Inguino-scrotal hernia of a double district ureter: case report and literature review

Ureteral hernia is uncommon and usually misdiagnosed. From an anatomic point of view, we can distinguish between two uretero-inguinal hernias: intraperitoneal and extraperitoneal. Ureter inguinal hernias are nearly always indirect. This kind of hernia can include the ureter alone or, frequently, other abdominal sliding organs within the hernia sac (bladder, bowel tracts, etc.). Kidneys and urinary tracts present normal anatomic conformation, although renal ptosis may be found. As of July 2004, 139 cases of ureteral hernia had been described in the literature. Here we report a case of inguino-scrotal herniation of double district ureter and review the current literature to analyze the main clinical characteristics of this pathology and to establish pitfalls.     

Transnasal sinusectomy with combined microscopic and endoscopic technique

Severe, diffuse polyposis can be adequately treated through a transnasal approach which combines microscopic and endoscopic surgery. The operating microscope is used to perform ethmoidectomy, usually from the front to the back, and to open the sphenoid sinus and the antral window. The telescopes allow the sphenoid and maxillary sinuses to be cleaned under direct view control as well as enabling good drainage to be performed from the frontal sinuses. The results from 22 consecutive patients were good, with a very low rate of minor post-operative complications.     

Six cases of travel-associated legionnaires' disease in Ischia involving four countries

Summary The detection of travel-associated legionellosis can be extremely difficult; hence, an extensive case investigation is recommended in pneumonia-striken travellers and tourists, who are particularly at risk of acquiring the disease. On the Island of Ischia (Isola d'Ischia, Naples, Italy) a total of six cases of Legionnaires' disease occurred from 1986 to 1990. All patients (one man and two women from Germany, one Austrian woman, one Swiss man, and one Italian woman) had taken thermal baths and stayed in local hotels; they all experienced severe pneumonia, and three of them died. These cases were associated with hotels, and the hot-water supply was presumed to have transmitted the infection. Remedial procedures were applied to the hot-water plumbing of the hotels according to the WHO recommendations and were proved to be effective. The occurrences described in this paper stress the importance of rapid and accurate reporting of diagnosed cases to the country where the infection was probably acquired, in order to ensure early detection of endemic foci and emerging clusters of legionellosis.

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Sechs Fälle von reiseassoziierter Legionärskrankheit in Ischia unter Beteiligung von vier Ländern

Zusammenfassung Der Nachweis reiseassoziierter Legionärskrankheit gestaltet sich häufig schwierig. Eine Überwachung von Touristen und Reisenden, die ein erhöhtes Legionellose-Risiko haben, ist daher zu empfehlen. Zwischen 1986 und 1990 traten auf der Insel Ischia (Neapel, Italien) insgesamt sechs Fälle von Legionärskrankheit auf. Alle Patienten (ein Mann und zwei Frauen aus Deutschland, eine Österreicherin, ein Schweizer und eine Italienerin), die in Hotels auf der Insel wohnten, hatten Thermalbäder besucht. Sie erkrankten an schweren Pneumonien, wobei drei Todesfälle auftraten. Die Ansteckungsquelle konnte mit Hotels in Verbindung gebracht werden, wobei die Übertragung der Infektion über die Warmwasserleitungsnetze als gesichert anzunehmen war. Desinfektionsmaßnahmen in den betreffenden Hotels, die nach den Empfehlungen der WHO ausgeführt wurden, erwiesen sich als wirksam. Das genannte Infektionsgeschehen weist auf die Notwendigkeit hin, Fälle von Legionärskrankheit so rasch wie möglich dem Ursprungsland unter Angabe der vermuteten Infektionsquelle zu melden, um sicherzustellen, daß eine Früherkennung endemischer Herde bzw. assoziierter Legionellosen bekannt gemacht wird.

     

Identification of a Promiscuous T-Cell Epitope in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Mce Proteins

The characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens inducing CD4(+) T-cell responses could critically contribute to the development of subunit vaccines for M. tuberculosis. Here we performed computational analysis by using T-cell epitope prediction software (known as TEPITOPE) to predict promiscuous HLA-DR ligands in the products of the mce genes of M. tuberculosis. The analysis of the proliferative responses of CD4(+) T cells from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis to selected peptides displaying promiscuous binding to HLA-DR in vitro led us to the identification of a peptide that induced proliferation of CD4(+) cells from 50% of the tested subjects. This study demonstrates that a systematic computational approach can be used to identify T-cell epitopes in proteins expressed by an intracellular pathogen.     

A PCR-colorimetric microwell plate hybridization assay for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. avium from culture samples and Ziehl-Neelsen-positive smears

Differentiation between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. avium is essential for the treatment of mycobacterial infections. We have developed an easy and rapid detection assay for the diagnosis of mycobacterial diseases. This is a PCR-hybridization assay based on selective amplification of a 16S rRNA gene sequence using pan-Mycobacterium primers followed by hybridization of the amplification products to biotinylated M. tuberculosis and M. avium-specific probes. A total of 55 mycobacterial isolates were tested. For all isolates, results concordant with those of conventional identification methods were obtained. Moreover, we developed a method for extraction of DNA from Ziehl-Neelsen-positive smears which allows the recovery of intact target DNA in our PCR-hybridization assay. Our method was able to confirm all culture results for 59 Ziehl-Neelsen-positive smears from clinical specimens (35 sputum, 11 lymph node biopsy, 6 stool, 4 pus, 2 urine, and 1 pericardial fluid specimens). These data suggest that our PCR-hybridization assay, which is simple to perform and less expensive than commercial probe methods, may be suitable for the identification of M. tuberculosis and M. avium. It could become a valuable alternative approach for the diagnosis of mycobacterial infections when applied directly to DNA extracted from Ziehl-Neelsen-positive smears as well.