Aicardi's syndrome; radiologic manifestations

Features of Aicardi's syndrome include infantile spasms associated with pathognomonic chorioretinopathy, abnormalities of the corpus callosum with heterotopia of gray matter, and characteristic electroencephalographic findings. Vertebral abnormalities are also part of the syndrome, which is apparently limited to female infants. Subnormal mental development appears in all cases. It was first described in 1969 in French. Isolated cases in the literature have been associated with facial asymmetry, plagiocephaly, and the Dandy-Walker syndrome. Experience with two patients suggests that a search for cases among patients with chorioretinopathy and infantile spasms will show the syndrome to be more common than currently reported.     

Importance of the time of onset of supraventricular tachyarrhythmias on prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction

It is known that left ventricular (LV) function, severity of coronary artery disease, and the presence of ventricular arrhythmias are major determinants of prognosis in patients surviving an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, little is known about the relationship between the time of onset of supraventricular tachyarrhythmias (SVTs) and mortality. Therefore, this study was carried out in a 48-month period on 131 patients with AMI who presented with SVT during hospitalization. Of these, 53 patients (40.5%) had arrhythmia within < 12 h of MI, while 78 patients (59.5%) had arrhythmia between 12 h and 4 days. The arrhythmias studied were atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. The patients were similar for age, gender, coronary risk factors, creatine kinase-MB peak, cardioversion and LV function. Angiographic features for patients with the < 12-h onset of arrhythmia were: 86.7% of the patients had uniarterial lesions, 8.9% had biarterial lesions, and 4.4% had triarterial lesions. Patients with the 12-h-4-day onset had 16.1%, 53.2%, and 30.6% (p≤0.05) of the respective lesions. Inferior wall myocardial infarction was more frequent among patients with the earlier onset (60.4%), while patients with the later onset presented more anterior wall infarctions (50.0%). Only 11.3% of the patients with the earlier onset presented with severe in-hospital congestive heart failure (Killip classes III-IV), versus 62.8% of the patients with the later onset (p≤0.0001). Patients with the earlier onset of arrhythmia had fatality rates of 7.6 and 15.1% during the first month and subsequent 47 months post-MI, respectively, while the other set of patients presented rates of 37.2 (p≤0.0003) and 24.4% (p≤0.01), respectively. These data suggest that the relationship between SVT occurrence between 12 h and 4 days after MI and poor prognosis is apparently linked to the occurrence of more severe coronary artery disease in these patients.     

Importance of serum ferritin levels in patients with renal failure

Study results on acute phase reactants of renal failure patients are controversial. In this study, we enrolled 39 patients and divided them into 2 groups: acute renal failure (ARF), and chronic renal failure (CRF) patients. As opposed to CRF patients, the patients with ARF had higher serum ferritin levels that were independent of anemia parameters and other acute phase reactants.     

The central administration of C75, a fatty acid synthase inhibitor, activates sympathetic outflow and thermogenesis in interscapular brown adipose tissue

The present work investigated the participation of interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT), which is an important site for thermogenesis, in the anti-obesity effects of C75, a synthetic inhibitor of fatty acid synthase (FAS). We report that a single intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of C75 induced hypophagia and weight loss in fasted male Wistar rats. Furthermore, C75 induced a rapid increase in core body temperature and an increase in heat dissipation. In parallel, C75 stimulated IBAT thermogenesis, which was evidenced by a marked increase in the IBAT temperature that preceded the rise in the core body temperature and an increase in the mRNA levels of uncoupling protein-1. As with C75, an i.c.v. injection of cerulenin, a natural FAS inhibitor, increased the core body and IBAT temperatures. The sympathetic IBAT denervation attenuated all of the thermoregulatory effects of FAS inhibitors as well as the C75 effect on weight loss and hypophagia. C75 induced the expression of Fos in the paraventricular nucleus, preoptic area, dorsomedial nucleus, ventromedial nucleus, and raphé pallidus, all of which support a central role of FAS in regulating IBAT thermogenesis. These data indicate a role for IBAT in the increase in body temperature and hypophagia that is induced by FAS inhibitors and suggest new mechanisms explaining the weight loss induced by these compounds.     

A case of chronic suppurative otitis media caused by Kerstersia gyiorum

Chronic suppurative otitis media is inflammation of the middle ear and mastoid that involves discharge and hearing loss. Kerstersia gyiorum is a member of the Alcaligenaceae family that who could not be treated with classical treatments such as patients with chronic otitis media, neck abscesses. K. gyiorum strain isolated from a patient with chronic suppurative otitis media.     

Short-term follow-up of exercise training program and beta-blocker treatment on quality of life in dogs with naturally acquired chronic mitral valve disease

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of carvedilol treatment and a regimen ofsupervised aerobic exercise training on quality of life and other clinical,echocardiographic, and biochemical variables in a group of client-owned dogs withchronic mitral valve disease (CMVD). Ten healthy dogs (control) and 36 CMVD dogs werestudied, with the latter group divided into 3 subgroups. In addition to conventionaltreatment (benazepril, 0.3-0.5 mg/kg once a day, and digoxin, 0.0055 mg/kg twicedaily), 13 dogs received exercise training (subgroup I; 10.3±2.1 years), 10 dogsreceived carvedilol (0.3 mg/kg twice daily) and exercise training (subgroup II;10.8±1.7 years), and 13 dogs received only carvedilol (subgroup III; 10.9±2.1 years).All drugs were administered orally. Clinical, laboratory, and Dopplerechocardiographic variables were evaluated at baseline and after 3 and 6 months.Exercise training was conducted from months 3-6. The mean speed rate during trainingincreased for both subgroups I and II (ANOVA, P>0.001), indicating improvement inphysical conditioning at the end of the exercise period. Quality of life andfunctional class was improved for all subgroups at the end of the study. TheN-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level increased in subgroup Ifrom baseline to 3 months, but remained stable after training introduction (from 3 to6 months). For subgroups II and III, NT-proBNP levels remained stable during theentire study. No difference was observed for the other variables between the threeevaluation periods. The combination of carvedilol or exercise training withconventional treatment in CMVD dogs led to improvements in quality of life andfunctional class. Therefore, light walking in CMVD dogs must be encouraged.