The effect of a topical formulation from Lawsonia inermis L. (henna) on pain intensity in patients with chronic sciatica: A randomized double-blind clinical trial.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Chronic sciatica (CS) is a common condition of disability and pain. Lawsonia inermis L. (henna) is a medicinal plant that is commonly recommended in traditional Persian medicine textbooks for pain relief in patients with sciatica, particularly in the form of oil. AIM OF THE STUDY: This research was designed to investigate the efficacy of a topical formulation from henna on pain intensity in patients with CS. METHODS AND MATERIALS: In a randomized, double-blind clinical study, 81 patients were randomly allocated to three groups to receive the topical henna formulation (aqueous extract of henna in sesame oil), sesame oil, or placebo, three times daily, for four weeks. The patients were assessed by visual analog scale (VAS), 36-item short form health survey (SF-36), and Oswestry disability index (ODI). RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in mean VAS in henna oil compared to sesame oil (p = 0.004) and placebo (p = 0.004). Significant improvements in total SF-36 scores were observed in henna oil and sesame oil compared to placebo (p = 0.011 and p = 0.025, respectively). Furthermore, ODI significantly decreased in henna oil compared to sesame oil (p < 0.001) and placebo (p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Henna oil seems to be an effective treatment to reduce pain intensity in patients with CS. Moreover, it improves quality of life and functional ability. Further randomized controlled trials with longer intervention periods are recommended to confirm this efficacy.

Risk of stroke in hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 infected patients: A multinational study.

BACKGROUND: There is an increased attention to stroke following SARS-CoV-2. The goal of this study was to better depict the short-term risk of stroke and its associated factors among SARS-CoV-2 hospitalized patients. METHODS: This multicentre, multinational observational study includes hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 patients from North and South America (United States, Canada, and Brazil), Europe (Greece, Italy, Finland, and Turkey), Asia (Lebanon, Iran, and India), and Oceania (New Zealand). The outcome was the risk of subsequent stroke. Centres were included by non-probability sampling. The counts and clinical characteristics including laboratory findings and imaging of the patients with and without a subsequent stroke were recorded according to a predefined protocol. Quality, risk of bias, and heterogeneity assessments were conducted according to ROBINS-E and Cochrane Q-test. The risk of subsequent stroke was estimated through meta-analyses with random effect models. Bivariate logistic regression was used to determine the parameters with predictive outcome value. The study was reported according to the STROBE, MOOSE, and EQUATOR guidelines. FINDINGS: We received data from 26,175 hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 patients from 99 tertiary centres in 65 regions of 11 countries until May 1st, 2020. A total of 17,799 patients were included in meta-analyses. Among them, 156(0.9%) patients had a stroke-123(79%) ischaemic stroke, 27(17%) intracerebral/subarachnoid hemorrhage, and 6(4%) cerebral sinus thrombosis. Subsequent stroke risks calculated with meta-analyses, under low to moderate heterogeneity, were 0.5% among all centres in all countries, and 0.7% among countries with higher health expenditures. The need for mechanical ventilation (OR: 1.9, 95% CI:1.1-3.5, p = 0.03) and the presence of ischaemic heart disease (OR: 2.5, 95% CI:1.4-4.7, p = 0.006) were predictive of stroke. INTERPRETATION: The results of this multi-national study on hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection indicated an overall stroke risk of 0.5%(pooled risk: 0.9%). The need for mechanical ventilation and the history of ischaemic heart disease are the independent predictors of stroke among SARS-CoV-2 patients. FUNDING: None.

Preoperative visual evoked potential in the prediction of visual outcome after pituitary macroadenomas surgery.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study is to investigate longitudinal changes in Visual evoked potential (VEP) parameters as an objective test after transsphenoidal surgery, its correlation with subjective tests and clinical value of VEP in the prediction of visual outcome. METHODS: Fifty patients with pituitary macroadenoma who underwent surgical removal of the tumor recruited in this study. All the patients underwent ophthalmic examination, static automated perimetry (SAP), VEP and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) preoperatively and 3 months after surgery. RESULTS: Fifty patients with pituitary macroadenoma (size: 25.1 ± 9.9 mm) were recruited in the study. Before surgery, the pattern of VEP showed a prolonged latency with reduced amplitude in eyes with abnormal visual acuity or abnormal visual field. The P100 wave latencies and amplitudes showed significant correlation with visual acuity and SAP scores. After surgery, visual acuity and visual field improvements were seen in 51% and 65.6% of eyes, respectively. Mean SAP and visual acuity scores increased significantly (p < 0.01), P100 wave latency declined and amplitude improved after surgery but not significantly. The mean age of patients, size of tumors and preoperative P100 wave latency were significantly lower in eyes with visual field and acuity improvement. CONCLUSION: VEP is a helpful quantitative and objective complementary test to visual acuity and SAP exams for assessing pre-operative visual abnormalities and post-operative visual outcome in patients with pituitary macroadenoma.

Cystic dilation of a ventriculus terminalis. Case report and review of the literature.

The ventriculus terminalis (VT) is a small ependyma-lined cavity within the conus medullaris that is in direct continuity with the central canal of the spinal cord. Cystic dilatation of the ventriculus terminalis on its own is an extremely rare pathological event in adults whose pathogenesis is uncertain. VT has been described in children as a normal developmental phenomenon. These lesions are often diagnosed incidentally during imaging and are in most cases asymptomatic, especially in children. Symptomatic dilatation of VT in adults is a rare condition with 61cases being reported to date. Symptomatic dilatation of VT in children has not been reported till now. We present a 5 year-old-boy with a sphincteric and walking disorder. The patient was assessed by clinical, electrophysiological and urodynamic investigations as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbar-sacral segment with and without gadolinium enhancement. Lumbar-sacral MRI demonstrated the presence of a cystic lesion containing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which did not enhance after gadolinium, compatible with the diagnosis of the ventriculus terminalis dilation.The patient underwent laminectomy and the cyst wall was fenestrated with a midline myelotomy. In 6-month of follow-up, urinary problems and gait disturbance improved.

Circulating miR-26a and miR-21 as biomarkers for glioblastoma multiform.

Glioblastoma multiform is the most common and lethal primary central nervous system tumor. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs), present in cell-free bodily fluids, have been gaining importance as cancer biomarkers. The primary aim of this study was to assess whether circulating miRNA-128, -21, and -26a in glioblastoma patients can be used as diagnostic biomarkers. Venous blood samples were collected from 11 noncancerous volunteers and 15 glioblastoma patients pre- and post operation. Also, tissue tumor samples were obtained intra-operationally to assay consistency of miRNA levels in serum and tissue samples. Serum and tissue levels of miRNAs were determined by quantitative reverse transcription PCR. miR-21 and miR-26a were both significantly upregulated in pre- and postoperation serum samples of glioblastoma patients compared with the serum samples of noncancerous controls. We found that all three miR-128, -21, and -26a expression levels were reduced in postoperative serum samples compared with pre-operative serum samples, though this decrease was only significant for miR-26a. The serum miR-26a and miR-21 upregulation in glioblastoma patients compared to noncancerous controls and their downregulation in postoperative serum from glioblastoma patients suggest that these miRNAs could be used as serum-derived miRNA biomarkers for glioblastoma.

Teaching endotracheal intubation on the recently deceased: opinion of patients and families.

This study was done to explore the views of patients and their companions concerning endotracheal intubation training on newly deceased patients and the necessity of obtaining their consent in this regard. In this cross-sectional descriptive analytical study, we used a questionnaire to collect data through structured interviews conducted by the researcher on patient discharge day. A convenient sample of over 18 year old patients hospitalized at a teaching hospital were enrolled, and after receiving patient consent, one of each patient's companions was enrolled in the study as well. In this study, 150 of the approached patients agreed to participate (response rate = 85.0%); of those, 92 (61.3%) allowed their companions to be enrolled as well. Eighty-three persons (55.3%) in the patient group and 68 persons (73.9%) in the companion group agreed to have endotracheal intubation training on their own bodies after death. Among these consenting patients and companions, 75.9% (n = 63) and 91.2% (n = 62) believed it was necessary to acquire patient consent for this procedure. Obtaining relatives' consent was thought to be necessary by 69.9% (n = 72) of the patients and 72.1% (n = 49) of the companions, even when there was patient prior consent. Therefore it seems that asking the patient's consent for doing educational procedures on their dead body is crucial.