Analysis of potential factors affecting allografts contamination at retrieval.

The microbiological contamination of retrieved tissues has become a very important topic and it is a critical aspect in the safety of allografts, especially from multi-tissue donors whose tissues are frequently contaminated as a consequence of retrieval. We analysed a total of 10,107 tissues, 8178 musculoskeletal and 1929 cardiovascular tissues, retrieved from 978 multi-tissue donors. Of these, 159 heart-beating donors (HBD) were also organ donors, while the remaining 819 non-heart-beating donors (NHBD) were tissue donors only. A multivariate logistic model was used to determine the factors affecting contamination risk during retrieval. In the model, the dependent variable was the presence/absence of contamination while the covariates included were: gender, type of donor, age of donor, cause of death, previous skin donation, cadaver time, number of people attending the retrieval, number of tissues retrieved. Moreover, a second log-linear model was used to determine the number of strains isolated per tissue. Tissue contamination was statistically correlated with gender, type of donor, cadaver time, number of people attending the retrieval and season. In conclusion, to minimize the risk of bacterial contamination, aseptic techniques should be used at retrieval, with the number of retrieval team members kept to a minimum. In addition, cadaver time should be as short as possible and the donor should be refrigerated within a few hours after death.

Cardiac mesenchymal stromal cells are a source of adipocytes in arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy.

AIM: Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a genetic disorder mainly due to mutations in desmosomal genes, characterized by progressive fibro-adipose replacement of the myocardium, arrhythmias, and sudden death. It is still unclear which cell type is responsible for fibro-adipose substitution and which molecular mechanisms lead to this structural change. Cardiac mesenchymal stromal cells (C-MSC) are the most abundant cells in the heart, with propensity to differentiate into several cell types, including adipocytes, and their role in ACM is unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether C-MSC contributed to excess adipocytes in patients with ACM. METHODS AND RESULTS: We found that, in ACM patients' explanted heart sections, cells actively differentiating into adipocytes are of mesenchymal origin. Therefore, we isolated C-MSC from endomyocardial biopsies of ACM and from not affected by arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (NON-ACM) (control) patients. We found that both ACM and control C-MSC express desmosomal genes, with ACM C-MSC showing lower expression of plakophilin (PKP2) protein vs. CONTROLS: Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy C-MSC cultured in adipogenic medium accumulated more lipid droplets than controls. Accordingly, the expression of adipogenic genes was higher in ACM vs. NON-ACM C-MSC, while expression of cell cycle and anti-adipogenic genes was lower. Both lipid accumulation and transcription reprogramming were dependent on PKP2 deficiency. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac mesenchymal stromal cells contribute to the adipogenic substitution observed in ACM patients' hearts. Moreover, C-MSC from ACM patients recapitulate the features of ACM adipogenesis, representing a novel, scalable, patient-specific in vitro tool for future mechanistic studies.

West Nile virus transmission through organ transplantation in north-eastern Italy: a case report and implications for pre-procurement screening.

PURPOSE: West Nile virus (WNV) transmission through organ transplantation occurs rarely and screening of organ donors for WNV infection remains controversial. This report describes the case of WNV encephalitis in a kidney recipient and the case of asymptomatic WNV infection in the organ donor, both observed at Treviso Hospital, northeastern Italy. After briefly reviewing the literature, we discuss the implications for WNV screening. METHODS: We reviewed medical, laboratory and epidemiological records at our hospital, and the literature concerning cases of organ-transmitted WNV infections and WNV screening of organ donors in Italy and worldwide. RESULTS: The kidney recipient was the first confirmed case of WNV infection notified in northeastern Italy in 2011, and the first case of WNV infection in a cluster of four transplant recipients who acquired the infection from a common organ donor. The organ donor, whose WNV infection was only retrospectively diagnosed by IgM detection, represents the index case of a WNV outbreak in the Treviso Province. Screening of her blood prior to organ recovery did not show detectable levels of WNV nucleic acid with the use of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. CONCLUSIONS: This report emphasizes that transplant-acquired WNV neuroinvasive disease can be particularly severe. We suggest that pre-procurement screening of organ donors by testing blood with both WNV IgM capture ELISA and a sensitive nucleic acid testing should be adopted during the transmission season in the present Italian epidemiological setting.

Fresh-frozen bone: case series of a new grafting material for sinus lift and immediate implants.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: Although autologous bone is considered to be the gold standard grafting material, it needs to be harvested from patients, a process that can be off-putting and can lead to donor site morbidity. For this reason, homologous fresh-frozen bone (FFB) was used in the current study as an alternative graft material. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of FFB as a grafting material in complex maxillary sinus lift with immediate implant insertion. METHODS: FFB was obtained from the Veneto Tissue Bank and preserved at -80 degrees C. Twenty-one patients were surgically treated with FFB block grafts in 26 maxillary sinus rehabilitations, with 47 immediate implant insertions, with a reopening phase after six months. All patients underwent orthopanoramic X-rays and CT scans before, immediately after and four months (X-ray only) post surgery. Bone biopsies were performed in order to evaluate the volume and density of the bone grafts, which all showed optimal adherence without complications. RESULTS: Four months post surgery, 64% of grafts showed no evidence of bone resorption or resizing. In all other cases resorption was slight. All implants were clinically osseointegrated, with only one implant failure during the provisional prosthetic loading stage (97.8% success rate). Histological studies confirmed these results, showing the presence of new bone and sparse osteoclastic activity four months post implantation, with 80% mature bone material observed after 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Use of FFB permits effective bone-adding surgery and immediate implant insertion under local anaesthesia, decreasing both chair time and patient discomfort.

[Reconstruction of the TMJ and ramus in otomandibular dysplasia, by grafting of TMJ and homologous bone branch]. / Reconstruction de l'a.t.m. et du ramus dans les dysplasies otomandibulaires par greffe d'articulation temporomandibulaire et de branche montante d'os homologue.

INTRODUCTION: Otomandibular dysplasia is a syndrome of deformities that can affect all latero-facial structures, although the main clinical manifestations include maxillary and mandibular hypoplasia and possibly the absence of the temporo-mandibular joint. OBSERVATION: A 18-year-old man with otomandibular dysplasia was treated by grafting in a homologous joint and bone branch. DISCUSSION: There is no consensus on the best age to treat the syndrome and on treatment for mandibular hypoplasia and to reconstruct the temporo-mandibular joint. An alternative to the suggested treatments consists in reconstructing the joint and the branch affected by hypoplasia by grafting in a homologous joint and bone branch.

Cerebral hemodynamic response to CO2 after severe head injury: clinical and prognostic implications.

OBJECTIVE: To study the cerebrovascular reactivity to CO2 after severe head injury to establish the clinical and prognostic relevance of CO2 reactivity. METHODS: Cerebrovascular reactivity to CO2 was studied in 20 patients with severe head injuries at 3.0+/-1.8 days after trauma onset. Two cerebral blood flow studies were performed to measure CO2 reactivity: the first study in a condition of normocapnia and the second study in a condition of relative hypocapnia. RESULTS: Global reactivity was superimposable to that found in awake, normocapnic subjects and did not correlate with age and Glasgow Coma Scale score but was dependent on the type of brain lesion. Moreover, reactivity correlated with outcome in patients studied after the first 3 days after trauma. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that cerebrovascular reactivity is (a) almost preserved after a severe head injury; (b) significantly influenced by type of brain lesion; (c) prognostically relevant only in patients studied after the first 3 days after trauma.

Comparison of technetium-99m-MDP, technetium-99m-WBC and technetium-99m-HIG in musculoskeletal inflammation.

UNLABELLED: This study compared three radionuclide techniques in distinguishing musculoskeletal infection from noninfectious inflammation. METHODS: Thirty-five orthopedic patients with suspected musculoskeletal infection were examined using three radionuclide techniques in sequence: triphasic bone scintigraphy, 99mTc radioleukocytes (99mTc-WBC) scintigraphy and 99mTc human immunoglobulin (99mTc-Hig) scintigraphy. Two "early" and "late" acquisitions were performed, at 4-6 hr and 20-24 hr postinjection, respectively. Patients who were diagnosed as suffering from noninflammatory lesions became the controls. We calcu"late"d for all studies one index of inflammation (Infl) as the ratio between counts in the uptake area and counts in an equal area of normal tissue. RESULTS: The "early" radiolabeled leukocytes and "late" Hig scintigraphy allowed the greatest ability to distinguish between infections and noninfectious inflammations (p < 0.011 and p < 0.016) with a sensitivity of 96.6% and 96.5% and specificity of 71% and 100%, respectively. Hig and radioleukocytes allowed distinguishing infections from noninflammatory diseases at both examinations. CONCLUSION: The "early" radioleukocyte scintigraphy allowed us to separate infections from noninfectious inflammations. In contrast, the same result can be obtained only with the "late" scan in the Hig study, but Hig mapped the spread of the inflammation into soft tissues better. Hig might be an alternative to radioleukocytes because of its simple preparation, similar accuracy and safety.

Reliability in diagnosis of brain death.

OBJECTIVE: To compare some of the confirmatory investigations of brain death with clinical criteria in order to achieve the most sensitive and accurate diagnosis of brain death. DESIGN: All patients with isolated brain lesions and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) = 3 were subjected to neurological examination after ruling out hypothermia, metabolic disorders and drug intoxications and diagnosed as clinically brain-dead when the brainstem reflexes were absent and the apnea test positive. PATIENTS: 15 patients with clinical diagnosis of brain death entered this study. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The patients were submitted to the following investigations: electroencephalogram (EEG), transcranial Doppler (TCD) of the middle cerebral arteries (MCA), cerebral blood flow measurements with the i.v. Xe-133 method (CBF) and selective cerebral angiography (CA). EEG was isoelectric in 8 patients while the remaining 7 patients showed persistence of electrical activity. TCD was compatible with intracranial circulatory arrest in 18 MCA districts, compatible with normal flow in 2 and undetectable in 10 out of 30 districts insonated. In CBF examinations, however, all the patients showed a characteristic "plateau" of the desaturation curves lasting through the whole investigation and suggestive of absent cortical flow. CA showed circulatory arrest in both carotid and vertebral arteries. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that cerebral angiography and CBF studies are the most reliable investigations whereas the role of EEG and TCD remains to be determined because of the presence of false negatives and positives.

Assessing brain function in post-traumatic coma by means of bit-mapped SEPs, BAEPs, CT, SPET and clinical scores. Prognostic implications.

Sixty-eight severely head injured comatose patients were studied. Bit-colour-mapped SEPs to median nerve stimulation, BAEPs, CT and SPET regional values and ICP were assessed in relation to clinical information in evaluating cerebral function. All these variables were related to a 1-year outcome. Statistical tests confirmed the higher predictive reliability of both neurophysiological and perfusive (SPET) functional parameters compared to CT structural findings. Generally, SEPs appeared to be more reliable in predicting outcome than BAEPs. Modifications of frontal components could occur independently of post-central ones, being closely related to underlying cerebral lesions. The parameter showing the greatest correlation with outcome in the first recording session was the P25 latency, whereas this prognostic role was mainly assumed by the amplitude value of the frontal N30-P45 complex in a second recording session carried out during the third week following head trauma.

[Autotransfusion technic in surgery of craniostenoses in children]. / Tecniche di autoemodonazione nella chirurgia delle craniostenosi in età infantile.

The extensive blood loss during the surgical correction of craniosynostosis in infancy needs usually homologous transfusion. The Authors report a program of preoperative and intraoperative hemodilution and their experience in six infants, the very first in pediatric neurosurgery. Prevention of homologous blood transfusion achieved in 4 out 6 cases can be considered a success that could be further improved introducing minor changes in our protocol.

Premedicación con diazepam, o droperidol, o con diazepam y droperidol por vía oral e inducción de la hipnosis con hidrato de cloral: estudio controlado en niños sometidos a tomografía axial, computarizada / Premedication with diazepam or droperidol or with diazepam and droperidol by oral way and induction of the hypnosis with hydrate of chloral: controlled study in children subjected to axial computarized tomography

120 niños, en edades comprendidas entre 0 y 48 meses, que debían ser sometidos a la T.A.C., fueron premedicados con diazepam, o droperidol o con diazepam + droperidol y dormidos con 25 mg./Kg.-1 de hidrato de cloral. Los resultados obtenidos demostraron que la asociación de droperidol 0,2 mg./kg.-1 + diazepam 0,2 mg./Kg-1 por vía oral potencia los efectos hipnóticos del hidrato de cloral, 30 minutos después de la ingestión de los fármacos de premedicación, en una mayor medida respecto a las mismas dosis de droperidol o diazepam, administrados singularmente. La anestesia obtenida se demostró segura en casi la totalidad de los pacientes y no alteró el curso normal del estudio neuroradiológico

Importance of auditory brainstem responses in the CT diagnosis of traumatic brainstem lesions.

Changes in brainstem auditory-evoked potential response were serially investigated in 20 head-injury patients with neurologic and computed tomographic signs of brainstem lesion. The reliability of computed tomography in the evaluation of indirect signs of brainstem lesion from the image was investigated with elaboration of the brainstem auditory-evoked potential response. The measurement of auditory brainstem response is thought to be useful in detecting the severity and predicting possible recovery in posttraumatic brainstem injury. Brainstem deformity on computed tomography was a bad prognostic sign, indicating irreversible structural change.

Head injuries and their early management. An account of one year's experience.

We report 298 patients admitted to the Neurosurgical unit of the University of Padua during one calendar year. We divided the patients into two groups. "in coma" and "not in coma", and analyze their data records. The time between injury and admission to a neurosurgical centre is important for therapy as well as for transport. The necessity of an "Admission Chart" is emphasized.