Amiodarone induced thrombophlebitis.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M J Earley.
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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility of catheter ablation as a treatment for symptomatic patients with longstanding permanent atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS: Radiofrequency ablation was applied to encircle all pulmonary veins (PVs) and create lines from the left inferior PV to the mitral valve, along the roof of the left atrium between the PVs, and along the tricuspid valve-inferior vena cava isthmus. A seven day Holter was recorded at discharge and at follow up to assess arrhythmia burden. If patients developed a symptomatic, sustained atrial arrhythmia a repeat ablation procedure was advised. RESULTS: 42 patients underwent the procedure that took a mean of five hours with 50 minutes of fluoroscopy. After a median follow up of 8.4 months, 31 of 41 surviving patients (76%) were in sinus rhythm. Of these, 29 patients were no longer taking any antiarrhythmic drugs but 22 (52%) required more than one procedure. During follow up 49% experienced a sustained atrial tachycardia. Twenty six repeat procedures were performed. Maintenance of sinus rhythm after the first, second, or third procedure was 36% (15 of 42), 58% (11 of 19), and 71% (5 of 7), respectively. From a total of 68 procedures there were two serious complications (2.9%): a stroke from which a full recovery was made, and a PV stenosis. CONCLUSION: Catheter ablation can be used to cure longstanding permanent AF; however, there is a significant complication rate. Whether this is offset by a mortality benefit associated with sinus rhythm is unknown. Many patients will need more than one procedure to achieve success.
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Although the management of the alveolar cleft remains controversial secondary alveolar bone grafting is the most widely accepted approach. The results of a series of 71 secondary alveolar bone grafts performed between 1990 and 2001 on 58 patients with complete cleft lip and palate 13 of which were bilateral are presented. Bone grafts were assessed when the canine tooth had fully erupted using periapical dental radiographs.The occlusal level of the newly obtained interdental bone of each grafted cleft was recorded and categorised in accordance with the Oslo grading system as described by Bergland. In addition the basal level of each bone graft was recorded. In this way total bone graft height was measured and each graft was categorised with respect to the desired normal height of noncleft interdental alveolar bone. This modified analysis grades more precisely the efficacy of secondary alveolar bone grafting and helps to identify and categorise those patients with insufficient bone for dental, orthodontic and orthognathic rehabilitation and those who may require further investigation and regrafting.
BCC is the commonest of the malignant skin tumours and the complete resection is the key to successful outcome with the cure rate of the order of 95%. Incomplete excisions are associated with high rate of recurrence. We designed our study to quantify the incidence of incomplete excision and its association with the subsequent recurrence of the tumour and also to identify any variables that might affect it. Case notes of 118 patients who had 126 BCCs excised between January 1995 and December 1995 in the Mater Hospital were studied retrospectively. 10 lesions showed incomplete excision on histology.
Otitis media with effusion (OME) is common among children with cleft palate, and may lead to such long-term consequences as hearing loss, tympanic membrane retraction, and chronic otitis media (COM). In total, 104 children with cleft lip and/or palate treated for OME at our institution were reviewed. Mean duration of follow-up was 6.9 years, and mean age at latest follow-up was 9.6 years. The incidence of COM was 19%, and the incidence of cholesteatoma was 1.9%. Ears showing such long-term sequelae of OME as hearing loss, tympanic membrane retraction, and chronic otitis media, were noted to have undergone a significantly greater number of ventilation tube insertions than ears not showing these sequalae. Our findings would suggest that a conservative approach to the management of OME in children with cleft palate is more likely to be beneficial in the long term.
Although a number of different reconstructive techniques have been described for the treatment of axillary skin defects, split-thickness skin grafting continues to be the most common surgical modality. Here, we present our recent experience of using split-thickness skin grafts together with negative-pressure dressings for the management of defects following wide surgical excision of severe hidradenitis suppurativa. This technique ensures complete skin-graft take whilst allowing full shoulder mobility, thereby minimising the undesirable sequelae associated with split-thickness skin grafting alone.
A patient with bilateral orbital neurofibromatosis is described. This patient had no other dysmorphic features and no systemic stigmata indicative of Von Recklinghausen's disease or endocrine syndromes. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the literature of isolated bilateral orbital neurofibromatosis in an otherwise normal patient.
We report four patients presenting with rare synchronous upper- and lower-eyelid naevi. The distributions and appearances of these naevi resemble the distinctive periorbital pigmentation of the panda. The possible embryological origin of this naevus and an approach to management are discussed.
Cherubism is a rare hereditary condition characterised by progressive cystic proliferation of the mandible and maxilla in childhood, followed by post-pubertal involution of the process and jaw remodelling in adulthood. Its name is derived from the cherubic appearance that results from the jaw hypertrophy. Here, we present the case of a young boy with cherubism, in the context of his pedigree, to illustrate the clinical characteristics and their variable expression. We also seek to distinguish cherubism from central giant cell granuloma and giant cell tumour of the jaws, with which it holds a false synonymity.
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The pathology, diagnosis and management of posterior plagiocephaly remains highly controversial. While the rationale for surgical management of true lambdoid synostosis is undisputed, opinions vary greatly on how to manage severe, unresolving, non-synostotic cases. We reviewed 39 cases of posterior plagiocephaly, 37 of which were treated conservatively. Of these, 34 patients had a significant improvement over the following year with sleep posture modification and/or physiotherapy. While only eight cases returned to complete normality, the remainder had deformities that were deemed mild by both mothers and surgeons, and did not merit surgery. Defining recalcitrant cases remains elusive as standard imaging is often unhelpful. While 3-D CT offers a much more accurate diagnosis of true lambdoid synostosis with bony union and allows objective assessment of the deformity, serial scans involve radiation doses that are difficult to justify. Clinical follow-up is the only reliable method at present.
We present a patient who had a basal cell carcinoma of the left upper eyelid and ectropion of the left lower eyelid. The patient underwent resection of the tumour and release of the ectropion resulting in a full thickness defect of the skin of his left upper and lower eyelids. The eyelids were reconstructed with a second dorsal metacarpal artery free flap from the left hand. For safety, a dorsal vein of the flap was arterialised and one of the valves of the vein had a valvotomy. The flap survived completely.
A neonate presented with cloverleaf skull anomaly and severe proptosis requiring urgent cranioplasty to attain eyelid closure. Despite this, she experienced exposure keratitis and corneal perforations. A ventriculoperitoneal shunt was performed subsequently to relieve hydrocephalus, but respiratory problems eventually led to her death at 6 months. This case highlights the complexity of the problems encountered in the cloverleaf skull anomaly, and a brief review discussing its management is included. Despite improvements in treatment of this condition, the overall prognosis remains poor.
A technique of filling calvarial defects using bone dust reinforced with titanium Micro Mesh (Leibinger) was investigated using plain x-ray films and computed tomography (CT) in seven consecutive patients (age range, 7-21 years). The aim of our study was to assess whether, in the presence of the titanium, bone dust harvested with a power burr promotes persistent ossification that is comparable with adjacent bone. The mesh was localized by standard skull plain x-ray films, and orthogonal CT scans were obtained at between 9 and 18 months post-operatively. An ultrahigh-resolution algorithm was used to detect neoossification on either side of the Micro Mesh (1-mm collimation, 330-mA and 120 KV(p) at the center of 400 HU, and window width of 2000 Hu). The mesh induced minimal streak artifact. Virtually no new bone formation was seen. It appears that bone dust was completely reabsorbed in this patient group even in the presence of semi-rigid fixation.
The risks of foreign implantation may be avoided in tendon repair by the use of absorbable sutures, for example polydioxanone. In this study, the in vivo tensile strength half-life of 4/0 polydioxanone was found to be approximately 4 weeks. Using a rabbit model, we compared polydioxanone tendon repairs with polypropylene tendon repairs. Unilateral flexor digitorum longus repairs were performed on 46 rabbits using either polydioxanone or polypropylene. Tendons were harvested at 3 days, 2 weeks and 4 weeks and the tensile breaking strengths were obtained. 30 intact rabbit flexor digitorum longus tendons and 20 freshly repaired tendons were also tested. By 4 weeks, the repair strength had increased eight-fold from approximately 20 N to 166 N. The sutures made little contribution to the overall strength of a 4-week-old repair. There was no significant difference between polydioxanone and polypropylene repairs at any stage. These results show that polydioxanone repairs were as strong as polypropylene during the first critical weeks of tendon healing.
Congenital pseudarthrosis of the ulna is an extremely rare condition for which current surgical techniques have been unsatisfactory in restoring a normal two-bone forearm. We report a case which was treated by excision of the ulnar pseudarthrosis and interposition of a free vascularized fibular graft with a skin island to monitor anastomotic patency. Forearm rotation has been restored and the potential for normal forearm growth has been preserved.
The radial forearm flap has been well described for reconstruction of the oral cavity. The flap is most commonly used as a single-paddle flap with or without a segment of vascularised radius. Double-paddle radial flaps may be required to reconstruct defects of intraoral lining and overlying skin following excision of extensive tumours. We wish to report the first described case of reconstruction using a triple-paddle radial forearm flap including a segment of vascularised radius.