Peripheral nerve

Nerve injuries with severe soft tissue damage are rare and demand a complex and individualized treatment approach, in order to limit medical and socioeconomic consequences. Since uniform systematic evidence so far is lacking, inconsistent therapy standards are implemented depending on individual experiences and background of respective microsurgeons.In order to provide best conditions for further healing, basic expert consensus statements were developed in a workshop on the 38th Annual Meeting of the German-speaking Community for Microsurgery of the Peripheral Nerves and Vessels (DAM)...

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of oroxylin A on the survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and the activation of microglial cells in a rat optic nerve (ON) crush model. METHODS: Oroxylin A (15mg/Kg in 0.2ml phosphate-buffered saline) or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS control) was immediately administered after ON crush once by subcutaneous injection. Rats were euthanized at 2 weeks after the crush injury. The density of RGC was counted by retrograde labeling with FluoroGold and immunostaining of retina flat mounts for Brn3a...

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that is caused by the obligate intracellular pathogen Mycobacterium leprae (M.leprae), which is the leading cause of all non-traumatic peripheral neuropathies worldwide. Although both myelinating and non-myelinating Schwann cells are infected by M.leprae in patients with lepromatous leprosy, M.leprae preferentially invades the non-myelinating Schwann cells. However, the effect of M.leprae infection on non-myelinating Schwann cells has not been elucidated. Lipid droplets (LDs) are found in M...

A large proportion of spinal cord injuries are incomplete. Even in clinically complete injuries, silent nonfunctional connections can be present. Therapeutic approaches that can strengthen transmission in weak neural connections to improve motor performance are needed. Our aim was to determine whether long-term delivery of paired associative stimulation (PAS, a combination of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS)) can enhance motor output in the hands of patients with chronic traumatic tetraplegia, and to compare this technique with long-term PNS...

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological features and prognosis of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of MPNST patients who were treated at Cancer Institute & Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science from January 1999 to January 2016. A total of 140 patients with 66 male and 74 female with MPNST were enrolled in the study. The median age was 40 at the time of diagnosis. Survival analysis were estimated by Kaplan-Meier method and Log rank test...

AIM: To highlight the salient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of the intraneural ganglion cyst (INGC) of various peripheral nerves for their precise diagnosis and to differentiate them from other intra and extra-neural cystic lesions. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the magnetic resonance (MR) images of a cohort of 245 patients presenting with nerve palsy involving different peripheral nerves was done. MR images were analyzed for the presence of a nerve lesion, and if found, it was further characterized as solid or cystic...

Plexiform neurofibromas are benign tumors that tend to occur in patients suffering from neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1). This report addresses a rare case where the tumor affected the parotid gland, deriving almost exclusively from the peripheral portion of the facial nerve. A 6-year-old male was referred to us complaining about a gradually enlarging swelling over the right parotid area. Imaging localized the lesion to the superficial lobe of the parotid gland, suggesting a neurofibroma. Cosmetic disfigurement and a functional deficit led us to perform complete surgical resection...

BACKGROUND: The precise annotation and accurate identification of the topography of fascicles to the end organs are prerequisites for studying human peripheral nerves. NEW METHOD: In this study, we present a feasible imaging method that acquires 3D high-resolution (HR) topography of peripheral nerve fascicles using an iodine and freeze-drying (IFD) micro-computed tomography (microCT) method to greatly increase the contrast of fascicle images. RESULTS: The enhanced microCT imaging method can facilitate the reconstruction of high-contrast HR fascicle images, fascicle segmentation and extraction, feature analysis, and the tracing of fascicle topography to end organs, which define fascicle functions...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Anesthesiology Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education sets core requirements for residency program accreditation. We periodically report and analyze the US anesthesiology residents' training experience in regional anesthesia and pain medicine. METHODS: Resident caseload, procedure, and pain medicine evaluation data were aggregated for the resident cohort who graduated in 2015. These data were analyzed for present-day experience and compared with previous reports from years 1980, 1990, and 2000 graduates...

BACKGROUND: Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) of primary afferent neurons provides control of localized chronic pain. This technique applies permanent electrical stimulation at the target area via a minimally invasive, subcutaneous placement of an electrode. OBJECTIVE: To assess analgesic effects of a minimally invasive wireless neuromodulation in the treatment of chronic intractable pain secondary to post-herpetic neuralgia. CASE SUMMARY: A 78-year-old man presented with severe intractable post herpetic neuralgic pain...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The present study describes the fabrication of polyaniline-silk fibroin nanocomposite based nerve conduits and its subsequent implantation in a rat sciatic nerve injury model for peripheral nerve regeneration. This is the first in vivo study of polyaniline based nerve conduit describing the safety and efficacy of the conduits in treating peripheral nerve injuries. The nanocomposite was synthesised by electrospinning a mixture of silk fibroin protein and polyaniline wherein the silk nanofibers were observed to be uniformly coated with polyaniline nanoparticles...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Rheumatoid vasculitis (RV) is an unusual complication of long-standing rheumatoid arthritis, which is characterized by the development of necrotizing or leukocytoclastic vasculitis involving small or medium-sized vessels. In this review, we aim to provide an update on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, and management of this challenging extra-articular manifestation. RECENT FINDINGS: RV is heterogenous in its clinical presentation depending on the organ and size of blood vessels involved...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Recent studies have demonstrated a critical role for nerves in enabling tumor progression. The association of nerves with cancer cells is well established for a variety of malignant tumors, including pancreatic, prostate and the head and neck cancers. This association is often correlated with poor prognosis. A strong partnership between cancer cells and nerve cells leads to both cancer progression and expansion of the nerve network. This relationship is supported by molecular pathways related to nerve growth and repair...

A nerve injury has a profound impact on the patient's daily life due to the impaired sensory and motor function, impaired dexterity, sensitivity to cold as well as eventual pain problems.To perform an appropriate treatment of nerve injuries, a correct diagnosis must be made, where the injury is properly classified, leading to an optimal surgical approach and technique, where timing of surgery is also important for the outcome.Knowledge about the nerve regeneration process, where delicate processes occur in neurons, non-neuronal cells (i...

Terminal hip flexion contributes to increased strain in peripheral nerves at the level of the hip joint. The effects of hip abduction and femoral version on sciatic nerve biomechanics are not well understood. A decrease in sciatic nerve strain will be observed during terminal hip flexion and hip abduction, independent of femoral version. Six un-embalmed human cadavers were utilized. Three Differential Variable Reluctance Transducers (DVRTs) sensors were placed on the sciatic nerve while the leg was flexed to 70° with a combination of - 10°, 0°, 20° and 40° adduction/abduction...

Implications of GSK3 activity for axon regeneration are often inconsistent, if not controversial. Sustained GSK3 activity in GSK3(S/A) knock-in mice reportedly accelerates peripheral nerve regeneration via increased MAP1B phosphorylation and concomitantly reduces microtubule detyrosination. In contrast, the current study shows that lens injury-stimulated optic nerve regeneration was significantly compromised in these knock-in mice. Phosphorylation of MAP1B and CRMP2 was expectedly increased in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons upon enhanced GSK3 activity, but, surprisingly, no GSK3-mediated CRMP2 inhibition was detected in sciatic nerves, thus revealing a fundamental difference between central and peripheral axons...

While transplantation of Schwann cells facilitates axon regeneration, remyelination and repair after peripheral nerve injury clinical use is limited by cell bioavailability. We posit that such limitation in cell access can be overcome by the use of autologous bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). As MSCs can transdifferentiate to Schwann cell-phenotypes and accelerate nerve regeneration we undertook proteomic evaluation of the cells to uncover the protein contents that affects Schwann cell formulation...

Recent experiments showed that a pannexin-1 inhibitor, probenecid, reduced clinical symptoms in the murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis when applied during the initial phase of neuronal inflammation. An inflammatory component is also present in a toxically induced inflammation and demyelination using cuprizone diet. Probenecid is a pannexin-1 antagonist and a probenecid therapy was investigated. Mice were fed for 10days with a cuprizone diet. In the following, the diet was continued but combined with a daily injection of a low dose of probenecid or solvent for 10days...