Localized Kaposi''s sarcoma in a patient with pemphigus vulgaris

We report the case of a patient with a 13-year history of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) treated with immunosuppressive agents, prednisone and mycophenolate mofetil who had developed lesions of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) on a sole plaque of PV that had been previously treated with intralesional injections of steroids. The lesions were surgically removed and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) demonstrated human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) DNA. There were neither recurrences nor later dissemination of KS following gradual decrease of the immunosuppressive therapy. We suggest that the treatment with intralesional steroids may have influenced the local reactivation of a latent infection of the virus, determining the appearance of this localized KS.     

Flerobuterol: a potential antidepressant drug related to β-adrenergic agonists. Experimental profile in mice

The potential antidepressant effect of flerobuterol (dl-(fluoro-2 phenyl)-1 t-butylamino-2 ethanol), a new drug related to beta-adrenoceptor agonists, was evaluated and compared with imipramine and salbutamol using classical psychopharmacological tests in mice. Like imipramine and salbutamol, flerobuterol (0.5-32 mg kg-1, ip) fully prevented apomorphine (16 mg kg-1, sc)- and partly reversed reserpine- and oxotremorine-induced hypothermia. At higher doses (16-32 mg kg-1), flerobuterol enhanced the toxic effects of yohimbine. Unlike imipramine, flerobuterol and salbutamol did not reduce immobility duration in the behavioural despair test. Salbutamol and flerobuterol decreased locomotor activity. Flerobuterol did not induce mydriasis, did not prevent oxotremorine-induced tremors or salivary and lacrimal gland secretion and did not reduce reserpine-induced palpebral ptosis. Propranolol (8 mg kg-1, ip) but not alpha-methyl-paratyrosine (75 mg kg-1, ip) prevented the flerobuterol-induced antagonism of apomorphine-induced hypothermia. Our results suggest that flerobuterol demonstrates potential antidepressant activity, which could be related to beta-adrenoceptor activation in mice.     

Brain and spinal cord hemorrhage in long-term survivors of malignant pediatric brain tumors: a possible late effect of therapy

Three children with malignant primary CNS tumors treated with craniospinal radiotherapy developed intraparenchymal hemorrhages a median of 5 years following therapy in sites distant from the primary tumor. Radical surgical procedures disclosed fresh and old hematoma, gliosis, and necrosis in all 3 patients and an aggregation of abnormal microscopic blood vessels in two. No tumor was found. All 3 patients remain in long-term (greater than 10 years) continuous remission.     

Lung cancer in Israel, 1962–1982 I. Jews and Arabs

The magnitude and dynamics of lung cancer incidence in Jews and Arabs in Israel between the years 1962 and 1982 were studied. In general, age-standardized incidence rates increased consistently between the years 1962 and 1976 among Jewish (24% increase) and Arab (39%) males, and to a lesser degree among Jewish females (15%). Arab females had the highest (77%) increase. From 1977 to 1982 a general decrease in incidence rates, which was largest among Arab males (19%) and females (15%), was noted. Rates among Jewish males are currently 26% higher than among Arab males, and are 162% higher among Jewish females than in Arab females. Lung cancer rates in both males and females in Istrael (Jews and Arabs) are lower than in most developed countries in the world. Among the possible reasons are differences in the population risk factors profile, availability of health care and the level of diagnosis and ascertainment of cases.     

Marital Functioning in Early Versus Late-Onset Alcoholic Couples

Current knowledge about alcohol and marital functioning is limited by restrictive sample selection, inattention to the literature on individual-based alcoholic subtypes, and lack of research linking individual differences among alcoholics to marital functioning. The present study was designed to study marital functioning of alcoholics in light of current alcohol typologies. Subjects were part of a larger study on conjoint treatment of alcoholic males and their female partners. Four typologies—including Type 1/2, In-Home/Out-of-home, SteadyIEpisodic, and EarlyILate Onset—were tested for replicability and discriminant validity before linking them to marital functioning. Discriminant validity was found only for the Early (59%)-versus Late (41 %)-Onset typology; thus, further analyses linked only this typology with marital functioning. At baseline, Early-Onset couples reported more marital instability, and the females in these couples were more distressed. During treatment, Early-Onset couples reported higher daily marital satisfaction than Late-Onset couples. Regardless of age of onset, males reported higher marital satisfaction than their spouses during treatment, but their satisfaction did not increase during treatment. Female partners' marital satisfaction increased during treatment. Female partners of Late-Onset males reported particularly low marital satisfaction during treatment. Parsing the sample according to the early-/late-onset typology yielded different predictors of marital satisfaction for males and females within each subtype. For female partners of Early-Onset alcoholics, psychological distress unrelated to her pattner's drinking severity was most associated with her own marital satisfaction, whereas marital adjustment of female partners of Late-Onset alcoholics was most associated with the male's level of perceptual accuracy regarding her needs. This pattern was reversed for the males; marital adjustment of Early-Onset alcoholics was most associated with his partner's perceptual accuracy of his needs, whereas marital functioning of Late-Onset alcoholics was best accounted for by his own psychological distress.