Small, asymptomatic angiomyolipomas of the kidney

Ultrasound (US) detected 27 small, asymptomatic renal angiomyolipomas in 18 patients. Twenty-five lesions were diffusely hyperechoic and 2 were heterogeneous. Nephrotomography was positive in 8 out of 12 patients (67%), CT in 12/14 (86%), and angiography in 10/14 (71%). Percutaneous fine-needle biopsy confirmed the diagnosis in 8 out of 12 patients (67%). Nephrotomography and angiography were nonspecific, whereas CT and biopsy were most specific because of the presence of fatty tissue. Angiography helped clarify the degree of vascularity of the masses. If the diagnosis can be made preoperatively, more conservative management can be undertaken.     

Extracranial tumor vascularity: determination by dynamic CT scanning. Part II: The unit approach

Twenty-eight patients had combined conventional drip infusion CT scans. The information about the anatomic location of the lesion, its configuration, its cross-sectional appearance, its vascularity (as determined by dynamic signature curves), and its clinical presentation were considered as a single overall unit. This diagnostic approach allowed a diagnosis to be made on virtually all of these enhancing lesions without resorting to either a digital venous imaging study or angiographic procedure. In 17 of these cases, such an invasive second procedure was performed either to confirm the CT impression as part of this study or as part of a therapeutic embolization procedure.     

A model of the pre-assessment learning effects of assessment is operational in an undergraduate clinical context

Background

The Public Health (PH) course at the medical college of Cairo University is based on traditional lectures. Large enrollment limits students' discussions and interactions with instructors.

Aim

Evaluate students' learning outcomes as measured by improved knowledge acquisition and opinions of redesigning the Reproductive Health (RH) section of the PH course into e-learning and assessing e-course utilization.

Methods

This prospective interventional study started with development of an e-learning course covering the RH section, with visual and interactive emphasis, to satisfy students' diverse learning styles. Two student groups participated in this study. The first group received traditional lecturing, while the second volunteered to enroll in the e-learning course, taking online course quizzes. Both groups answered knowledge and course evaluation questionnaires and were invited to group discussions. Additionally, the first group answered another questionnaire about reasons for non-participation.

Results

Students participating in the e-learning course showed significantly better results, than those receiving traditional tutoring. Students who originally shunned the e-course expressed eagerness to access the course before the end of the academic year. Overall, students using the redesigned e-course reported better learning experiences.

Conclusions

An online course with interactivities and interaction, can overcome many educational drawbacks of large enrolment classes, enhance student's learning and complement pit-falls of large enrollment traditional tutoring.     

Identification of ANKRD11 and ZNF778 as candidate genes for autism and variable cognitive impairment in the novel 16q24.3 microdeletion syndrome

The clinical use of array comparative genomic hybridization in the evaluation of patients with multiple congenital anomalies and/or mental retardation has recently led to the discovery of a number of novel microdeletion and microduplication syndromes. We present four male patients with overlapping molecularly defined de novo microdeletions of 16q24.3. The clinical features observed in these patients include facial dysmorphisms comprising prominent forehead, large ears, smooth philtrum, pointed chin and wide mouth, variable cognitive impairment, autism spectrum disorder, structural anomalies of the brain, seizures and neonatal thrombocytopenia. Although deletions vary in size, the common region of overlap is only 90 kb and comprises two known genes, Ankyrin Repeat Domain 11 (ANKRD11) (MIM 611192) and Zinc Finger 778 (ZNF778), and is located approximately 10 kb distally to Cadherin 15 (CDH15) (MIM 114019). This region is not found as a copy number variation in controls. We propose that these patients represent a novel and distinctive microdeletion syndrome, characterized by autism spectrum disorder, variable cognitive impairment, facial dysmorphisms and brain abnormalities. We suggest that haploinsufficiency of ANKRD11 and/or ZNF778 contribute to this phenotype and speculate that further investigation of non-deletion patients who have features suggestive of this 16q24.3 microdeletion syndrome might uncover other mutations in one or both of these genes.     

The impact of the HIV epidemic on tuberculosis transmission in Tanzania

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of the HIV epidemic on tuberculosis transmission in Tanzania by estimating the trend in annual risk of tuberculosis infection (ARTI) over the period 1983-2003. DESIGN: Tuberculin survey among school children aged 6-14 years, randomly selected by cluster sampling. METHODS: Primary outcome was the ARTI among children without a BCG vaccination scar. To obtain time trends, data were reanalysed from three previous surveys carried out at intervals of 5 years since 1983, using identical methods and definitions. RESULTS: Of 96,226 children included in the analysis (74% of those enrolled), 10,239 (11%) had no BCG scar. The ARTI was 0.68% (95% confidence interval 0.55-0.81). Despite a doubling of notification rates of smear-positive tuberculosis since 1983, this represents an average annual decline since the first survey of 2.7% (P < 0.001). The declining trend in ARTI was observed in 17 of 20 regions, with no association between this trend and region-specific prevalence of HIV infection among patients with tuberculosis (P = 0.575). A similar decline in ARTI was observed among children with a BCG scar and for various ways of estimating the prevalence of tuberculosis infection from the distribution of skin test reactions. CONCLUSION: Despite substantial increases in tuberculosis incidence, the overall population-level effect of the HIV epidemic on tuberculosis transmission in Tanzania has been limited. This suggests that in the presence of a strong control programme, the HIV epidemic has limited impact on tuberculosis transmission.     

Diverging associations of an intended early invasive strategy compared with actual revascularization, and outcome in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome: the problem of treatment selection bias

AIMS: In several observational studies, revascularization is associated with substantial reduction in mortality in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (nSTE-ACS). This has strengthened the belief that routine early angiography would lead to a reduction in mortality. We investigated the association between actual in-hospital revascularization and long-term outcome in patients with nSTE-ACS included in the ICTUS trial. METHODS AND RESULTS: The study population of the present analysis consists of ICTUS participants who were discharged alive after initial hospitalization. The ICTUS trial was a randomized, controlled trial in which 1200 patients were randomized to an early invasive or selective invasive strategy. The endpoints were death from hospital discharge until 4 year follow-up and death or spontaneous myocardial infarction (MI) until 3 years. Among 1189 patients discharged alive, 691 (58%) underwent revascularization during initial hospitalization. In multivariable Cox regression analyses, in-hospital revascularization was independently associated with a reduction in 4 year mortality and 3 year event rate of death or spontaneous MI: hazard ratio (HR) 0.59 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37-0.96] and 0.46 (95% CI 0.31-0.68). However, when intention-to-treat analysis was performed, no differences in cumulative event rates were observed between the early invasive and selective invasive strategies: HR 1.10 (95% CI 0.70-1.74) for death and 1.27 (95% CI 0.88-1.85) for death or spontaneous MI. CONCLUSION: The ICTUS trial did not show that an early invasive strategy resulted in a better outcome than a selective invasive strategy in patients with nSTE-ACS. However, similar to retrospective analyses from observational studies, actual revascularization was associated with lower mortality and fewer MI. Whether an early invasive strategy leads to a better outcome than a selective invasive strategy cannot be inferred from the observation that revascularized patients have a better prognosis in non-randomized studies.