Hybrid intravenous digital subtraction angiography of the carotid bifurcation

A hybrid digital subtraction angiography technique and noise-reduction algorithm were used to evaluate the carotid bifurcation. Temporal, hybrid, and reduced-noise hybrid images were obtained in right and left anterior oblique projections, and both single- and multiple-frame images were created with each method. The resulting images were graded on a scale of 1 to 5 by three experienced neuroradiologists. Temporal images were preferred over hybrid images (average score = 3.2 and 2.4, respectively). The percentage of nondiagnostic examinations, as agreed upon by two readers, was higher for temporal alone than temporal + hybrid (4 and 1, respectively). In addition, also by agreement between two readers, temporal + hybrid images significantly increased the number of bifurcations seen in two views (87%) compared to temporal subtraction alone (64%).     

Atrophy of the residual alveolar ridge following tooth loss in an historical population

Oral Diseases (2010) 17 , 33–44 Objectives: To study the natural aetiopathology of jaw atrophy after tooth loss, unaltered by prosthetic procedures, an historical population without modern dental treatment was examined. Methods: Based on the hypothesis that there are predictable changes in shape during jaw‐atrophy, frequency and degree of atrophy as well as clinical aspects of bone quality and resorption were determined in the skeletal remains of 263 individuals. The potential association between age and frequency/severity of atrophy was analysed. Results: Atrophy in at least one jaw segment was present in 45.2% of the analysed jaw specimens. The residual ridge underwent a series of changes in shape and height following the pattern of resorption described for modern populations. The severity of these alterations was associated with the age of the individual and the region within the jaw. Atrophy was frequently related to structural degradation of the covering cortical layer. Conclusions: These findings prove that atrophy of the jaw evidently does occur, displaying similar patterns of resorption in a population without modern prosthetics, where the negative effect of ill‐fitting dentures is excluded. The basic information about alterations of shape and the cortical layer covering the residual crest might help to provide a deeper insight into aetiopathological mechanisms of this common oral disease.     

Systemic herpesvirus and morbillivirus co-infection in a striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)

During 2007 a dolphin morbillivirus epizootic affected the western Mediterranean and several striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) stranded on the Catalonian coasts. One of those animals had severe lymphoid depletion, necrosis and syncytial formation in lymph nodes and spleen, with large basophilic nuclear inclusions compatible with herpesvirus detected by immunohistochemical and ultrastructural examination. Non-suppurative encephalitis with associated morbillivirus antigen and morbillivirus antigen within alveolar macrophages were also observed. A pan-herpesvirus nested polymerase chain reaction amplified a sequence virtually identical to two cetacean herpesvirus sequences previously identified in systemic infections in an Atlantic Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) and in a Mediterranean striped dolphin. The herpesviral infection was probably secondary to the immunosuppression caused by the morbillivirus. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a cetacean co-infected by dolphin morbillivirus and herpesvirus with evidence of lesions attributable to both viruses.     

Natural killer-like T-cell lymphomas: aggressive lymphomas of T-large granular lymphocytes [see comments]

Natural killer (NK)-like T cells are major histocompatibility complex- unrestricted cytotoxic T cells that are surface CD3-positive, express NK-cell antigens, and rearrange their T-cell receptor. Most neoplasms arising from this T-cell subpopulation have been a chronic lymphoproliferative disease referred to as T-large granular lymphocyte (LGL) leukemia. Only 10 NK-like T-cell lymphomas have been described in detail previously; this study presents the clinicopathologic features of six others and distinguishes these lymphomas from T-LGL leukemia. All patients presented with B-symptoms and often had marked hepatosplenomegaly without significant peripheral lymphadenopathy. Four of the six patients were immunosuppressed. All had CD3, CD8, CD56- positive tumors, presumably of hepatosplenic (n = 3), intestinal (n = 1), pulmonary (n = 1), or nodal (n = 1) origin. Three patients had lymphomatous bone marrow infiltrates, and four had peripheral blood involvement by neoplastic large lymphocytes, some of which had a blastic appearance or resembled virocytes. Azurophilic granules, ultrastructurally corresponding to cytoplasmic dense core and/or double density granules, were seen in all cases. T-cell clonality was shown in five tumors by Southern blot analysis, and three had abnormal karyotypes. Two untreated patients died 20 days after presentation, and three patients who received combination chemotherapy died within 5 months of presentation. One patient remains in complete remission 22 months after treatment. These findings suggest NK-like T-cell lymphomas are aggressive, are clinicopathologically distinct from T-LGL leukemia, and should be in the differential diagnosis of extranodal T-cell lymphoproliferations, including those in immunosuppressed patients. Furthermore, the LGL morphology, phenotype, and tissue distribution of some NK-like T-cell lymphomas suggest they arise from thymic- independent T cells of the hepatic sinusoids and intestinal mucosa.     

Alu-primed polymerase chain reaction for regional assignment of 110 yeast artificial chromosome clones from the human X chromosome: identification of clones associated with a disease locus.

Over 400 yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) clones were isolated from the human X chromosome, and 110 of these were assigned to regions defined by chromosome translocation and deletion breakpoints. Polymerase chain reaction using Alu primers was applied to YAC clones in order to generate probes, to identify overlapping clones, and to derive "fingerprints" and sequence data directly from total yeast DNA. Several clones were identified in regions of medical interest. One set of three overlapping clones was found to cross a chromosomal translocation implicated in Lowe syndrome. The regional assignment of groups of YAC clones provides initiation points for further attempts to develop large cloned contiguous sequences, as well as material for investigation of regions involved in genetic diseases.