Early experience of intravascular lithotripsy in unprotected calcified left main coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of unprotected severely calcified left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease is a complex interventional procedure. Intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) and rotational atherectomy (RA) are safe and effective methods of treating coronary calcification in the non-LMCA setting. This retrospective analysis assessed the feasibility of IVL versus RA in unprotected LMCA disease. METHODS: We analyzed IVL and RA procedures performed at a large tertiary hospital in the Northeast of England from January 1, 2019 to April 31, 2022. Major safety and efficacy endpoints were procedural and angiographic success, defined by stent delivery with <50 % residual stenosis and without clinical or angiographic complications, respectively. Another important clinical endpoint was the composite of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 1 year. RESULTS: From 242 patients, 44 had LMCA IVL, 81 had LMCA RA and 117 had non-LMCA IVL. Patients with LMCA disease were older and more likely to have aortic stenosis. IVL was a second-line or bailout technique in 86.4 % LMCA and 92.2 % non-LMCA cases. Procedural and angiographic success rates were ≥ 84 % across all groups (p > 0.05). In 3 LMCA IVL and 3 LMCA RA cases arrhythmias and cardiac tamponade complicated the procedures respectively. At 1 year, MACE occurred in 10/44 (22.7 %) LMCA IVL, 16/81 (19.8 %) LMCA RA and 25/117 (21.4 %) cases (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: In our single center retrospective analysis, IVL is feasible in unprotected calcified LMCA as a second-line and third-line adjuvant calcium modification technique. Its use in unprotected calcified LMCA disease should be formalized with the undertaking of large randomized controlled trials.

Effectiveness and safety profiling of zolpidem and acupressure in CKD associated pruritus: An interventional study.

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD)-associated pruritus (CKD-aP) contributes to poor quality of life, including reduced sleep quality and poor sleep quality is a source of patient stress and is linked to lower health-related quality of life. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of zolpidem 10 mg and acupressure therapy on foot acupoints to improve the sleep quality and overall quality of life among hemodialysis patients suffering from CKD-aP. METHOD: A multicenter, prospective, randomized, parallel-design, open label interventional study to estimate the effectiveness of zolpidem (10 mg) oral tablets versus acupressure on sleep quality and quality of life in patients with CKD-aP on hemodialysis. A total of 58 hemodialysis patients having sleep disturbance due to CKD-aP completed the entire 8-week follow-up. The patients were divided into a control (acupressure) group of 28 patients and an intervention (zolpidem) group of 30 patients. RESULTS: A total of 58 patients having CKD-aP and sleep disturbance were recruited. In the control group there was a reduction in the PSQI score with a mean ±â€ŠSD from 12.28 ±â€Š3.59 to 9.25 ±â€Š3.99, while in the intervention group the reduction in PSQI score with a mean ±â€ŠSD was from 14.73 ±â€Š4.14 to 10.03 ±â€Š4.04 from baseline to endpoint. However, the EQ5D index score and EQ-visual analogue scale (VAS) at baseline for the control group with a mean ±â€ŠSD was 0.49 ±â€Š0.30 and 50.17 ±â€Š8.65, respectively, while for the intervention group the values were 0.62 ±â€Š0.26 and 47.17 ±â€Š5.82, respectively. The mean EQ5D index score in the control group improved from 0.49 ±â€Š0.30 to 0.53 ±â€Š0.30, but in the intervention group there was no statistical improvement in mean EQ5D index score from 0.62 ±â€Š0.26 to 0.62 ±â€Š0.27 from baseline to week 8. The EQ 5D improved in both groups and the EQ-VAS score was 2.67 points higher at week 8 as compared to baseline in the control group, while in the intervention group the score was 3.33 points higher at week 8 as compared to baseline. Comparing with baseline, the PSQI scores were significantly reduced after week 4 and week 8 (P =  < .001). Furthermore, at the end of the study, the PSQI scores were significantly higher in the control as compared to the intervention group (P = .012). CONCLUSION: An improvement in sleep quality and quality of life among CKD-aP patients on hemodialysis has been observed in both the control and intervention groups. Zolpidem and acupressure safety profiling showed no severe adverse effect other that drowsiness, nausea and daytime sleeping already reported in literature of zolpidem.

A randomized controlled trial for effectiveness of zolpidem versus acupressure on sleep in hemodialysis patients having chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus.

BACKGROUND: Pruritus adds to the complications of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patient and a well-recognized complication among the CKD patients. Majority of the patients on hemodialysis experience a generalized pruritus and patients reported being moderately to extremely disturbed by at least one of the sleep-related condition. This study aim to investigate the effectiveness of zolpidem 10 mg and acupressure therapy on foot acupoints to improve the sleep quality and overall quality of life among hemodialysis patients suffering from CKD-associated pruritus. METHODS: A multicentered, open-label, parallel group, prospective randomized controlled trial among patients suffering from CKD-associated pruritus with sleep disturbance, after randomization into control, and intervention group to be held at North West General Hospital and Research Center Peshawar, Pakistan and Institute of Kidney Diseases Peshawar, Pakistan. RESULTS: The primary outcome is to investigate the effectiveness of zolpidem 10 mg and acupressure therapy on foot acupoints to improve the sleep quality and overall quality of life among hemodialysis patients suffering from CKD-associated pruritus. After baseline assessment by Urdu version of 5D itch scale and Urdu version of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Urdu EQ-5D 3L, the intervention group will be given zolpidem 10 mg oral tablets and control group with acupressure on both foots on KI-1 acupoints for total of 6 minutes. Assessment will be done at weeks 4 and 8 from baseline by using Urdu version of 5D itch scale and Urdu version of PSQI and Urdu EQ-5D 3L, whereas safety profiling of zolpidem 10 mg tablet at week 6 from baseline and acupressure acceptability at week 6 from baseline. Analysis of covariance will be used to examine the differences in treatment effects between the intervention and control groups. CONCLUSION: Improvement of sleep quality and quality of life among patients with CKD-associated pruritus requires great importance. This study aims to improve the quality of sleep and quality of life among patients with hemodialysis suffering from CKD-associated pruritus.

Role of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of bacterial spinal osteomyelitis.

OBJECT: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is used as primary and/or adjunctive therapy in the treatment of various clinical conditions complicated by local hypoxia. It may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of neurosurgical infections such as spinal osteomyelitis that are associated with significant morbidity rates. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of HBO therapy in the treatment of spinal osteomyelitis. METHODS: The clinical records of patients diagnosed with spinal osteomyelitis who received HBO therapy during their treatment at the authors' institution over the past 10 years were retrospectively reviewed. Six adult patients were identified. Four patients had recently undergone spinal surgery and secondary spinal osteomyelitis had developed. These patients received adjunctive HBO therapy due to significant comorbidities and risk factors for poor healing. RESULTS: All patients remained symptom and infection free over the subsequent follow-up period. Two patients had primary spinal osteomyelitis that had recurred despite a full course of appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Infection control was achieved after HBO therapy in 1 patient. The mean follow-up period for the study group was 2.9 years (range 5 months to 5 years). CONCLUSIONS: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy enabled infection cure in 5 of 6 patients with spinal osteomyelitis complicated by medical comorbidities or the failure of primary therapy. These results show that HBO may be a useful adjunctive therapeutic modality in the treatment of spinal osteomyelitis, particularly when there are medical comorbidities that increase the risk of poor healing. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may also be beneficial in patients with relapsing primary spinal osteomyelitis after standard therapy has failed.

Synaptic activity and F-actin coordinately regulate CaMKIIalpha localization to dendritic postsynaptic sites in developing hippocampal slices.

We examined the timing and mechanisms of CaMKIIalpha recruitment to nascent synapses of developing rat hippocampal pyramidal neurons in slice culture. Time-lapse confocal imaging shows that GFP-CaMKIIalpha in transfected neurons accumulates in spines as they are forming, and loss of CaMKIIalpha coincides with spine destabilization. Immunolabeling shows that endogenous CaMKIIalpha is concentrated at postsynaptic sites in spines under ambient slice culture conditions, and this is not disrupted by short-term (3 h) synaptic activity blockade or Latrunculin-induced F-actin depolymerization. However, the combination of activity blockade and F-actin depolymerization significantly reduces synaptic CaMKIIalpha. Conversely, postsynaptic activation induces synaptic recruitment of CaMKIIalpha even in the presence of F-actin depolymerizing drugs. Thus, synaptic-activity-dependent mechanisms and (synaptic activity-independent) F-actin-based mechanisms are individually sufficient and act in parallel to localize CaMKIIalpha to the dendritic spine compartment. Moreover, the timing of CaMKIIalpha recruitment to developing spines suggests a role for CaMKIIalpha in spine assembly and maintenance.