Topiramate augmentation of clozapine in schizophrenia: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

The persistence of psychotic, affective, cognitive, and psychosocial symptoms despite medications is commonly observed in schizophrenic patients. The present study was a 24-week double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial aimed to explore the efficacy of topiramate add-on pharmacotherapy on clinical symptomatology and cognitive functioning in a sample of treatment-resistant schizophrenic patients receiving clozapine. After clinical and cognitive assessments were randomly allocated to receive either up to 200 mg/day of topiramate or a placebo. A final sample of 43 patients completed the study. The results obtained indicate that topiramate appeared to be scarcely effective for reducing clinical symptomatology in schizophrenic patients who have had an incomplete clinical response to clozapine. Regarding cognitive functioning, in our sample a trend to experience cognitive impairment in the examined domains was observed, as the patients included in the topiramate groups expressed cognitive complaints partially confirmed by a mild worsening of performances on certain cognitive tasks. Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous disorder with regard to pathophysiology; therefore, data reflecting the mean response of a sample of patients may fail to reveal therapeutic effects. More research is needed to better identify subgroups of patients with peculiar features which may account for responsivity to experimental medications and augmentation strategies.

Retrograde intramedullary osteosynthesis of femoral fracture: preliminary results of Maggiore Hospital.

The Distal Femoral Nail (DFN), Mathys Medical Ltd. Switzerland) was used in our division for the treatment of fractures of the distal metaepiphysis, and in some cases of the diaphysis, of the femur. A total of 16 cases treated over 30 months, between October 2000 and March 2003 (minimum 6, maximum 61 months), were analyzed retrospectively. A total of 11 metaepiphyseal fractures (65%) and 6 diaphyseal fractures (35%) were treated. Consolidation of the fracture was observed in 15 cases out of 16 (equal to 93.8%) with a mean time of 140 days (minimum 120 days, maximum 240 days) after surgery. Mean flexion of the knee equal to 90 degrees and 3 cases of stiffness with lower mobility at 45 degrees were observed: in 2 cases stiffness was of extra-articular origin caused by exuberant bone callus. There were no iatrogenic complications of the vascular type, nor were there infections, or cases of implant loosening. Shortening (1 cm) in a type B2 fracture (based on the AO classification) was observed. The results we obtained suggest that DFN represents a valid alternative to the open treatment of fractures of the distal metaphysis of the femur; in cases of patients with multiple trauma or in elderly patients where invasiveness is reduced, importance is awarded to less blood loss, a shorter amount of time required for surgery, and early mobilization and weight-bearing.

Giant cell tumor of the upper cervical spine: transmandibular-translingual access. Clinical case.

The authors describe the clinical case of a patient aged 18 years affected with giant cell tumor (GCT) at C3 who came to the surgical unit of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at the Ospedale Maggiore in Bologna after being treated by surgery elsewhere. Particular attention is paid to surgical access by means of median transmandibuloglossotomy used in order to obtain a sufficiently wide surgical field that can adequately expose the vertebral segment affected by neoplastic disease. In particular, possible complications that may be observed postsurgery can be compared to other surgical approaches to the upper cervical spine and above all that there are no permanent clinical sequelae.

Fractures and dislocations of the lower cervical spine: surgical treatment. A review of 83 cases.

The authors examine 83 consecutive cases of fracture and dislocation of the lower cervical spine submitted to surgery over a period of 5 years. Sixty-five patients were monitored with minimum 5-months follow-up, 5 died, 13 could not be traced. Lesions were classified based on the method proposed by Argenson3 with the purpose of identifying guidelines for surgical treatment. Thus, different methods are proposed based on the type of lesion and on any neurologic deficit. Intersomatic fusion with anterior approach is the method of choice in most lesions. The exception to this is monoarticular dislocations that cannot be reduced, so that reduction by posterior approach associated with discectomy and anterior fusion are recommended. Circumferential fusion is proposed for traumatic spondylolistheses, complete dislocations with unsatisfactory anterior reduction, in lesions in flexion-extension and rotation associated with complete spinal cord injury, in order to favor functional rehabilitation free from ortheses. The need to review many cases of traumatic lesions of the lower cervical spine (LCS) collected over a relatively short period of time derives from the need to identify guidelines that will help the surgeon in his or her choice of the type of surgery to perform on the patient with emergency injury. The basic premise, as for other sites of traumatic injury, resides in an efficient classification (corresponding to the anatomic injury and of immediate and intuitive application) to which options for treatment may be related. In particular, an evaluation of the type of approach (anterior, posterior, combined) and of the sequence of surgical stages is essential to obtaining effective results with an acceptable complication rate. Finally, treatment must be definitive, and in cases of severe spinal cord injury it must allow for rapid rehabilitation and freedom from the use of ortheses.

Changes in the femoral cortex as related to prosthetic stem.

The need to improve the features of resistance and duration of prosthetic implants, based on the constant increase in the number per year of total hip substitutions has encouraged the study of the causes of aseptic loosening of implants, in particular, any relationship between femoral morphology, features of the implanted prosthesis (size and coating), degree of contact between the latter and the host bone, and the occurrence of changes in bone trophism. The documentation relative to 143 patients, corresponding to 149 primary hip arthroplasties, was evaluated clinically (according to Merle d'Aubigné modified by Charnley) and radiographically, using a computerized radiographic evaluation system devised by our group. In particular, on x-rays (anteroposterior view) obtained in the area corresponding to the upper and lower margins of the smaller trochanter and of the femoral isthmus, measurements relative to femoral diameters, to the distance between them, and to the corresponding flare indexes were obtained; bone thickness, degree of bone-prosthesis correspondence and any changes in bone trophism caused by stress-shielding and stress-concentration were also measured. An analysis of the data was carried out using non-parametric statistical tests, that allowed us to reveal the surgeon's good standardization in preparation of the femur; the tendency for the cortex to thicken for prostheses of the short type, and the narrowing of the standard type prostheses, the influence of the degree of fit of the prosthesis on trophism of the femoral cortex.

Computerized morphometric analysis of the femoral diaphyseal canal.

The constant increase in the use of hip arthroplasty and the continuous search for the best possible adaptation of the implant to femoral anatomy have led to the development of methods of radiographic analysis that are increasingly precise and reliable. Among these the methods that include the use of traditional radiograms-despite their limits-deserve a place of importance. In fact, these methods offer the advantage of being easy to apply and of allowing for a comparison to be made with pre-existing files. Computer science is useful in this field, in particular, computerized analysis, both morphometric and statistical, of the data acquired by digitizer. The protocol of acquisition and analysis that we applied to x-rays in anteroposterior view allowed for an evaluation to be made of some of the morphologic parameters of 354 femurs (corresponding to 264 patients), relating them with the pathologies that led to hip arthroplasty. The duration of a cementless hip prosthesis strongly depends on primary stability. For this reason, an ever-increasing number of studies tends to make a precise evaluation of the morphology of the joint, in order to obtain excellent contact between bone and prosthetic component. The methods used are essentially radiological, with the use of computerized tomography and stereophotogrammetry. Morphometric studies of the proximal femoral area have in particular considered the width of the medullary canal at various levels; the cervico-diaphyseal angle; the flare index of the femoral canal (relationship between the internal metadiaphyseal diameter and that of the isthmus) and the distance between the rotation center of the femoral head and the diaphyseal axis. The evident absence of proportion between femoral sizes and shape of the medullary canal has led to the search for parameters capable of describing in simple fashion the shape of the femoral diaphyseal canal. A good describer of femoral morphology is the flare index, that allows for classification of the various shapes of the diaphyseal canal in three families: "stove-pipe like", "normal", "champagne glass like". The distinction between these groups is not clear, as the passage from one shape to another is gradual. The idea of obtaining more knowledge on femoral morphology, also to the purpose of determining possible new criteria that may be of help in preoperative planning and in the choice of a model to be implanted, has suggested our study on modifications caused by some of the pathologies that most frequently lead to arthroplasty.

Indications and limits of acetabular reimplantations using screwed prostheses.

The clinical and radiographic results of 95 acetabular reimplantations performed between 1984 and 1992 are presented. A screwed acetabular prosthesis was used in 56 patients, the acetabulum was cemented in 15, and a press-fit acetabulum stabilized by screws (1 case without screws) was used in 24. Mean clinical follow-up was 35.6 +/- 24 months, ranging from 7 to 94 months. Clinical results were good and excellent (> or = 5 points according to Merle D'Aubigné) in 77% of the cases for pain, in 70% for walking, and in 71% for joint movement. Forty months after surgery 48% of the screwed acetabula and 44% of the cemented ones were osteointegrated. The incidence of loosening for the screwed acetabula was 24%. The preliminary results 24 months after the press-fit acetabula with screws had been inserted showed 100% osteointegration. Radiographic results of the screwed acetabula were satisfactory (92% osteointegration) only in reimplantations performed in patients with minimum acetabular osteolytic injury (Paprosky types I and IIA). The use of homoplastic bone grafts did not improve the radiographic results of the screwed acetabula in the cases with severe osteolysis: 57% of the acetabula screwed on grafts distributed throughout the acetabulum were, in fact, loosened.

Effects of the pulsed neodymium:YAG laser on the posterior segment.

The posterior segments of eight eyes of New Zealand white rabbits were treated with the pulsed Neodymium:YAG laser and studied ophthalmoscopically and histopathologically. Following treatment, funduscopy revealed intraretinal and preretinal bleeding, and histopathologic studies disclosed full thickness destruction of the retina and underlying choroid. At two months after the insult, yellow chorioretinal scars could be seen in the treated areas. Microscopic examination of these lesions demonstrated the formation of a strong adhesion between the retina and choroid and replacement of most of these layers with fibroglial scar tissue.

Chronic exudative ischemic superior temporal-branch retinal-vein obstruction simulating Coat's disease.

A 62-year-old white man presenting with retinal telangiectasia, subretinal exudates, and a circumscribed nonrhegmatogenous retinal detachment secondary to an ischemic superotemporal-branch retinal-vein obstruction is described. Sectorial-scatter argon laser photocoagulation resulted in complete flattening of the retina and a return of visual acuity to 6/12 (20/40). Although lipid exudates and retinal detachment secondary to retinal venous occlusion have previously been reported, our case had the additional finding of marked retinal telangiectasia suggesting adult Coat's disease. This case indicates that a retinal venous occlusion can produce a capillary response simulating the characteristic features of Coat's disease.