Retraction: A Giant Porencephaly: A Rare Etiology of Pediatric Seizures.

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.7759/cureus.19623.].

Merging Experimental Design and Nanotechnology for the Development of Optimized Simvastatin Spanlastics: A Promising Combined Strategy for Augmenting the Suppression of Various Human Cancer Cells.

Simvastatin (SMV) is an antihyperlipidemic agent that has been investigated as a possible anti-cancer agent. An obstacle to malignant tumor therapy using drugs is the delivery of adequate levels to the cancer cells while minimizing side effects following their systemic administration. To circumvent this challenge, the researchers directed towards the field of nanotechnology to benefit from the nano-size of the formulation in passively targeting the tumor cells. Thus, our study aimed at investigating the potential of a combined mixture-process variable design for optimization of SMV spanlastics (SMV-SPNs) with minimized particle size and maximized zeta potential to enhance the anticancer activity of the drug. The study investigated the effects of Span® 20 and Tween® 80 as mixture components and sonication time as a process variable on particle size, polydispersity index, and zeta potential as responses. SPNs were prepared using an ethanol injection method. Combining the predicted optimized variables' levels is supposed to achieve the set goals with a desirability of 0.821. The optimized spanlastics exhibited a measured globule size of 128.50 nm, PDI of 0.329, and ZP of -29.11 mV. The percentage relative error between predicted responses and the observed ones were less than 5% for the three responses, indicating the optimization technique credibility. A significant improvement in the cytotoxicity of the optimized formulation against three different cancerous cell lines was observed in comparison with SMV. The inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of MCF-7, HCT-116, and HEPG2 were found to be 0.89, 0.39, and 0.06 µM at 24 h incubation. The enhanced cytotoxicity could be assigned to the possible improved permeation and preferential build-up within the cancerous cells by virtue of the minimized size. These findings imply that SMV-SPNs could be an ideal strategy to combat cancer.

A Giant Porencephaly: A Rare Etiology of Pediatric Seizures.

Pediatric convulsive seizure is common and represents a source of major concern and anxiety for the parents. Seizures can have a broad spectrum of etiologies in children, including metabolic, traumatic, developmental, and infectious causes. Depending on the clinical presentation, laboratory testing and neuroimaging may be indicated in the workup of the first unprovoked afebrile seizure. We present a case of a six-year-old boy who was brought to the emergency department by his mother after an episode of convulsion. She reported that he had jerky repetitive movements of all extremities that lasted around two minutes with spontaneous termination. The child did not have a febrile illness. The mother reported no history of similar episodes. Upon examination, the child appeared alert and conscious. No dysmorphic features were evident. Initial laboratory investigations were within the normal limits. The child underwent magnetic resonance imaging for the brain, which demonstrated a large well-defined extra-axial cystic lesion occupying most of the left hemisphere that is connected to the ventricular system. The lesion had no grey-matter lining and it strictly followed the cerebrospinal fluid in all sequences. Such finding represented the diagnosis of a giant left porencephalic cyst. Porencephaly is an extremely rare neurological anomaly that may present with pediatric seizures. Magnetic resonance imaging is the gold standard modality for the diagnosis of porencephaly. The case demonstrated that porencephaly can have a massive size in a patient with normal psychoneurological development.