Increased activity of lymph node cells in experimental thermal injury: changes in accessory cells in injured area-draining lymph nodes

Accessory cell content and some of their functional characteristics were determined in regional lymph nodes which drain burn injury (DLN) in rats. Increase in percentages of non-specific esterase-positive cells and NBT+ macrophages and in numbers of dendritic cells were noted in cytospin preparations of draining lymph node cells (DLC) 24 and 72 h following thermal injury. An accumulation of B cells was also noted in the DLN paracortex region at these time points. Enrichment of ED1+ (rat macrophage marker) cells was noted in the adherent DLC population. Increased activity of interleukin-1 (IL-1) in conditioned medium from adherent DLC population and the increased stimulatory capacity of whole DLC or dendritic cell enriched-DLC fraction were noted in functional assays. Enrichment in accessory cells and an increase in their functional activity could contribute to the endogenous activity of regional lymph nodes which drain burned areas.     

Inflammatory bowel disease in children

Beside Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), paediatric chronic inflammatory bowel diseases encompass variety of different inflammatory conditions: allergic colitis in infancy, colitis of hypereosinophilic syndrome, Behcet colitis, microscopic colitides etc. Paediatric CD characterises predominance of inflammatory and obstructive disease variant. Because of their growth suppression an early introduction of azathioprine in steroid dependent and steroid refractory cases is frequently indicated. In teenage period resection procedures may be an elective and initial therapeutic option due to necessity of proper pubertal mental and physical development. Paediatric UC frequently manifests initially as pancolitis what indicates higher rate of colectomy rate. Therapy is still dispute about an optimal surgical procedure: restorative proctocolectomy or ileo-anal pull through techniques. Allergic colitis in infancy may mimic ulcerative colitis and rises a possibility of diagnostic and therapeutic confusions. Its treatment is strictly nutritive.     

Nonsteroidal antirheumatic agents--present status and perspectives

The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are most commonly used drugs in rheumatology. NSAID effectively reduce the pain and inflammation. However, the use of NSAIDs is associated with various gastrointestinal side effects. The discovery of the two COX isoforms, namely COX1 (constitutive) and COX2 (inducible) led to the search for specific COX2 inhibitors with better gastrointestinal safety. Beside the simply gastrointestinal safety the issue point to the still not resolved questions about coxibs effects on the constitutive COX2 function in brain, kidney and the reproductive tract, as well as vigilance in post-marketing surveillance.     

News in the treatment of rheumatic diseases

Rheumatic diseases are frustrating issue for the rheumatologists because ethiologic remedy is still missing and much more, they are great socio-economic burden for patients and society. In the last 10 years there was bustling endeavour in creating new products with exact known action. This article deal the new options to treat rheumatoid arthritis with leflunomide, infliximab, etanercept and anakinra and osteoarthritis with hyaluronan, diacerhein, glucosamino sulphate, chondroitin sulphate and avocado/soya unsaponifiables. In particular patients all mentioned products have their place in the treatment plan but critical risk-benefit assessment is needed.     

Postural activity of constrained subject in response to disturbance in sagittal plane

This study examines the postural activity of partially constrained subjects for three different initial standing postures in response to disturbances in the sagittal plane. When the ankle strategy suffices for disturbance rejection in response to anterior disturbances, a mostly linear relationship between the ankle torque and ankle angle was observed, resulting in a constant stiffness at the ankles. However, when the ankle torque saturation was reached, a combined ankle-trunk postural strategy was utilized mainly in response to posterior perturbations due to the properties of the base-of-support. This caused a nonlinear scaling of ankle responses, thereby increasing variability of ankle stiffness. Distinctions in the ankle responses were also observed for different initial standing postures. The anterior initial stance generally increases the overall postural stability and renders the utilization of ankle strategy feasible, even for the rejection of posterior disturbances. Therefore, a linear torque-angle relationship at the ankles was observed for the anterior initial stance, regardless of the perturbation parameters.     

Intracranial infection as a common complication following war missile skull base injury

The purpose of this paper is to stress the importance of clinical observation, the appropriate antimicrobial therapy, and early surgery in the management of intracranial infection following war missile penetrating skull base injury. There were 21 skull base missile injuries treated surgically in a 4-year period. Careful removal of devitalised brain tissue with dural closure was performed with all patients to prevent the development of intracranial infection. Subsequent clinical and radiological surveillance was performed to detect evidence of infection and abscess formation if fragments were left in place. Broad range antibiotic coverage, and the antioedematous agents were applied in the early postoperative period. Infection about the brain was seen in four cases. We recorded three cases of brain abscess formation, while one patient developed bacterial meningitis. The incidence of infectious complications was relatively high in our series. After the organisms causing infection were known, treatment was modified to be as specific as possible. It was not necessary to reoperate on intracranially retained foreign bodies and fragments since they did not increase the infection rate. However, repeated surgery is necessary for a brain abscess.     

Neurologic recovery after penetrating craniocerebral war injury

From June 1, 1991, until December 31, 1992, 116 patients with penetrating craniocerebral war injuries inflicted at the east Slavonian front were treated at the Osijek University Hospital. There were 26 (22.4%) gunshot wounds and 90 (77.6%) wounds inflicted by explosive devices and projectiles. Four years after the injury, a study of the survivors' condition was carried out. No difference was recorded in the survival rate between the patients with gunshot wounds compared with explosive wounds. Rehabilitation produced good results in the survivors, in the prevention of both acute and chronic complications and permanent damage. Older age, lower Glasgow Coma Scale, and level of consciousness were found to be prognostic indicators of outcome.     

Hemangiomas of the external auditory canal:a literature review and two new case reports

Aim  

The aim of this paper is to present two case reports of patients with hemangiomas of the external auditory canal, and to overview all cases published in English language literature so far.