Caracterización clínica e imagenológica de una serie de pacientes con disección de arterias cervicales e intracraneales / Cervicocranial arterial dissection: experience in 57 patients

Background: Cervicocranial arterial dissection (CIAD) is an important cause of stroke. Aim: To describe the clinical and imaging characteristics of patients with CIAD. Material and Methods: An anonymous registry was made including all patients admitted to a private hospital with a diagnosis of CIAD. Patients were subdivided as having an anterior or posterior circulation dissection (ACD or PCD, respectively). Results: Fifty-seven patients aged 40 ± 8 years (60% women) were included in the study, 39 with PCD and 18 with ACD. Cervical pain was the most common symptom. CIAD was diagnosed with no clinical or imaging signs of stroke in 49% of patients. Fifty one percent of patients had focal neurological deficits and 72% had a NIH stroke score below five. No significant differences between patients with ACD or PCD were found. Fifty patients received antiplatelet therapy (simple or dual), seven patients were anticoagulated and 13 were subjected to stenting due to progression of stenosis with hemodynamic involvement or bilateral dissection with scarce collaterals. The lesion was located in V3 segment in 27 patients and cervical segment of the internal carotid in 16 cases. A favorable Modified Rankin Scale (0-2) was achieved in 85.9%, with a trend towards achieving better functional prognosis in PCD. Conclusions: Due to the greater availability of non-invasive imaging methods, 50% of these patients with CIAD did not have a stroke. Thus, an earlier and more timely management is feasible.

Distribution and abundance of natural parasitoid (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) populations of house flies and stable flies (Diptera: Muscidae) at the University of Florida Dairy Research Unit

From September 2001 through September 2002, house fly and stable fly pupae were collected weekly from three fly habitats at the University of Florida Research dairy in northcentral Florida and evaluated for parasitism. Varying parasitism percentages were observed throughout the study but they were not affected by temperature, precipitation or fly abundance. Of the 6,222 house fly pupae and 1,660 stable fly pupae that produced either a host fly or a parasitoid, 26.9 percent and 26.7 percent were parasitized, respectively. Ten parasitoid species were recovered, with the genus Spalangia accounting for 85.7 percent of the total; the most common parasitoids attacking house fly and stable fly pupae were Spalangia endius Walker (33.9 percent and 27.3 percent), S. cameroni Perkins (27.9 percent and 40.6 percent), and S. nigroaenea Curtis (21.0 percent and 24.8 percent), respectively. Other parasitoids included one specimen of S. erythromera Fõrster and four specimens of Phygadeuon fumator Gravenhõrst (Ichneumonidae). The percentage parasitism of pupae collected from bunker silos was higher than that of pupae from calf pens and open pastures. Spalangia cameroni was consistently recovered through the entire year. Spalangia nigroaenea was predominant in July, August, and September. Spalangia endius was most active from October to May with a peak of relative abundance in January.