Search

Background: Peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions with reduced sodium content may have advantages for hypertensive patients; however, they have lower osmolarity and solvent drag, so the achieved Kt/V-urea may be lower. Furthermore, the increased transperitoneal membrane sodium gradient can influence sodium balance with consequences for blood pressure (BP) control.Study Design: Prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial to prove the noninferiority of total weekly Kt/V-urea with low-sodium versus standard-sodium PD solution, with the lower confidence limit above the clinically accepted difference of 0.5. Setting & Participants: Hypertensive patients (1 antihypertensive drug, including diuretics, or office systolic BP 130 mm Hg) on continuous ambulatory PD therapy from 17 sites.Intervention: 108 patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to 6-month treatments with either low-sodium (125 mmol/L of sodium; 1.5%, 2.3%, or 4.25% glucose; osmolarity, 338-491 mOsm/L) or standard-sodium (134 mmol/L of sodium; 1.5%, 2.3%, or 4.25% glucose; osmolarity, 356-509 mOsm/L) PD solution.Outcomes: Primary end point: weekly total KtNurea; secondary outcomes: BP control, safety, and tolerability. Measurements: Total KtNurea was determined from 24-hour dialysate and urine collection; BP, by office measurement.Results: Total Kt/Vurea after 12 weeks was 2.53 +/- 0.89 in the low -sodium group (n = 40) and 2.97 +/- 1.58 in the control group (n = 42). The noninferiority of total KtNurea could not be confirmed. There was no difference for peritoneal KtNurea (1.70 +/- 0.38 with low sodium, 1.77 +/- 0.44 with standard sodium), but there was a difference in renal KtNurea (0.83 +/- 0.80 with low sodium, 1.20 +/- 1.54 with standard sodium). Mean daily sodium removal with dialysate at week 12 was 1.188 g higher in the low-sodium group (P Limitations: Broader variability of study population than anticipated, particularly regarding residual kidney function.Conclusions: The noninferiority of the low -sodium PD solution for total Kt/Vurea could not be proved; however, it showed beneficial clinical effects on sodium removal and BP. Am J Kidney Dis. 67(5):753-761. 2016 Fresenius Medical Care. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the National Kidney Foundation, Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.orgIlicenses/by-nc-nd14.01).

Plasmodium falciparum infection causes serious symptoms in the acute phase of the illness. Long-term sequelae are less common. In the following case report we describe a patient who developed hypopituitarism after a severe cerebral malaria infection, which was only recognized 17 years thereafter.

Cerebral zones supporting language and recent memory were mapped by electrical stimulation during neurosurgical treatment of epileptic patients. Stimulation of sites within the left posterior temporo-parietal cortex produced transient dysphasia. Continued stimulation of this cortical region also produced a retrograde type of verbal memory disorder, indicating a failure in the mechanism responsible for retrieval of stored information. In contrast, stimulation of the anterior temporal neocortex did not produce anomia and, instead, resulted in an anterograde memory loss, apparently caused by a defect in the verbal storage mechanism. Comparable stimulation of homologous areas on the right hemisphere did not interfere with object naming or immediate verbal recall.

Cancer involving the ethmoid and sphenoid frontal sinus complex can be successfully eradicated by a combined transcranial and transfacial surgical dissection. Survival rates of 44 to 58 percent with a 3 percent hospital mortality rate in patients whose previous surgery or radiotherapy was largely unsuccessful suggest that this cosmetically acceptable surgical endeavor should be used more often by the head and neck surgeon in treating paranasal sinus cancer. Utilizing the principles of antibiotic prophylaxis, strict attention to principles of tumor removal and surgical technique, and the talents of the combined surgical and neurosurgical team, this aggressive surgical approach to the paranasal sinuses can be safely and successfully carried out. The approach described herein has the following advantages: it allows accurate evaluation of intracranial tumor extension while protecting the intracranial contents, it essentially avoids cerebrospinal fistulization, it provides adequate exposure for hemostasis, facilitates en bloc tumor resection, selectively conserves the orbital contents, and provides patient survival rates up to 58 percent for paranasal cancer that involves the ethmoid and sphenoid frontal sinus complex.

Summary The combined intracranial transfacial approach to the ethmoid, sphenoid, and frontal sinuses has been satisfactory in performing en bloc resection of cancer arising in or involving these anatomic areas. Fifty-four patients have been treated with this procedure, using the combined expertise of the neurosurgeon and the surgeon interested in the head and neck area. Two postoperative deaths have occurred, both attributed to meningitis. The long range postoperative morbidity is negligible, except as it relates to loss of the palate in all but eight patients and the orbital contents in thirty patients. The cumulative five year survival in this series of patients, forty-two of whom had failure of previous treatment, is 56 per cent. If the procedure is carried out with rigid attention to good surgical technic and the principles of en bloc tumor removal, this combined procedure has the following advantages: (1) allows accurate evaluation of the intracranial tumor extension, (2) protects the brain, (3) avoids cerebrospinal fistulization, (4) provides adequate hemostasis, (5) facilitates en bloc tumor resection, and (6) selectively conserves the orbital contents.