Imaging in secondary tumors of the ovary

Abdominal Radiology - Metastatic involvement of the ovaries is not rare. The most common tumor types metastasizing to the ovaries, from non-gynecological organs, are breast, colorectal, gastric,...     

The effect of ethanol intake on tendon healing: a histological and biomechanical study in a rat model

Introduction  

Ethanol has a suppressive effect on inflammation and the immune system, but the effect of ethanol on tendon healing in vivo has not been studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the histological and biomechanical effects of ethanol intake on tendon healing in a rat tendon injury model.     

The role of bone scintigraphy in the assessment of chronic wrist pain without any trauma history

Bone scintigraphy of the hands and wrists represents an important adjunct imaging technique that complements plain film radiographic examination in the evaluation of chronic wrist pain. In this study, the effectiveness of bone scintigraphy was investigated in the evaluation of chronic wrist pain in the patients without the history of trauma and any radiological and rheumatological abnormalities. Seventy-one patients with normal conventional radiographs and unexplained wrist pain were evaluated prospectively between 1998 and 2003 in our hand surgery clinic. There was no trauma history and no specific physical examination findings in the patients. The bone scintigraphy was done in all patients. Fifty-two of the all patients had normal scintigram. Seventeen of the remaining 19 patients showed increased activity over triquetrum (5 cases), lunatum (4 cases), trapezium (4 cases), hamatum (2 cases) and psiforme (2 cases). As the additional radiological investigations like MRI and CT revealed no bony abnormalities, the results of bone scintigraphy were evaluated as chronic ligamentous injuries. Two patients had diffuse increased uptake compatible with synovitis. The evaluation of bone scintigraphy correlated with clinical findings is effective to choose the most efficient treatment method in chronic wrist pain.     

Molecular association in aqueous solutions of high molecular weight poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone)

A viscosimetric method was used to investigate the molecular association in aqueous solutions of poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone), (PVP), of molecular weight 700 000. Limiting viscosity numbers [η] and Huggins constants k_H of the polymer solutions were observed to decrease upon addition of denaturing agents such as thiourea and guanidinium sulfate. Guanidinium sulfate was found to be even more effective in its denaturing action as compared to urea and thiourea. The decrease in [η] and k_H values increased with increasing concentrations of the denaturing agents. This behaviour was explained on the basis of the rupture of bridges formed by water molecules among different PVP chains, hydrogen bonding being responsible for these intermolecular associations. While no change in the [η] values was observed for PVP in 2 M thiourea solutions upon increasing the temperature from 25°C to 35 and 45°C, for the same increase in temperature the [η] values of aqueous PVP solutions showed substantial decreases. This is also attributed to the breaking of hydrogen bonds existing between PVP molecules.     

Effects of Hypothermia on Blood Endogenous Endotoxin Levels During Cardiopulmonary Bypass

A bstract Endotoxin activates white blood cells and complement and produces a spectrum of clinical syndromes ranging from fever to septic shock. Although production of endogenous endotoxemia during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) has recently been reported, the role of hypothermia on endotoxemia is not clear. In this study, we evaluated the effects of moderate (24–28°C) and mild (32–34°C) hypothermia on blood endotoxin levels. The study population consisted of 20 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with CPB. Moderate systemic hypothermia was applied during aortic cross-clamping in ten patients (group 1) and mild hypothermia in the remaining ten patients (group 2). The mean rectal temperatures were 26.8 ± 1.2°C in group 1 and 33.8 ± 0.8°C in group 2. The blood samples for endotoxin level measurements were obtained before CPB, during aortic cross-clamping, immediately after the release of the cross-clamp, 20 minutes after the release of the cross-clamp, after CPB, and 2 hours postoperatively. There were no endotoxins in any of the samples before CPB, but it was detected after CPB in both groups. The endotoxin levels were significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2. The present study suggests that when hypothermia is the technique of choice, the deleterious effects of endotoxemia on patients with comorbidity must be considered.     

The phenotypic overlap of syndromes associated with hereditary gingival fibromatosis: follow-up of a family for five years.

Hereditary gingival fibromatosis (HGF) is characterized by the slowly progressive fibrous enlargement of gingival tissue. It usually develops as an isolated disorder but can also be one feature of various syndromes. The currently preferred terminology of these syndromes mainly describes the clinical features of the disorder without identifying the cause. In this report, we present the 5-year follow up of a family with HGF and features of 3 previously described syndromes: Jones syndrome, Zimmerman-Laband syndrome, and HGF-hypertrichosis syndrome. The 45-year-old father had HGF, hypertrichosis, hearing loss, and short stubby fingers and toes with hypoplasia of the terminal phalanges and hypoplasia of the nails on the thumbs. The features of 13-year-old son were almost identical to those of his father except for hypertrichosis, but in addition he was mentally retarded. Although the 10-day-old son had HGF and defective fingers, the mother and 7-year-old daughter were unaffected. Owing to the overlap of these syndromes, we argue that the identification of the genetic pathways and mechanisms will be the most important factor in classifying these disorders, with the phenotype playing a minor role.     

Inhibition of compound action potentials following administration of dental self-etching primer/adhesives

Self-etching dentin adhesive systems, a new generation of dental-bonding agents, were investigated for their ability to block nerve conductance in the rat sciatic nerve model. Clearfil SE Bond, Mac Bond and FL Bond were used as test materials. Isolated rat sciatic nerves obtained from female albino rats were placed between two electrodes in a bath containing Tyrode solution. The bonding agents were brought into contact with the nerves and the evoked compound action potentials were recorded versus time before and after contact with the materials. Statistical analysis was performed using the Friedman and Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks tests (P = 0.01) to compare the mean percentage of inhibition between test materials versus time. All test materials were able to block nerve transmission rapidly (3.3 +/- 0.5, 5.1 +/- 2.3 and 8.0 +/- 1.9 min for SE Bond, Mac Bond and FL Bond, respectively). Significant differences were found between FL Bond and SE and Mac Bond (P < 0.01). These results indicated that the bonded systems tested, intended primarily as dentinal tubule occluders, may also exert some direct desensitizing effect on intratubular or pulpal nerve terminals in extremely deep cavities or pulpal microexposures, contributing to decreased postoperative pain.     

Systemic and mucosal antibody responses specific to SARS-CoV-2 during mild versus severe COVID-19

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