Assessment of magnetic resonance contrast enhancement with Gd-DTPA: comparison with the uptake of Tc-99m-DTPA

To compare the contrast enhancement of Gd-DTPA with the uptake of 99mTc-DTPA, a study was carried out in two steps. In the first step, images comparable in terms of data acquisition time and thickness were obtained after computer processing, and processed images of 99mTc-DTPA and Gd-DTPA enhanced MRI were compared from the morphological aspect. In the second step, the arterial blood concentration of Gd-DTPA and the effect of T2 shortening on signal intensity were studied. It was concluded that Gd-DTPA enhanced MRI can provide functional information analogous to that obtained from radionuclide studies, possibly enabling semiquantitative analysis of contrast enhancement to be performed.     

Carcinoma of the floor of the mouth: A 20-year experience

From 1955 to 1975, 116 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the floor of the mouth were primarily treated by irradiation in the Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland at Baltimore. Of these, 93 evaluable patients yielded loco-regional control rates of 83, 85, 42 and 21% for Stages I–IV, respectively. A palisading technique of radium needle implants was used, either alone or combined with external beam therapy, for early tumors (Stages I-II). Similar control rates were achieved by these two techniques: $\text{13}\text{14}$ for interstitial irradiation alone and $\text{16}\text{24}$ for combined interstitial and external irradiation. In selected early cases (Stages III), errors in staging were minimized by the systematic use of a needle biopsy of the submaxillary triangle for suspicious submaxillary swellings. Patients with early lesions and truly negative nodes (No) only received irradiation to the primary tumor bed. No subsequent nodal neck failures have occurred in 13 of such patients. The overall complication rate for the entire series was 1796 with only 8 patients requiring surgery. No differences in complication rates were found among the treatment modalities employed. The distribution of lymph nodal involvement by anatomical level, correlation of histological differentiation or tumor aggressiveness at presentation, the dosimetric analysis of the palisading interstitial technique, the spread and failure patterns and other observations are discussed.     

A retrospective analysis for aetiology and clinical findings of 287 secondary amyloidosis cases in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Secondary amyloidosis is the most frequent of the various types of systemic amyloidosis, the epidemiology of which is not yet fully known. The aim of our study was to evaluate retrospectively the collective data for the aetiological distribution, clinical findings and approaches to the management of secondary amyloidosis in Turkey. METHODS: Data from a simple questionnaire addressing aetiology, and demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with biopsy-proven secondary amyloidosis was retrospectively analysed. Eleven nephrology clinics contributed data for this study. RESULTS: The 11 contributing centres provided a total of 287 cases (102 female, 185 male). The aetiological distribution was as follows: familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) 64%, tuberculosis 10%, bronchiectasis and chronic obstructive lung disease 6%, rheumatoid arthritis 4%, spondylarthropathy 3%, chronic osteomyelitis 2%, miscellaneous 4%, unknown 7%. Oedema accompanied by proteinuria was present in 88% of the cases, hepatomegaly in 17%, and splenomegaly in 11%. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 115+/-26 and 73+/-15 mmHg respectively. The family history was positive in 16%; 73% of the cases were on colchicine treatment when the questionnaire was administered. Thirty-eight per cent of the cases had progressed to ESRD and were on renal replacement therapy. CONCLUSIONS: FMF is the leading cause of secondary amyloidosis in Turkey, followed by tuberculosis. Oedema accompanied by proteinuria is the most prominent presenting finding, and hypotension seems to be common among these patients.     

Intracranial meningiomas. Analysis of 344 surgically treated cases

The authors present 344 (230 females, 114 males) surgical cases of intracranial meningioma. A total of 370 interventions (344 primary procedures, 10 reexplorations for neurologic deterioration, 16 operations for recurrence) were made. Mean follow-up was 38 months. The overall evaluation revealed that 306 (88.95%) patients were completely normal or in a better condition than before operation. 18 (5.23%) were in a worse condition after operation and 20 (5.81%) died. Results suggested that complications and mortality were mostly related to localization and large volume; we also still have problems with aggressive and malignant meningiomas.     

Biomechanical effects of splint types on traumatized tooth: a photoelastic stress analysis

Abstract –  This study was undertaken to assess the effect of splint type on stresses occurring around traumatized tooth by photoelastic stress analysis. Three semi-rigid splint types – a wire-composite splint, fiberglass splint and titanium trauma splint – were utilized for comparisons. Extracted left upper central and lateral incisors and the canine tooth of an otherwise healthy patient were embedded equidistantly in photoelastic resin. For all cases studied, a static axial and 20° oblique force of 100 N was applied on the lateral incisor in separate sessions. The experiments were undertaken without any splint application (unsplinted, control) after which the splints, adhesively bonded to the labial aspects of teeth, were consecutively tested. During each loading sequence, generation of isochromatic fringes was observed in the field of a polariscope, and photographed by a digital camera. Quantification of fringes was performed on magnified images, transferred to a PC. Under vertical loading, the highest stresses in the apical regions were observed for the unsplinted and ribbond-splint groups, whereas the lowest fringes occurred with the use of orthodontic wire as a splinting medium. Titanium trauma splint had absolutely no effect on reduction of stresses, as the fringe orders were slightly higher than the unsplinted lateral tooth. The use of orthodontic wire resulted in lowest fringe orders around the traumatized tooth.     

The effect of benzalkonium chloride on rabbit nasal mucosa in vivo: an electron microscopy study

In this study we investigated the histopathological changes of nasal mucosa after the use of topical benzalkonium-chloride solution. In the study, 28 male New Zealand white rabbits were used. The animals were divided into two groups. In the first group, 50 micro l of 0.001% benzalkonium-chloride solution was sprayed into the right nostril and 50 micro l of 0.9% saline into the left twice daily for 14 days. In the second group, the same solutions were applied twice daily for 28 days. All of the biopsies from each nasal cavity were processed for electron microscopy. In the nostrils treated with 0.001% benzalkonium chloride, there were areas with obvious squamous cell metaplasia. Some cells showed broken cristae of the mitochondria. Degenerative changes in the supportive and olfactory cells, deformation of nuclei and the increase of heterochromatin were observed. The present investigation has shown that the application of topical benzalkonium chloride does induce degenerative morphologic changes in the nasal mucosa in rabbits in vivo.     

Novel mutation in SUCLA2 identified on sequencing analysis

Succinate‐CoA ligase, ADP‐forming, beta subunit (SUCLA2)‐related mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome is caused by mutations affecting the ADP‐using isoform of the beta subunit in succinyl‐CoA synthase, which is involved in the Krebs cycle. The SUCLA2 protein is found mostly in heart, skeletal muscle, and brain tissues. SUCLA2 mutations result in a mitochondrial disorder that manifests as deafness, lesions in the basal ganglia, and encephalomyopathy accompanied by dystonia. Such mutations are generally associated with mildly increased plasma methylmalonic acid, increased plasma lactate, elevated plasma carnitine esters, and the presence of methylmalonic acid in urine. In this case report, we describe a new mutation in a patient with a succinyl‐CoA synthase deficiency caused by an SUCLA2 defect.