Clinical and technical factors in endoscopic skull base surgery associated with reconstructive success.

BACKGROUND: In this study, we identified key discrete clinical and technical factors that may correlate with primary reconstructive success in endoscopic skull base surgery (ESBS). METHODS: ESBS cases with intraoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks at four tertiary academic rhinology programs were retrospectively reviewed. Logistic regression identified factors associated with surgical outcomes by defect subsite (anterior cranial fossa [ACF], suprasellar [SS], purely sellar, posterior cranial fossa [PCF]). RESULTS: Of 706 patients (50.4% female), 61.9% had pituitary adenomas, 73.4% had sellar or SS defects, and 20.5% had high-flow intraoperative CSF leaks. The postoperative CSF leak rate was 7.8%. Larger defect size predicted ACF postoperative leaks; use of rigid reconstruction and older age protected against sellar postoperative leaks; and use of dural sealants compared to fibrin glue protected against PCF postoperative leaks. SS postoperative leaks occurred less frequently with the use of dural onlay. Body-mass index, intraoperative CSF leak flow rate, and the use of lumbar drain were not significantly associated with postoperative CSF leak. Meningitis was associated with larger tumors in ACF defects, nondissolvable nasal packing in SS defects, and high-flow intraoperative leaks in PCF defects. Sinus infections were more common in sellar defects with synthetic grafts and nondissolvable nasal packing. CONCLUSIONS: Depending on defect subsite, reconstructive success following ESBS may be influenced by factors, such as age, defect size, and the use of rigid reconstruction, dural onlay, and tissue sealants.

[Structure and evolution of junctions between inverted repeat and small single copy regions of chloroplast genome in non-core Caryophyllales].

The structure of junction between inverted repeat (IR) and small single copy (SSC) regions of chloroplast genome in the representatives of non-core Caryophyllales is investigated in this work. It was found that for two families - Polygonaceae and Plumbaginaceae - the extension of inverted region is characteristic. This extension is due to the duplication the part of ycf1 gene that is partly located in the small single copy region in plants with typical structure of IR/SSC junctions. Comparison of the position of IR/SSC junctions in different species of Polygonaceae has shown that their exact position is not correlated with the affinity of these species inferred from molecular and morphological data. Possible mechanisms leading to the change in position of IR/SSC junctions observed in this work are discussed.

[Evolution of Lycopodiaceae from results of sequencing spacer sequences of chloroplast rRNA genes]. / Evoliutsiia Lycopodiaceae po rezul'tatam sekvenirovaniia speisernykh posledovatel'nostei genov khloroplastnoi rRNK.

Nucleotide sequences of a chloroplast rDNA region including 8 bp from the 3' end of 23S rDNA-ITS2-4.5S rDNA-ITS3-5S rDNA-ITS4 (approximately 800 bp) were determined in 25 species of Lycopodiaceae and two species of the genus Isoetes. The rate of molecular evolution of spacers significantly varied in different Lycopsida taxa. A phylogenetic analysis by the neighbor-joining (NJ) method revealed that the family Lycopodiaceae is monophyletic. The topology of phylogenetic trees suggests the isolation of four or probably five genera in family Lycopodiaceae. For these genera, synapomorphic indels were detected. The obtained data were compared with the results of phylogenetic analysis of Lycopsida with regard to other sequences. The relationships of taxa within the family Lycopodiaceae is discussed.

Sequences of rDNA internal transcribed spacers from the chloroplast DNA of 26 bryophytes: properties and phylogenetic utility.

We determined the sequence of the region of the chloroplast DNA inverted repeat spanning from the 3'-terminus of the 23S rRNA gene to the 5'-terminus of the tRNA[Arg](ACG) gene (about 700 bp) from 25 bryophytes and from the charophycean alga Chara australis. Phylogenetic analysis of these sequences using the neighbor-joining method suggests an early dichotomy of bryophytes and their paraphyly relative to the tracheophyte lineage. A monophyly of liverworts (Marchantiidae plus Jungermanniidae), a deep divergence of Metzgeriales among Jungermanniidae and a close affinity of the two subclasses of mosses, Sphagnidae and Andreaeidae, are evident. The branching pattern observed is consistent with the phylogenetic distribution of several prominent indels observed in the alignment.

[Molecular biological research on the origin of the angiosperms]. / Molekuliarno-biologicheskie issledovaniia proiskhozhdeniia pokrytosemennykh rastenii.

Nucleotide sequence of 23S-5S chloroplast rDNA spacer region including 4.5S rRNA gene of several dozens of seed plants was determined. The data obtained were used to construct phylogenetic trees and to compare them with the analogous data from literature. Topologies of trees constructed for various types of macromolecules and by different methods demonstrate obvious similarities although they are not identical. Some clue stages of seed plants evolution still remain obscure. Critical analysis of all the available information allows to come to several more or less definite conclusions. All the data say that angiosperms are a monophyletic group which diversified far before their fossils are definitely registered, i.e., before lower Cretaceous. Ancestral angiosperms were not genealogicaly related to modern woody Magnoliales but were represented by "paleoherbs", i. e. herbaceous and semiherbaceous magnoliids and monocots. Monocots originated at the earliest stages of angiosperms evolution and are not, probably, monophyletic. Woody Magnoliales and eudicots with tricolpate pollen seem to appear later in evolution. The conclusion that Gnetales is a sister group to angiosperms does not find enough support in molecular studies. Summing up, it looks as if a long period of existence of angiophytes preceded the pre-Cretaceous angiosperms irradiation. This line of development originated simultaneously with phylogenetic lineages of modern gymnosperms.