INTERVENTIONAL COMBINED RADIOFREQUENCY METHOD IN THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC LUMBOSACRAL RADICULAR PAIN ASSOCIATED WITH MODERATE DISC HERNIATION.

Intervertebral disc degeneration often is a cause of low back pain (LBP) and radicular pain even without severe compression of the nerve root by hernial material. Thermodiscoplasty, or intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET) is used for minimally invasive treatment of discogenic pain. Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) is used as an interventional method for radicular pain elimination. For the first time we have proposed the simultaneous combined use of these techniques. Our research's aim - to study the dynamics of pain syndrome and disability in patients undergone simultaneous combined treatment with the IDET and PRF DRG for pain associated with moderate disc herniation without spinal root severe compression, which confirmed motor and sensitive deficit absence. A retrospective analysis of 22 patients treated at the Neurospine clinic (Kyiv) from 2019 to 2020 was carried out. All patients had degenerative-dystrophic disease of the intervertebral discs L4-L5 and L5-S1 with therapeutically resistant radicular pain. The standard examination included two-plane spondylography and magnetic resonance imaging, as well as an assessment of neurological status. The discogenic origin of pain is confirmed by provocative contrasting discography. The interest of the corresponding spinal root was confirmed by performing selective radicular blockade.The treatment results were assessed using the Numerical rating scale (NRS) and the Oswestry disability index (ODI); statistical processing was carried out using Microsoft Excel and Statistica-10 program tools. There were no complications detected. All patients noted a significant reduction in pain and decrease of disability: VAS (Me) before treatment = 7.77±1.02, ODI (Ме) before treatment = 70.45±7.85; VAS (Me) immediately after surgery = 2.18±1.13. This trend persisted for six months: VAS (Me) 6 months after surgery = 2.0±0.75, ODI (Me) 6 months after surgery = 30.45±9.98. The simultaneous combined use of IDET and PRF DRG is an effective and safe treatment for therapeutically resistant chronic lumbosacral radicular pain associated with moderate disc herniation.

Sarcopenia and high NLR are associated with the development of hyperprogressive disease after second-line pembrolizumab in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

The aim of this multi-center retrospective study was to evaluate the incidence of hyperprogressive disease (HPD) after second-line treatment with pembrolizumab in patients (n = 167) with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors expressed programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in ≥ 1% and to search for hematological and imaging biomarkers associated with its development. Prior to chemotherapy, neutrophil : lymphocyte ratio (NLR1) and platelet : lymphocyte ratio (PLR1), and prior to immunotherapy, NLR2 and PLR2 were retrospectively analyzed. The psoas major muscle area (PMMA) was calculated at the L3 position on computed tomography before chemotherapy (PMMA1) and before immunotherapy (PMMA2) (n = 112). Patients with ∆PMMA (1-PMMA2/PMMA1) × 100 ≥ 10% were considered to have sarcopenia (low muscle mass). After treatment with pembrolizumab on the first computerized tomography (CT) scan evaluation, patients were subdivided as follows as: hyperprogressors (HPs), progressors (Ps), non-progressors (NPs) and pseudoprogressors (PPs). HPs had significantly higher ∆PMMA levels, NLR2 and PLR2 than the other patients. Moreover, in multinomial logistic regression analysis, higher levels of ∆PMMA were associated with a decreased likelihood of being a P [odds ratio (OR) = 0·81; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0·65-0·99; P = 0·047] or an NP (OR = 0·76; 95% CI = 0·62-0·94; P = 0·012) versus an HP. Higher NLRs tended to decrease the likelihood of being a P versus an HP (OR = 0·66; 95% CI = 0·42-1·06; P = 0·09) and significantly decreased the likelihood of being an NP versus an HP (OR = 0·44; 95% CI = 0·28-0·69; P < 0·0001). Our data suggest that a high pre-immunotherapy NLR2 and the presence of sarcopenia are potential risk factors for the development of HPD.

[Procedure of running experiments on studying the effects of altered gas medium on culture of hydra Hydra attenuata].

Owing to the simple form and short gemmation, hydroid polyps have become a classic model object for studies into cell division and proliferation, and effects of changed environment on these processes. However, there is no procedure for studying of how altered gas composition of aqueous medium affects biological processes in hydroidpolyps. Testing of a procedure for objective studies with bioculture of Hydra attenuata resulted in determination of optimal hydra density in Petri dish. It was also stated that culture duplication takes minimal time at 25-30 degrees C. Tests verified efficiency of an incubator designed for experiment with Hydra attenuata in pressurized chambers enabling controlled ventilation by different gas mixtures. It was shown that time of culture duplication in normoxic and hypoxic nitrox is permanent and statistically different Therefore, the proposed procedure and incubator can be useful for fundamental and applied studies of the biological effects of altered gas medium on hydroid polyps.

Low-threshold field emission from carbon nano-clusters.

Detonation carbon materials (DCM) composed of non-equilibrium nano-structures show the low-threshold field emission (LTFE). These materials have forward-looking application especially due to high reproducibility of the LTFE-phenomenon on a surface of emitter, where the emitting centers are homogeneously distributed. In this paper we link the effect of LTFE to the nature of the corresponding wave functions based on the experiment results obtained for DCM by the field effect on electrolytes. As we had shown before DCM had been described by an ultra-relativistic dispersion function with extremely small effective mass of electrons and the size-quantization effect had been observed in DCM at even room temperature. Our results based on emission and electrolyte technics of the field-effect measurements in DCM along with modern observations of the field emission in strong electric fields allowed to propose a new resonance transmission model for LTFE-phenomenon, which is alternative to most widely discussed models based on the field-enhancing factors or barrier-lowering mechanisms.

[Retrorectal tumors--15 years experience and literary review].

PURPOSE: Tumors occurring in the retrorectal space are heterogeneous and uncommon. The utility of newer imaging techniques has not been extensively described, and operative approach is variable. This study examined the diagnosis, treatment, and outcome ofretrorectal tumors at a tertiary referral center. METHODS: Patients with primary, extramucosal neoplasms occurring in the retrorectal space were identified using a retropectively maintained, procedural database of all adult colorectal surgical patients (1995-2009). Exclusion criteria included inflammatory processes, locally advanced colorectal cancer, and metastatic malignancy. Medical records, radiology, and pathology reports were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients with retrorectal tumors were treated. Malignant tumors comprised 21 percent. Older age, male gender, and pain were predictive of malignancy (P < 0.05). All benign tumors were resected with normal histologic margins and none recurred. Nine patients with malignancy had recurrence/recrudescence of their disease. CONCLUSIONS: Retrorectal tumors remain a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Pain, male gender, and advanced age increase the likelihood of malignancy. Various imaging modalities are useful for planning resection but cannot establish a definitive diagnosis. Whereas benign retrorectal tumors can be completely resected, curative resection of malignant retrorectal tumors remains difficult.

[Effects of short-term oxygen breathing on the human respiratory system].

Compared were effects of cryogenic and adsorptive oxygen on the respiration system in an experiment with 8 normal female volunteers. Mechanic impedance of the respiratory tract, pulmonary ventilation function, CO transport coefficient and physical performance were determined before and after 20 minutes of oxygen breathing. Breathing two types of oxygen was found to have different effects on the real part of mechanic impedance and the ventilatory function of the lung.

[Effect of krypton-containing gas mixture on Japanese quail embryo development].

Investigated were effects of gas mixture with up to 3.0 kgs/cm2 of krypton on the embryonic development of domesticated Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica dom.). Results demonstrated absence of a serious krypton effect on Japanese quail embryos. Development of embryos proceeded in due course; morphometrically the experimental embryos were essentially similar to controls. It should be noted that despite exposure to acute hypoxic hypoxia during the initial 12 hours of development in the krypton-containing gas mixture, viability of quail embryos was high enough which can be ascribed to the krypton protective action. Besides, an additional experiment showed that krypton partial pressure of 5-5.5 kgs/cm2 produces the narcotic effect on adult Japanese quails.

[Effects of xenon and krypton-containing breathing mixtures on clinical and biochemical blood indices in animals].

Effects of 24-hr breathing air mixtures containing xenon (XBM) and krypton (KBM) were compared in terms of hormonal status, and blood biochemical indices and morphology in laboratory animals. Some changes observed in blood and hormone indices could be a nonspecific adaptive response. Hence, we should elicit whether these effects are quickly reversible or long. For several indices krypton was a more favorable factor than xenon. However, some of its effects invite to delve into effects of different krypton concentrations on organism.

[The use of warm heliox mixtures in rehabilitation after submaximal physical loads during production activity].

Thirty essentially healthy male gas-rescuers 21 to 53 years of age were treated with warm hellox following scheduled physically demanding repairs in open compressed air respiratory systems. Results of the actual test showed that a single heliox treatment makes for positive changes in the respiration and some psychophysiological parameters. The test allowed refinement of the warm hellox procedure of preventing extreme cooling, fatigue of and cardiovascular problems in gas-rescuers using respiratory systems at work place.

[Metabolic and hormonal parameters of humans during long-term hyperbaric exposure (the recompression treatment table)].

Several metabolic and hormonal parameters were evaluated in blood of two human subjects during simulation of an extended saturation dive. Increases in creatine kinase and an upward trend in cholesterol and glucose were observed after decompression. The levels of TTH and thyroxin went up in both subjects during exposure. The significant changes in cortisol, ACTH, insulin and C-peptide were a fingerprint of stress-reaction. After eight days of recovery most of the parameters returned to baseline values. The investigation suggests that the recompression treatment table did not cause pathological changes in the biochemical and hormonal parameters of humans.

[Model for the evaluation of efficiency of anti-hypothermia methods in emergency resuscitation]. / Model dlia otsenki éffektivnosti tekhnicheskikh sredstv vyvedeniia iz gipotermii pri okazanii neotlozhnoi reanimatologicheskoi pomoshchi.

Efficiency of different means (thermoinsulating blankets, warmers, heliox mixtures) used to eliminate hypothermia of varying degree was evaluated with a complex model of interrelated physiological systems.

[Survival of laboratory animals in argon-containing hypoxic gaseous environments]. / Vyzhivaemost' laboratornykh zhivotnykh v argon-soderzhashchikh gipoksicheskikh gazovykh sredakh.

Present paper is aimed at assessing the effect of hypoxic gaseous mixtures intended for the use as the fire suppression agents within closed volumes on the basis of argon with addition of carbonic acid on the body of mammalia. Three experiments were performed on the male white laboratory Wistar rats. It is indicated that argon adding to the hypoxic mixtures containing 4-5% volume increases animal survivability as compared to analogous nitrogen-based mixtures. An addition of 4-8% volume of carbonic acid impairs the of animal condition and reduces the survival rate. There noted a pronounced negative effect of the increased temperature on the survival time in the hypoxic media. One can draw inference about the principal possibility of using argon for formation of the hypoxic gaseous mixtures possessing fire suppression properties.

[Lipid peroxidation and antioxidative system in imitation diving]. / Perekisnoe okislenie lipidov i sostoianie antiokislitel'noi sistemy pri imitatsionnom pogruzhenii.

Plasma lipid oxidation (LPO) and antioxidative system were examined in test divers who made imitation diving in the pressure chamber to the depth of 250 meters. Imitation diving showed higher iron levels, followed by a rise in the concentration of primary LPO products. There were no increases in the levels of secondary LPO products probably due to the fact that the ceruloplasmin-transferrin system released active iron from the reaction and that peroxy radicals were inactivated by SH groups.

[Hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid system in patients with rheumatoid arthritis]. / Sosotoianie sistemy gipotalamus-gipofiz-shchitovidnaia zheleza u bol'nykh revmatoidnym artritom.

AIM: Study of the function of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid system in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred and fifty patients with RA of different forms, stages, and intensity were examined. The blood and synovial fluid (SF) levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) were measured by immunoradiometric assay. RESULTS: Patients with RA were found to have higher T4 levels (in articular rheumatism, there was its negative correlation with the intensity of the process and in the presence of systemic manifestations of RA, there was a positive correlation). Blood T5 levels with higher RA intensity tended to increase in patients untreated with glucocorticosteroids. Blood TST concentrations showed an upward tendency which correlated with the intensity and stage of RA. Changes were also revealed in SF TST, T4, T3 levels. CONCLUSION: The changes in the secretion of TSH, T4, T3 in patients with RA are caused by this pathological process and those in their SF levels affect the course of articular inflammation.

[120-day head-down tilted bedrest study with participation of female subjects: tasks and protocols of the studies]. / 12--sutochnaia antiortostaticheskaia gipokinesiia s uchastiem zhenshchin: zadachi i struktura issledovanii.

This paper presents an information on the goals, tasks and protocols of a 120-day head-down tilted bedrest study with participation of eight female subjects. It describes the use of various methods of research and different countermeasures.