Pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma with subcutaneous and intraosseous fat necrosis

On rare occasions, excessive lipase production by functioning pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma results in subcutaneous and intraosseous fat necrosis. A patient with subcutaneous nodules and osteolytic lesions from metastatic fat necrosis associated with this malignancy is reported. Prompt recognition of the syndrome led to complete resection of the otherwise asymptomatic neoplasm of the exocrine pancreas.     

Construction of an odds model of coronary heart disease using published information: the Cardiovascular Health Improvement Model (CHIME)

Background  

There is a need for a new cardiovascular disease model that includes a wider range of relevant risk factors, in particular lifestyle factors, to aid targeting of interventions and improve population models of the impact of cardiovascular disease and preventive strategies. The model needs to be applicable to a wider population including different ethnic groups, different countries and to those with and without cardiovascular disease. This paper describes the construction of the Cardiovascular Health Improvement Model that aims to meet these requirements.     

Rathke cleft cysts: CT, MR imaging, and pathologic features

The authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings in seven patients with pathologically proved Rathke cleft cysts. All the cysts were located in the anterior sella turcica or the anterior suprasellar cistern. Five cysts had both intra- and suprasellar components, one was entirely intrasellar, and the other was predominantly suprasellar in location. The size of the cysts ranged from 8 to 20 mm. CT scans demonstrated low-density homogeneous lesions in four cases. On MR images of three of these four cases, the cysts had the same intensity as cerebrospinal fluid on T1- and T2-weighted images, while in the fourth case, the cyst was hyperintense on the T1-weighted images. In the remaining three cases, CT showed slight hyperdensity relative to brain parenchyma, suggestive of contrast enhancement. MR showed signal heterogeneity of these lesions with focal components of diminished signal intensity of T2-weighted images. These same foci appeared iso- to slightly hyperintense on T1-weighted images.     

CUTANEOUS VASOCONSTRICTION WITH ALERTING STIMULI IN RABBITS REFLECTS A PATTERNED REDISTRIBUTION OF CARDIAC OUTPUT

1. In conscious rabbits, when alerting stimuli elicit vasoconstriction in the ear vascular bed, there is little or no associated change in cardiac output (CO), as measured by chronically implanted Doppler ultrasonic probes. 2. Local anaesthetic injected around the base of the ear substantially diminished the degree of the vasoconstriction elicited during responses. 3. Our results emphasize that selective cutaneous vasoconstriction, an integral part of the response to alerting stimuli in conscious animals, is part of a patterned redistribution of the CO, organized by the brain.     

Work in progress: hybrid temporal-energy subtraction in digital fluoroscopy

Initial clinical results using a digital fluoroscopic implementation of the combined time-energy ("hybrid") subtraction technique are described, with emphasis on carotid and renal imaging. Where patient motion artifacts are due to soft-tissue motion alone, hybrid subtraction can remove them. Due to the need for a finite separation time between high- and low-energy pairs, however, the present implementation of the hybrid technique is not completely immune to soft-tissue motion. The intrinsic signal-to-noise ratio of hybrid imaging is less than that of conventional temporal subtraction. However, since the low-energy temporal subtraction images are included in the hybrid data set, the diagnostic quality of the examination is not compromised.     

Psychological stress in adolescent and adult mice increases neuroinflammation and attenuates the response to LPS challenge

Background  

There is ample evidence that psychological stress adversely affects many diseases. Recent evidence has shown that intense stressors can increase inflammation within the brain, a known mediator of many diseases. However, long-term outcomes of chronic psychological stressors that elicit a neuroinflammatory response remain unknown.