A rare case report of appendix and cecum in the sac of left inguinal hernia (left Amyand's hernia)

This case is a rare aspect of left inguinal hernia. The patient was a 60-years old man with left scrotal mass since childhood. In the operating room, the hernia sac was opened which included cecum and appendix that is called left Amyand‘s hernia. The patient underwent herniorrhaphy with Lichtenstein repair.     

Epithelial RNase H2 Maintains Genome Integrity and Prevents Intestinal Tumorigenesis in Mice

1. Download high-res image (458KB)
2. Download full-size image

     

Herbal treatments of asthma: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a condition, often chronic, characterized by respiratory symptoms, variable airflow limitation and/or airway hyper-reactivity with symptoms causally related to family history, environmental influences, exposure to viruses and allergens as examples. The high economic burden associated with asthma is associated primarily with health care costs, missed work or school days. This systematic review was conducted to determine the study quality of articles investigating ayurvedic/collateral herbs, the effectiveness/efficacy and safety profile, as reported in the studies. METHODS: Literature searches were conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, Mantis, Ovid, Annotated Bibliography of Indian Medicine, and Cochrane library to identify published trials on herbal medicines for asthma of which Ayruvedic herbals are a subset. Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) and Quasi-Experimental Designs (QEDs) were included in this systematic review. The classic Jadad Scale, Singh RCT Scale with additional domains than Jadad, Safety Scoring Scale for clinical trials and the Singh QED Scale based on expanded features of QEDs were used to assess study quality. Herbs included in Traditional Chinese Medicine were excluded from this review. Forty-two articles were retrieved and 37 studies were ultimately reviewed utilizing 3 independent evaluators/1 arbitrator. RESULTS: Articles reviewed indicated benefit from most of the herbs used either as a primary or adjunctive treatment for Asthma. Study quality was mixed and therefore caution in interpretation of findings of usefulness of these herbals must be suggested. Limited safety information was mixed and generally was related to GI symptoms, though one herbal investigated reported more serious side effects. CONCLUSIONS: Herbs may be useful in treatment of asthma. There is insufficient evidence to make recommendations for or against the use of these herbals. Established effectiveness must be balanced with study quality and safety profile for the herb.     

Cherubism: Report of Three Cases and Literature Review

Purpose: To report 3 cases of cherubism, one of whom underwent surgery for orbital manifestations, and to provide a literature review.

Case reports: Our patients were normal at birth and developed painless enlarging of the cheeks and jaws when they were 4–5 years old. Ophthalmologic examinations showed mild proptosis, superior globe displacement and inferior scleral show in all cases. Cases 2 and 3 had lower lid skin discoloration. Computed tomography (CT) scans demonstrated bilateral multicystic lesions in the maxilla and mandible with cortical thinning in all cases. In Case 3, left eye hyperglobus and anisometropic amblyopia was seen. In this case, the CT scan showed a round, well-defined and homogeneous mass, involving the anterior and superior walls of the maxillary sinus on the left side, extending into inferior orbit. Debulking of the mass was performed at the surgery. The pathologic findings were compatible with the diagnosis of giant cell reparative granuloma. He returned 1 year after surgery with recurrence of the mass.

Discussion: A few cases were reported in the literature with histopathologically proven orbital cherubism. To our knowledge, lower lid skin discoloration in Cases 2 and 3 and anisometropic amblyopia in case 3 were not described elsewhere in cherubism cases. We recommend that all cases with cherubism must be examined by an ophthalmologist to diagnose and treat possible orbital manifestations.     

The combined effect of furosemide and propranolol on GSH homeostasis in ACHN renal cells

Objectives: Propranolol, a beta-adrenergic blocker, is used in the treatment of a large number of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and arrhythmias. Propranolol, in combination with furosemide, is used to treat hypertensive disorders although their side effect profile is not very obvious. In present study, the effects of the drugs furosemide and propranolol were in corporately investigated both on glutathione homeostasis and their antioxidant effect on ACHN cells.

Methods: The cytoxicities and antioxidant effects of these two clinically important drugs on human kidney cell lines were evaluated using MTT following by the determination of glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities and measuring the level of reduced glutathione (GSH).

Results: Propranolol induced a significant cytotoxic effect at 100?µM, while furosemide was cytotoxic at doses of 250 and 1000?µg/ml. A slight increase in GPx and GR activities and GSH level was observed with propranolol and furosemide treatment alone, while the two drugs together caused a significant increase in GPx and GR activities (35% and 42%, respectively) and GSH content (35%) in ACHN cell lysates (p?Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that although high doses of furosemide and propranolol are cytotoxic, co-administration of low doses may improve the antioxidant defense in patients undergoing treatment with these two important drugs.     

Approach to treatment of bronchopneumonia by evaluation of selected acute-phase proteins in calf herds

The objective of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of selected acute-phase proteins serum amyloid A, haptoglobin, fibrinogen, and albumin in calves with bronchopneumonia. Bronchopneumonia is a multifactorial disease in association with various infectious agents. Negative economic impact of this disease is associated with death loss, treatment costs, reduction in live weight gain, and reduced productive life span. In this study, acute-phase proteins and alteration in hematologic values were measured for evaluation of dairy calves’ health status. Sixty Holstein calves within 2 weeks up to 6 months old were divided into treatment and control groups. Clinical findings including body temperature, pulsation, and respiratory rate were recorded after common physical examination. Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein of each calf. Hematological parameters as well as some biochemical profiles, i.e., albumin and globulin, showed no significant difference between the two groups (p?>?0.05). The results indicated a significant increase in serum amyloid A, haptoglobin, and fibrinogen between the two groups (p?<?0.05). In conclusion, this study reveals that serum amyloid A, haptoglobin, and fibrinogen are potentially useful and sensitive markers for early determination of bronchopneumonia and can be used as inflammatory indicators of health in calf herds, thereby facilitating treatment decisions.     

Follow-up of the wheat allergy in children; consequences and outgrowing the allergy

Allergy to wheat is a common food allergy. In spite of this fact, there is not enough literature regarding the features and outgrowing of this allergy. The objective of this study was to evaluate the manifestations of this allergy and to follow the patients to evaluate whether outgrowing allergy happens again and when it occurs.Eight wheat allergic patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2001 were re-evaluated together with 13 other new cases of wheat allergy referred to the Immunology and Allergy Pediatric Department from June 2004 to March 2006. For all cases, the demographic data along with a complete history regarding allergy to wheat and other types of allergy were collected in questionnaires. The specific IgE measurements (in vivo and in vitro) and oral food challenge (in the absence of a relevant history related to allergy to wheat) were performed. Severe anaphylaxis was seen after wheat ingestion in more than 90% of the patients. Oral tolerance to wheat developed in three patients (37.5%) out of 8 known previous cases who had been followed for eight years, the mean age of oral tolerance to wheat was 68±6.36 (range; 36 months to 108 months).Clinical reactions in our wheat-allergic patients were more severe than those reported before. These patients were at risk for developing chronic allergic symptoms such as asthma. We also found that oral tolerance to wheat was happening in a minority of our patients.