Clinical and laboratory factors contributing to uninterpretable beryllium lymphocyte proliferation tests (BeLPT)

Background

The beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test (BeLPT), has become the principal clinical test for detecting beryllium sensitization and chronic beryllium disease. Uninterpretable BeLPT results can occur in a small but significant proportion of tests from poor lymphocyte growth (PG) or over proliferation of lymphocytes (OP). The clinical and laboratory causes of uninterpretable results are not known.

Methods

BeLPT data from the US Department of Energy‐supported Former Worker Screening Program were analyzed for a 10‐year period. Drivers of uninterpretable BeLPTs were investigated using multivariable models and classification techniques.

Results

Three participant attributes were significantly associated with PG, while OP showed no significant associations. Serum lot for the lymphocyte growth medium accounted for 21% of the variation in PG and 16% in OP.

Conclusion

Serum lots influence the likelihood of having uninterpretable BeLPT. To better understand uninterpretable results and possibly reduce their occurrence, additional laboratory‐related factors should be addressed.

     

A mineral-related feature of young plaque characteristic to periodontitis-affected adults

The calcium concentration of 3-day-old total supragingival plaque in periodontitis-affected adults (n = 12) and their age and sex-matched periodontitis-free pairs was compared. The young plaque of the periodontitis-affected adults contained more calcium per protein (P less than 0.025, sign test) than that of the periodontitis-free pairs. The findings of the present study may suggest that high Ca-content of supragingival plaque is connected to the development of adult periodontitis.     

Not simply a foreign body

The presence of foreign biological substances in the human body can lead to violent immune reactions. This is the report of a very rare case involving not only the presence of a biological substance, but also a symbiotic relationship between a living plant (the common wheat grain, Triticum aestivum L.) and the human body. Black coal particles and one cereal grain were removed from the subgalea of the right parietal region of a 35-year-old man who had sustained injuries in a motor vehicle accident 16 days earlier. There were signs of germination of the grain, but no macroscopic or microscopic evidence of an inflammatory reaction. Grain germination was verified microscopically. There are various explanations for the absence of an immune reaction, but only coal-tar-induced immunosuppression can explain the observed phenomenon.     

A congenital teratoma with a cleft palate: report of a case

Teratomas are benign tumors containing cells from ectodermal, mesodermal and endodermal layers. They occur in about 1 in every 4000 births and most commonly in the sacrococcygeal region, followed by the ovaries. Congenital epignathus teratomas are rare embryological neoplasms localised in the region of head and neck. An epignathus is found in approximately 1:35,000 to 1:200,000 live births. This accounts for 2-9% of all teratomas. Size and location of the neoplasm in the oronasopharynx is variable. Teratomas are partly undiagnosed at the time of birth. They may exist with an intracranial extension or as small polyps. Large epignathi can lead to difficult management during and after birth. The case of a newborn girl with a combination of an epignathus and a cleft palate is described. The epignathus presented as a huge mass extending out of the mouth of the infant girl. On the day of birth debulking of the extraoral portion of the tumor, followed by intraoral exstirpation, was performed. The results of the histologic examination indicated a congenital epignathus. Six months later a recurrence was found.     

The application of microscopic surgery in dentistry

The use of the microscope as a tool for practising Medicine, especially in surgical specialisations, has been established for decades. The microscope was first used in OdontologyDentistry back to the 1970s and 1980s, and was introduced more widely (although it was still far from being in general use) during 1990s. The purpose of this article is to describe the main applications of the microscope in OdontologyDentistry today, as well as providing odontologists and stomatologists, whether specialists or in general practice, with information about microscopic OdontologyDentistry for better patient care. This work also gives particular importance to matters needed to achieve the necessary manual dexterity to work in a magnified operating field using a surgical microscope (SM).     

Überlebensverbesserung eines unizentrischen Gesamtkollektivs aus 20 Jahren

Purpose

The development of overall survival of a DÖSAK (German-Austrian-Swiss Cooperative Group on tumours of the maxillofacial region) clinic’s overall population comprising a time period of more than 20 years (1983–2004) should be assessed. At a cutoff date (January 1st, 1997), a change from a primarily surgically based to a consequent multi-modality treatment regimen was implemented. The periods of time before and after that change should be compared.

Methods and patients

The data of the DÖSAK registry entries on 1038 patients suffering from primary untreated oral and oropharyngeal carcinomas were updated with respect to follow-up and mortality data to achieve a 100% quality of follow-up. The end point (death) was reached in 67% of the overall population. Statistical analysis was carried out by the Trium Analysis Online corporation, Munich.

Results

The portion of female and older tumor patients increased, more than half of all tumor patients were clearly in stage IV of the disease at first referral. The portion of patients operated on persisted approximately (80%), the portion of additional treatment modalities could be increased considerably. The fact of a bony infiltration by the tumor and the operability remained highly significantly relevant for survival in multivariate analysis, despite of multi-modality treatment. The survival rate of the patients remained significantly dependent on the clinical stage of the disease in multivariate analysis but could be improved by 10% in the clinical stages II and III and in the patients who could not be operated on. All in all, the cutoff date was statistically relevant for survival in multivariate analysis, i.?e. the change in the treatment regimen had a verifiable positive effect on the survival of a unicentric overall population.

Conclusion

Survival improvement in an overall population via change in treatment strategy is possible in relatively short time; the clinical stages II and III and the non-operable patients have the greatest benefit from a multi-modality treatment.