Persistent left superior vena cava draining to left atrium with normal coronary sinus

In embryology, a persistent connection of the left superior vena cava to the left atrium rarely coexists with a coronary sinus. We herein report an unusual case of persistent left superior vena cava terminating in a left atrium with normal coronary sinus, which was revealed at the time of permanent pacemaker implantation after a second operation for recurrent left atrioventricular valve regurgitation. Because this anomaly had gone undiagnosed at the first operation, we were unable to diagnose it prior to the second operation, because the preoperative coronary angiogram clearly demonstrated a coronary sinus that was not dilated. We would have repaired the anomaly using a patch or other procedure had it been diagnosed before the second operation in order to prevent cyanosis or brain complications secondary to right-to-left shunting. One should always be on guard for this rare condition.     

La maladie de Sinding-Larsen et Johansson

The Sinding-Larsen and Johansson disease is a non-negligible cause of gonalgia among children of 10 to 14, often misinterpreted as « growing pain . The disease is a benign pathology of the lower pole of the patella which occurs preferentially in physically active children. Our study, carried out in conjunction with the medical department INSEP, is based on a literature review as well as an analysis of 14 cases over two years. The present work eventually led to the differentiation of four etiopathological categories accounting for all the radiochemical evolutions observed. At the origin of these four categories, two factors coexist: the local fragility (the presence of cartilage at the lower pole of the patella) and the trigerring factor, which is most often sports practice. This explains why among children practicing sports, even intensively, only few suffer from this disease.It is essential to know the different radiological aspects of the normal patella in children, in order not to misinterpret one of these aspects with the Sinding-Larsen and Johansson disease.Always benign, the Sinding-Larsen and Johansson disease can very seriously disturb the « careerof children, engaged in high-level sports activity, the average time of evolution being seven months.     

冠心病患者体外反搏后心功能改变

应用体外反搏治疗33例冠心病患者,治疗前后进行心功能检查比较,结果是肺水指数下降4.19％(P<0.05),心室射血时间增加7.74％(P<0.05),射血流速指数增加5.39％(P>0.05),系统血管阻抗降低16.97％(P<0.001),心排量增加10％(P<0.01),心搏量增加13.32％(P<0.01),心率减慢6.66％(P<0.05),心搏指数增加13.23％(P<0.05),心脏指数增加10.63％(P<0.01),说明心功能检查有较好改善。     

Significance of various systemic and ocular parameters in the long-term prognosis after diabetic vitrectomy

The presence or absence of retinal detachment, especially detachment of the macula, was the most critical parameter predicting visual outcome, and long duration of detachment worsened the prognosis (P=0.0084). In contrast, the time interval from vitreous haemorrhage to surgery did not associate with the long-term visual outcome. Pre-operative visual acuity of counting fingers 1 m or better was associated with favourable visual outcome (P=0.0032). Other pre- or per-operative parameters (e.g. aphakia, iris rubeosis, extent of photocoagulation, retinal breaks) did not associate with visual prognosis significantly.Significant association between general parameters and visual outcome was found only in the group of traction retinal detachment where loss of vision was related to shorter duration of diabetes (P=0.0213), and shorter duration of background retinopathy (P=0.0300), and proliferative retinopathy (P=0.0072).     

CRITERIA ADOPTED BY DENTISTS TO INDICATE THE EXTRACTION OF PERIODONTALLY INVOLVED TEETH

When dealing with patients with periodontal disease of variable severities, dentists must often choose between treating and restoring the involved tooth or indicating its extraction. Different criteria have been adopted in this decision-making process. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the criteria adopted by dentists to indicate the extraction of teeth with periodontitis. Dentists were interviewed at their private practices in three cities of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The evaluated criteria included severity of attachment loss, tooth mobility, furcation involvement, prosthetic planning, periodontal-endodontic lesion, possible systemic involvement due to the presence of periodontitis, referral to a periodontist for evaluation, radiographic bone loss greater than 50%, presence of extensive caries, socio-economic and cultural status of the patient, among others. The most often adopted criteria to indicate the extraction of periodontally affected teeth were the presence of mobility (37.5%), severity of attachment loss (24.3%) and radiographic bone loss greater than 50% (21.2%). The results of the present study demonstrated the difficulties faced by dentists to indicate the extraction of teeth with severe attachment loss, in addition to the establishment of an adequate prognosis. Aspects associated with the past disease were still the most often reported to indicate the extraction of teeth for periodontal reasons.     

The pancreas in acute graft versus host disease in man

Twenty-six bone marrow transplant recipients, 14 of whom had evidence of acute graft versus host disease at autopsy, were studied. The pancreas in four of these patients exhibited changes thought to be due to acute graft versus host disease. Pathognomonic findings were in exocrine ducts which showed marked epithelial cellular atypia associated with a mild lymphocytic infiltrate. This was accompanied by ulceration and intraluminal haemorrhage in severe cases. In three of these four cases ductal epithelium showed marked hyperexpression of class I and class II major histocompatibility complex molecules. By contrast islets were not inflamed, showed no evidence of endocrine cell damage and no abnormalities of major histocompatibility complex expression were seen.     

Modulation of infection-induced inflammation and locomotive deficit and longevity in senescence-accelerated mice-prone (SAMP8) model by the oligomerized polyphenol Oligonol.

Oligonol is produced from the oligomerization of polyphenols (typically proanthocyanidin from a variety of fruits such as lychees, grapes, apples, persimmons, etc.) and contains catechin-type monomers and oligomers of proanthocyanidins. The ability of Oligonol to affect infection-dependent eye inflammation, locomotion and longevity in senescence-accelerated prone mice (SAMP8) (a model of senescence acceleration and geriatric disorders with increased oxidative stress and neuronal deficit) was investigated. Oligonol (60mg/kg) significantly modulated the extent of inflammation scores in the eye of SAMP8 mice. Examination of the mice indicated infection with mouse hepatitis virus and pinworm (Syphacia obvelata) in both males and females and with the intestinal protozoa (trichomonad) in males. A comparison of the two groups (using log-rank test) and the difference in the mean life span between groups (using Student's t-test) indicated significant differences in survival (p=0.043) and the mean life span (p=0.033) in male SAMP8 mice. Oligonol increased the mean life span and this was statistically significant. In the open-field locomotive test, the 7-week-old SAMP8 mice crossed more than 40 partitioned lines in 1min. At 48-week-old control untreated male SAMP8 crossed 2 lines. The Oligonol-treated 48-week-old male SAMP8 mice crossed 17 lines however. The improved locomotive activity was statistically significant even after 36weeks in the Oligonol-treated male SAMP8 but this was not the case throughout the time course of the study in the Oligonol-treated female SAMP8. Thus Oligonol treatment to SAMP8 mice modulated the severity of infection-dependent inflammation, prolonged life-span and significantly improved locomotive activity indicating potential benefit to aging-associated diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's diseases. This presents potential for further research to define infection-dependent inflammation associated with degenerative conditions and the molecular mechanism of dietary antioxidant protection.     

Active oxygen species generated by monocytes and polymorphonuclear cells in Crohn's disease

Chemiluminescence (CL) analysis of monocytes and polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) was performed on 13 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and 10 healthy volunteers. The percentages of monocyte populations in mononuclear cells obtained from the patients with CD were greater than those from the healthy volunteers, but the numbers of PMNs were not different between the two groups. The peak level of phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-induced CL activity generated by diluted whole blood from the patients with CD was more significantly elevated than that from the healthy volunteers, whereas the peak levels of opsonized zymosan-induced CL activity did not differ between the two groups. In monocytes, the peak levels of both PMA- and opsonized zymosan-induced CL activity were significantly higher in the patients with CD than in the healthy volunteers. CL in PMNs, however, showed no significant difference between CD and controls. It is suggested that monocytes of CD have a large capacity to generate active oxygen species. The present study suggests that excessive active oxygen species released by monocytes and perhaps macrophages may play an important role in formation of the intestinal lesions in CD.This work was supported by the Grant of Tokuteishitsukan from the Japanese Ministry of Welfare and Health.     

色甘酸钠混悬气雾剂与茶碱缓释胶囊治疗中度哮喘的比较

８４例中度哮喘病人分成２组。色甘酸钠组（男性２３例，女性２０例，年龄２６±ｓ８ａ）吸入色甘酸钠混悬气雾剂１０．５ｍｇ，ｔｉｄ。茶碱缓释胶囊组（男性２２例，女性１９例，年龄２７±８ａ）口服０．２５ｇ。ｂｉｄ。２组均连续观察３ｍｏ。结果：色甘酸钠在减轻病人慢性症状、改善肺功能和降低气道高反应性等方面优于茶碱缓释胶囊，（Ｐ＜０．０１）。而后药仅可缓解近期症状。     

温针灸为主治疗前列腺增生症疗效观察

笔者于1998年2月～1999年12月应用温针灸为主治疗前列腺增生症51例,效果理想.现报道如下. 1临床资料 1.1病例选择全部98例观察病例均来自男科门诊.按随机法分为治疗组和对照组.其中治疗组51例,年龄最小49岁,最大72岁,平均56.3岁;病程最短2年,最长5年,平均4.1年.对照组47例,年龄最小48岁,最大71岁,平均57.1岁;病程最短3年,最长7年,平均5.0年.两组具有可比性.