Louis Buhagiar MD, FRCP(UK) Department of Medicine, Mater Dei Hospital, Malta Abstract Exit site infections of Tenchkoff catheters in patients on peritoneal dialysis are rather common. These very often remain localised but they may spread along the tunnel of the catheter. These infections are very important to be diagnosed quickly as untreated they usually necessitate the removal of the dialysi...

Fibroblasts can be collected from deceased individuals, grown in culture, reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and then differentiated into a multitude of cell types, including neurons. Past studies have generated iPSCs from somatic cell biopsies from either animal or human subjects. Previously, fibroblasts have only been successfully cultured from postmortem human skin in ...

Anatomy Surrounding the spinal cord in the bony vertebral column are three membranes. From the immediate overlay of the cord to the periphery, there are the pia mater, the arachnoid mater, and the dura mater [11]. Between the pia and the arachnoid is the space of interest in spinal anesthesia, the subarachnoid space. In this space are the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), spinal nerves, a trabecular n...

Intrasacral meningocele is an unusual congenital lesion. It is an intrathecal cystic formation arising as a protrusion of the arachnoid through a congenitally weak place in the dura mater. We report a case of a 12-year-old child with chronic pain with an intrasacral meningocele identified on magnetic resonance imaging.

Introduction It is becoming increasingly important to develop accurate mathematical models of human tissue for use in finite element analysis and in the development of replacement materials. For modelling the impingement of bone fragments on the spinal cord during fracture, the properties of the dura mater are required but only limited data is available. Failure stresses under tensile loading h...

This paper examines the evidence for the role of dural attachments in the biomechanical and patho-physiological manifestations of Spinal Subluxation. The scientific literature is reviewed in relation to anatomical, biomechanical, physiological and clinical considerations. The paper examines the implications of these factors in the context of “Tonal” Chiropractic models. © Dr Nick Hodgson 2006 w...

Introduction Cerebral dqfects of developmental origin, apart from those involving the nervous parenchyma, are to be found chiefly in the neighbourhood of the roof of the-third ventricle. The complex developmental evolution of the structures in this region may predispose to imperfect development, whether the cause be some variety of damage which impairs development, or. some genetically transmit...

BACKGROUND Dural substitutes are used to achieve a watertight closure in situations where adequate closure is not possible .This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of use a new collagen matrix dural substitute ( Duradry, Tecnodry, Belo Horizonte MG) in repair or expansion of cranial and spinal dura-mater. METHODS 30 patients operated on between March and September 2008, w...