Case Report on Chiari Syndrome

Chiari Malformation is a rare condition. A condition known as Chiari malformation occurs when brain tissue spreads into the spinal canal. When a portion of your skull is excessively small or malformed, it presses on your brain and forces it downward. Chiari malformation is a rare occurrence, although the increased use of imaging testing has resulted in more diagnosis. Case Presentation: A 18-year-old boy was admitted to the hospital with the following symptoms: Tingling sensation, numbness over left hand since 2 to 3 months. Neck bend toward right side, pain in left hand since 6 month. Difficulty during eating by hand since 2 to 3 month. On physical examination, indicated a bright attentive person with pale conjunctiva and no symptoms of icterus. He had a tachycardia, bilateral pitting pedal edema and a swollen abdomen with shifting dullness, all of which pointed to as cites. He had a history of intermittent abdominal pain. On admission he complaint of new onset of dyspnea on exertion, fatigue and abdominal swelling. The rest of all physical examination was normal, with no skin changes and an intact arterial pulses in all four extremities. Conclusion: The primary focus of this case study is on professional management and outstanding nursing care, which may provide the holistic care that Chiari Syndrome necessitates while also effectively managing the challenging case. After a full recovery, the patient's comprehensive health care team collaborates to help the patient regain his or her previous level of independence and satisfaction.

Deciphering 3D Human Sphygmopalpation Pulse Patterns using “X-ray” Images Acquired from Tactile Robotic Fingers

ABSTRACTSphygmopalpation at specific locations of human wrists has been used as a medical measurement technique in China since the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD); it is now generally accepted that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) doctors are able to decipher 28 types of basic pulse patterns using their fingertips. This TCM technique of examining individual arterial pulses by palpation has undergone an upsurge recently in popularity as a low-cost and non-invasive diagnostic technique for monitoring patient health status. We have developed a pulse sensing platform for studying and digitalizing arterial pulse patterns via a TCM approach. This platform consists of a robotic hand with three fingers for pulse measurement and an artificial neural network (ANN) together with pulse signal preprocessing for pulse pattern recognition. The platforms previously reported by other research groups or marketed commercially exhibit one or more of the following imperfections: a single channel for data acquisition, low sensitivity and rigid sensors, lack of control of the applied pressure, and in many reported works, lack of an intelligent data analysis system. The platform presented here features up to three-dimensional (3D) tactile sensing channels for recording data and uses highly sensitive capacitive MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) flexible sensing arrays, pressure-feedback-controlled robotic fingers, and machine learning algorithms. We also proposed a methodology of obtaining “X-ray” image of pulse information constructed based on the sensing data from 3 locations and 3 applied pressures (i.e., mimicking TCM doctors), which contains all arterial pulse information in both spatial and temporal spans, and which could be used as an input to a deep learning algorithm. By applying our developed platform and algorithms, 3 types of consistent pulse patterns, i.e., “Hua” , “Xi” , and “Chen” , as described by TCM doctors”, could be identified in a selected group of 3 subjects who were diagnosed by TCM practitioners. We have shown the classification rates is 98.7% in training process and 84.2% in testing result for these 3 basic pulse patterns. The high classification rate of the developed platform could lead to further development of a high-level artificial intelligence system incorporating knowledge from TCM – the robotics finger system could become a standard clinical equipment for digitalizing and visualizing human arterial pulses

Microvascular Thrombosis and Ischaemic Limb Losses in Critically Ill Patients

Relatively little scientific attention has been given to the small subset of critically ill patients with circulatory shock who develop ischaemic limb losses (symmetrical peripheral gangrene [SPG]). The clinical picture consists of acral (distal extremity) tissue necrosis involving lower limbs in a largely symmetrical fashion and with detectable arterial pulses; in one-third of patients the upper extremities are also affected (potential for four-limb amputations). The laboratory picture includes thrombocytopenia, coagulopathy, and normoblastemia (circulating nucleated red blood cells). The explanation for limb losses is microvascular thrombosis caused by disseminated intravascular coagulation usually secondary to cardiogenic or septic shock. A common myth is that vasopressors cause the ischaemic limb injury. However, the more likely explanation is failure of the natural anticoagulant systems (protein C and antithrombin) to downregulate thrombin generation in the microvasculature. This is because more than 90% of patients with SPG have preceding ‘shock liver’, which occurs 2 to 5 days (median, 3 days) prior to ischaemic limb injury, with impaired hepatic production of protein C and antithrombin.

Absence of Clinical and Hemodynamic Consequences due to Posterior Tibial Artery Congenital Aplasia

The exact knowledge of popliteal artery and its branches’ anatomic variations is important for the clinical practice of angiology, vascular surgery, and interventional procedures. Congenital absence of the artery leads, in some cases, to early malformations of the extremity in the childhood; however, it may also remain asymptomatic. We present an unusual case of a 76-year-old male patient complaining of paraesthesia in both limbs and bilateral aplasia of posterior tibial artery (PTA). Physical examination, ankle-brachial indexes, before and after exercise, arterial duplex scan, and magnetic resonance arteriography were performed. Arterial pulses for PTA at the level of the ankle were normal; arterial duplex study showed biphasic arterial flow at the level of the ankle. Color duplex ultrasound as well as magnetic resonance arteriography revealed the absence of the PTA in both limbs. The vascularization of the fibula was bilaterally normal. The patient underwent also neurological examination and electromyography, which were normal. The evaluation of the possible clinical signs and symptoms and the hemodynamic consequences of this condition are further discussed.

PERIPHERAL ARTERIAL DISEASE

Background: The increase in prevalence of type 2 diabetes and its complications is alarming. The incidence of diabetic footulcers due to peripheral arterial disease, which leads to foot amputations far too often, is unacceptably high especially in developing countries.This study has been conducted to find out frequency and degree of peripheral arterial disease in type 2 diabetics having foot ulcers at tertiarycare settings in Abbottabad. Methods: This was a prospective descriptive study-being conducted at Northern Institue of Medical Sciences(NIMS) and Ayub teaching hospital Abbottabad from August 2009 to June 2010. Type 2 diabetics with non-healing foot ulcers lasting longer thanten days, were selected for this study by non-probability purposive sampling method. All study subjects have undergone for palpation ofperipheral arterial pulses in the lower limbs. Ankle-brachial index (ABI) is the ratio of the systolic blood pressure at the ankle to that in the arm.Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) was considered to be present if ABI was less than 0.90. It was further graded as mild, moderate and severeaccording to ABI values between 0.70-0.90, 0.50-0.69 and less than 0.49 respectively, as per recommendations of American DiabetesAssociation. Results: A total of 83 type 2 diabetics with foot ulcers were enrolled during eleven months period of this study. The mean age ofstudy subjects was 53.68±9.51 years. There were 33 (39.75%) males and 50 (60.24%) females with M to F ratio of 1:1.51. Mean duration ofdiabetes was 13.67±5.80 years (ranging from 9-23 years). Majority 57 (68.67%) of our patients were obese having poor glycemic control.Peripheral arterial disease has been found in 35(42.16%) patients, out of them 18(51.42%) had mild PAD as their ABI values remained between0.70-0.90, 15(42.85%) had moderate PAD due to their ABI values between 0.50-0.69 and 2 (5.71%) had severe PAD as their ABI values liebelow 0.49. Conclusions: Ankle-brachial index is a non-invasive, inexpensive and office-based diagnostic tool for peripheral arterial diseasein type 2 diabetics having foot ulcers, Healthcare professionals must be trained about early referral and regular feet care of these patients.

Chronic ischaemic leg ulcer as a late complication of post-traumatic arteriovenous fistula

Objective Chronic post-traumatic arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is a late complication of vascular injury and can be presented with symptoms of congestive heart failure, venous hypertension and distal ischaemia. We present an unusual case of chronic ischaemic leg ulcer in young adult caused by post-traumatic AVF. Case report A 29-year-old male patient was admitted to our hospital with symptoms of chronic ulcer located on the lateral side of the lower left leg. Arterial pulses distally from the groin were absent. His medical history revealed him to have sustained gunshot injury of the left thigh in the war conflict 18 years before. Angiography showed a large AVF between superficial femoral artery and femoral vein. The patient underwent surgical repair of AVF with reconstruction of superficial femoral artery by saphenous vein interposition under spinal anaesthesia. Completion angiography confirmed AVF exclusion. Leg ulcer healed within a month. Conclusion Chronic leg ulcer may be the only symptom of large post-traumatic AVF in young adults.