Hepatic-pericardio-phrenic collateral (natural shunt) in a patient with Budd-Chiari syndrome

Hepatic venous outflow tract obstruction, Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS), leads to portal hypertension and to the development of collaterals that bypass the obstruction. Described here is a BCS patient with an unusually large transdiaphragmatic collateral between the left hepatic and left innominate veins, which decompressed the oesophageal varices. This has not been reported earlier in the literature.     

做作性障碍 —— 一例不明原因的鼻出血的罕见病因

概述:鼻衄或鼻出血是一种常见的疾病,有可能会严重到需要紧急医疗或手术治疗.人为的鼻出血是一种罕见的案例.对患者复杂的行为问题,在大学阶段的培训较少,因此,外科医生常常错过患者一些隐藏的心理问题.在这里,我们给出一例做作性障碍的病例,该案例由于鼻出血而进行手术.经过适当的评估并于耳鼻咽喉科会诊之后,我们采用抗抑郁药物和认知行为治疗成功治愈该患者.     

一例分离型抽搐发作表现为肌阵挛癫痫（英文）

概述:心因性抽搐发作经常会漏诊,并且癫痫往往会被过度治疗从而导致多种财力、社会、以及耻辱感相关的问题。肌阵挛癫痫发作本身是一种罕见的现象,当功能性运动障碍呈现肌阵挛的时候就极难找到确切的原因。在这里,我们呈现一个被误诊为肌阵挛癫痫发作障碍的病例,该患者在多处经过治疗却无好转并且最终被诊断为患有非常罕见的功能性运动障碍。     

Understanding the current sexual health service provision for mental health consumers by nurses in mental health settings: Findings from a Survey in Australia and England

Nurses in mental health settings avoid talking to consumers about sexual health concerns. It is unclear whether this avoidance prevents the provision of sexual healthcare. The present study gathered information about how mental health nurses respond to sexual health issues within their routine practice, what issues they address, and their view on their role in promoting sexual health for consumers. A cross‐sectional study using an electronic survey questionnaire, originally generated from a previous study in the united kingdom, was employed. The study occurred in four National Health Service Trusts in England and a national call for participants in Australia. Participants were nurse clinicians (n = 303) who self‐selected by completing surveys available via email and newsletters containing links to the survey. The results demonstrated that mental health nurses do not routinely include sexual health in their practice and are poorly prepared in knowing what to do with a sexual health issue, and what services to assist consumers to use. In conclusion, it has been well established in the literature that mental health consumers experience high sexual health needs that potentially impact on health and recovery. Mental health nurses are ideally placed to promote sexual health and refer consumers to sexual health and family planning services. Training to improve the confidence and responsiveness of mental health nurses to sexual health is an urgent need.     

Abrus agglutinin suppresses human hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro and in vivo by inducing caspase- mediated cell death

Aim： Abrus agglutinin （AGG） from the seeds of Indian medicinal plant Abrus precatorius belongs to the class II ribosome inactivating protein family. In this study we investigated the anticancer effects of AGG against human hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro and in vivo.
Methods： Cell proliferation, DNA fragmentation, Annexin V binding, immunocytofluorescence, Western blotting, caspase activity assays and luciferase assays were performed to evaluate AGG in human liver cancer cells HepG2. Immunohistochemical staining and TUNEL expression were studied in tumor samples of HepG2-xenografted nude mice.
Results： AGG induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. AGG-treated HepG2 cells demonstrated an increase in caspase 3/7, 8 and 9 activities and a sharp decrease in the Bcl-2/Bax ratio, indicating activation of a caspase cascade. Co-treatment of HepG2 cells with AGG and a caspase inhibitor or treatment of AGG in Bax knockout HepG2 cells decreased the caspase 3/7 activity in comparison to HepG2 cells exposed only to AGG. Moreover, AGG decreased the expression of Hsp90 and suppressed Akt phosphorylation and NF-κB expression in HepG2 cells. Finally, AGG treatment significantly reduced tumor growth in nude mice bearing HepG2 xenografts, increased TUNEL expression and decreased CD-31 and Ki-67 expression compared to levels observed in the untreated control mice bearing HepG2 cells.
Conclusion： AGG inhibits the growth and progression of HepG2 cells by inducing caspase-mediated cell death. The agglutinin could be an alternative natural remedy for the treatment of human hepatocellular carcinomas.     

The absorption of dapsone by patients with dermatitis herpetiformis and coeliac disease

The absorption of a 50 mg dose of dapsone is delayed but ultimately complete in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis and with coeliac disease. The speed of absorption of dapsone appeared to increase after patients had been on a gluten free diet for 6 months.     

Modern Pacemakers: Hope or Hype?

In recent years, the role of implantable pacing devices has expanded beyond the arrhythmia horizon and contemporary pacemakers' attempt to meet the physiological needs of patients. Modern pacemakers' functions include various modes of dual-chamber pacing, rate-response algorithms with dual sensors for optimum physiological response, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), arrhythmia-prevention algorithms, antitachycardia pacing, and hemodynamic monitoring. The automaticity features of pacemakers enable continuous or intermittent monitoring of various pacemaker parameters including battery voltage, pacing impedance, sensing levels, pacing thresholds, and daily activity log. Modern pacemakers offer "physiological pacing" algorithms that minimize ventricular pacing and reduce the incidence of atrial fibrillation significantly. Ventricular pacing in patients with intact atrioventricular (AV) conduction or intermittent advanced AV block should be minimized with a hope to reduce heart failure hospitalization and mortality. A reduction in all-cause mortality due to physiological pacing, except for the CRT, has yet to be demonstrated in a randomized trial. Overall, modern pacemakers have acceptable performances to fulfill the clinical needs and have a reasonable safety margin. Promising new technologies are currently under development and offer hope to patients who may one day derive both symptomatic and mortality benefit from these devices .     

Ocular alterations in patients of alopecia areata

There is paucity of published work on ocular alterations in patients of alopecia areata (AA), especially from the Asian continent. We studied the clinical profile of 83 patients of AA and 80 sex- and age-matched controls to assess and compare the ocular changes, namely punctate opacities, cataract, intraocular tension and retinal changes. The outcome was analyzed with respect to prevalence of atopy, concomitant personal or family history of autoimmune diseases and nail changes in both the groups. The prevalence of atopy and family history of autoimmune diseases was significantly higher in the patient group. Lenticular changes were observed in 40.9% patients (including cataract in 16.9%) and 11.2% controls ( P  < 0.005). Within the patient group, lenticular involvement occurred with increased frequency in atopics ( P  = 0.034) and in the presence of family history of autoimmune diseases ( P  < 0.05). Retinal changes in the form of degenerative changes, pigmentary clumping and abnormal vascular changes were more prevalent ( P  < 0.001) in the study group. As the ocular changes were not found to correlate with the age, severity or extent of the disease, an initial ophthalmological screening of all patients is suggested.