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Dominik Herzog,1 Werner Vach,2,3 Thomas Schwamborn,2 Franziska Saxer1,3,4 1Faculty of Medicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; 2Crossklinik Basel, Basel, Switzerland; 3Basel Academy for Quality and Research in Medicine, Basel, Switzerland; 4Novartis BioMedical Research, Translational Medicine, Basel, SwitzerlandCorrespondence: Franziska Saxer, Faculty of Medicine, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 61, Basel, 4056, Switzerland, Tel +41 61 207 31 11, Email franziska.saxer@unibas.chIntroduction: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures are frequent injuries, especially in athletes. Return to sports after reconstruction of the ligament is a frequently debated topic and of high relevance for these patients. It is mostly achieved at 9– 12 months post-surgery. However, the risk of subsequent knee injuries is high and psychological factors play an important role in the process and success of returning to sports. Little is known about patients’ perception of their journey returning to sports. This study aims to fill the gap.Material and Methods: The study aimed to include patients treated surgically for an ACL injury over 5 years at a specialized sports-medicine clinic. Patients were surveyed on the impact of the injury on their lives, their return to sports experience, and medical history.Results: In total, 100 (of 474) patients aged 35.9 years responded. Within 5 years, 19% experienced a reoperation and 23% a new knee injury. Overall, 83% of patients returned to their main sport, 72% reached their pre-injury level. However, 45% reported at least one distinct or severe consequence of their ACL injury. The ability to return to sports had more impact on the perception of the course of treatment than the experience of new injuries or surgery.Conclusion: The rate of successful return to sports was comparable to previous reports despite a higher average age in this cohort. A successful return to sports seems to be a major determinant for the perception of impact from the injury and may be more important than the avoidance of repeat trauma.Keywords: knee injury, patient journey, psychological impact of injury, quality of life, treatment perception

Sarah Piller, Denise Herzog Department of Paediatrics, Cantons Hospital of Fribourg, Fribourg, SwitzerlandCorrespondence: Denise HerzogDepartment of Pediatrics, Cantons Hospital of Fribourg, Chemin Des Pensionnats 2-6, 1700, Fribourg, SwitzerlandTel +41 26 306 3510Fax +41 26 306 3519Email denise.herzog@h-fr.chIntroduction: Fever is the chief complaint of up to one-third of all paediatric office visits in many places. The high number of consultations at our emergency department (ED) led us to hypothesise that this increase was due to febrile paediatric patients with lower urgency seeking medical advice.Methods: We retrospectively analysed the number and characteristics of patients 3 months to 5 years of age consulting for a body temperature of 38.5°C or higher during the 6 winter months of 2011–2012.Results: Twenty-four percent of all consultations were requested by the patients included in our group. None of the 835 patients had to be hospitalised, 95% of these patients had additional respiratory or gastrointestinal symptoms, 36.7% required antibiotic therapy, and 17.6% (laryngitis and lower respiratory tract infection (RTI)) required temporary respiratory support. A total of 56.2% of patients sought advice outside of the normal working hours.Conclusion: The majority of patients had fever accompanied by additional symptoms justifying a medical consultation. However, most of these did not require the infrastructure of an ED for their health care problem and probably visited the ED because of the open hours.Keywords: fever, emergency department, child, infection

Christian Thomsen,1 Dorothea Theilig,2 Dominik Herzog,1 Alexander Poellinger,2 Felix Doellinger,2 Nils Schreiter,3 Vera Schreiter,2 Dirk Schürmann,1 Bettina Temmesfeld-Wollbrueck,1 Stefan Hippenstiel,1 Norbert Suttorp,1 Ralf-Harto Hubner1 1Department of Internal Medicine/Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, 2Institute of Radiology, 3Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany Abstract: The exclusion of collateral ventilation (CV) and other factors affect the clinical success of endoscopic lung volume reduction (ELVR). However, despite its benefits, the outcome of ELVR remains difficult to predict. We investigated whether clinical success could be predicted by emphysema distribution assessed by computed tomography scan and baseline perfusion assessed by perfusion scintigraphy. Data from 57 patients with no CV in the target lobe (TL) were retrospectively analyzed after ELVR with valves. Pulmonary function tests (PFT), St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), and 6-minute walk tests (6MWT) were performed on patients at baseline. The sample was grouped into high and low levels at the median of TL perfusion, ipsilateral nontarget lobe (INL) perfusion, and heterogeneity index (HI). These groups were analyzed for association with changes in outcome parameters from baseline to 3 months follow-up. Compared to baseline, patients showed significant improvements in PFT, SGRQ, and 6MWT (all P≤0.001). TL perfusion was not associated with changes in the outcome. High INL perfusion was significantly associated with increases in 6MWT (P=0.014), and high HI was associated with increases in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), (P=0.012). Likewise, there were significant correlations for INL perfusion and improvement of 6MWT (r=0.35, P=0.03) and for HI and improvement in FEV1 (r=0.45, P=0.001). This study reveals new attributes that associate with positive outcomes for patient selection prior to ELVR. Patients with high perfusions in INL demonstrated greater improvements in 6MWT, while patients with high HI were more likely to respond in FEV1. Keywords: endoscopic lung volume reduction, COPD, valves, lung perfusion, emphysema distribution

Over the last decades, Pinus taeda L. plantations in southern Brazil showed a great increase in average production. However, the gains in productivity obtained by genetic selection and breeding have nowadays stabilized. Research on edaphic factors and silvicultural practices is currently performed with the aim of both increasing the productivity of P. taeda plantations and maintaining the soil quality. To this end, soil microbiological attributes are considered better indicators of soil quality as they are more sensitive than chemical and physical ones. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between microbial activity and the physical and chemical parameters of different soil types under young Pinus taeda plantations at five different sites in southern Brazil. Soil samples were collected at depths of 0-5 and 5-10 cm. The soil microbiological attributes evaluated were: potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), microbial basal respiration (MBR), and metabolic quotient (qCO2). We also evaluated some physical and chemical soil parameters. Sites with the highest values of C, clay, and nutrients in the soil, showed higher values for the soil microbiological attributes, compared to the other study sites. The previous management with minimal tillage in some sites seems to positively affect soil quality. The MCB and MBR showed better sensitivity in indicating differences between sites and showed a good relationship with clay content, C/N ratio, K, and pH. These results suggest that site-specific characteristics such as soil type or forest management influence soil microbiological attributes in Pinus taeda plantations during initial growth in southern Brazil.