Neuroimaging in Pineal Tumors

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The authors report radiological findings in 11 tumors in the pineal region, which were histologically diagnosed as germinomas, pineocytomas pineoblastomas, ependymomas, teratomas, and astrocytomas. METHODS: Computed tomography (CT) was performed in seven patients and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed in all patients. RESULTS: CT showed a solid or solid/cystic mass with variable contrast enhancement. MRI showed a heterogeneous mass, with hypointense signal on T1 and iso/hyperintense signal on T2-weighted images (WI) and gadolinium enhancement. Extension to adjacent structures occurred in five patients and spread through the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) in two. CONCLUSIONS: Pineal region tumors have no pathognomonic imaging pattern. MRI and CT are complementary in diagnosis and are important to determine localization, extension, and meningeal spread.     

Endonasal carbon-dioxide laser assisted dacryocystorhinostomy verses external dacryocystorhinostomy

This is a prospective, non-randomized study to evaluate and compare the results, morbidity and surgical time for endonasal carbon-dioxide laser assisted dacryocystorhinostomy and external dacryocystorhinostomy. 70 consecutive patients of chronic dacryocystitis with nasolacrimal duct obstruction were selected for the study. 36 patients under went endonasal CO2 laser assisted dacryocystorhinostomy and 34 had external dacryocystorhinostomy. Selection of the type of operation was left to the patient's choice. All the patients had preoperative counseling and both the procedures were explained in detail with their advantages and disadvantages. Patients not willing for the external incision were selected for endonasal laser assisted dacryocystorhinostomy and others were operated via external approach. Silicone tubes were put in all the patients for three months after surgery. The final follow up was 12 months after the removal of silicone tubes. The patency of the lacrimal passage was confirmed by irrigation, and patients were questioned about their symptoms. The success rates, 12 months after removal of silicone tubes were 100% in endonasal CO2 laser assisted dacryocystorhinostomy and 88.24% in external dacryocystorhinostomy. The surgical time of endonasal laser assisted dacryocystorhinostomy was 38 minutes as compared to 62 in external dacryocystorhinostomy. Complication rate in both groups was almost equal. Thus, we came to the conclusion that Endonasal CO2 laser assisted dacryocystorhinostomy is a better surgical option to external dacryocystorhinostomy in cases of chronic dacryocystitis with nasolacrimal duct obstruction, with shorter surgical time.     

Maternal syphilis and congenital syphilis in Latin America: big problem, simple solution]

From the data submitted to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) by nationwide programs against sexually transmitted diseases (STD), HIV infection, and AIDS (2002), one can estimate the overall prevalence of syphilis among pregnant women to be 3.1% and to range from 1.00% in Peru to 6.21% in Paraguay. According to these data, the incidence of congenital syphilis ranges from 1.4 per 1000 live births in El Salvador to 12.0 per 1000 live births in Honduras. Among men who engage in sex with other men, who often classify themselves as heterosexual, as well as in female sex workers, the prevalence of syphilis ranged from 5% to 15%. Factors that determine the persistence of congenital syphilis as public health problem include a lack of awareness of the seriousness of the problem among politicians, health officials, and health care providers, difficult access to prenatal care, and screening services, a low demand for the test among users, and the stigma and discrimination that surround sexually transmitted diseases (STD). This paper seeks to focus the attention of health professionals on maternal and congenital syphilis so they will undertake actions, using an interprogrammatic approach, to eliminate congenital syphilis from Latin America and the Caribbean. Eliminating congenital syphilis will only become possible if interventions targeting vulnerable groups are also implemented. PAHO's role in eliminating congenital syphilis includes determining the baseline situation in the Region as a whole and in each country, developing communication and procurement strategies, supporting nationwide programs, promoting operational research, and facilitating interprogrammatic coordination.     

An Alternative Surgical Technique in Orthotopic Cardiac Transplantation

A bstract Forty patients underwent orthotopic cardiac transplantation at Wythenshawe Hospital between May 1991 and November 1992. Twenty patients had transplantation using an alternative technique that preserves the shape of the left atrium and leaves the right atrium intact (group A). The remaining twenty had conventional transplantation using the technique described by Lower and Shumway (group B). The patients were randomized to either the new or the conventional technique on an alternate basis. There was no mortality in group A, but two patients in group B developed right ventricular failure and died. Two patients in each group developed nodal rhythm and all four recovered sinus rhythm. Echocardiography and Doppler velocimetry at the transvalvular level confirmed normal atrial function in group A with erratic atrial contraction wave in group B. There was also slightly lower incidence of mitral and tricuspid valve regurgitation in group A than in group B. The improved atrial function in group A may play a part in the prevention of right sided failure following cardiac transplantation.     

Rapid array-based genomic characterization of a subtle structural abnormality: a patient with psychosis and der(18)t(5;18)(p14.1;p11.23)

Array-based copy number analysis has recently emerged as a rapid means of mapping complex and/or subtle chromosomal abnormalities. We have compared two such techniques, using bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays in the evaluation of a 45-year-old woman with dysmorphic features, mental retardation, psychosis, and an unbalanced derivative chromosome 18, (46,XX, der(18)t(18;?)(p12;?)). Both array-based methods demonstrated that the additional material on chromosome 18 was of 5p origin. The 5p duplication mapped telomeric to 25.320 Mb (BAC array) and 25.607 Mb (SNP array), corresponding to the band 5p14.1. Both BAC and SNP arrays also showed a deletion involving chromosome 18p extending telomeric from 8.437 Mb (BAC array) and 8.352 Mb (SNP array), corresponding to the band 18p11.23. Molecular cytogenetic mapping using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) supported the array findings and further refined the breakpoint regions, confirming that the BAC and SNP chips were both useful in this regard. Both case reports and linkage analyses have implicated these chromosomal intervals in psychosis. The array-based experiments were completed over the course of several days. While these methods do not eliminate the requirement for traditional fine-mapping, they provide an efficient approach to identifying the origin and extent of deleted and duplicated material in chromosomal rearrangements.     

Recuperation after muscular fatigue by “diverting activities”

Summary Diverting activity is defined as any physical or mental activity performed between or simultaneously with bouts of exhaustive, local muscular work. In the present experiments bouts of exhaustive work consisting of rhythmic lifting of weights were performed with the elbow flexors or with the flexors of the middle finger. Pauses of 2 min duration spent in complete rest or while performing diverting activities alternated between the bouts of work. As diverting activities were used: Physical activity, dynamic or static, performed with big or small muscle groups (other than the fatigued group), or mental activity (problem solving). It was found that the amount of work that could be performed after a pause with diverting activity was always larger than the amount of work performed after a passive pause. The beneficial effect was seen also when the blood flow to the exhausted muscles was interrupted by pneumatic cuffs. Determination of the blood flow in the exhausted muscles by means of Xe-133 clearance showed no systematic blood flow increases caused by the diverting activity. It is concluded that recuperation after local muscle fatigue is influenced by a central nervous factor (Setchenov phenomenon) that is largely independent of the local blood flow.     

Double supernumerary isodicentric chromosomes derived from 15 resulting in partial hexasomy

We report two unrelated patients each with two supernumerary marker chromosomes (SMCs) derived from chromosome 15, and thus resulting in partial hexasomy. Hexasomy in the one case (family 1) was diagnosed at prenatal diagnosis and did not include the Prader-Willi/Angelman critical region (PWACR). The double SMCs were also found in the mother, the pregnancy continued to term, and an apparently phenotypically normal child was born. This represents the first report of transmission of double SMCs from mother to child. In the second case (family 2), the hexasomy did include the PWACR and was de novo in origin. This patient manifested severe psychomotor retardation, clefting of the soft palate, hypotonia, seizure-like episodes, and other phenotypic features. The aberrant phenotype is attributable to the hexasomy for the PWACR gene loci. The normal homologs of chromosome 15 proved to be biparental in origin while the two SMCs appeared maternal.