A cholesterol embolism following coronary angioplasty. A case report

Cholesterol embolism is a rare but serious complication of heart catheterization. We report a patient in whom cholesterol embolization syndrome developed after coronary angioplasty complicated by an acute myocardial infarction which was treated with streptokinase and heparin. The clinical outcome was satisfactory. Cholesterol embolism occurrence might have been precipitated in this patient by thrombolytic and anticoagulant therapy.     

Structure-activity relationships among di- and tetramine disulfides related to benextramine

The synthesis and irreversible alpha-blocking activity in the rat vas deferens of a series of tetra- and diamine disulfides 2-38, structural analogues of benextramine (BHC), are described. All compounds containing a central cystamine moiety displayed an irreversible alpha-adrenergic blockade at concentrations ranging from 10(-4) to 6 X 10(-6)M. Potency was increased in cystamines N,N'-disubstituted with 6-aminohexyl groups, especially when the outer nitrogen atoms bear arylalkyl substituents or are enclosed in a ring. However, N,N,N',N'-tetrasubstituted cystamines were poor blockers. Structural specificity in the outer portion of the tetramine disulfide is low, since many types of substituents gave rise to potent alpha-blockers. Even replacement of the outer amines with nonbasic ethers or amides was observed to maintain irreversible alpha-blockade.     

Early diagnosis of n-hexane–caused neuropathy

n-Hexane neuropathy was studied in 20 workers exposed for prolonged periods to this solvent, and with urinary 2, 5-hexanedione concentrations exceeding the biological exposure index recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (5 mg/L) with a mean of 11.02 mg/L (range 5.3—24.2 mg/L). Although neurological examination did not detect significant anomalies in any of the patients, and the conduction velocity and F waves of all the nerves tested were normal, neurographic studies revealed significant differences in the amplitude of sensory nerve action potentials (SNAP) recorded from the sural (mean 14.0 μV), median (mean 17.3 μV), and ulnar (mean 7.9 μV) nerves when compared with normal values from healthy adults of the same age range, examined under identical conditions. The amplitude of the SNAP in sural and median nerves correlated significantly with the number of years worked. The notable decrease in mean amplitude of the SNAP appeared to reflect the primary neurotoxic effects of 2,5-hexanedione. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Nutritional Aspects of Breath Testing Based on Stable Isotopes

Stable isotope methodologies offer a number of possibilities for the nutritional assessment of many different processes and metabolic pathways. The application of stable isotopes has been boosted by the development of new mass spectrometers, lower costs of probes, and the risks associated with radioactive tracers. The use of ¹³C as a tracer offers all the advantages of stable isotopes and has been widely applied for measuring various types of metabolic processes. This review is focused on clinical and nutritional assessments using ¹³C breath tests.     

Onychopathy in a Patient with Fetal Hydantoin Syndrome

Abstract: Hydantoin is an anticonvulsant drug with several side effects. A teralogenic potential has been suggested. The fetal hydantoin syndrome is an entity that consists of a broad range of morphologic and developmental disorders in children born of epileptic mothers exposed to hydantoin during pregnancy. We treated a girl in whom onychopathy was a monosymptomatic or mild form of this syndrome.     

SEOM clinical guidelines for the treatment of follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the second most common subtype of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) in the Western world. FL constitutes the most frequent indolent lymphoma, well characterized by its clinical presentation related to nodal involvement and its morphologic and biologic features. It is often managed as an incurable disease. However, several active therapeutic approaches from the ‘wait and watch” strategy to the allogeneic transplantation are available for management of patients with FL and clearly have changed the natural history of this disease, achieving a long-term disease-free survival. Therapeutic decision is mostly conditioned by patient’s characteristics, stage, histological grade, tumor burden, and risk-predicting factors. This article try to summarizes the diagnosis and treatment of this heterogeneous group of patients.     

Accumulation of toxic metals (Pb and Cd) in the sea urchin Diadema aff. antillarum Philippi, 1845, in an oceanic island (Tenerife,Canary Islands)

This document shows the results obtained from a study on the concentration of toxic heavy metals in the internal tissue and exoskeleton of sea urchins, collected from their natural habitat. The levels of lead and cadmium were measured by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. The mean concentrations of lead and cadmium in the internal tissue were 304.04 and 260.54 μg/kg respectively, whereas in the shell they were 185.02 and 142.48 μg/kg. We also performed a statistical analysis of the differences in the distribution of metals between their exoskeleton and their internal content, a correlation study of the metal content in internal tissue and shell and sampling areas, and a correlation study between the metal content and sample size. Since the sea urchin Diadema antillarum presents a wide range of variation in metal content, this study suggests that this species is an excellent bioindicator of heavy metal contamination. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2010.     

Visceral leishmaniasis: another HIV-associated opportunistic infection? Report of eight cases and review of the literature

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is considered an opportunistic infection in immunocompromised patients. We review the clinical, laboratory, and therapeutic data in 63 patients (eight new cases and 55 cases reported in the literature) with Mediterranean VL (kala azar) and HIV-1 infection to determine whether VL should be considered an opportunistic infection in HIV-infected adults. We conclude that: (1) in areas where both leishmaniasis and HIV-1 infection are endemic, VL may be more frequent among HIV-infected adults; (2) in HIV-infected patients, the clinical picture did not differ significantly from classical kala azar, although it often ran a recurrent course, with resistance to antimonial therapy. We propose the inclusion of VL in the IVC-2 subgroup of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) clinical classification of HIV-1 infection while prospective and larger studies further define whether there are clinical presentations that could justify adding VL to the list of opportunistic infections indicative of AIDS.