False-positive FDG-PET scan secondary to lipoid pneumonia mimicking a solid pulmonary nodule

Fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scanning is useful in evaluating suspicious lesions of the lung. Our patient was a 65-year-old woman with a 45-pack-year smoking history who was referred for further evaluation because of a 3 cm × 3 cm solid lung nodule on computed tomography scan of the chest. FDG-PET scan revealed a standard uptake value of 3.2 suggestive of malignancy. The histology of the lung nodule was consistent with lipoid pneumonia, a benign condition frequently associated with inadvertent aspiration or inhalation of oily substances.     

Religiosity of depressed elderly inpatients

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of religious practices and beliefs of depressed elderly Australian inpatients and their relationship to physical, social, and cognitive variables known to influence the prognosis of depression in the elderly. To compare the results obtained with those from similar North American studies. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Inpatients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of major depression were interviewed on admission to the psychogeriatric unit of a Melbourne geriatric centre. Information collected included patient demographics, intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity, cognitive function, severity of depression, number of chronic illnesses, physical function, and numbers and quality of social support. Pearson correlation and multivariate analysis using a standard regression model were used to examine relationships between the religious and other variables. RESULTS: Of the 86 patients who completed the assessment, 25% attended church regularly and 37% prayed, meditated, or read the Bible, at least once a day. Just over half rarely or never engaged in such behaviours. Three out of every eight patients were 'intrinsically' religious. Religious patients expressed higher levels of social support and physically disabled patients were more likely to be religious. CONCLUSIONS: Depressed elderly Australian inpatients are less religious than their North American counterparts. Nevertheless, religion remains important for a large minority of such individuals. Clinicians need to be aware that such individuals may turn to religion when depressed, especially to cope with the presence of physical disability.     

Is there evidence for dual causation between malaria and socioeconomic status? Findings from rural Tanzania

Malaria's relationship with socioeconomic status at the macroeconomic level has been established. This is the first study to explore this relationship at the microeconomic (household) level and estimate the direction of association. Malaria prevalence was measured by parasitemia, and household socioeconomic status was measured using an asset based index. Results from an instrumental variable probit model suggest that socioeconomic status is negatively associated with malaria parasitemia. Other variables that are significantly associated with parasitemia include age of the individual, use of a mosquito net on the night before interview, the number of people living in the household, whether the household was residing at their farm home at the time of interview, household wall construction, and the region of residence. Matching estimators indicate that malaria parasitemia is associated with reduced household socioeconomic status.     

Clinical and pathologic manifestations of necrobiosis lipoidica-like skin involvement in sarcoidosis

Necrobiosis lipoidica dibeticum (NLD) is a granulomatous skin disease mostly associated with diabetes mellitus. NLD has been reported in patients with other systemic disease. Also, the lesions of NLD may be clinically, and sometimes even histologically indistinguishable from other inflammatory skin lesions. We described three patients with established diagnosis of sarcoidosis that developed skin lesions consistent with NLD. The association of NLD-like skin lesion in sarcoidosis is not widely appreciated. The subject of NLD and sarcoidosis is reviewed.     

Perinephric hematoma: semi-automated quantification of volume on MDCT: a feasibility study

Background  

To evaluate feasibility and reproducibility of quantification of perinephric hematoma volume on multidetector-row CT (MDCT).