ANEURYSMAL BONE CYST IN THE MANDIBLE (A Case Report)

Aneurysmal bone cyst is commonly seen in the long bones and vertebrae and is rare in the jaws. Its association with other lesions of the bone has been stressed by many workers. Because of its variable radiological appearance, diagnosis of the lesion is established by histopathological examination. A case of aneurysmal bone cyst occurring in the mandible is reported.KEY WORDS: Aneurysmal bone cyst, Mandible     

Aplasia cutis congenita: a report of 12 new families and review of the literature.

Aplasia cutis congenita (ACC) is a heterogeneous group of disorders whose common characteristic is focal absence of skin. In the majority of instances this is limited to the scalp, although other areas of the body may also be involved. Other congenital malformations have been reported to occur with ACC; limb defects appear to be a specific association. Given our experience with ACC, we suggest a classification based on genetically distinct entities. Type I ACC is limited to the scalp. Type II involves body or scalp; IIA involves body or limb defects. Type III is limited to the scalp or limbs. Type IV is associated with epidermolysis bullosa; type IVA is Bart syndrome. Although most reported cases have been sporadic, there are many familial occurrences of all types of ACC. Most published pedigrees are consistent with autosomal dominant inheritance with reduced penetrance, or autosomal recessive inheritance. Careful examination of family members of affected individuals is warranted.     

(1)H MRI of pneumococcal pneumonia in a murine model

PURPOSE: To detect and quantify pulmonary lesions due to pneumococcal pneumonia in a murine model by (1)H MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pneumonia was induced in mice (N = 5) by intranasal administration of about 1 x 10(6) colony-forming units (CFU) of Streptococcus pneumonie. A group of noninfected animals (N = 5) was used as a control group. MRI was performed, 48 hours after infection induction, at 4.7 T. ECG-gated gradient-echo (GRE) sequences with TE = 5 msec were used. After MRI examination, the animals were sacrificed for histological examination. RESULTS: Lungs appeared at MRI as regions with signal intensity (SI) at the level of the noise. Lesions appeared as hyperintense regions over the background and were localized mainly in the apical part of the lungs, in the medial and peribronchial regions. The anatomical localization of the lesions was confirmed by histology. The total lesion volume quantified by MRI data correlated with the total lesion volume quantified by histology. CONCLUSION: This work shows that standard (1)H MRI allows detection and quantification of lesions due to pneumococcal pneumonia in mice.     

Carcinosarcoma of the liver: a case report

Primary hepatic carcinosarcoma is a rare malignant hepatic tumor containing both carcinomatous and sarcomatous elements. A 40-year-old man referred to our liver transplant team because of hepatic cirrhosis was on the waiting list, having undergone all liver tests, ultrasonography, and with normal serum alpha fetoprotein markers every 6 months to search for a tumor. He underwent a liver transplantation without complication. The pathologic findings of the original liver indicated carcinosarcoma. We have reviewed the literature on this subject.     

Involvement of the nitric oxide system in the anti-atherosclerotic potential of lacidipine in the ApoE-deficient mouse: a morphological, functional, and electrochemical study

The present study investigated the anti-atherosclerotic activity of lacidipine, a calcium antagonist with antioxidant properties in apoE-deficient mice. These mice show widespread vascular lesions which closely resemble the inflammatory-fibrous plaques seen in humans in atherosclerosis. Mice were fed a Western-type diet (WTD), and treated for 8 weeks with either vehicle or lacidipine at 3 or 10 mg/kg/day. In parallel with histological studies of atherosclerotic lesions in the aorta, functional studies on vascular acetylcholine (ACh) reactivity and analysis of voltammetric levels of nitric oxide (NO) were performed. Recent work has suggested that dihydropyridines (DHPs) modulate vascular relaxation via an increase in the release of NO. Lacidipine treatment had no effect on the plasma lipid profile. However, a significant (p < 0.01) dose-related reduction of 36.4% and 43.3% of the aortic lesion area in respect to methocel-treated mice was observed. Moreover, the aortic ring from control apoE-deficient mice fed a WTD for 8 weeks showed a lower relaxation in response to ACh in comparison to wild-type C57BL/6J mice; on the contrary, lacidipine-treated apoE-deficient mice lacidipine-treated displayed a response similar to that of wildtype C57BL/6J mice. Voltammetric analyses demonstrated a significant decrease of NO release in apoE-deficient mice, while lacidipine-treated mice showed enhanced activity of the NO system. We conclude that lacidipine reduced the extent of atherosclerotic area in hypercholesterolemic apoE-deficient mice, and this reduction may be associated with the capacity of the drug to maintain endothelial NO levels at concentrations useful to protect against vascular damage.