Efficacy and Feasibility of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Transplantation in the Treatment of Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Background

Refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) includes AML includes failure of disease to respond to standard induction chemotherapy, relapse within 6 months after first CR, and 2 or more relapses. The outcome of these patients is usually very poor; only a small proportion can be rescued by allogenic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of allo-HSCT in patients with refractory AML.

Complete recovery of filler-induced visual loss following subcutaneous hyaluronidase injection

The rise in popularity of hyaluronic acid (HA) dermal filler injection has caused an exceptional increase in the number of cases of reported irreversible blindness. Here, we reported a case of ischemic optic neuropathy and ophthalmoplegia following subcutaneous HA filler injection with complete visual recovery. A 31-year-old Chinese woman presented with sudden onset of right monocular visual impairment associated with diplopia. Patient had received a hyaluronic acid-containing ?ller injection for nasal dorsum augmentation twelve hours prior to presentation. Visual acuity of the right eye was counting finger. A right relative afferent pupillary defect was demonstrated with ophthalmoplegia. Humphrey visual field test disclosed a right inferior altitudinal field defect with impairment of colour vision. Computed tomography of the orbit revealed mild enlargement of the right medial and inferior recti muscles. Our patient showed a tremendous improvement of vision after a subcutaneous hyaluronidase injection with complete visual recovery within 2 weeks.     

Concurrent removal of Cr(III), Cu(II), and Pb(II) ions from water by multifunctional TiO2/Alg/FeNPs beads

The use of multifunctional materials for water remediation is a modern approach where adsorption phenomena and heterogeneous photocatalysis can be applied for the removal of pollutants. Since the ideal remediation system should be able to remove both organic and inorganic pollutants, a crucial aspect to consider is the knowledge of operational parameters affecting the removal process, especially when heavy metal ions are present in concoction as in real systems. Given the proven efficiency of multifunctional TiO₂/Alg/FeNPs magnetic beads for the removal of model organic pollutants, this study investigated the possibility to exploit such system also for the removal of mixed heavy metals (MHM), specifically Cr(III), Cu(II), and Pb(II) ions, under ultraviolet irradiation at a wavelength of 254 nm. After a preliminary screening on the optimal catalyst loading, operating parameters such as the initial concentration of metal ions, contact and irradiation time, and pH were investigated to optimize the removal of metal ions using response surface methodology (RSM) via Box–Behnken design. Starting from a MHM solution containing 44 ppm of each metal ion, the removal of Pb(II), Cr(III), and Cu(II) ions in the aqueous solution was nearly completed (>98.4%) for all three ions within 72 min of irradiation at almost neutral pH (pH = 6.8). The stability of TiO₂/Alg/FeNPs was confirmed by retrieving and reusing the beads in three consecutive cycles of heavy metals removal without observing significant changes in catalyst efficiency.     

The Presence of Portal Vein Thrombosis Alters the Classic Enhancement Associated with Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Digestive Diseases and Sciences - To determine whether the presence of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) where venous flow within the liver may be altered may delay the diagnosis of HCC and be...     

aVR sign as a risk factor for life-threatening arrhythmic events in patients with Brugada syndrome

BACKGROUND: Risk stratification in Brugada syndrome (BS) is controversial, especially in asymptomatic individuals. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of lead aVR in patients with BS. METHODS: Twenty-four patients with the electrocardiogram pattern of BS (24 male, mean age 32.1 +/- 13.6 years) and 24 healthy age- and gender-matched controls were studied. RESULTS: Thirteen patients were symptomatic. The R-wave amplitude or R/q ratio in lead aVR was significantly greater in patients experiencing a recurrence compared with those who did not. The aVR sign was defined as R wave >/= 0.3 mV or R/q >/= 0.75 in lead aVR. Most of the recurrences (78%) were in patients with present aVR sign; 84% of BS patients with present aVR sign had events during follow-up. In contrast, only 27% of BS patients with absent aVR sign had events during follow-up. CONCLUSION: Our study shows significant correlation between a prominent R wave in lead aVR (aVR sign) and risk for development of arrhythmic events in BS. In the presence of BS, prominent R wave in lead aVR may reflect more right ventricular conduction delay and subsequently more electrical heterogeneity, which in turn is responsible for a higher risk of arrhythmia.     

Characteristics of patients with congenital clasped thumb: a prospective study of 40 patients with the results of treatment

Purpose  Congenital clasped thumb is a deformity that is associated with heterogeneous congenital anomalies and it has been addressed in many congenital syndromes. The aim of this study was to diagnose and evaluate cases of clasped thumb as regards the associated congenital anomalies and syndromes, and evaluation of the results of treatment of such cases. Methods  A prospective study on 40 patients with 73 clasped thumbs was done. All the patients’ data regarding their personal, family, pregnancy and developmental histories were recorded. All the patients were exposed to thorough clinical and radiological examination and genetic assessment. The cases were classified using the Tsuyuguchi et al. (J Hand Surg [Am] 10:613–618, 1985) classification into three types. Conservative treatment was adopted in ten hands, and surgical treatment was performed for 28 hands in 17 patients, with an average follow-up of 26 months. Results  Positive consanguinity was recorded in 57.5% of cases. Associated anomalies were recorded in 77.5% of cases. Type I was the most common one, followed by type III and then type II. Conservative treatment is effective in type I cases when presented early, and all patients were satisfied with the results of surgical treatment. Conclusions  We reported associated anomalies which are to our knowledge have not mentioned before in the literature which include; congenital blindness, radial deviation of the index finger and ventricular septal defect. We found that 68% of the patients had associated syndromes, and this has not been mentioned before. In this study, we found that there were no difference between type II and type III clasped thumb as regards the pathological findings, severity, the operative procedures, the treatment protocol and the operative results. Properly planned treatment gives satisfactory results.     

Carcinoma of thyroid--clinical presentation and outcome.

The clinical, biochemical and pathological features of 31 patients with thyroid carcinoma managed at Hospital Universiti Sains Málaysia, Kubang Kerian from 1985 to 1989 were analyzed. There were 25 females and 6 males. The types of carcinoma were: papillary-17 cases; follicular-10 cases; medullary-2 cases and anaplastic-2 cases. For papillary carcinoma the mean age of the patients was 52.9 years. For follicular carcinoma the mean age was 48.3 years, for medullary carcinoma, 48.5 years and for anaplastic, 74.5 years. All patients had pre-existing goitre except for 2 and most presented with advanced disease. The mean duration of symptoms for papillary carcinoma was 3.7 years, follicular carcinoma 1.6 years, medullary carcinoma 13.5 years and anaplastic carcinoma 6 months. 12 patients presented with goitre of increasing size; 9 had compression symptoms; 4 presented with cervical lymph node enlargement and 6 presented with bony pains of whom 2 had paraplegia. None of the patients were ever thyrotoxic or hypothyroid. Treatment in general was unsatisfactory because of patients' non-acceptance of surgery and/or radioactive iodine.     

Erectile dysfunction due to venous incompetence treated by dorsal vein ligation

The authors describe 14 cases of erectile dysfunction. The sites of leakage were detected by duplex or colour flow Doppler sonography. Treatment by dorsal vein ligation resulted in fairly good early responses, however, at 4-month follow-up the great majority of patients returned to the original functional state.     

Rapid Progression of Native Renal Artery Fibromuscular Dysplasia Following Kidney Donation

Fibromuscular dysplasia is the second commonest anatomical abnormality apart from multiple renal arteries in the potential live donors. Pretransplant evaluation of the donors may include an angiography to evaluate the renal arteries, and failure to recognize renal arterial stenosis, particularly fibromuscular dysplasia, by noninvasive methods may eventually lead to hypertension and ischemic renal failure. We report a case of fibromuscular dysplasia that was undetected by computed tomographic angiography prior to donation. One year after kidney donation, it rapidly progressed to severe symptomatic stenosis with hypertension and acute renal failure. Following renal artery angioplasty, her blood pressure normalized over a period of 2 weeks without any need for antihypertensive medications and the serum creatinine returned to her baseline. The acceptability of renal donors with fibromuscular dysplasia depends on the age, race and the availability of the other suitable donors. Mild fibromuscular dysplasia in a normotensive potential renal donor cannot be considered a benign condition. Such donors need regular follow-up postdonation for timely detection and treatment.