Acceleration of neuromelanin-sensitive MRI sequences in the substantia nigra using standard MRI options.

PURPOSE: Neuromelanin MRI (NM-MRI) is applied as a proxy measurement of dopaminergic functioning of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SN). To increase its clinical applicability, a fast and easily applicable NM-MRI sequence is needed. This study therefore compared accelerated NM-MRI sequences using standard available MRI options with a validated 2D gradient recalled echo NM-MRI sequence with off-resonance magnetization transfer (MT) pulse (2D-MToffRes). METHODS: We used different combinations of compressed sense (CS) acceleration, repetition times (TR), and MT pulse to accelerate the validated 2D-MToffRes. In addition, we compared a recently introduced 3D sequence with the 2D-MToffRes. RESULTS: Our results show that the 2D sequences perform best with good to excellent reliability. Only excellent intraclass correlation coefficients were found for the CS factor 2 sequences. CONCLUSION: We conclude that there are several reliable approaches to accelerate NM-MRI, in particular by using CS.

Imaging Dopaminergic Neurotransmission in Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Imaging of dopaminergic transmission in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson disease (PD) or dementia with Lewy bodies plays a major role in clinical practice and in clinical research. We here review the role of imaging of the nigrostriatal pathway, as well as of striatal receptors and dopamine release, in common neurodegenerative disorders in clinical practice and research. Imaging of the nigrostriatal pathway has a high diagnostic accuracy to detect nigrostriatal degeneration in disorders characterized by nigrostriatal degeneration, such as PD and dementia with Lewy bodies, and disorders of more clinical importance, namely in patients with clinically uncertain parkinsonism. Imaging of striatal dopamine D2/3 receptors is not recommended for the differential diagnosis of parkinsonian disorders in clinical practice anymore. Regarding research, recently the European Medicines Agency has qualified dopamine transporter imaging as an enrichment biomarker for clinical trials in early PD, which underlines the high diagnostic accuracy of this imaging tool and will be implemented in future trials. Also, imaging of the presynaptic dopaminergic system plays a major role in, for example, examining the extent of nigrostriatal degeneration in preclinical and premotor phases of neurodegenerative disorders and to examine subtypes of PD. Also, imaging of postsynaptic dopamine D2/3 receptors plays a role in studying, for example, the neuronal substrate of impulse control disorders in PD, as well as in measuring endogenous dopamine release to examine, for example, motor complications in the treatment of PD. Finally, novel MRI sequences as neuromelanin-sensitive MRI are promising new tools to study nigrostriatal degeneration in vivo.

New WHO recommendations on intraoperative and postoperative measures for surgical site infection prevention: an evidence-based global perspective.

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the most common health-care-associated infections in developing countries, but they also represent a substantial epidemiological burden in high-income countries. The prevention of these infections is complex and requires the integration of a range of preventive measures before, during, and after surgery. No international guidelines are available and inconsistencies in the interpretation of evidence and recommendations in national guidelines have been identified. Considering the prevention of SSIs as a priority for patient safety, WHO has developed evidence-based and expert consensus-based recommendations on the basis of an extensive list of preventive measures. We present in this Review 16 recommendations specific to the intraoperative and postoperative periods. The WHO recommendations were developed with a global perspective and they take into account the balance between benefits and harms, the evidence quality level, cost and resource use implications, and patient values and preferences.

A systematic review and meta-analysis including GRADE qualification of the risk of surgical site infections after prophylactic negative pressure wound therapy compared with conventional dressings in clean and contaminated surgery.

OBJECTIVE: Systematically review and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) studies on prophylactic negative pressure wound therapy (pNPWT) to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs). INTRODUCTION: pNPWT has been suggested as a new method to prevent wound complications, specifically SSIs, by its application on closed incisional wounds. METHODS: This review was conducted as part of the development of the Global Guidelines for prevention of SSIs commissioned by World Health Organization in Geneva. PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, CINAHL, and the World Health Organization database between January 1, 1990 and October 7, 2015 were searched. Inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials and observational studies comparing pNPWT with conventional wound dressings and reporting on the incidence of SSI. Meta-analyses were performed with a random effect model. GRADE Pro software was used to qualify the evidence. RESULTS: Nineteen articles describing 21 studies (6 randomized controlled trials and 15 observational) were included in the review. Summary estimate showed a significant benefit of pNPWT over conventional wound dressings in reducing SSIs in both randomized controlled trials and observational studies, odds ratio of 0.56 (95% confidence interval, 0.32-0.96; P = 0.04) and odds ratio of 0.30 (95% confidence interval, 0.22-0.42; P < 0.00001), respectively. This translates into lowering the SSI rate from 140 to 83 (49-135) per 1000 patients and from 106 to 34 (25-47) per 1000 patients, respectively. In stratified analyses, these results were consistent in both clean and clean-contaminated procedures and in different types of surgery, however results were no longer significant for orthopaedic/trauma surgery. The level of evidence as qualified with GRADE was however low. CONCLUSIONS: Low-quality evidence indicates that prophylactic NPWT significantly reduces the risk of SSIs.