NCT01880619.

No abstract

PurposeAll percutaneous minimally invasive disc treatments are typically indicated to contained disc herniations. Our study’s aim is to evaluate prospectively the efficacy of ozone nucleolysis in the treatment of either contained or uncontained lumbar disc herniations.MethodsFifty-two patients, aged 27–87 years, with symptomatic herniated lumbar discs, without migration, sequestration, or severe degenerative disc changes, who failed conservative treatment, were included in our study. The patients underwent fluoroscopic-guided intradiscal oxygen-ozone mixture injection (5 ml) at a concentration of 27–30 μg/ml and periradicular injection of the same O2-O3 mixture (10 ml), steroid (1 ml), and local anesthetic (1 ml). Clinical outcomes were evaluated, based on the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and pain intensity (0–5) scale results, obtained initially and at 2- and 6-month controls. Our results were analyzed by ANOVA and chi-squared (χ2) tests.ResultsOur initial results obtained at 2-month control were promising, indicating a significant decrease in pain disability and intensity in 74% (37) and 76% (38) of the patients respectively, and minimally increased to 76% (38) and 78% (39) at 6-month control (P < 0.001 and CI 99.9%). The mean preprocedure ODI and pain intensity scores were 35 ± 14.36 and 2.38 ± 0.90, respectively, which were reduced to 19.36 ± 13.12 and 1.04 ± 0.92 at 6-month control. Our failure had been mostly related to long symptoms duration of more than 1 year. No complications were recorded.ConclusionOzone nucleolysis is a safe cost-effective minimally invasive technique for treatment of contained and uncontained lumbar disc herniations.

ObjectiveTo validate the Arabic version of the Ureteral Stent Symptoms Questionnaire (USSQ).Patients and methodsThe English version of the USSQ was translated into Arabic using a multi-step process by three urologists and two independent translators. The Arabic version was validated by asking 37 patients with temporary unilateral ureteric stents to complete the questionnaire at 2 weeks after stent insertion. The second group included 53 healthy individuals who agreed to complete the Arabic version of the questionnaire. The reliability of the Arabic version was evaluated for internal consistency using Cronbach’s α test. Domain structures were examined by interdomain (section) associations using Spearman’s correlation coefficient (r). The discrimination validity was evaluated by comparing the scores of patients with those of healthy individuals, using the Mann–Whitney test.ResultsInternal consistency was high for the sexual index and intermediate for urinary, pain and general health indices. There were good correlations of urinary symptoms with body pain (r = 0.596) and general health (r = 0.690). There was also a good correlation between body pain and general health (r = 0.681). For discrimination validity, there were significant changes in all domain scores when comparing patients with ureteric stents and healthy individuals (P < 0.001).ConclusionThe Arabic version of the USSQ is a reliable and valid instrument that can be used to evaluate symptoms and health-related quality of life in Arabic patients with ureteric stents.

Introduction:The coronary arteries may present several anomalies, in terms of both number and position. New image-based diagnostic techniques have led to greater reliability in the identification of these anomalies.Aim of the work:this work is done to study the angiographic pattern of normal coronary arteries variations by using the diagnostic catheter.Material and Methods: Any patient enlisted for angiography in catheterization lab in Zagazig University Hospital was enrolled in this study.Results: Data of 4246 patients who underwent coronary angiography were analysed. 115 patients who had anomalous of coronary arteries were entered into final data analysis.The following data could be concluded: The overall incidence of primary congenital coronary anomalies was 2.7% (115 out of 4,246 patients) in our angiographic population, of whom 86 were males (74.7%) and 29 were females (25.3%). The mean age was (45.95 ± 11.65) years. Anomalous LCX was the most common coronary anomaly being present in 35 patients (0.82%). The second most common anomaly was myocardial bridge and it was present in 31 patients (0.73%). Anomalous RCA was present in eighteen patients (15.65%). Left main coronary artery was absent in two cases (1.7%) and it has anomalous origin from right coronary sinus (RCS) in another two cases (1.7%). On the other hand, anomalous LAD was present in 8 patients (6.95 %). Coronary aneurysms were observed in 10 cases (7.82%). On the other hand, coronary fistulas were diagnosed in nine cases (8.7%). The incidence of coronary anomalies among cases with coronary artery detected disease was 72.2% (83 cases) while this incidence among those without angiographically detected coronary artery disease was 27.8% (32 cases). Hence, the frequency of coronary artery anomaly was significantly higher among patients with CAD than those without CAD (P < 0.0001). Conclusion:Coronary artery anomaly is a common anomaly between the populations. It could be the only cause of chest pain without significant coronary lesion.