Spontaneous Regression of Budd-Chiari Syndrome (Hepatic Venous Occlusion) in a Young Female

ABSTRACT. Hultcrantz R, Angelin B, Einarsson K, Friman L (Departments of Internal Medicine and Roentgenology, Serafimer Hospital, and Department of Internal Medicine, Huddinge University Hospital, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden). Spontaneous regression of Budd-Chiari syndrome (hepatic venous occlusion) in a young female. Acta Med Scand 1987; 221:503–7. A case of occlusion of the hepatic veins in an 18-year-old girl is presented. The onset was sudden with massive ascites and markedly impaired general condition. The diagnosis was based on liver biopsy and angiograms of the caval and hepatic veins as well as of the celiac artery. No predisposing factors could be found. The patient was treated conservatively with laparo-centesis and diuretics. Clear improvement was seen after two weeks, and after four weeks she had no ascites and could be discharged. All liver function tests were then normalized. After three months, all diuretics could be withdrawn, and in the following 11 years she has remained completely recovered. The case illustrates that also widespread thrombi of the hepatic veins may sometimes rapidly dissolve spontaneously, with apparent total reconstitution of hepatic function. This case is unusual since previously reported cases have had high mortality rates and, in surviving cases, operative procedures or large doses of diuretics have been required to control the ascites.     

Is chronic inflammatory change in the prostate the major cause of rising serum prostate‐specific antigen in patients with clinical suspicion of prostate cancer?

AIM: To evaluate the cause of elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in patients with transrectal needle biopsy negative for prostate cancer. METHODS: Serum PSA concentration, prostate volume, and pathologic findings were examined in 223 patients with negative biopsy for prostate cancer. The degree of prostate inflammation was determined by the extent and degree of inflammation shown by biopsy specimens and is expressed as an inflammation score (range: 0-36). RESULTS: A significant correlation was found between PSA concentration and prostate total volume (P=0.0001). Prostate chronic inflammation showed no correlation with PSA concentration (P=0.485, F=0.488). After allocating patients to normal PSA (4 ng/mL) groups, we found that serum PSA concentrations in both groups were predominantly affected by prostate total volume. CONCLUSIONS: An increase in prostate volume appears to be the major contributor to a high serum PSA concentration in patients with negative biopsy for prostate cancer. However, in contrast to previous reports, there was no correlation between the degree of prostate chronic inflammation and serum PSA concentrations.     

NATURE AND HEALING OF TIBIAL SHAFT FRACTURES IN ALCOHOL ABUSERS

Alcohol abuse is associated with an increased risk of osteopeniaand fractures. Previous histomorphometric studies on iliac crestbone have found decreased bone formation and increased boneresorption in alcohol abusers but it has not been establishedwhether alcohol abuse has any effect on the anatomical locationor the healing time of tibial shaft fractures. We studied, retrospectively,199 adult male patients hospitalized for isolated tibial shaftfracture in the city of Malmö, Sweden, between 1980 and1990. Forty-nine of the patients had earlier been registeredat the Department of Alcohol Diseases and were judged to beproblem drinkers. Abusers sustained their tibial shaft fracturesmore often by falling at ground level (P<0.0001) or froma higher level (P=0.009) and the fractures were more often obliquethan transverse (P=0.002) as compared with non-abusers. Healingtime was impaired in abusers who had sustained a transversefracture (P=0.035), but no difference was observed in healingtime in those with an oblique fracture. We found no differencebetween the abusers and the non-abusers regarding duration ofhospital stay, fracture location, amount of displacement, occurrenceof open fractures or the rate of complications.     

Dural sinus thrombosis: study using intermediate field strength MR imaging

The magnetic resonance (MR) images of six patients with thrombosis of a dural sinus were reviewed. The diagnosis had been verified by computed tomographic scans in three patients and arteriograms in two; in the sixth patient, only MR imaging was used to confirm the clinical syndrome. In all patients, high-intensity signal was seen from the thrombus within the affected dural sinus on all echoes. This persistent signal intensity allowed intravascular clot to be distinguished from normal causes of increased signal such as flow-related enhancement (entry phenomenon) and even-echo rephasing. MR imaging demonstrated the cause of the thrombosis in three patients: two were secondary to adjacent tumors, and one was secondary to unsuspected mastoiditis. Complications such as infarction were also demonstrated. Using MR imaging, one can easily and safely diagnose thrombosis of a dural sinus. MR should be the imaging method of choice in patients suspected of having thrombosis of a dural sinus.     

Generation of iC3 at the Interface between Blood and Gas

Earlier studies have shown that C3 can be denatured when blood comes in contact with a polystyrene surface. This study was undertaken to see if similar denaturation of C3 occurs at the gas-plasma interface which is found in all kinds of oxygenator used during cardio-pulmonary operations. An in vitro system consisting of gas bubbling through human blood, serum or plasma was used. The generation of C3a, as an indicator of complement activation, and iC3 and iC3 fragments were monitored. Both C3a and iC3/iC3 fragments levels were increased during bubbling. In contrast to the C3a level, no reduction in iC3/iC3 fragments formation was seen in the presence of EDTA, indicating that it was independent of complement activation. The rate of iC3/iC3 fragments generation was unaffected by the composition of the gas (pure oxygen, pure nitrogen or air), suggesting that the denaturation of C3 indeed occurred at the serum-gas interface. C3 and iC3/iC3 fragments were isolated from bubbled EDTA-chelated serum by PEG precipitation and chromatography on FPLC, using a Mono S column and detected by two ELISAs, specific for native C3 and iC3/iC3 fragments. After 240 min approximately 20% of the total amount of C3 consisted of intact iC3 and it was confirmed that this population bound to human erythrocytes.     

Interleukin-4 (IL-4) Enhances Homotypic Adhesion of Activated B-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (B-CLL) Cells via a Selective Up-Regulation of CD54

It is well established that cell-to-cell contact modifies cytokine signalling but little is known on the role of homotypic cell adhesion for proliferation and differentiation of B cells. Homotypic adhesion involves mainly the interaction between the adhesion molecules Leukocyte Function Antigen-1 (LFA-1) and its ligand CD54 (ICAM-1). A well-characterized B-chronic lymphocytie leukaemia (B-CLL) clone (1–83) was used as a source of monoclonal B cells inducible to DNA synthesis and differentiation by using 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate(TPA) in combination with intcrleukin-4 (IL-4) and thioredoxin(Trx)-containing supernatant from a T-cell hybridoma (BSF-MP6). This paper shows that IL-4 alone was able to induce aggregation of B-CLL cells and to strongly enhance TPA+BSF-MP6-induced aggregalion. The results from studying the expression of CD11a and CD18, the two suhunits of LFA-1, and CD54 during stimulated DNA synthesis and differentiation suggest that IL-4-induced. or enhanced, aggregation was mainly mediated by a selective up-regulation of CD54. It was further demonstrated by antibody blockade to either CD11a, CD18 or CD54 that aggregation could be inhibited without affecting induced DNA synthesis or differentiation.     

糖尿病周围神经病97例临床特征与神经电生理分析

目的:探讨糖尿病周围神经病(DPN)患者的临床特征与神经电生理变化。方法:分析97例DPN患者的临床特征,比较DPN组和对照组的神经传导速度(NCV)、远端潜伏期、远端波幅3个参数。结果:①临床特征以肢体麻木(59%)最多见、其次为疼痛(42%)。②患者组NCV、远端波幅值低于对照组,远端潜伏期比对照组延长;两组3个参数比较,除腓总神经远端波幅、尺神经感觉传导速度和正中、尺、腓肠神经远端潜伏期外,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:①DPN患者临床特征以肢体麻木和疼痛最多见;②检测NCV、远端潜伏期、远端波幅,能较早发现临床患者。     

Association between inflammation and epithelial damage-restitution processes in allergic airways in vivo

Background Associations between allergen challenge-induced sites of epithelial damage and the distribution of leucocytes and extravasated plasma remain unexplored. Objective To study neutrophils, eosinophils, and fibrinogen at allergen challenge-induced patchy epithelial damage-restitution sites in guinea-pig trachea. Methods After local challenge tracheal tissue (cryo sections and whole-mounts) and lumen (selective tracheal lavage) were examined at 1, 5, and 24 h. Eosinophils, neutrophils and fibrinogen were identified by histochemistry. Results Neutrophils increased markedly in tracheal lavage fluids and in tissue and were strongly associated with the challenge-induced epithelial craters of damage-restitution. At 1 and 24 h eosinophils were increased in the tracheal lumen whereas the surrounding tissue displayed a reversed pattern. Gels rich in fibrinogen, neutrophils, and eosinophils were present in epithelial crater areas, protruding into the lumen. Clusters of free eosinophil granules, Cfegs, released through lysis of eosinophils, and neutrophils with long cytoplasmatic protrusions abounded in these crater areas. Conclusions The present findings provide important new insights into allergic airways where sites of epithelial damage-restitution processes emerge as the major loci for eosinophil, neutrophil, and plasma protein activities, the latter likely causing leukocyte adhesion and activation in vivo. The disttibution of eosinophils in this study suggests roles of these cells both in airway mucosa and in regional lymph nodes. Based on the present study we also propose that lysis of eosinophils and Cfegs generation are a major paradigm for activation of these cells in vivo.     

Validity of a postal questionnaire with regard to the prevalence of myocardial infarction in a general population sample

In order to evaluate the possibility of finding persons whohave suffered a myocardial infarction (MI) by postal questionnaire,a self-administered questionnaire was sent to a random sampleof 4400 men aged 45–64 years, drawn from the general population.The response rate was 95%. 176 men indicated that they had beenhospitalized for MI, out of which 124 cases could be verifiedfrom medical records. Of the remaining men, 33 had evidenceof cardiovascular disease (CVD) in their records but no MI,and 19 men had no evidence of CVD. The sensitivity (estimatedfrom a subsample) was 100% and the specificity 98.7%. The predictivevalue was 100% for a negative response and 70.5% for a positiveresponse. The 33 positive responders whose MI could not be verified butwho had evidence of CVD had characteristics fairly similar tothe responders with verified Mis. However, the 19 positive responderswhose MI could not be verified and who had no evidence of CVDhad characteristics that were dissimilar from the MI group aswell as from the negative responders. The questionnaire thus identified all the MI cases. The needfor validation can be limited to the relatively small groupof positive responders.     

先天性三尖瓣畸形及其功能影响

在１５６例先天性心血管畸形标本的观察和测量中，检出先天性三尖瓣畸形２５例（１６．０２％），其中Ｅｂｓｔｅｉｎ＇ｓ畸形６例，三尖瓣发育不良１４例，三尖瓣缺如１例，三尖瓣瓣叶或／和腱索骑跨４例。用测量及比较解剖学的方法探求三尖瓣畸形与其功能的影响。结果显示：Ｅｂｓｔｅｉｎ＇ｓ畸形和三尖瓣发育不良的心脏构筑都有明显的变化，而且两者存在一定的差异，同时明确了Ｅｂｓｔｅｉｎ＇ｓ畸形的病理诊断标准和三尖瓣发育不良的分类。