Portable stimulator design aimed at differentiating facial nerves from normal tissues.

Facial nerves are very prone to risk of being cut away in the facial surgeries. In order to differentiate the normal tissues from the nerves during the surgeries, facial stimulator is very essential. These stimulators are particularly useful in triggering action potentials in the facial muscle tissue. In the case of any damage to these nerves, paralysis is unavoidable. Second use of the stimulator would be to diagnose how severe the facial problems are. Third use, which is a noninvasive application, is the employment of facial stimulator to treat and diagnose facial problems that arose from temperature differences, cuts or strain. The stimulation is achieved through DC voltage pulses that conform to user-specified amplitude, pulse duration and pulse intervals. These variables are set according to the age, sex, and physiological conditions of the patient. Peripheral Interface Controller is used to derive different pulse patterns. The current specifications of our stimulator are a range of 0.1-20 V pulse amplitude, 0.1-2 msec pulse duration, and 0.05-1 sec pulse interval. The main benefits of our stimulator are its graphic display that shows the form of pulse, its compact size, and operation on a battery power supply and adaptability to convert to other stimulation applications.

Desmopressin versus indomethacin treatment in primary nocturnal enuresis and the role of prostaglandins.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy of desmopressin and indomethacin and also determine the prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) concentrations in the patient and control groups. METHODS: Eighty-five children with primary nocturnal enuresis were followed up for a baseline period of 4 weeks, during which they recorded wet and dry nights. After this period, the patients were divided into three groups that used desmopressin, indomethacin, or placebo for 4 weeks. The dosage of desmopressin (group A, n = 31 ) was 20 microg/day and the dosage of indomethacin (group B, n = 29) was 100 mg/day. The placebo group (group C) consisted of 25 patients. We determined the serum PGE2 and urine PGE2 concentrations before and after treatment in the three groups and in a control group. RESULTS: Treatment with desmopressin and indomethacin resulted in significantly more dry nights during the 4 weeks of observation than did placebo (P <0.005). The number of dry nights was also significantly different in the desmopressin group than in the indomethacin group (P <0.01). In the total patient group, the mean serum and urine PGE2 concentrations were significantly different from the control group's serum and urine PGE2 concentrations (P <0.001). There was a significant decrease in the serum and urine PGE2 concentrations in group A and group B after the treatment period (P <0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Desmopressin and indomethacin were found to be more effective than placebo. We conclude that prostaglandins have an important role in the pathophysiology of primary nocturnal enuresis.

Bilateral split-hand with bilateral tibial aplasia.

The familial type of congenital split-hand associated with aplasia of the tibia is a very rare anomaly. Moreover, bilateral involvement of the hands and legs of the individual case is much rarer. In this paper, a case showing bilateral split-hand associated with bilateral tibial aplasia is presented, being the fourth case reported in the literature. The relevant literature is also reviewed.