PURPOSE Vertebral compression fractures are the most common fractures in the elderly. Long lasting pain and deformity is responsible for consecutive impairment with markedly reduced life quality, increased morbidity and mortality. The beneficial effects of balloon kyphoplasty are verified in many studies. Subsequent fracture risk is not finally clarified, cement related risks and deformity rela...

conclusions after kyphoplasty, her pain was immediately resolved, vertebral body height was restored to normal, and pain score was reduced from 8 to 1. she was discharged with a normal neurological examination and good general condition, and returned to her normal life. in this case, balloon kyphoplasty resulted in the restoration of the vertebral body height, decrease in pain, and returning to...

INTRODUCTION Research demonstrates that cognitive biases toward drug-related stimuli are correlated with substance use. This study aimed to investigate differences in cognitive biases (i.e., approach bias, attentional bias, and memory associations) between smoking and non-smoking adolescents in the US and the Netherlands. Within the group of smokers, we examined the relative predictive value of...

OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between symptom-onset-to-balloon time and one-year mortality in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated by primary angioplasty. BACKGROUND Despite the prognostic implications demonstrated in patients with STEMI treated with thrombolysis, the impact of time-delay on prognosis in patients undergoin...

We read with interest the study by Brodie et al. (1) showing that delays in door-to-balloon time have an impact on survival in high-risk patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI). We have the following concerns in relation to the reported results and conclusions in this single-center study. In the current study,...

IMPORTANCE Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an effective treatment option for high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis. Different from surgery, transcatheter deployment of valves requires either a balloon-expandable or self-expandable system. A randomized comparison of these 2 systems has not been performed. OBJECTIVE To determine whether the balloon-expandable device is...

Shortening symptom-to-reperfusion time improves prognosis in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Accordingly, current guidelines target a door-to-balloon time <90 minutes, irrespective of symptom-to-door time; nevertheless, the relation between door-to-balloon and symptom-to-door time and its potential impact on myocardial salvage remains largely unknown. We investigated t...

The finding that conjunctive concepts are easier for human subjects to learn than disjunctive concepts is reported in most introductory books on cognitive psychology. In this paper, we report some conditions under which this finding may not be true. In particular, we demonstrate that the prior causal knowledge of subjects can influence the rate of concept learning. We report on an experiment th...