Immunologic disorders in children with developmental thoracic defects

As the result of immunological examination of 21 children with developmental defects of the chest and analysis of the course of the postoperative period in 136 children, among which 36 had hereditary syndromes of systemic connective-tissue dyshistogenesis, it was found that suppurative complications of thoracoplasty, which are encountered in 15% of children with isolated developmental chest defects and in 33.3% of those with the above mentioned syndromes, were caused to a great measure by disorders of the immune status. The most serious immunological deviations were encountered in the Marfan syndrome due to impaired phagocytic activity of neutrophils and monocytes, decreased number of T, T active, and B lymphocytes, and diminished function of T helpers. In unclassified complexes of developmental defects with Marfaneic ++ phenotypes, the immunological disorders were similar, but less deep. In the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a decrease of the number of immunocompetent cells, function of T helpers, and neutrophils was mainly revealed. In isolated forms of funnel chest the function of monocytes and the number of immunoglobulins are mainly decreased.     

Effect of excess parathyroid hormone on human bone marrow fibroblasts

Patients with uremia have excess levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH). It has been reported that excess PTH is associated with bone marrow fibrosis. The present study was undertaken to examine the in vitro effect of intact 1-34 PTH and the active 1-34 N-terminal fragment on human bone-marrow-derived fibroblasts. Proliferation of fibroblasts was not stimulated by PTH in concentrations present in uremia (5-30 U/ml) nor by uremic sera which contained either high or low PTH levels. The lack of stimulation contrasted with the activity of both PTH preparations in other systems, i.e., inhibitory to erythroid colonies and stimulatory to heart muscle cells.     

Clinico-roentgenological and physiological evaluation of the spine in patients with juvenile kyphosis

203 patients with juvenile kyphosis, aged 11-16 years, have been subjected to the complex examination, including ++clinico-roentgenologic and physiologic methods. Along with the cardinal signs, common for juvenile kyphosis diagnosis and characteristic of the dystrophic process (wedge distortion, osteoporosis of vertebra bodies and fragmentation of their apophyses, dedifferentiation of the bone structure, height reduction and pathologic restructuring of intervertebral disks following the pattern of fibrosis, presence of discal hernia), the signs of bone ++ dysplasia of spine and skeleton in general should be singled out of the roentgenologic characteristic of disease which determine the variants of pathologic process course and treatment tactics. The presence of dysontogenesis signs in patients with juvenile kyphosis is suggested.     

Relation of the outcome of disk epiphysectomy in dysplastic scoliosis and the biochemical composition of the vertebral body

Pronounced changes in the content of collagen, non-collagen proteins and the activity of a number of lysosomic enzymes have been established in the bone tissue of the vertebral bodies obtained on diskepiphysectomy in the patients with dysplastic scoliosis. Numerous correlation links between the metabolic parameters and the spinal deformation a year after diskepiphysectomy have been determined.     

Brain metastasis from malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the heart: case report

This is the second reported case of a malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the heart that metastasized to the brain. A 33-year-old woman developed headache, nausea, and ataxic gait 9 months after removal of the tumor from the left atrium of the heart. Computed tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging scans disclosed multiple metastatic tumors in the brain. Although dramatic improvement in her symptoms and signs followed the removal of the brain tumors, she died of tumor recurrence in the left atrium 3 months after the removal of the metastatic brain tumors.