As endovascular therapies increase in frequency, the incidence of lost or embolized foreign bodies is increasing. The presence of an intravascular foreign body (IFB) is well recognized to have the potential to cause serious complications. IFB can embolize and impact critical sites such as the heart, with subsequent significant morbidity or mortality. Intravascular foreign bodies most commonly result from embolized central line fragments, but they can originate from many sources, both iatrogenic and noniatrogenic. The percutaneous approach in removing an IFB is widely perceived as the best way to retrieve endovascular foreign bodies. This minimally invasive approach has a high success rate with a low associated morbidity, and it avoids the complications related to open surgical approaches. We examined the characteristics, causes, and incidence of endovascular embolizations and reviewed the various described techniques that have been used to facilitate subsequent explantation of such materials.

No abstract

Objective/Background: Neurogenic reproductive dysfunction in men with spinal cord injury (SCI) is common and the result of a combination of impotence, ejaculatory failure, and abnormal semen characteristics. It is well established that the semen quality of men with SCI is poor and that changes are seen as early as 2 weeks after injury. The distinguishing characters of poor quality are abnormal sperm motility and viability. In the majority of the men with SCI, the sperm count is not abnormal. We elaborate on the effects of the SCI on semen parameters that may contribute to poor motility and poor viability. Methods: Review. Design: PubMed and MEDLINE databases were searched using the following key words: spinal cord injuries, fertility, sexual dysfunction, and spermatogenesis. All literature was reviewed by the team of authors according to the various stages of sperm development and transport in the male reproductive cycle. Findings: The cause of asthenozoospermia appears to be multifactorial. Conclusion: Current literature does not support the preeminence of a single factor relating to neurogenic reproductive dysfunction in men with SCI. After SCI, there is ample evidence of disturbance of sperm production, maturation and storage, and transport due to an abnormal neuroendocrine milieu. Semen quality seems to be primarily affected by changes to the seminal plasma constituents, type of bladder management, and the neurogenic impairment to the ejaculatory function. Further focused and structured studies are required.

Despite relatively near total neurological recovery patients with incomplete SCI have neuropathic bladder unless proved otherwise. Salient deterioration in bladder dysfunction is not uncommon. Regular urological monitoring and appropriate treatment changes are required in the long term.

Patients with biochemical evidence of liver disease generate significantly lower serum CRP concentrations during bacteraemia than patients without liver dysfunction. Serum CRP concentrations should be interpreted with caution in patients with liver disease to diagnose and monitor bacterial sepsis.