Targeted diagnostic magnetic nanoparticles for medical imaging of pancreatic cancer.

Highly aggressive cancer types such as pancreatic cancer possess a mortality rate of up to 80% within the first 6months after diagnosis. To reduce this high mortality rate, more sensitive diagnostic tools allowing an early stage medical imaging of even very small tumours are needed. For this purpose, magnetic, biodegradable nanoparticles prepared using recombinant human serum albumin (rHSA) and incorporated iron oxide (maghemite, γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles were developed. Galectin-1 has been chosen as target receptor as this protein is upregulated in pancreatic cancer and its precursor lesions but not in healthy pancreatic tissue nor in pancreatitis. Tissue plasminogen activator derived peptides (t-PA-ligands), that have a high affinity to galectin-1 have been chosen as target moieties and were covalently attached onto the nanoparticle surface. Improved targeting and imaging properties were shown in mice using single photon emission computed tomography-computer tomography (SPECT-CT), a handheld gamma camera, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

[Long-term results of the treatment of Lisfranc fracture dislocation]. / Resultados a largo plazo del tratamiento de la fractura-luxación tipo Lisfranc.

We conducted an ambispective cohort study of 83 patients with a diagnosis of Lisfranc fracture dislocation from 1993 to 2008. The lesions were classified into two groups: pure dislocations and fracture dislocations of the Lisfranc joint using the Hardcastle-Reschamer classification. The results included the following data: sociodemographic and epidemiologic variables, lesion-related variables, clinical parameters, and the following clinical and functional assessment scales: Baltimore Painful Foot Score, Creighton-Nebraska Health Foundation, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS), and Hannover Scoring System. Sixty-three patients were treated surgically. Closed reduction and minimally invasive fixation with Kirschner nails were performed in 53 patients (63.9%), and open reduction with a dorsal approach and fixation with Kirschner nails in 10 cases (15.2%). In 46 cases de medial column was fixed, in 61 cases the intermediate column, and in 42 the lateral column. Sixty-six (79.5%) of the patients had complications including both acute and late ones. Regardless of the technique used, the purpose of treatment was the anatomical reduction of the involved joints. Based on our experience, we think that the use of Kirschner nails is effective, as it provides enough stiffness and stability. In general terms, this injury is not as disabling as it had been considered in the literature. Patients consider their discomfort as tolerable and compatible with the demands of their activities of daily living and they may perform their work considering the time limitations.

[Benefit of the stabilization of long-bone fractures in polytraumatized patients]. / Beneficio de la estabilización de fracturas de huesos largos en politraumatizados.

INTRODUCTION: Early fracture fixation is increasingly common in medical practice, and femur shaft fractures are the perfect prototype of the lesion warranting early surgery in polytraumatized patients. Damage control orthopedics (DCO) is defined as the minimally-traumatic interventions intended to provide quick stabilization of orthopedic injuries to minimize the systemic inflammatory response. MATERIAL AND METHODS: By means of an evidence-based medicine tool (CAT) we approach the benefit of long-bone fracture stabilization in polytraumatized patients trying to answer a specific clinical question from a concrete situation: What is the evidence of the safety and benefit of early stabilization of long-bone fractures in polytraumatized patients? RESULTS: The patient group whose fractures were stabilized after 48 hours had more clinical complications, alterations of lung parameters and a longer hospital stay. There is no complete evidence showing that early stabilization of long bones in patients with moderate or severe head trauma worsens or improves the outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Urgent fracture stabilization should be an adjuvant to resuscitation. Early fracture stabilization contributes to reducing the ICU stay, the incidence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multiple organ failure (MOF) and sepsis, thus improving patient survival.