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INTRODUCTION:There are several studies on the microstructure of main arteries of the body but limited have been dealt with the neck arteries. It has been mentioned that the vascular pathologies like the thrombo-embolism, atherosclerosis and infarction are common in the branches of vertebral and internal carotid artery as compared to the branches of external carotid artery. OBJECTIVE: To study the histological structure of the 3 medium sized arteries of neck namely external carotid, internal carotid and vertebral artery, calculation of their mean pulse pressure and pulsatory power and to find any association between them if present. METHOD: Fresh samples of external carotid, internal carotid and vertebral artery each measuring 10mm in length were taken from five cadavers and prepared for histological examination under microscope using orcein and H&E stain. The mean pressure and pulsatory power of these arteries were calculated by taking the measurements such as wall thickness, lumen circumference, arterial wall area, and smooth muscle fibre density in tunica media in that arterial segment. RESULT: The pulsatory power of external carotid artery, internal carotid artery and vertebral artery is found to be 120, 273.3, 400 Joules /heart beat and the mean pressure is 17.1 mm Hg, 27.3 mm Hg and 33.3 mm Hg respectively. CONCLUSION: The thickness of tunica media of an artery is directly proportional to its pulsatory power. The mean pulse pressure, pulsatory power as well the number of smooth muscles fibres in tunica media are more in internal carotid artery and vertebral artery in comparison to external carotid artery. It may be a very important reason why vascular pathologies are less common in branches of external carotid as compare to internal carotid and vertebral artery.

Background An ideal strategy for radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of atrial fibrillation (AF) in the left atrium should be efficient enough to achieve transmural lesions in left atrium with no or minimal collateral tissue damage. Resistive heating of high power short duration (HPSD) RFA has been found to result in lesions larger in width but lesser in depth compared to lower power longer duration (LPLD) RFA in some experimental studies. Purpose This meta-analysis was performed to compare procedural, short-term and long-term outcomes of HPSD versus LPLD RFA of AF. Methods PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases were systematically reviewed. Five observational studies meeting criteria were included in the meta-analysis. All the studies scored six or more points in the New-castle Ottawa scale. There were considerable variations in the ablation strategies across the studies. However, radiofrequency power more than 40W was considered as high power. Hypergeometric model with exact likelihood function was utilized for statistical analysis. Results Baseline parameters and ablation details have been depicted in Table 1. 740 patients with HPSD and 287 patients with LPLD ablation strategies, were followed up from 6 to 30 months. Total procedural time (P value <0.0001) and ablation time (P value <0.0001) were significantly lower in the HPSD group than LPLD group. However, the fluoroscopy time was similar (P value = 0.09) in both the groups (Table 2). There were no occurrences of atrio-esophageal fistula or pulmonary venous stenosis in any of the studies. Cardiac tamponade (P value = 0.56), stroke (P value = 0.70) and AF recurrences (P value = 0.81), were similar in both groups (Table 2). Conclusion Newer HPSD and conventional LPLD RFA, both the strategies are very safe procedure for treatment of RFA with low to no procedural complications. AF recurrence rates were reasonably high irrespective of ablation strategies, however, no strategy scored statistically better over the other one. Large randomized multi-centric studies with long-term follow up are needed to test the theoretical advantage of HPSD ablation over the traditional ablation strategy of AF. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Morphology and morphometry of nutrient foramen of bones vary from country to country and from place to place. Objective was to study the number, position, location, directions, distance of nutrient foramen from the proximal end of femur, tibia and fibula in eastern Indian region. In a descriptive study, 393 bilateral lower limb long bones (138 femur, 132 tibia & 123 fibulae) were studied. Total nutrient foramen calculated; 178 in femur, 137 in tibia, 121 in fibula. Most had single foramen; femur (66%), tibia (96%) and fibula (94%). Number of foramina ranged from 0-3 in femur, 1-2 in tibia and 0-2 in fibula. Foramina were present mainly on the posterior surface of the bones [linea aspera in femur (96), below soleal line and lateral to the vertical line in tibia (90) and peroneal crest in fibula (74)]. The mean length, mean distance of nutrient foramen from the proximal end of the bones measured. Most foramina found on the middle third, with foraminal index ranging from 33% to 66%; though on tibia it’s not a common finding. The 't' test value of foraminal index was significant for tibia. Mean foraminal index was measured for femur 42.28%, tibia 35.91%, fibula 41.54%. The knowledge of anatomical variations of nutrient foramen is very important as preservation of vascularization of long bones is essential in fracture repair, tumor resection, bone grafting.