Gluteal region morphology: the effect of the weight gain and aging

The gluteal region is an important secondary sexual character itself and it has its place in the concept of the beauty in all communities. Interestingly, as far as we know, there is not any previous study addressing gluteal region morphology in an objective way in the aesthetic surgery literature. The aim of this study was to define the changes of the gluteal region morphology with aging and weight gain. Beside body weight, a total of five distances between predetermined anatomic points in gluteal region were measured on randomly selected 115 female volunteers, with their age ranging from 17 to 48 years (mean 22.7). All the records were analyzed by a correlation matrix using computer-based SPSS 7.5 program. As women grow older, the width of the gluteal region decreases and the gluteal sulcus elongates laterally and inferiorly. Contrary to aging, with weight gain the gluteal region becomes wider as the gluteal sulcus gets shorter. Although the subject does not sound new, our study is the first, documenting the changes in morphology of the gluteal region in relation to weight gain and aging in an objective way.     

Ureterocele in adults. Five case reports

The authors report five cases of ureterocele during six years. Mean age of the patients was 34.2 +/- 11.1 years. There were four female and one male. Pain (N = 3) and dysuria (N = 3) were the most common symptoms at examination. Diagnosis was made by ultrasound (N = 3), IVU (N = 3) or cystoscopy (N = 1). Ureteroceles were bilateral in four cases, unilateral in one case and were always intravesical with single ureter. Two patients presented lithiasis enclosed in the ureterocele. Only four patients had been operated. Surgical treatment was ureterocelectomy with ureteral reimplantation according to Cohen procedure. With mean follow-up of 10.6 +/- 4.7 months results were stable without complications.     

Radiation dose,chemotherapy and risk of lung cancer after breast cancer treatment

It is of particular concern to evaluate the risk of lung cancer occurrence after breast cancer treatment as women with breast cancer quite often undergo radiation therapy as part of their initial treatment and their life expectancy remains long. From a roster of 7711 women initially treated for breast cancer between 1954 and 1984, a cohort-study was performed among 4171 1-year survivors followed during the period 1975-1995. The relationship between the radiation dose received by the lung and the risk of lung cancer was then evaluated in a nested case-control study of 11 breast-cancer patients who developed lung cancer and 22 controls matched for age at diagnosis of breast cancer, period of initial treatment and length of follow-up. Among the 4171 women, six developed lung cancer during the entire follow-up as compared to 5.4 cases expected (SIR = 1.1, 95% CI: 0.4-2.3). When considering only the women initially treated by radiotherapy with or without adjunction of chemotherapy and excluding the 10 first years of follow-up, the SIR was significantly increased (SIR = 3.2, 95%CI: 1.0-7.4). In the case-control study, nine of the 11 lung cancers occurred in the ipsilateral lung and two in the trachea. The overall odds ratio (OR) of lung cancer associated with initial radiotherapy was 1.4 (95% CI: 0.2-11.1) and an excess in the OR of 7% (90% CI: ? to 41%, p = 0.10) per gray delivered to the site of lung cancer was evidenced. Our results agree with previous studies in favor of an increased risk of lung cancer after radiation therapy for breast cancer.     

Endoscopic internal urethrotomy in the treatment of male urethral stenosis at the urology service of the CHU Ignace Deen]

The authors report a series of 157 stenoses of the urethra treated by endoscopic urethrotomy between 1991 and 1997. After a first urethrotomy the success rate is 51.8%, with a decline of one year. Mortality is zero, and the morbidity assessed at 9%. For these authors, the result is better when the urethrotomy concerns an uninfected, one-time, short (less than 2 cm) stenosis, whatever the etiology, located on the proximal urethra. The duration of the postoperatory catheter has been fixed at three days. Poor results (35.20%) have been reported in stretched stenoses located on the distal urethra. These poor results have been treated by another urethrotomy, with 25% good results. The remaining 10.2% have needed sessions of urethral dilatation, even a plasty.     

Inhaled corticosteroid therapy is safe in tuberculin-positive asthmatic children

BACKGROUND: Although treatment with oral corticosteroids can cause reactivation of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) infection in purified protein derivative (PPD)-positive individuals with no evidence of clinical disease, little is known about the effects of inhaled corticosteroids in this respect. OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to assess whether inhaled corticosteroid (CS) therapy reactivates latent TB infection in PPD-positive asthmatic children. METHOD: We studied 32 PPD skin test-positive (> or =10 mm) children [age (mean +/- SD), 7.9 +/- 4.1 years] with no family history and no evidence of TB infection on chest radiograms who were receiving inhaled budesonide for the treatment of asthma. They were further evaluated with thorax computed tomography (CT) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate and closely observed for an additional 9 months. RESULTS: At enrollment the mean diameter of PPD reaction was 12.8 +/- 2.7 mm. The mean duration of inhaled CS treatment and the mean cumulative CS dose were 9.8 +/- 7.6 months and 275 +/-199 mg, respectively. Thorax CT studies revealed mediastinal lymph nodes in 7 of the 32 patients. There was no significant difference between children with and without mediastinal lymph nodes according to age, gender, size of PPD skin testing, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and duration and cumulative CS dose of inhaled budesonide therapy before study. A second thorax CT was obtained 9 months later in those 7 patients with lymphadenopathy (additional mean cumulative CS dose, 222.57 mg). There was no change in the size of their lymph nodes. CONCLUSION: Long term inhaled budesonide therapy appears to be safe in PPD-positive asthmatic children.     

Aspects of genital tuberculosis in women

Thirteen cases of genital tuberculosis are reported to make emphasis onto the difficulties of diagnosis, management and prognosis of the disease. The average age of the patients is 31 years. Most of them were under 30. The circumstances of diagnosis were variable. The diagnosis was essentially made thanks to histology. The evolution was favorable under antibiotics. But clinical sequels as amenorrhea and infertility are frequent.     

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis of Aneuploidy: Were We Looking at the Wrong Chromosomes?

Purpose: Our purpose was to study aneuploidy frequencies of chromosomes 1, 4, 6, 7, 14, 15, 17, 18, and 22 in cleavage-stage embryos. These frequencies were compared to spontaneous abortion data to determine differences in survival rate of their aneuploidies. Methods: One hundred ninety-four embryos were analyzed with multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization. Embryos were divided into three maternal age groups: 20 to 34.9 years, (2) 35 to 39.9 years, and (3) 40 years and older. Embryos were also divided into two developmental and morphological groups: arrested and nonarrested embryos. Results: The rate of aneuploidy was 14.51%, 14.10%, and 31.48% for age groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively (P < 0.005). The chromosomes most frequently involved in aneuploidy events were 22, 15, 1, and 17. Conclusions: The chromosomes most involved in spontaneous abortions are not necessarily the ones causing a decrease in implantation rates with maternal age. Other aneuploidies, such as for chromosomes 1 and 17, may seldom implant or die shortly after implantation.     

Increased risk of second cancers following breast cancer: Role of the initial treatment

Objectives and methods.The risk of second primary malignancies (SMN) was studied in a cohort of 4,416 one-year survivors of a breast cancer. The role of the menopausal status and of the initial treatment modalities (surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy) was investigated. Results.Excluding second primary breast cancer and non-melanoma skin cancer, a total of 193 (4.4%) patients developed a SMN between 1973 and 1992, compared with 136 expected (Standardised Incidence Ratio, SIR=1.4, 95% CI (1.2–1.6)). No trend towards either an increase or a decrease was noted in the SIR with time after treatment (p=0.2). The greatest increase in the relative risk concerned soft tissue cancers (SIR=13.0, 95% CI: 6.8–22.3), followed by leukaemia (SIR=3.1, 95% CI: 1.7–5.0), melanoma (SIR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.4–4.8), kidney (SIR=2.5, 95% CI: 1.2–4.5), ovary (SIR=2.0, 95% CI: 1.2–3.1) and uterine tumours (SIR=1.9, 95% CI: 1.4–2.5). The SIR was 3.0 (95% CI 1.8–4.7) in women under 40 at the time of the breast cancer, 1.9 (95% CI : 1.4 – 2.4) in those aged 40–49 and 1.2 (95% CI 1.0–1.4) in those aged 50 or more. In the 2,514 women who had received radiotherapy as initial treatment without chemotherapy, the SIR for all SMN was 1.6 (95% CI: 1.1–2.3) fold higher than in those who had not received radiotherapy as initial treatment. Conclusion.In conclusion, this study confirms the increased risk of second malignancies in women treated for a breast cancer, and particularly in those who were younger at the time of treatment for breast cancer. Our results also suggest that radiotherapy may play a role in the onset of these second lesions.     

Investigation of the risk factors for tuberculosis: a case-control study in three countries in West Africa

BACKGROUND: Host-related and environment-related factors have been shown to play a role in the development of tuberculosis (TB), but few studies were carried out to identify their respective roles in resource-poor countries. METHODS: A multicentre case-control study was conducted in Guinée, Guinea Bissau, and The Gambia, from January 1999 to March 2001. Cases were newly detected smear positive TB patients. Two controls were recruited for each case, one within the household of the case, and one in the community. RESULTS: Regarding host-related factors, univariate analysis by conditional logistic regression of 687 matched pairs of cases and household controls showed that TB was associated with male sex, family history of TB, absence of a BCG scar, smoking, alcohol, anaemia, HIV infection, and history and treatment of worm infection. In a multivariable model based on 601 matched pairs, male sex, family history of TB, smoking, and HIV infection were independent risk factors of TB. The investigation of environmental factors based on the comparison of 816 cases/community control pairs showed that the risk of TB was associated with single marital status, family history of TB, adult crowding, and renting the house. In a final model assessing the combined effect of host and environmental factors, TB was associated with male sex, HIV infection, smoking (with a dose-effect relationship), history of asthma, family history of TB, marital status, adult crowding, and renting the house. CONCLUSION: TB is a multifactorial disorder, in which environment interacts with host-related factors. This study provided useful information for the assessment of host and environmental factors of TB for the improvement of TB control activities in developing countries.