Eales'' disease with hemiplegia

A case of Eales' disease with hemiplegia is reported. The patient had a right hemiparesis and a left hemiplegia occurring after a sudden loss of vision in the left eye two years earlier. The diagnosis was based on fluorescein angiography showing neovascularisation, fluorescein leakage, perivascular sheating and hemorrhages and on CT scan showing multiple hypodense lesions in right and left hemispheres and on IDSA showing bilateral occlusion of anterior cerebral arteries. The patient did not have further relapses.     

The opinions of employed mothers about their own nutrition during lactation: a questionnaire survey

OBJECTIVES: The main purpose of the study was to identify the changes employed mothers of infants aged 0-24 months made in their nutrition with the aim of increasing their milk production and extending their breastfeeding period. METHODS: The 135 full-time employed mothers enrolled in this study came to the Well-Child Clinic at Akdeniz University Hospital. Dietary data were collected from the mothers via a questionnaire prepared by the researchers to elicit details about what kind of foods or nutrition supplements women added, avoided or were recommended to avoid or add to their diets and why. RESULTS: All the mothers made changes in their diets while breastfeeding. The number one change that mothers made in their diet in order to increase milk production was to increase their fluid intake (38.6%) while the second was to increase their consumption of sweets (25.3%). The main type of food mothers were advised to avoid were dried legumes and grains (28.9%). The most important reason for this was the belief that they increased the chance of newborn colic (89.4%). There were statistically significant differences between foods avoided by breastfeeding mothers related to their age (chi(2)=6.88, p=.009), education level and those who mentioned increasing their consumption of fluid while breastfeeding (chi(2)=13.12, p=.000). CONCLUSIONS: All of the mothers espoused specific practices, and had been given recommendations by others about their nutrition while breastfeeding. Mothers need to be informed about the factors that increase and decrease milk production and affect infant colic, and should be encouraged that they can successfully breastfeed without increasing their consumption of sweets or avoiding dried legumes and some vegetables.     

Protective effects of prenatal administration of folic acid on retinoic acid-induced cellular damages of Meckel's cartilage in rats

Craniofacial malformations are among the most common congenital deformities. Meckel's cartilage plays a major role in the development of the mandible and is highly susceptible to maternal teratogenic drug use. We therefore investigated possible protective effects of prenatal administration of folic acid on a retinoic-acid induced maxillofacial defect model. Sprague-Dawley pregnant female rats (n=36) were used in this study. Retinoic acid was administered orally at the dose of 40, 60, or 80 mg/kg respectively on gestational day 8. Folic acid of 4.0 mg/kg was injected intraperitoneally on 7th, 8th and 9th days of pregnancy. Animals were sacrificed on the day 17th. Administration of retinoic acid at all doses resulted in statistically significant decreases in mean fetal weight and mean fetal height and the increase in mortality rate, and caused severe ultrastructural damages in Meckel's cartilage. Folic acid administration prevented the decrease in mean fetal weight and height of the embryos treated with retinoic acid of 40 mg/kg. In addition, there was a marked decrease in the number of degenerated chondrocytes and an improvement in the structure of granular endoplasmic reticulum along with intact nuclei. We conclude that folic acid has protective effects on retinoic acid-induced intracellular damages in Meckel's cartilage.     

Low Density Granulocytes and Dysregulated Neutrophils Driving Autoinflammatory Manifestations in NEMO Deficiency

Journal of Clinical Immunology - NF-κB essential modulator (NEMO, IKK-γ) deficiency is a rare combined immunodeficiency caused by mutations in the IKBKG gene. Conventionally, patients are...     

Malignant pleural mesothelioma with scalp, cerebellar, and finger metastases: a rare case

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and asbestosis-associated tumor. MPM commonly invades locally, mostly in the lung, heart, pericardium, chest wall, and vertebrae. Distant metastasis of MPM is very rare. Here we report a patient with MPM who presented with multiple unusual distant metastases. The patient's thorax tomography demonstrated right-sided, irregularly-thickened pleura with nodular masses and invasion of the chest wall into the subcutaneous area. The patient underwent biopsy for a subcutaneous mass in the right anterior chest wall. Pathologic examination revealed a malignant mesenchymal tumor. During follow-up, he suffered from a painful nodule on the scalp and nodules on the fingers, as well as weakness in his right arm. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging illustrated a 1 cm nodule in the left cerebellar hemisphere. Histopathologic examination of the biopsy from the nodule on the scalp revealed a typical mixed type of MPM, with calretinin, vimentin and creatine 5/6 positivity. Distant metastases can be seen in MPM and a biopsy of metastatic regions can yield the diagnosis.     

Color Doppler sonographically guided transthoracic needle aspiration of lung and mediastinal masses.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the diagnostic value of color Doppler sonographically guided transthoracic needle aspiration in lung and mediastinal masses. METHODS: B-mode and colorDoppler sonographic images were obtained in 48 patients with mediastinal or peripheral pulmonary tumors. Color Doppler sonography was used to show the vascular structures before the transthoracic needle aspiration procedure. It was also used to locate the needle tip during the procedure by showing the twinkling sign. This maneuver was performed with motion of the inner stylet. Pathologic and microbiological examination of the aspirates was made. RESULTS: Vascular structures were detected in 37 cases on color Doppler images and in 10 cases on B-mode images. Similarly, the needle tip was observed in 39 cases on color Doppler images but in only 9 cases on B-mode images. No complications were observed except partial pneumothorax in 2 cases. The method had sensitivity of 90.0%, specificity of 87.5%, a positive predictive value of 97.2%, a negative predictive value of 63.6%, and diagnostic accuracy of 89.6%. CONCLUSIONS: Color Doppler sonographically guided transthoracic needle aspiration is a safe diagnostic method in malignant lung tumors, especially peripheral tumors, because of its ability to differentiate vascular structures within a tumor before the transthoracic needle aspiration procedure. It provides additional information about the location of the needle tip.     

Early effector maturation of naïve human CD8+ T cells requires mitochondrial biogenesis

The role of mitochondrial biogenesis during naïve to effector differentiation of CD8⁺ T cells remains ill explored. In this study, we describe a critical role for early mitochondrial biogenesis in supporting cytokine production of nascent activated human naïve CD8⁺ T cells. Specifically, we found that prior to the first round of cell division activated naïve CD8⁺ T cells rapidly increase mitochondrial mass, mitochondrial respiration, and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS) generation, which were all inter‐linked and important for CD8⁺ T cell effector maturation. Inhibition of early mitochondrial biogenesis diminished mROS dependent IL‐2 production – as well as subsequent IL‐2 dependent TNF, IFN‐γ, perforin, and granzyme B production. Together, these findings point to the importance of mitochondrial biogenesis during early effector maturation of CD8⁺ T cells.