoroscopy, direct access to most deformed vertebral bodies was obtained by 13G needles, and PMMA for vertebroplasty was injected. ⋯ No complications were observed. During follow-up period (mean value 17.66 months), all patients underwent a mean of 1.3 sessions for facet joint and nerve root infiltrations. Percutaneous vertebroplasty in the inner arch seems to be an effective technique for supporting adult degenerative scoliotic spine.
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Clinical Trial
Rehabilitation of children with hemiparesis: a pilot study on the use of virtual reality.
A wide range of treatments have been used to improve upper arm motor performances in children with congenital hemiplegia. Recent findings are suggesting that virtual reality based intervention could be a promising tool also in pediatric rehabilitation. ⋯ Our findings seem to support the evidence that VR treatment could be a promising and engaging tool for pediatric rehabilitation. However, the limited size of the population and the small number of sessions require further investigations and RCTs to confirm our positive results.
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To determine the accuracy of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) for the assessment of causes in nontraumatic deaths in children. ⋯ PMCT seems to be a promising technique that might serve as a substitute for conventional medical autopsy and give us the complementary information to clinical diagnoses particularly in cases of child abuse. Larger multicenter trials are worthwhile to validate the general feasibility of PMCT.