In conclusion, the essential oils of studied Satureja species have the potential to be considered as alternatives for synthetic food preservatives.”
“Compliance with medical therapy may be compromised because of the affordability of medications. Inadequate physician knowledge of drug costs may unwittingly contribute to this problem.

We measured attitudes about prescribing and knowledge of medication costs by written survey of medical and surgical non consultant hospital doctors and consultants in two University teaching hospitals (n = 102). Sixty-eight percent felt the cost of medicines

was an important consideration in the prescribing decision, however, 88% often felt Tubastatin A molecular weight unaware of the actual costs. Only 33% had easy access to drug cost data, and only 3% had been formally educated about drug costs. Doctors’ estimates of the cost of a supply of ten commonly used medications were accurate in only 12% of cases, too low for 50%, and too high for 38%.

Interventions are needed to educate doctors about drug costs and provide them with reliable, easily accessible cost information in real-world practice.”
“A 27-year-old, previously healthy woman was admitted

to our hospital for mild pneumonia. After 2 days ceftriaxone sodium administration, her chest radiograph revealed a rightward mediastinal shift caused by atelectasis of the upper portion of the right lung. Bronchoscopic examination showed swelling in the right upper lobe bronchus and obstruction in the B-1 segmental www.selleckchem.com/products/iacs-010759-iacs-10759.html bronchus caused by complete edematous swelling. find more Histopathology showed acute cellular bronchitis with edema of the bronchial wall containing lymphocytes, plasma cells, and macrophages. Mycoplasma pneumoniae was detected by culture and a polymerase chain reaction test using sputum collected during bronchoscopy, and treatment was changed to minocycline. After 7 days antibiotic therapy, her condition improved and no relapse was observed. Identification

of point mutations in domain V of the 23S rRNA for macrolide-resistant M. pneumoniae was performed, and an A-to-G transition at position 2063 in domain V of the 23S rRNA gene was identified. Atelectasis caused by M. pneumoniae is thought to be a common associated finding in pediatric patients, but it is rare in adults. In addition, our patient showed extremely unusual findings with obstruction caused by complete edematous swelling.”
“GC-MS analyses of the essential oils of leaves, stems and flower of Nasturtium officinale resulted in the identification of 9, 8 and 15 compounds, representing 97%, 100% and 94.7% of the oils, respectively. The main compounds of the oil of leaves were myristicin (57.6%), alpha-terpinolene (8.9%) and limonene (6.7%). Caryophyllene oxide (37.2%), p-cymene-8-ol (17.6%), alpha-terpinolene (15.2%) and limonene (11.8%) were the main components in stems, whereas limonene (43.6%), alpha-terpinolene (19.7%), p-cymene-8-ol (7.6%) and caryophyllene oxide (6.

Results: The great majority of Medicare plans (82-100%) covered common pharmacotherapeutic treatments for drug addiction. These Medicare plans typically placed patent protected medications on their highest formulary tiers, leading to relatively high patient co-payments during the initial Part D coverage period. For example, median monthly co-payments for buprenorphine (Suboxone (R)) were about $46 for PDPs,

and about $56 for MAPs.

Conclusion: While Medicare prescription plans usually cover pharmacotherapeutic treatments for drug addiction, high co-payments can limit access. For example, beneficiaries without supplemental signaling pathway coverage who use Vivitrol (R) would exceed their initial coverage cap in 7-8 months, reaching the “”doughnut hole”" in their Part D coverage and

becoming responsible for the full cost of the medication (over $900 per month). The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will selleckchem gradually eliminate this coverage gap, and loss of patent protection for other antiaddiction medications (Suboxone and Campral (R)) should also drive down patient costs, improving access and compliance. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“The availability of genomes of many closely related bacteria with diverse metabolic capabilities offers the possibility of tracing metabolic evolution on a phylogeny relating the genomes to understand the evolutionary processes and constraints that affect the evolution of metabolic

networks. Using simple (independent loss/gain of reactions) or complex (incorporating dependencies among reactions) stochastic models of metabolic evolution, it is possible to study how metabolic networks evolve over time. Here, we describe a model that takes the reaction neighborhood into account when modeling metabolic evolution. The model also allows estimation of the strength of the neighborhood effect during the course of evolution. We present Gibbs samplers for sampling networks at the internal node of a phylogeny and for estimating the parameters of evolution over a phylogeny without exploring the whole search space by Pitavastatin solubility dmso iteratively sampling from the conditional distributions of the internal networks and parameters. The samplers are used to estimate the parameters of evolution of metabolic networks of bacteria in the genus Pseudomonas and to infer the metabolic networks of the ancestral pseudomonads. The results suggest that pathway maps that are conserved across the Pseudomonas phylogeny have a stronger neighborhood structure than those which have a variable distribution of reactions across the phylogeny, and that some Pseudomonas lineages are going through genome reduction resulting in the loss of a number of reactions from their metabolic networks.

Conclusions: This systematic review showed that computer programs cannot consistently predict the skeletal changes BIBW2992 supplier Occurring after orthognathic Surgery but their results may be considered inside a clinically acceptable range. Last-minute changes by the surgeons could

also explain the differences. We also conclude that no software program was shown to be superior in prediction accuracy compared with its competitor. (C) 2009 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons J Oral Maxillofac Surg 67:1628-1639, 2009″
“A QSAR study was performed on ninety eight substituted biphenyl analogues of 2-nitroimidazo-[2, 1-b] [1, 3]-oxazines as antitubercular agents to explore the importance of topological, thermodynamic, spatial and physicochemical properties of the molecules towards the antitubercular activity. Genetic function approximation (GFA) was used as the chemometric tool for the study. The study shows that ortho and meta linked attachments of the biphenyl analogs to 2-nitroimidazo-[2, 1-b] [1, 3]-oxazines are detrimental for the antitubercular activity. Hydrophobicity, branching and presence of electronegative atoms enhance the activity. Based on the r(m)((overall))(2) criterion, which considers both internal validation and external validation, a GFA model with spatial, thermodynamic and topological descriptors appears to be the

best model (r(m)((overall))(2) = 0.556).”
“Introgression lines (ILs) are valuable materials for identifying quantitative trait loci (QTLs), evaluating genetic interactions, and marker assisted breeding. A set of 430 ILs (BC5F3) containing this website segments from upland tropical japonica cultivar IRAT109 in a lowland temperate japonica cultivar Yuefu background were developed. One hundred and seventy-six polymorphic markers were used to identify introgressed

segments. No segment from IRAT109 was found in 160 lines. Introgressed segments of the other 270 lines covered GNS-1480 99.1% of the donor genome. The mean number of introgressed donor segments per individual was 3.3 with an average length of 14.4 cM. QTL analysis was conducted on basal root thickness (BRT) of the 270 ILs grown under irrigated lowland, upland and hydroponic conditions. A total of 22 QTLs affecting BRT were identified, six QTLs (qBRT3.1, qBRT3.2, qBRT6.1, qBRT8.2, qBRT9.1, and qBRT9.2) were consistently expressed under at least two environments (location and water regime), and qBRT7.2 was a new BRT QTL identified under lowland conditions. IL255 containing qBRT9.1 showed an increase of 10.09% and 7.07% BRT over cultivar Yuefu when grown under upland and lowland conditions, respectively. Using a population of 304 F-2:3 lines derived from the cross IL255xYuefu, qBRT9.1 was validated and mapped to a 1.2 cM interval between RM24271 and RM566. The presence of qBRT9.1 explained 12% of BRT variation.

The clinical implications of this research, including methods currently under investigation to mitigate influenza virus human-to-human transmission, are discussed. A better understanding of the viral determinants necessary for efficient transmission will allow us to identify avian influenza viruses

with pandemic potential.”
“In the presence of imprinting molecules of sulfadiazine, two kinds of molecularly imprinted polymers ( MIPs) were synthesized by photoinitiated and thermally initiated polymerizations, respectively. The combination of sulfadiazine and alpha-methyl acrylic acid and their composite ratio were studied by differential UV absorption spectrometry. TPX-0005 datasheet The results show that a combined effect between the functional monomer and the imprinting molecule occurred in the solution. The structure and properties of these synthetic polymers were researched and compared with IR spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and a balanced combination of static experiments. The polymer materials synthesized in these two ways had the same molecular structure, but their morphology was different. Furthermore, through the adsorption isotherm, Scatchard analysis, and evaluation

of the imprinting efficiency, we determined p38 protein kinase that the lower temperature was a more suitable synthesis condition for the polymerization of the MIPs. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 119: 3189-3198, 2011″
“Embryogenesis is a critical stage during the plant life cycle in which a unicellular zygote develops into a multicellular organism.

Co-ordinated gene expression is thus necessary for proper embryo development. Polycomb and Trithorax group genes are members of evolutionarily conserved machinery that maintains the correct expression patterns of key developmental regulators by repressing and activating gene transcription. TRAUCO (TRO), a gene homologous to the Trithorax group of genes that can functionally complement a BRE2P yeast mutant, has been identified in Arabidopsis thaliana. It is demonstrated that TRO is a nuclear gene product expressed during embryogenesis, and loss of TRO selleckchem function leads to impaired early embryo development. Embryos that arrested at the globular stage in the tro-1 mutant allele were fully rescued by a TRO expression clone, a demonstration that the tro-1 mutation is a true loss-of-function in TRO. Our data have established that TRO is the first trithorax-group gene homologue in plants that is required for early embryogenesis.”
“Background: Pain is a cardinal symptom of osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip and important for deciding when to operate. This study assessed the internal consistency reliability, validity and responsiveness of the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) among patients with OA undergoing total hip replacement (THR).

Methods: We prospectively included 250 of 356 patients who were accepted to the waiting list for primary THR surgery.

Interventional studies on whether correction of obesity and dyslipidemias and restriction of alcohol consumption are beneficial for prevention of prehypertension and hypertension in women need to be carried out.”
“Spine tumors are fairly common and the management is through

a multimodality approach. Lesions of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae have been treated with such extensive anterior and/or posterior approaches. The authors present a case of a 56-year-old lady with solitary T11 metastases from colonic carcinoma and a case of a 43-year-old lady with T5-T6 high-grade osteogenic sarcoma. The treatment consists of a wide vertebrectomy by posterior approach, after anterior release and sub-pleural dissection using a thoracoscopic approach. A thoracoscopic AC220 in vivo assisted anterior approach could reduce the duration and the morbidity of a vertebrectomy without affecting oncological management.”
“The keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT) is a benign developmental tumor with many distinguishing clinical and histologic features. Usually, multiple KCOTs occur as a component of nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome. The odontogenic myxoma is a rare benign tumor that represents about 3% of all odontogenic tumors. This article reports the case of mandible odontogenic myxoma with synchronous occurrence of multiple KCOTs, partial expression of nevoid basal cell carcinoma

syndrome. A review Navitoclax of the international literature is also presented.”
“Aim. To assess the variability and concordance of left ventricular hypertrophy electrocardiographic (LVH-ECG) criteria. Methods and Results. Convenience sampling of hypertensive subjects without coronary disease or bundle branch blocks. Two electrocardiograms Ferrostatin-1 in vitro (ECGs) were performed on each patient.

Two investigators carried out two blind-readings of each ECG (Cornell and Sokolow-Lyon criteria). The between-rater and within-rater reliability were assessed (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC). Poor concordance was defined: mean voltage difference between both ECGs > 2 mm; 824 ECG readings were performed in 103 subjects (58.3% females), aged 66.8 +/- 8.8 years, mean blood pressure 141 +/- 15.10/78 +/- 9.0 mmHg. The between-rater ICCs of the baseline ECG were 0.97(95% CI 0.96-0.98) and 0.98 (95% CI 0.97-0.99) for Cornell and Sokolow-Lyon criteria, respectively. Poor concordance was found in 39.8% and in 41.7% of the cases for Cornell and Sokolow-Lyon criteria, respectively. Systolic blood pressure was found to be significant and positively associated with both criteria. Elderly hypertensive subjects, with higher ECG voltages and lower pulse pressure presented poor concordance of Cornell criteria. Conclusions. The between-rater and within-rater reliability of Cornell and Sokolow-Lyon criteria is minimal.

Methods: Population-based laboratory surveillance data (1986-2007) for invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae infection in Alaskan children <5 years old were used to evaluate the association of IPD rates

and serotype distribution with immunization, socioeconomic status, and in-home water service.

Results: Introduction of PCV7 vaccine resulted in elimination of IPD caused by vaccine serotypes, but was followed by increasing rates of IPD caused by nonvaccine serotypes. Among YK-AN children IPD rates dropped by 60%, but then rose due to non-PCV7 serotypes to levels 5- to 10-fold higher than rates in non-YK-AN children and non-AN children. IPD rates in YK-AN children were twice as high in villages where <10% of houses had in-home piped water compared check details with villages where more than 80% of houses had in-home piped water (390 cases/100,000 vs. 146 cases/100,000, P = 0.008).

Conclusions: High IPD rates in Alaska are associated with lack of in-home

piped water (controlling for household crowding and per capita income). E7080 ic50 The effect of in-home piped water is most likely mediated through reduced water supply leading to limitations on handwashing.”
“This study was performed to investigate the platelet aggregation alterations in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) samples of children with Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infection. Platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP), collagen, ristocetin, or epinephrine was studied with photometric aggregometry in 30 patients before and after eradication therapy and in a control group including 15

children. The pretreatment mean maximum aggregation values and slope were significantly lower (P < .0001) in the study group at 10 mmol/L concentrations of ADP (ADP-like defect). The maximum aggregation values and slope revealed no significant differences (P > 0.05) between the study group after therapy and the control group. We concluded that H pylori infection may cause dysfunction of platelets in children and can be reversed by H pylori eradication therapy. Further studies should be carried out to determine the mechanisms of platelet dysfunction in children with H pylori infection.”
“Electrically conductive AR-13324 in vitro composites containing polypropylene (PP) and polyaniline (PANI) were prepared using PP with three different melt flow rates (MFRs) and a commercial PANI-complex in proportions of 80% by weight and 20%, respectively. Composite blends were melt-spun to fibers under different solid-state draw ratios. Rheological studies of dynamic viscosity, as well as the storage modulus and loss modulus showed that the prepared PANI-complex/PP blends exhibit different dynamic rheological behavior, depending on the PP used. This confirms the blends’ morphological differences. PP matrix viscosity was found to play an important role in the electrical properties of the prepared fibers.

“
“Contents The aims of this study were to test (i) the effect of time of tissue and RNA extracts storage on ice and (ii) the effect of repeated freeze-thaw cycles on RNA integrity and gene expression of bovine reproductive tissues. Fragments of endometrium (ENDO),

corpus luteum (CL) and ampulla (AMP) were subdivided and incubated for 0, 1, 3, 6, 12 or 24h on ice. RNA extracts were incubated on ice for 0, 3, 12 or 24h, or exposed to 1, 2, 4 or 6 freeze-thaw cycles. RNA integrity number (RIN) was estimated. Expression of progesterone receptor (PGR) and cyclophilin genes from RNA extracts stored on ice for 0 or 24h, and 1 or 6 freeze-thaw cycles was measured by qPCR. Tissue and RNA extract incubation on ice, and repeated Tubastatin A clinical trial freeze-thaw cycles did not affect RIN values of RNA from ENDO, CL or AMP. Storage on ice or exposure to freeze-thaw cycles

did not affect Cq values for PGR or cyclophilin genes. In conclusion, neither generalized RNA degradation nor specific RNA degradation was affected by storage of tissue or RNA extracts on ice for up to 24h, or by up to 6 freeze-thaw cycles of RNA extracts obtained from bovine ENDO, CL and AMP.”
“Ischaemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is encountered in conditions that diminish intestinal blood flow. There is no clinically feasible technique available for mucosal preservation.

One hundred Wistar rats were this website subjected to intestinal ischaemia for 15 and 60 min (I15′,

I60′), followed by 1 and 7 days of reperfusion (R1d, R7d). Rats were subjected to ischaemia by clamping the superior mesenteric artery. Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) (2.500 ng/kg intra-arterial bolus or 20 ng/kg intravenous infusion) was administered immediately prior to the commencement of the experimental period. Animals were divided into 20 groups: sham (laparotomy Epacadostat Metabolism inhibitor alone), sacrificed at 1 or 7 days; saline administration, 15 or 60 min of ischaemia, 1 or 7 days of reperfusion; prostaglandin E1 administration, 15 or 60 min of ischaemia, 1 or 7 days of reperfusion, each one for intra-arterial or intravenous administration. Ileal segments were excised and assessed for histopathological score, polymorphonuclear (PMN) leucocytes encountered and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity measurement.

I/R caused deterioration of histological characteristics. Prophylactic administration of PGE1 resulted in a significant decrease in the histological score compared with the respective saline group (analysis of variance, P < 0.005). In groups treated with PGE1, PMN leucocyte infiltration was lower for the 60 min of ischaemia group (I60′/R1d *P = 0.026; I60′/R7d P = 0.015). I15′/R7d did not lead to a significant reduction in PMN infiltration (P = 0.061). Pretreatment with PGE1 attenuates MPO levels after intestinal I/R injury (P < 0.05). No differences were encountered between types of administration.

The prospective evidence on the associations in general populations has not been reliably quantified.

Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published prospective cohort studies evaluating the associations of baseline levels of these enzymes with all-cause mortality in general populations. Relevant studies were identified in a literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science up to March 2013. Authors of unpublished studies provided data on request.

Results Nineteen unique cohort studies with aggregate data on over 9.24 million participants and 242 953 all-cause mortality outcomes were included. In a comparison of extreme thirds

of baseline GGT and ALP levels, relative www.selleckchem.com/products/XL880(GSK1363089,EXEL-2880).html risks (RRs) (95% confidence intervals) for all-cause mortality were 1.60 (1.42-1.80) and 1.38 (1.17-1.63), respectively. The corresponding RRs for ALT were 0.82 (0.78-0.86) buy PRN1371 and 1.43 (1.08-1.90) in North American and Asian populations, respectively. There was no strong evidence of an association of AST with all-cause mortality: RR 1.23 (0.80-1.88). The pooled RRs per 5 U/l increment in GGT and ALP levels were 1.07 (1.04-1.10) and 1.03 (1.01-1.06), respectively.

Conclusions Available data indicate

positive independent associations of baseline levels of GGT and ALP with all-cause mortality, consistent with linear dose-response relationships. There Ricolinostat inhibitor were geographical variations in the association of ALT with all-cause mortality which require further investigation. The potential incremental prognostic values of GGT and ALP in mortality risk assessment need evaluation.”
“Optimization of biophysical properties is a critical success factor for the developability of monoclonal antibodies with potential therapeutic applications. The inter-domain disulfide bond between light chain (Lc) and heavy chain (Hc) in human IgG1 lends structural support for

antibody scaffold stability, optimal antigen binding, and normal Fc function. Recently, human IgG1 has been suggested to exhibit significantly greater susceptibility to reduction of the inter Lc-Hc disulfide bond relative to the same disulfide bond in human IgG1. To understand the molecular basis for this observed difference in stability, the sequence and structure of human IgG1 and human IgG1 were compared. Based on this Lc comparison, three single mutations were made in the Lc proximal to the cysteine residue, which forms a disulfide bond with the Hc. We determined that deletion of S214 (dS) improved resistance of the association between Lc and Hc to thermal stress. In addition, deletion of this terminal serine from the Lc of IgG1 provided further benefit, including an increase in stability at elevated pH, increased yield from transient transfection, and improved in vitro antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC).

“
“Palliative sedation (sedation to unconsciousness) as an option of last resort for intractable end-of-life distress has been the subject of ongoing discussion and debate as well as policy formulation. A particularly contentious issue has been whether some dying patients experience a form of intractable suffering not marked by physical symptoms that can reasonably be characterized as “”existential”" in nature and therefore not an acceptable indication for palliative sedation. Such is the position recently

taken by the American Medical Association. In this essay we argue that such a stance reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of human suffering, particularly at the end of life, and may deprive some dying patients of an effective means of relieving their intractable terminal distress.”
“The prevalence of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) in the general population is up to 3 %. Existing epidemiological data suggests that only Z-IETD-FMK solubility dmso a small fraction of UIAs progress towards rupture over the lifetime of an individual, but the surrogates for subsequent rupture and the natural history of UIAs are discussed very controversially at present. In case of rupture of an UIA, the case fatality

is up to 50 %, which therefore continues to stimulate interest in the pathogenesis of cerebral aneurysm formation and progression. CA3 Actual data on the chronological development of cerebral aneurysm has been especially difficult to obtain and, until recently, the existing knowledge in this respect is mainly derived from animal or mathematical models or short-term observational studies. Here, we review the current data on cerebral aneurysm formation and progression as well as a novel approach to investigate the developmental chronology of cerebral aneurysms.”
“To examine if pre-injury health-related factors are associated with the subsequent report of whiplash, and more specifically, both whiplash and neck pain.

Longitudinal population study of 40,751 persons participating in two consecutive health surveys with 11 years interval. We used logistic regression to estimate odds ratio (OR) for reporting whiplash

or whiplash with neck pain lasting at least 3 months last year, related to pre-injury health as indicated by subjective SRT1720 in vitro health, mental and physical impairment, use of health services, and use of medication. All associations were adjusted for socio-demographic factors.

The OR for reporting whiplash was increased in people reporting poor health at baseline. The ORs varied from 1.47 (95% CI 1.13-1.91) in people visiting a general practitioner (GP) last year to 3.07 (95% CI 2.00-4.73) in people who reported poor subjective health. The OR associated with physical impairment and mental impairment was 2.69 (95% CI 1.75-4.14) and 2.49 (95% CI 1.31-4.74), respectively. Analysis of reporting both whiplash and neck pain gave somewhat stronger association, with ORs varying from 1.50 (95% CI 1.07-2.

The presence of sulfonic groups in the sulfonated Sty/HEA/LMA find more terpolymer was confirmed by FTIR, and the resulting membrane showed an IEC of 1.29 meq/g and an electrical resistance of 0.1 Omega cm(2). The WU of the prepared membranes increased with the DS at the reaction time. The surface morphology obtained by atomic force microscopy clearly showed an increase of roughness with reaction time. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 119: 3180-3188, 2011″
“The non-protein amino

acid beta-aminobutyric acid (BABA) enhances Arabidopsis resistance to microbial pathogens and abiotic stresses through potentiation of the Arabidopsis defence responses. In this study, it is shown that BABA induces the stress-induced morphogenic response (SIMR). SIMR is observed in plants exposed to sub-lethal stress conditions. Anthocyanin, a known modulator of stress signalling, was also found to accumulate in BABA-treated Arabidopsis. These data and a previous microarray study indicate that BABA induces a stress response in Arabidopsis. High concentrations of amino acids, except for L-glutamine, cause a general amino acid stress inhibition. General amino acid inhibition is prevented by the addition of L-glutamine. L-Glutamine was found to inhibit the BABA-mediated SIMR and anthocyanin accumulation, suggesting that the non-protein amino acid BABA causes a general amino

acid stress inhibition in Arabidopsis. L-Glutamine also blocked BABA-induced resistance to heat stress and to the virulent bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000. During bacterial infection, priming of the salicylic acid-dependent defence marker PR1 was abolished FDA approved Drug Library cell line by L-glutamine treatment. These results indicate that

L-glutamine removal of the BABA-mediated stress response is concomitant with L-glutamine inhibition of BABA priming and BABA-induced Selleck KU-55933 resistance.”
“Study Design. Prospective registry.

Objective. The objective of this study is to examine procedural and long-term outcomes of a mini-open, lateral approach for tumor removal in the thoracic spine.

Summary of Background Data. The majority of spinal tumors present as metastatic tumors in the thoracic spine. Conventional surgical treatments have been associated with high rates of approach-related morbidities as well as difficult working windows for complete tumor excision. Recent advances in minimally invasive techniques, particularly mini-open (minimally invasive, not endoscopic) approaches, help to reduce the morbidities of conventional procedures with comparable outcomes.

Methods. Twenty-one consecutively treated patients at 2 institutions were treated between 2007 and 2009. Treatment variables, including operating time, estimated blood loss, length of hospital stay, and complications were collected, as were outcome measures, including the visual analog scale for pain and the Oswestry disability index.

Results.