1,721,055 research outputs found
The impact of the “Slim-Mesh”technique on operation time and short/midterm outcomes in 67 overweight, obese and superobese patients from a 10 years follow-up study
Full text linkPurpose: We performed the sutureless “Slim-Mesh” laparoscopic procedure to repair ventral hernias in overweight/obese patients in order to decrease operative time and complications. Materials and Methods: Between 2009 and November 2018, 67 consecutive overweight/obese patients affected by ventral hernia were operated on at our center with the “Slim-Mesh” technique. This was a prospective (65%)-retrospective study. Results: Our study included 36 males and 31 females; the patients’ mean age was 59 years old and mean BMI 31. There were 28 overweight patients, 28 Class I obese patients, and 11 Class II-III obese and superobese patients. Ventral hernia operative size was 3-10 cm (small/medium ventral hernia),10-20 cm (large/giant) and ≥20 cm (massive) in 45, 17 and 5 cases respectively. Mean surgical time for overweight patients, Class I obese patients, and Class II-III obese and superobese patients was 95 minutes, 103 minutes, and 103 minutes respectively. In 28.3% of cases, ventral hernia operative size was larger than preoperative size, and in 16.4% laparoscopy detected additional fascial defects. We employed a composite mesh in 91% of patients and absorbable straps for mesh fixation in 85%. Mean length of hospital stay was 2.6 days. Mean follow-up time was more than 3.5 years. There were 3 cases (4.4%) of hernia recurrence. Conclusion: The sutureless “Slim-Mesh” technique in overweight/obese patients has several advantages, including a reduction in operative time, recovery, and rate of recurrence. The use of this approach would be fast, safe and simple option for overweight/obese patients
How accurate intraoperative quick parathyroid hormone measurement in establishing complete surgical removal of hyperfunctioning parathyroid issue?
No full textSlim-Mesh: 11 years follow-up study on long-term results in 80 cases comprising 26 with large-giant/massive ventral hernia.
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
99M TC-MIBI RADIO-GUIDED MINIMALLY INVASIVE PARATHYROID SURGERY PLANNED ON THE BASIS OF A PREOPERATIVE COMBINED 99M TC-PERTECHNETATE/99M TC-MIBI AND ULTRASOUND IMAGING PROTOCOL
No full textAbstract: The aims of this study were: (a) to define the accuracy of a preoperative parathyroid imaging protocol based on the combination of technetium-99m pertechnetate/technetium-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile ((TcO4)-Tc-99m/Tc-99m-MIBI) scan and neck ultrasound (US) in selecting patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) eligible for a limited neck exploration, and (b) to investigate the potential role of the intraoperative gamma probe (IGP) in radio-guided minimally invasive surgery. (TcO4)-Tc-99m/Tc-99m-MIBI subtraction scan was performed by means of potassium perchlorate administration with the aim of effecting rapid (TcO4)-Tc-99m wash-out from the thyroid. Minimally invasive surgery using an IGP was commenced some minutes following the injection of a low, 70 MBq, Tc-99m-MIBI dose. Intraoperative PTH (i-PTH) was measured. On the basis of preoperative imaging, 21 pHPT consecutive patients were selected fur a limited neck dissection. In 18 of them, a single parathyroid adenoma was found at surgery and IGP allowed performance of parathyroidectomy through a small, 2-2.5 cm, skin incision with a relatively short surgical duration (mean 38 min). i-PTH rapidly normalised in all cases. In two patients, a parathyroid carcinoma was diagnosed at surgery; consequently, a wide neck exploration associated with a near-total thyroidectomy was performed. No loco-regional metastatic lesions were found and I-PTH rapidly normalised after carcinoma excision. In one patient, i-PTH remained elevated after removal of the enlarged parathyroid gland which was localised by (TcO4)-Tc-99m/Tc-99m-MIBI Scan and US. A bilateral exploration was needed to remove a contralateral enlarged parathyroid gland. Combined, (TcO4)-Tc-99m/Tc-99m-MIBI scan and US imaging correctly localised a single parathyroid gland in 20/21 patients (95.2%); thus, this protocol appears to be accurate enough for the preoperative selection of pHPT patients eligible fur limited neck surgery. Moreover, in these selected patients the IGP seems to be helpful in performing radio-guided minimally invasive surgery
PTH assay in the first postoperative day after thyroidectomy early predictor postoperative hypocalcemia?
No full textBACKGROUND: The purpose of our study is to verify if PTH assay on the first postoperative day is a reliable early predictor of the onset of hypocalcemia.
METHODS: Between October 1999 and May 2000, a prospective trial involved 162 patients who underwent total or near total thyroidectomy at our institute. On the basis of PTH assay on first day we divided the patients in three groups: group A 28 patients with PTH 16 pg/ml.
RESULTS: In group A: 22 of 28 patients (78.5%) developed postoperative hypocalcemia and 20 (71.4%) needed replacement therapy; in group B: 14 of 34 (41.1%) had postoperative hypocalcemia and 10 (29.4%) received treatment; in group C: 23 of 100 (23%) became hypocalcemic after surgery but only 5 (5%) require calcium-vitamin therapy. A statistically significant correlation (p = 0.0017) was identified between post-operative PTH levels and lowest blood calcium values detected after surgery. The correlation between the drop in blood calcium levels after surgery and postoperative PTH (delta Ca) was statistically even more significant (p = 0.0002); the lower the postoperative PTH, the higher the absolute value of the delta Ca.
CONCLUSION: The authors suggest a clinical approach and pharmacological treatment protocol based on the outcome of PTH assay on the first post-operative day; a solution that is only apparently more costly because it in fact aims to ensure a more timely recourse to blood calcium monitoring or replacement therapy and also an earlier discharge of the patient
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