[MORPHO-FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF KIMMERLE ANOMALY].

The study material included 105 isolated bone preparations of the atlas, 100 radiographs of the cervical region of the spine, 650 spiral computed tomography (SCT) scans and 224 protocols of duplex ultrasound scanning of extracranial portions of brachiocephalic arteries and transcranial duplex scanning. Kimmerle anomaly was detected in 18% of cases in the bone material, in 17% of the cases of SCT and in 15% of cases during radiological examination. The anomaly more often is unilateral, rarely--bilateral; it may be located medially or laterally, while the vertebral artery canal more frequently is closed, less commonly--open. Among the patients with Kimmerle anomaly, hemodynamically significant asymmetry of blood flow velocity in the vertebral arteries was detected in 78.5% of cases. Thus, the most important method of Kimmerle anomaly detection is SCT with contrast-enhanced artery imaging. However, each of the research methods successively. Each of research methods used consistently allows to obtain information both on anatomical variability of atlas developmental abnormalities (morphological characteristics) and on possible functional disorders, morphological basis of which is Kimmerle anomaly.

Prophylactic vs therapeutic blood patch for obstetric patients with accidental dural puncture--a randomised controlled trial.

Epidural blood patch is a standard treatment for obstetric patients experiencing a severe post-dural puncture headache. Patients who sustained an accidental dural puncture during establishment of epidural analgesia during labour or at caesarean delivery were randomly assigned to receive a prophylactic epidural blood patch or conservative treatment with a therapeutic epidural blood patch if required. Eleven of 60 (18.3%) patients in the prophylactic epidural blood patch group developed a post-dural puncture headache compared with 39 of 49 (79.6%) in the therapeutic epidural blood patch group (p < 0.0001). A blood patch was performed in 36 (73.4%) of patients in the therapeutic group. The number of patients who needed a second blood patch did not differ significantly between the two groups: 6 (10.0%) for prophylactic epidural blood patch and 4 (11.1%) for therapeutic epidural blood patch. We conclude that prophylactic epidural blood patch is an effective method to reduce the development of post-dural puncture headache in obstetric patients.

Postoperative recovery advantages in patients undergoing thyroid and parathyroid surgery under regional anesthesia.

Thyroid or parathyroid surgery may be performed using general anesthesia or regional anesthesia. Ninety-five (95) patients underwent thyroid or parathyroid surgery using general anesthesia (n=64) or bilateral superficial cervical plexus block with sedation (n=31) and completed a postoperative questionnaire regarding the perioperative experience. Patients undergoing parathyroid surgery under regional anesthesia (n=24) were more likely to experience better energy levels (p=0.012) and earlier return to work (p=0.045) postoperatively. Overall, 96% of patients undergoing either type of surgery with either type of anesthetic reported satisfaction with the anesthetic.

Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial (PROBIT): a randomized trial in the Republic of Belarus.

CONTEXT: Current evidence that breastfeeding is beneficial for infant and child health is based exclusively on observational studies. Potential sources of bias in such studies have led to doubts about the magnitude of these health benefits in industrialized countries. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of breastfeeding promotion on breastfeeding duration and exclusivity and gastrointestinal and respiratory infection and atopic eczema among infants. DESIGN: The Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial (PROBIT), a cluster-randomized trial conducted June 1996-December 1997 with a 1-year follow-up. SETTING: Thirty-one maternity hospitals and polyclinics in the Republic of Belarus. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 17 046 mother-infant pairs consisting of full-term singleton infants weighing at least 2500 g and their healthy mothers who intended to breastfeed, 16491 (96.7%) of which completed the entire 12 months of follow-up. INTERVENTIONS: Sites were randomly assigned to receive an experimental intervention (n = 16) modeled on the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative of the World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund, which emphasizes health care worker assistance with initiating and maintaining breastfeeding and lactation and postnatal breastfeeding support, or a control intervention (n = 15) of continuing usual infant feeding practices and policies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Duration of any breastfeeding, prevalence of predominant and exclusive breastfeeding at 3 and 6 months of life and occurrence of 1 or more episodes of gastrointestinal tract infection, 2 or more episodes of respiratory tract infection, and atopic eczema during the first 12 months of life, compared between the intervention and control groups. RESULTS: Infants from the intervention sites were significantly more likely than control infants to be breastfed to any degree at 12 months (19.7% vs 11.4%; adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.32-0.69), were more likely to be exclusively breastfed at 3 months (43.3% vs 6.4%; P<.001) and at 6 months (7.9% vs 0.6%; P =.01), and had a significant reduction in the risk of 1 or more gastrointestinal tract infections (9.1% vs 13.2%; adjusted OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.40-0.91) and of atopic eczema (3.3% vs 6.3%; adjusted OR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.31-0.95), but no significant reduction in respiratory tract infection (intervention group, 39.2%; control group, 39.4%; adjusted OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.59-1.28). CONCLUSIONS: Our experimental intervention increased the duration and degree (exclusivity) of breastfeeding and decreased the risk of gastrointestinal tract infection and atopic eczema in the first year of life. These results provide a solid scientific underpinning for future interventions to promote breastfeeding.