P Yassini | PubMed Health

PubMed1997

Laparoscopic lumbar sympathectomy.

BACKGROUND: Lumbar sympathectomy retains a role in the treatment of patients with causalgia, Symptomatic vasospasm, and nonreconstructable arterial occlusive disease. Open surgical sympathectomy, with its attendant morbidities, remains the standard. Chemical sympathectomy has been introduced as a less invasive means of achieving sympatholysis. However, this has been associated with incomplete and transient denervation. METHODS: We present a series of five lumbar sympathectomies performed laparoscopically. RESULTS: All patients sustained symptomatic relief and no postoperative complications were noted. Postoperative skin thermometry and resistance measurements confirmed adequacy of sympatholysis. CONCLUSION: We conclude that lumbar sympathectomy can be performed laparoscopically. Our preferred technique is now the extraperitoneal approach. Such an approach combines the durability and reliability of standard open sympathectomy with the minimal invasiveness of laparoscopic surgery.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Cocaine cytotoxicity in serum-free environment: C6 glioma cell culture.

Rat glioma C6 cells were employed to determine the vulnerability of the CNS-derived cells to cocaine. The cells were cultured either in the presence of serum or in serum-free (defined) medium to model glial development in the normal brain. In serum-containing medium, cocaine in amounts up to 100 micrograms/ml neither retarded cell proliferation nor altered cell morphology. In the absence of serum, the culture growth was profoundly retarded and cell death was observed with amounts as small as 0.1 micrograms/ml. Even brief (24 hrs) exposure to low cocaine concentrations in serum-free medium irreversibly decreased the cell number. However, an initial 24 hr exposure to 0.1-2.5 micrograms/ml cocaine prolonged survival of cells subsequently exposed to a lethal concentration (100 micrograms/ml). Benzoylecgonine in amounts up to 100 micrograms/ml had no effect on cell proliferation, with or without serum. These data show that cocaine in the absence of serum is highly cytotoxic, which indicates a possibility that the blood-brain-barrier-protected CNS cells may be particularly vulnerable to the drug when it enters the nervous system.

Animals↗