Spontaneous prevertebral emphysema following weight training in a 21-year-old female.

Subcutaneous emphysema (SCE) of the head, neck and mediastinum most commonly arises due to penetrating trauma and iatrogenic events facilitating air entry into these spaces [1]. Spontaneous SCE can emerge due to a pressure gradient between the intra-alveolar air and surrounding structures, causing alveolar rupture and dissection of the peribronchovascular sheath. This is known as the Macklin effect. Potential consequences include pneumomediastinum, pneumothorax, facial emphysema and pneumoracchis [1]. We aim to describe a case of SCE in a 21-year-old female presenting to the emergency department (ED) after weight training. A 21-year-old female presented to the ED with a sore throat and dysphagia after weight lifting in the gym 6 h earlier. Training involved repeat Valsalva manoeuvres. She experienced sharp pain with onset over an hour, worse with swallowing. She had a history of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. Vital signs, local examination and systemic examination were unremarkable. The diagnosis was made with soft tissue neck X-ray, demonstrating emphysema within the prevertebral space extending from the skull base to the first thoracic vertebra (Fig. 1). Her chest X-ray showed no pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum. No intervention was required beyond analgesia, and she was discharged from the ED. She was advised to avoid heavy lifting and diving. A follow-up radiograph showed resolution of the SCE. This case is an important rare entity and highlights for clinicians that pain after physical exercise may involve injuries extending beyond the area directly trained.

Lifestyle Interventions to Improve Glycemic Control in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Living in Low-and-Middle Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs).

Alongside glucose lowering therapy, clinical guidelines recommend lifestyle interventions as cornerstone in the care of people living with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). There is a specific need for an up-to-date review assessing the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions for people with T2DM living in low-and-middle income countries (MICs). Four electronic databases were searched for RCTs published between 1990 and 2020. T2DM, lifestyle interventions, LMICs and their synonyms were used as search terms. Data codebooks were developed and data were extracted. Narrative synthesis and meta-analysis were conducted using random effects models to calculate mean differences (MD) and standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Of 1284 articles identified, 30 RCTs (n = 16,670 participants) met the inclusion criteria. Pooled analysis revealed significant improvement in HBA1c (MD -0.63; CI: -0.86, -0.40), FBG (SMD -0.35; CI: -0.54, -0.16) and BMI (MD -0.5; CI: -0.8, -0.2). In terms of intervention characteristics, those that included promoted self-management using multiple education components (e.g., diet, physical activity, medication adherence, smoking cessation) and were delivered by healthcare professionals in a hospital/clinic setting were deemed most effective. However, when interpreting these results, it is important to consider that most included studies were evaluated as being of low quality and there was a significant amount of intervention characteristics heterogeneity. There is a need for further well-designed studies to inform the evidence base on which lifestyle interventions are most effective for glycemic control in adults with T2DM living in LMICs.

An experimental assessment of catheter trackability forces with tortuosity parameters along patient-specific coronary phantoms.

Coronary artery disease is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular deaths worldwide. Approximately 70% of patients requiring coronary revascularisation receive endovascular stents. The endovascular procedure is the preferred option due to its minimally invasive nature when compared to open heart surgery. Stent delivery is paramount for the success of the endovascular procedure. Catheter delivery forces within tortuous blood vessels can produce vasoconstriction and injury, resulting in reactive intimal proliferation or distal embolisation associated with end-organ ischaemia and infarction. Trackability is evaluated by most medical device companies for further development of their delivery systems. Relevant device design attributes must be tested in settings which simulate aspects of the intended use conditions, such as vessel geometry and compliance. Various tortuosity parameters are used to facilitate endovascular intervention planning. This study assessed the significance and correlation between the trackability forces for a coronary stent system with various geometrical parameters based on patient-specific geometries. A motorised delivery system delivered a commercially available coronary stent system and monitored the trackability forces along three phantom patient-specific thin-walled, compliant coronary vessels supported by a cardiac phantom model. The maximum trackability forces, curvature and torsion values ranged from 0.31 to 0.87 N, 0.06 to 0.22 mm(-1) and -11.1 to 5.8 mm(-1), respectively. The trackability forces were significantly different between all vessels (p < 0.002), while the tortuosity parameters were not significantly different (p > 0.05). A new tortuosity parameter-coined tracking curvature which considers the lumen radius as well as the curvature along the centreline was statistically different (p < 0.002) for all vessels and correlated with the trackability forces. There was a strong correlation between the cumulative trackability force and the cumulative tracking curvature. Tracking curvature could be used as a predictive clinical tool to aid stent delivery to the vicinity of the lesion.

The Effects That Cardiac Motion has on Coronary Hemodynamics and Catheter Trackability Forces for the Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease: An In Vitro Assessment.

The coronary arterial tree experiences large displacements due to the contraction and expansion of the cardiac muscle and may influence coronary haemodynamics and stent placement. The accurate measurement of catheter trackability forces within physiological relevant test systems is required for optimum catheter design. The effects of cardiac motion on coronary flowrates, pressure drops, and stent delivery has not been previously experimentally assessed. A cardiac simulator was designed and manufactured which replicates physiological coronary flowrates and cardiac motion within a patient-specific geometry. A motorized delivery system delivered a commercially available coronary stent system and monitored the trackability forces along three phantom patient-specific thin walled compliant coronary vessels supported by a dynamic cardiac phantom model. Pressure drop variation is more sensitive to cardiac motion than outlet flowrates. Maximum pressure drops varied from 7 to 49 mmHg for a stenosis % area reduction of 56 to 90%. There was a strong positive linear correlation of cumulative trackability force with the cumulative curvature. The maximum trackability forces and curvature ranged from 0.24 to 0.87 N and 0.06 to 0.22 mm(-1) respectively for all three vessels. There were maximum and average percentage differences in trackability forces of (23-49%) and (1.9-5.2%) respectively when comparing a static pressure case with the inclusion of pulsatile flow and cardiac motion. Cardiac motion with pulsatile flow significantly altered (p value <0.001) the trackability forces along the delivery pathways with high local percentage variations and pressure drop measurements.