Cranioplasty with autogenous autoclaved calvarial bone flap in the cases of tumoural invasion

Summary When a bone flap is raised in the course of a craniotomy, the ideal is to replace it at the end of the procedure. When it is invaded by tumoural cells, it cannot be replaced due to the risk of tumoural recurrence. In these cases we have autoclaved the bone flap to be able to replace it with no fear of tumoural recurrence.Between October 1989 and October 1995 sixty-two patients required autoclaving of the bone flap in the course of a craniotomy due to tumoural invasion (thirty-five meningiomas, sixteen bone tumours, five metastases, and eight scalp tumours).The infiltrated bone flaps were removed, cleaned, autoclaved for 20 minutes at 134 °C and 1 kg/cm² and re-implanted.Patients were followed-up for 10 to 58 months (average 41 months). At every follow-up visit skull x-ray studies, clinical examination, and photographs were done. When needed a CT scan was performed to assess the thickness of the bone flap.On follow-up roentgenograms partial resorption was observed in twelve cases (19.3%). CT scan studies showed loss of thickness in another thirty-five cases (56.4%). Meanwhile the external aspect remained unchanged.In six cases (3.2%) biopsies of the bone flaps were taken at a second surgical procedure. They showed newly formed bone partly re-populated by osteocytes but retaining areas of sequestered bone.We conclude that autoclaved bone, if replaced with direct contact with living bone, it is gradually repopulated with osteocytes. Cranial vault autoclaved autologous bone flap is a good alternative when the original bone flap is invaded but not destroyed by tumoural cells.     

Tratamiento del lupus eritematoso cutáneo resistente

Lupus erythematosus (LE) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease that includes a broad spectrum of manifestations, ranging from systemic disease (systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE]) to purely cutaneous forms (cutaneous lupus erythematosus [CLE]).Cutaneous involvement occurs in 90% of patients with SLE.Based on morphological and histopathological features, CLE can be divided into three categories: chronic CLE, subacute CLE and acute CLE.The precise etiology of LE is not fully understood, but the disease occurs when environmental factors, drugs and infectious agents trigger an abnormal immune response in an individual with predisposing genetic factors.To assess cutaneous involvement, several scores have been developed over the years. A recent study, called CLASI (Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus Disease Area and Severity Index), staged mucocutaneous damage and disease activity separately, allowing assessment of therapeutic response to be standardized.The management of CLE is challenging. Although treatment traditionally consists of photoprotection, topical steroids and antimalarial agents, these measures are sometimes ineffective in subgroup of patients, giving rise to what is called resistant CLE.This article reviews the topical and systemic treatment options, both the classical and new treatment alternatives currently available.     

Multisystemic Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis Mimicking Diffuse Neonatal Hemangiomatosis

We report the first case of multisystemic Langerhans cell histiocytes mimicking diffuse neonatal hemangiomatosis clinically. This has been described in patients with congenital self‐healing reticulohistiocytosis but not in patients with acute, disseminated, and multisystemic disease. In our experience, dermoscopic findings did not help to diagnose the condition.     

Enfermedades inflamatorias mediadas por inmunidad en pacientes con enfermedad inflamatoria intestinal. Datos basales del estudio Aquiles

Objective

To determine the prevalence of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID) in a cohort of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) enrolled in hospital gastroenterology outpatients units for the AQUILES study, a prospective 2-year follow-up study.

Material and methods

We included patients ≥ 18 years old with a prior or new diagnosis of IBD (Crohn disease [CD], ulcerative colitis [UC] or indeterminate colitis). Diagnoses were collected in a cross-sectional manner from the clinical records at enrollment of a new patient in the study.

Results

We included 526 patients (mean age 40.2 years; 47.3% men, 52.7% women), 300 with CD (57.0%), 218 with UC (41.4%) and 8 with indeterminate colitis. Other types of IMID were present in 71 patients (prevalence: 13.5%, 95% CI: 10.8-16.7): 47 were spondyloarthropathies (prevalence: 8.9%); 18 psoriasis (3.4%); 5 pyoderma gangrenosum (1.0%), and 11 uveitis (2.1%). The prevalence of IMID was higher in patients with CD than in those with UC (17.0% [95% CI: 13.2-21.7] vs 9.2% [95% CI: 6.0-13.8], p = 0.011). In the multivariate analysis, the variables associated with the presence of IMID were diagnosis of CD (OR = 1.8 [95% CI: 1.1-3.2]) and duration of IBD ≥ 4 years (OR = 2.1 [95% CI: 1.1-4.1] in those with disease duration 4-8 years, and OR = 2.1 [95% CI: 1.2-3.9] in those with ≥ 8 years vs. < 4 years).

Conclusions

In the cohort of patients with IBD in the AQUILES study, 13.5% had another IMID, with a higher prevalence in patients with CD and > 4 years since disease onset.     

Determinants of health system delay among confirmed tuberculosis cases in Spain

BACKGROUND: Health system delay (HSD) is an important issue in tuberculosis (TB) control. This report investigates HSD and associated factors in a cohort of Spanish culture-confirmed TB patients. METHODS: Data were collected from clinical records. Using logistic regression with two different cut-off points to define HSD (median and 75th percentile), adjusted odds ratios were used to estimate the association between HSD and different variables. RESULTS: A total of 5184 culture-confirmed TB cases were included. Median and 75th percentile HSD were 6 and 25 days respectively. HSD significantly greater than the median was associated with: age >44 years, past or present intravenous drug use, diagnosis at a primary-care centre, prior preventive therapy, positive histology, request for drug-sensitivity testing, presence of silicosis or neoplasia in addition to TB, presence of non-TB related symptoms, and gastrointestinal site. HSD greater than the 75th percentile was related to the same variables, with the exception of diagnosis at a primary-care centre, positive histology, silicosis, non-TB-related symptoms and gastrointestinal site, for which the association disappeared; in contrast, an association with female gender emerged. CONCLUSION: Despite free health care being universally available in Spain, there are some groups of TB patients whose treatment is unduly delayed.