Alveolar hydatid disease of the liver: Brief review and spectrum of adjacent organ invasion

The purpose of this study is to show the spectrum of adjacent organ invasion and to make a brief review of hepatic alveolar hydatid disease (AHD), using CT and MR imaging. We retrospectively reviewed CT and MR images of three patients with various adjacent organ invasions surgically and histologically proven to be AHD. Local invasion to right kidney and adrenal, right hemidiaphragm and lung were detected in one patient, right adrenal in another patient and gall bladder, duodenum, gastric wall and pancreas invasion in the other. AHD may rarely extend to the gall bladder, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, right adrenal and kidney, diaphragm, pleura and lung. The extension of the disease outside the liver is usually encountered in patients with large, peripherally located masses in the advanced stage of the disease.     

Nephron-sparing surgery for renal cell carcinoma with venous involvement

A nephron-sparing operation recently has been shown to provide extended survival free of disease in selected patients with localized renal cell carcinoma, particularly for tumors of lower stage. To define better the role of conservative surgical treatment in more locally advanced renal cell carcinoma we reviewed 9 patients with venous tumor involvement in solitary functioning kidneys who underwent a nephron-sparing operation. Complete tumor resection with adequate preservation of renal function was accomplished in all cases. Of the 9 patients 5 had no evidence of disease 7 to 93 months (mean 33.2 months) postoperatively. The remaining 4 patients died of metastatic renal cell carcinoma 17 to 47 months (mean 35.5 months) postoperatively, 2 of whom had concomitant local recurrences in the renal remnant. Based on previously reported results of total nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma with venous involvement and the morbidity associated with renal replacement therapy, we believe that a nephron-sparing operation is a viable option in the management of these patients.     

Deprivation of form vision suppresses diurnal cycling of retinal levels of leu-enkephalin

Deprivation of form vision by the fitting of translucent occluders suppressed the diurnal cycling of enkephalinergic amacrine cells (the ENSLI amacrine cells), in the chicken. Daily periods of normal vision or enforcing temporal contrast using strobe lighting appeared to restore normal functioning of the ENSLI cells. These results suggest that the ENSLI cells are involved in retinal circuits that assess the quality of the visual image and control eye growth.