Dental amalgam, mercury toxicity, and renal autoimmunity.

Chronic exposure to elemental metallic mercury may induce an immunological glomerular disease. Since humans are exposed to mercury vapor (Hg0) from dental amalgam restorations and kidney is an important target organ of mercury vapor and mercury deposition in kidney increases proportionally with the dose, our aim was to test the occurrence of specific antibodies to antiglomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM-IgG) among individuals with adverse effects to mercury from dental amalgam fillings. We selected a group of patients (n=24) with a history of long-term exposure to mercury vapor from mercury-containing amalgam fillings and showing adverse effects that were laboratory confirmed. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were used to evaluate serum levels of antibodies to anti-GBM-IgG. None of the patients showed evidence of anti-GBM autoimmunity, either in subgroups with strong allergy to mercury or its compounds (i.e., organic mercury) or in those patients who had past thimerosal-containing vaccines coverage (7 of 24). There was no evidence of the presence of circulating anti-GBM antibodies in subjects suffering from adverse events due to long-term exposure to mercury from dental amalgams, even in individuals who presented allergy to mercury.     

Low Rate of Intrahospital Deep Venous Thrombosis in Acutely Ill Medical Patients: Results From the AURELIO Study

Objective

To evaluate the effect of hospitalization on deep venous thrombosis (DVT) rate by the cumulative incidence of DVT in the proximal venous tract of the lower limbs at admission and discharge.

Dexamethasone suppression test in elderly patients with dementia of Alzheimer type, vascular dementia and stroke: a re-evaluation of its applicability

In order to evaluate the prevalence of non-suppression after dexamethasone in psychogeriatrics and to further verify the reliability of the neurobiological information obtained, dexamethasone suppression test was carried out in a geriatric population composed of patients with dementia of Alzheimer type, vascular dementia, stroke and age and sex-matched controls. Basal cortisol levels did not differ among groups and was positively correlated to age. Prevalence of non-suppression, defined according to Carroll's criterion was high in the pathological groups studied, and relatively high in controls, showing no diagnostic value. Unlikely suppressors, the time course of mean plasma corticol levels of non-suppressors was highly heterogeneous in each group considered, especially in the pathological groups. More restrictive criteria for the definition of non-suppressors are proposed, in order to increase the specificity of the test when applied to psychogeriatrics.     

Reliability of pancreatic cancer staging classifications

The prognostic value of UICC and JPS classifications was evaluated in a group of 74 patients undergoing resection for pancreatic carcinoma in the 1982-1992 period. The predictivity of peritoneal cytology and intraoperative liver biopsies was evaluated in a subgroup of 15 patients. Patient division by stage according, respectively, to UICC and JPS classifications was: stage I: 28 and 2 patients; stage II: 12 and 11 patients; stage III: 29 and 30 patients; stage IV: 5 and 31 patients. Median survival by UICC stages was: 17 months (m) in stage I, 10 m in stage II, 12 m in stage III, and 6 m in stage IV; by JPS stages it was 29 m in stage II, 14 m in stage III, and 7 m in stage IV. A radical resection was possible in 48 patients (65%); the survival was significantly worse in the nonradical resection group. The survival difference among UICC stages was not significant in a multivariate analysis with radicality, whereas among JPS stages a significant survival difference was found in both univariate and multivariate analysis. The tumor invasion of the retroperitoneal tissues and the presence of distant metastasis were indicators of a significantly worse prognosis. Lymph node involvement, tumor size, and serosal invasion had no significant effect on survival. Peritoneal cytology and liver biopsies did not provide further prognostic information.