Incidence of inadvertent intercostal or epidural spread during thoracic sympathetic ganglion block

Background@#Sympathetic blocks (SBs) have been used widely to relieve the symptoms of sympathetically maintained pain (SMP). The thoracic sympathetic ganglion is not separated from somatic nerves by muscles and connective tissue. The upper thoracic ganglion runs along the posterior surface of the vertebral column in close proximity to the adjacent epidural region. This anatomical difference leads to frequent epidural and intercostal spread in cases of thoracic SBs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of inadvertent intercostal and epidural injections during thoracic SBs. @*Methods@#Twenty-two patients who were suffering from complex regional pain syndrome or lymphedema after breast cancer surgery were managed with two or three times of thoracic SBs. Therefore, injections of 63 thoracic SBs from 22 patients were enrolled in this study. An investigator who did not attend the procedure evaluated the occurrence of intercostal or epidural spread using anteroposterior fluoroscopic images. @*Results@#The overall incidence of inadvertent intercostal or epidural spread of contrast was 47.5%. Among the inadvertent injections, intercostal spread (34.9%) was more frequent than epidural spread (12.6%). Only 52.5% of the thoracic SBs demonstrated successful contrast spread without any inadvertent spread. The mean difference in skin temperature between the blocked and unblocked sides was 2.5 ± 1.8ºC. Fifty-nine (93.6%) injections demonstrated more than 1.5ºC difference. @*Conclusions@#Thoracic SBs showed a high incidence (47.5%) of inadvertent epidural or intercostal injection. Thus, special attention is required for the diagnosis of SMP or the injection of any neurolytic agent around sympathetic ganglion.

Implant-Supported Fixed Prostheses for the rehabilitation of distal free end in periodontally compromised dentitions Number of fixtures affecting bone tissue change / 대한치주과학회지

Number of fixtures supporting prosthesis for rehabilitation of partial edentulism in distal area is an important factor in distal area to the bone tissue response around dental implant. Optimal number and optimal positioning of dental implant has leaded to the stable condition of bone tissue and successful long-term treatment outcome. This clinical and radiographic study was performed to document and evaluate the short-term result of occlusal rehabilitation by means of implant-supported fixed prostheses (ISPs) especially for partial edentulism in distal area in patients treated for advanced periodontal disease and to verify the number of fixture affecting the bone tissue response. A total of 30 consecutive patients referred because of advanced periodontal disease were included. Before the implant therapy was initiated, periodontal treatment was performed and the outcome evaluated during at least a 6-month period. An individual maintenance care program was designed for each patient. All 75 implants were placed using a 2-stage surgical approach. The patients were divided into 2 groups, in one of which two fixtures were placed and in the other of which three fixtures were placed with tripodal geometry. Following installation of the ISPs, all patients underwent a baseline examination including evaluation of i) oral hygiene, and ii) periodontal/ peri-implant conditions, and iii) radiographs. These examinations were repeated annually during the 1 or 2-year observation period. The results were as follows: 1.No single implant was lost during the observation follow-up period. 1.The percentage of plaque harboring surfaces and bleeding units upon probing were found to be low (<10%), and no soft tissue complications were recorded. 1.Two-fixture group showed bone destruction ranged from 0.0mm to 1.5mm and the mean was 0.31mm. Three-fixture group showed more bone destruction of 0.51mm. There was no statistically difference between two groups. These results suggested that the factor for success is not the number of fixture but the strict maintenance of peri-implant tissue health and initial stability of fixture.

Synchrotron Radiation Imaging of Internal Structures in Live Animals

Ionizing radiation has long been used in medicine since the discovery of X-rays. Diagnostic imaging using synchrotron radiation has been under investigation since Rubenstein et al. reported dual-energy iodine-K-edge subtraction coronary angiography. Recently, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have provided better quality results than conventional radiology, providing important information on human internal structures. However, such techniques are unable to detect fine micron sized structures for the early diagnosis of tumors, vascular diseases and other medical objectives. Third generation synchrotron X-rays are well known for their superiority in coherence and energy tunability with respect to conventional X-rays. Consequently, new contrast mechanisms with a superior spatial resolution are becoming available. Here we present the extremely fine details of live animal internal structures using unmonochromatized synchrotron X-rays (white beam) and a simple detector system. Natural movements of the internal organs are also shown. The results indicate that this imaging technique can be applied to investigating microstructures and evaluating the function of the internal organs. Furthermore, this imaging system may be applied to humans as the next tool beyond CT and MRI.

Morphometric study of the calculus and periodontal tissues adhered to the root surfaces in periodontitis / 대한치주과학회지

To verify the effect of subgingival calculus on the periodontal tissues in periodontitis and the effectiveness of supragingival scaling to remove the calculus, 30 teeth from healthy group (Probing pocket depth:PPD7mm: AP group) were selected and supragingival scaling was performed before extraction of all experimental teeth. After careful extraction, the teeth were cleaned with saline and disclosed with toluidine blue and carefully examined the relationship and distance between the calculus attached on the root surface and periodontal tissues. As a result, it was; 1. The calculus was not discovered on the root surface of teeth in HP group, but was in MP and AP group, mostly on interproximal surface and furca area. The shape of the attached calculus was ovoid, trepazoid and polygonal and the calculus was distributed randomly over the root surface. 2. PPD was more than the distance between the gingival margin to the level of attached connective tissue in AP group rather than in HP and MP group. 3. The length of calculus was 2.7mm+/-.44mm in HP group and 4.1+/-.89in AP group. 4. The distance between the apical margin of calculus and the level of attached connective tissue was 2.4+/-.33mm in MP group and 3.4+/-.89mm in AP group. 5. The length of subgingival calculus was tended to increase in relation to the probing pocket depth. Therefore, it can be concluded, the calculus in periodontal pocket can not be removed completely with supragingival scaling. As the terminal part of calculus was far away with limited distance from the periodontal tissue, it can be said that the calculus was not a direct factor in destroying the periodontal tissue. In this study, the extent of the plaque was not verified but the location of calculus can be used in clinical practice for complete removal of calculus when the distance relation bewteen calculus and plaque will be known.