Paediatric gender medicine: Longitudinal studies have not consistently shown improvement in depression or suicidality.

AIM: Systematic literature reviews have found the evidence for hormonal interventions in paediatric-age patients with gender dysphoria is of low certainty. Studies in this field have all been observational, and generally of low quality. Nevertheless, some experts assert that the observational studies in this field have consistently found improvement in mental health, and therefore constitute sufficient evidentiary basis for hormonal interventions. The present review sought to characterise results of the longitudinal clinical research studies that have reported depression and suicidality outcomes. METHODS: The present review collated, from examination of six existing reviews, 14 longitudinal clinical research studies that have specifically investigated depression and/or suicidality outcomes. RESULTS: Significantly positive depression outcomes were reported in six studies, and significantly positive suicidality outcomes in two studies. Outcomes were negative in the largest study. Notably, some studies articulated positive conclusions about hormonal interventions even in the setting of insignificant, small or negative findings. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of longitudinal clinical research in this field showed inconsistent demonstration of benefit with respect to depression and suicidality. This analysis suggests that, contrary to assertions of some experts and North American professional medical organisations, the impact of hormonal interventions on depression and suicidality in this population is unknown.

Learning brainstem anatomy: a mnemonic device.

Basic brainstem neuroanatomy can be recalled through the application of 3 simple rules. Rule of 5: localizes a nucleus to the midbrain, pons, or medulla. Rule of 12: localizes a nucleus to the medial or lateral brainstem. Rule of M/S: establishes if a long tract in the brainstem courses laterally or medially

Antibacterial mesh: a novel technique involving naturally occurring cellular proteins.

BACKGROUND: Naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides are possibly the "next frontier" in infection prevention. Binding them to mesh could reduce the rate of mesh infections. This study identifies an antimicrobial agent capable of significant antibacterial activity when bound to mesh. METHODS: Lysozyme, human beta defensin (HBD-3), human cathelicidin (LL-37), and lysostaphin were adsorbed to polypropylene mesh at various concentrations. Treated meshes were placed in a suspension of 1 × 10(6) Staphylococcus aureus. Antibacterial action was monitored by turbidimetric assay, fluorescent imaging, and a colony counting method. RESULTS: A very high rate of lysis of S aureus cells was observed in the lysostaphin-treated group as measured by optical density; none survived as seen on colony count assays. Optical density for mesh coated with lysozyme, HBD-3, and LL-37 did not differ from untreated controls, with 100% survival rates by colony counts. CONCLUSION: Lysostaphin had superior antibacterial activity following adsorption to mesh.

Does patient compliance with preoperative bariatric office visits affect postoperative excess weight loss?

BACKGROUND: The amount of excess weight loss (EWL) achieved after bariatric surgery has varied considerably. Reliable preoperative predictors of the postoperative %EWL do not exist. Patient compliance with the physician recommendations has generally been believed to be important for long-term success after bariatric surgery, especially after gastric banding. We hypothesized that poor preoperative patient compliance with office visits, a likely indicator of overall compliance, would be associated with lower %EWL after bariatric surgery at a teaching hospital in the United States. METHODS: We performed an institutional review board-approved review of prospectively collected data from all patients undergoing bariatric surgery from 2007 to 2009. The patients were categorized into 2 groups: those who had missed <25% of all preoperative appointments at our bariatric center and those who had missed >25%. The average %EWL at 12 months between the 2 groups was compared using the unpaired t test separately for the gastric bypass and gastric banding patients. RESULTS: The gastric band patients with >25% missed appointments had lost 23% EWL at 12 months compared with 32% EWL for the gastric band patients who had missed <25% of their appointments (P = .01). No difference was found in the %EWL for the gastric bypass patients according to the missed preoperative appointments. The postoperative compliance was significantly poorer than preoperatively. CONCLUSION: The patients with a greater percentage of missed preoperative appointments had a lower postoperative %EWL at 1 year after gastric banding but not after gastric bypass. This information could prove useful during patient selection or when counseling patients about the type of bariatric surgery to pursue.