Evaluation of a portable clinical analyzer for the determination of blood gas partial pressures, electrolyte concentrations, and hematocrit in venous blood samples collected from cattle, horses, and sheep

Objective To compare results reported for blood gas partial pressures, electrolyte concentrations, and Hct in venous blood samples collected from cattle, horses, and sheep and analyzed by use of a portable clinical analyzer (PCA) and reference analyzer (RA).Animals-Clinically normal animals (24 cattle, 22 horses, and 22 sheep).Procedures-pH; Pco(2); Po(2); total carbon dioxide concentration; oxygen saturation; base excess; concentrations of HCO(3)(-), Na(+), K(+), and ionized calcium; Hct; and hemoglobin concentration were determined with a PCA. Results were compared with those obtained for the same blood sample with an RA. Bias (mean difference) and variability (95% confidence interval) were determined for all data reported. Data were also subjected to analyses by Deming regression and Pearson correlation.Results-Analysis of Bland-Altman plots revealed good agreement between results obtained with the PCA and those obtained with the RA for pH and total carbon dioxide concentration in cattle, K(+) concentration in horses and sheep, and base excess in horses. Except for Na(+) concentration and Hct in horses and sheep, correlation was good or excellent for most variables reported.Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Data from blood gas and electrolyte analyses obtained by use of the PCA can be used to evaluate the health status of cattle, horses, and sheep. Furthermore, the handheld PCA device may have a great advantage over the RA device as a result of the ability to analyze blood samples on farms that may be located far from urban centers. (Am J Vet Res 2010;71:515-521)

Clinical and histological evaluation of subepithelial connective tissue after collagen sponge implantation in the human palate

Rocha AL, Shirasu BK, Hayacibara RM, Magro-Filho O, Zanoni JN, Araujo MG. Clinical and histological evaluation of subepithelial connective tissue after collagen sponge implantation in the human palate. J Periodont Res 2012; 47: 758765. (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S Background and Objective: Successful root-coverage treatment depends on the thickness of the donor tissue. This study aimed to evaluate the thickness of donor tissue after augmentation of the connective tissue in the palatal area by implantation of lyophilized collagen sponge (Hemospon (R)). Material and Methods: Ten patients with an indication for root coverage, whose palate was deficient in adequate connective tissue, were recruited. The procedure was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, the palatal thickness in the donor site was measured at three standardized points (points 1, 2 and 3), from the distal of the canine to the distal of the first molar, and the lyophilized collagen sponge was inserted. In the second stage, the palatal thickness over the implant was measured (at points 1, 2 and 3), two biopsies of the palatal mucosa were collected one over the implant (experimental sample) and the other on the contralateral side (control sample) and then root-coverage treatment was performed. Analyses consisted of clinical assessment of the palatal measurements before and after sponge implantation, and histological assessment of the experimental and control biopsy samples. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test. Results: Both analyses showed a significant increase in mean thickness, of 1.08 mm of neoformed tissue in the clinical analysis (the tissue at point 2 was the thickest of the three points) and of 0.53 mm in the histological analysis. Conclusion: The insertion of lyophilized collagen sponge induced a significant increase in the thickness of palatal connective tissue.

Longitudinal clinical and radiographic evaluation of severely intruded permanent incisors in a pediatric population

Intrusion is defined as the axial dislodgment of the tooth into its socket and is considered one of the most severe types of dental trauma. This longitudinal outcome study was undertaken to evaluate clinically and radiographically severely intruded permanent incisors in a population of children and adolescents. All cases were treated between September 2003 and February 2008 in a dental trauma service. Clinical and radiographic data were collected from 12 patients (eight males and four females) that represented 15 permanent maxillary incisors. Mean age at the time of injury was 8 years and 9 months (range 7-14 years and 8 months). Mean time elapsed to follow-up was 26.6 months (range 10-51 months). The analysis of data showed that tooth intrusion was twice as frequent in males. The maxillary central incisors were the most commonly intruded teeth (93.3%), and falling at home was the main etiologic factor (60%). More than half of the cases (53.3%) were multiple intrusions, 73.3% of the intruded teeth had incomplete root formation and 66.6% of the teeth suffered other injuries concomitant to intrusion. Immediate surgical repositioning was the treatment of choice in 66.7% of the cases, while watchful waiting for the tooth to return to its pre-injury position was adopted in 33.3% of the cases. The teeth that suffered additional injuries to the intrusive luxation presented a fivefold increased relative risk of developing pulp necrosis. The immature teeth had six times more chances of presenting pulp canal obliteration that the mature teeth and a lower risk of developing root resorption. The most frequent post-injury complications were pulp necrosis (73.3%), marginal bone loss (60%), inflammatory root resorption (40%), pulp canal obliteration (26.7%) and replacement root resorption (20%). From the results of this study, it was not possible to determine whether the type immediate treatment had any influence on the appearance of sequelae like pulp necrosis and root resorption after intrusive luxation, but the existence of additional injuries and the stage of root development influenced the clinical case outcome in a negative and positive manner, respectively.

Progression of experimental chronic peri-implantitis in dogs: Clinical and radiographic evaluation

Background: the aim of this study was to evaluate the progression of experimental peri-implantitis in dogs using implants with different surface coatings.Methods: Thirty-six dental implants with four different surface coatings, commercially pure titanium (cpTi), titanium plasma-sprayed (TPS), hydroxyapatite (HA), and acid-etched (AE), were placed in six mongrel dogs. Five months after implantation, peri-implantitis was induced by cotton ligatures to facilitate plaque accumulation for 60 days. After 60 days, the ligatures were removed and supragingival plaque control was initiated for 12 months. Probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), vertical bone level (VBL), horizontal bone level (HBL), and mobility were obtained at baseline, and 20, 40, 60 (acute phase), and 425 days (chronic phase) after ligature removal.Results: PD and CAL changed around all implant surfaces after ligature placement (P < 0.0001). However, the means of PD and CAL were not statistically significant among the different surfaces (P > 0.05). The range of CAL variation, calculated between baseline and 60 days (acute phase) and between 60 and 425 days (chronic phase), decreased (P < 0.05). Bone loss increased during the entire experiment (P < 0.0001). The HA surface showed the greatest bone loss measurement (5.06 +/- 0.38 mm) and the TPS showed the smallest bone loss (4.27 +/- 0.62 mm). However, statistical significance was not assessed for different coatings (P > 0.05).Conclusions: the clinical data at the initial phase showed rapid and severe peri-implant tissue breakdown. However, removal of ligatures did not convert the acute destructive peri-implant phase to a non-aggressive lesion and the progression of peri-implantitis was observed at chronic phase. The,experimental peri-implantitis in dogs may be a useful model to evaluate the progression of peri-implantitis.

A quantitative and qualitative evaluation of reports of clinical trials published in six Brazilian dental journals indexed in the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO)

Introduction: Open access publishing is becoming increasingly popular within the biomedical sciences. SciELO, the Scientific Electronic Library Online, is a digital library covering a selected collection of Brazilian scientific journals many of which provide open access to full-text articles. This library includes a number of dental journals some of which may include reports of clinical trials in English, Portuguese and/or Spanish. Thus, SciELO could play an important role as a source of evidence for dental healthcare interventions especially if it yields a sizeable number of high quality reports. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify reports of clinical trials by handsearching of dental journals that are accessible through SciELO, and to assess the overall quality of these reports. Material and methods: Electronic versions of six Brazilian dental Journals indexed in SciELO were handsearched at www.scielo.br in September 2008. Reports of clinical trials were identified and classified as controlled clinical trials (CCTs - prospective, experimental studies comparing 2 or more healthcare interventions in human beings) or randomized controlled trials (RCTs - a random allocation method is clearly reported), according to Cochrane eligibility criteria. Criteria to assess methodological quality included: method of randomization, concealment of treatment allocation, blinded outcome assessment, handling of withdrawals and losses and whether an intention-to-treat analysis had been carried out. Results: The search retrieved 33 CCTs and 43 RCTs. A majority of the reports provided no description of either the method of randomization (75.3%) or concealment of the allocation sequence (84.2%). Participants and outcome assessors were reported as blinded in only 31.2% of the reports. Withdrawals and losses were only clearly described in 6.5% of the reports and none mentioned an intention-to-treat analysis or any similar procedure. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that a substantial number of reports of trials and systematic reviews are available in the dental journals listed in SciELO, and that these could provide valuable evidence for clinical decision making. However, it is clear that the quality of a number of these reports is of some concern and that improvement in the conduct and reporting of these trials could be achieved if authors adhered to internationally accepted guidelines, e. g. the CONSORT statement.

Fresh-frozen human bone allograft in vertical ridge augmentation: clinical and tomographic evaluation of bone formation and resorption

The aim of the current study is to evaluate fresh-frozen human bone allografts (FHBAs) used in vertical ridge augmentation clinically and by computed tomography, and to analyze the resulting bone formation and graft resorption. Sixteen FHBAs were grafted in the maxillae and mandibles of 9 patients. The FHBAs, which were provided by the Musculoskeletal Tissue Bank of Marilia Hospital (Unioss), were frozen at -80A degrees C. After 7 months, dental implants were placed and bone parameters were evaluated. Vertical bone formation was measured by computerized tomography before (T0) and at 7 months (T1) after the surgical procedure. Bone graft resorption was measured clinically from a landmark screw head using a periodontal probe. The results were analyzed by Student's t-test. Significant differences existed in the bone formation values at T0 and T1, with an average change of 4.03 +/- A 1.69 mm. Bone graft resorption values were 1.0 +/- A 0.82 mm (20%). Implants were placed with varying insertion torque values (35-45 Ncm), and achieved primary stability. This study demonstrates that FHBAs promote satisfactory vertical bone formation with a low resorption rates, good density, and primary implant stability.

Evaluation of the in vitro activity of cefepime compared to other broad-spectrum cephalosporins against clinical isolates from eighteen Brazilian hospitals by using the Etest

The in vitro activity of cefepime was compared to that of ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, and cefotaxime in a multicenter study involving 10 clinical microbiology laboratories and clinical isolates from 18 Brazilian hospitals from 7 cities (4 states). A total of 982 isolates consecutively collected between December 1995 and March 1996 were susceptibility tested by using Etest and following the NCCLS procedures for agar diffusion tests. The cefepime spectrum was broader than that of the other broad-spectrum cephalosporins against both Gram-negative rods and Gram-positive cocci. Cefepime tons particularly move active against Enterobacter sp. (MIC90, 2 mu g/ml), Serratia sp. (MIC90, 2 mu g/ml) and oxacillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MIC90, 3 mu g/ml). Against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, cefepime (MIC90 16 mu g/ml) was slightly more active than ceftazidime (MIC90 32 mu g/ml) and 8- to 16-fold more active than ceftriaxone or cefotaxime (MIC90 >256 mu g/ml). Our results show that nosocomial bacteria, especially Gram-negative rods, have a high rate of cephalosporin resistance in Brazil. However, part of these resistant bacteria remains susceptible to cefepime. The Etest was shown to be an excellent method for multicenter studies of the in vitro evaluation of new antimicrobial agents. (C) 1997 Elsevier B.V.

Immunohistochemical evaluation of Ki-67 and PCNA in canine mammary neoplasias: Correlation with prognostic factors and clinical outcome

E-cadherin is a cell-cell adhesion molecule and low e-cadherin expression is related to invasiveness and may indicate a bad prognosis in mammary neoplasms. The expression of cell proliferation markers PCNA and especially Ki-67, has also proved to have a strong prognostic value in this tumor class. The expression of these markers was related to the clinical-pathological characteristics of 73 surgically removed mammary tumors in female dogs by immunohistochemistry. There was no statistical correlation between these markers and death by neoplasm, survival time and disease-free interval. However, the loss of e-cadherin expression and marked Ki-67 expression (p=0.016) were considered statistically significant for the diagnosis (p=0.032). When evaluated as independent factors, there was evidence of the relationship between the loss of e-cadherin expression and high PCNA expression with changes in the body status (divided into obese, normal and cachectic) of female dogs (p=0.030); there was also evidence of the relationship between pseudopregnancy and e-cadherin alone (p=0.021) and for ulceration and PCNA alone (p=0.035). The significant correlation between the markers expression and these well known prognostic factors used individually or in combination suggests their prognostic value in canine mammary tumors.