Cerebral infarction in a child. A case report.

Cerebral infarcts in children are rather rare and in most cases no precise etiology is established. The authors describe a case of cryptogenetic cerebral infarction in a 9-year-old boy. The child presented an acute onset of hemiplegia in the right arm and leg, central facial palsy, dysarthria and steppage. The infarction was proved by Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Laboratory and instrumental studies rule out all known causes of brain infarction. The only possible etiopathogenetic hypothesis was a varicella arteritis which occurred 45 days before the clinical manifestation.     

Validation of the DYALS (dysphagia in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) questionnaire for the evaluation of dysphagia in ALS patients

Neurological Sciences - Dysphagia is a common symptom during the trajectory of ALS, and it can significantly impact on the quality of life and prognosis of patients. Nowadays, no specific tool for...     

Could Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Resolve After Periodontitis Treatment Only?: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an immune-mediated polyarthritis; currently no pathogenic agent has been identified as a disease trigger. A patient with RA, presumably caused by periodontal infection, whose remission has been observed after periodontitis treatment in absence of specific RA therapy, is reported here for the first time, to our knowledge.A 61-year-old male patient presented migrant arthritis associated with antibodies against citrullinated protein antigens positivity. The clinical features allowed to make RA diagnosis according to the 2010 European League against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology RA classification criteria. X-ray of the second upper molar showed chronic apical periodontitis. After its treatment, arthritis remission has been observed in the absence of specific RA therapy.It has been suggested that periodontitis may have a trigger role in RA pathogenesis. This could be explained by the enzymatic action of Porphyromonas gingivalis, probably leading to break tolerance to collagen. The identification and subsequent treatment of periodontitis should therefore be considered pivotal in RA prophylaxis and management.     

Viscosupplementation in the management of ankle osteoarthritis: a review

Introduction  

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease of synovial joints and is the most common cause of chronic pain. Viscosupplementation (VS) with hyaluronic acid (HA) is largely used for knee osteoarthritis therapy but the evidence for its usefulness in ankle osteoarthritis is limited. The objective of this review is to assess the efficacy of viscosupplementation treatment of ankle osteoarthritis in the current literature.     

Long-term parenteral nutrition in pediatric autoimmune enteropathies

Severe and protracted or persistent diarrhea (SPD) is the most severe form of diarrhea in infancy and has also been defined as intractable diarrhea when it leads to dependence on total parenteral nutrition (TPN). One of the rare causes of SPD is represented by autoimmune enteropathy that is characterized by life-threatening diarrhea mainly occurring within the first years of life, persistent villous atrophy in consecutive biopsies, resistance to bowel rest, and evidence of antigut autoantibodies. We evaluated 10 patients (seven boys, mean age at diagnosis 18 months; range: 0 to 160 months) fulfilling criteria of autoimmune enteropathy to assess dependence on TPN. TPN was first required in all patients to avoid dehydration and electrolytic imbalance. All patients were dependent on immunosuppressive therapy (steroid, azothioprine, cyclosporine, tacrolimus). Three patients died of sepsis: two during TPN while in the hospital, and one at home after he was weaned off TPN. Five patients are weaned off TPN after a mean period of 18 months; they are actually on oral alimentation with a cow milk-free diet after a period of enteral nutrition with elemental formula. One underwent total colectomy and bone marrow transplantation and one developed an IPEX syndrome. One patient is still dependent on TPN for 24 months. She is on home parenteral nutrition. Patients with diagnosis of IPEX syndrome require parenteral support with three or four infusion per week. TPN represents a fixed step in the management of autoimmune enteropathy, but it may be considered as an interim treatment while waiting for intestinal adaptation, at least in some selectioned case of autoimmune enteropathy. Bone marrow transplantation should be considered and reserved for those patients with severe complications due to home parenteral nutrition, or in those that are really dependent on parenteral nutrition.     

Characterization of gastric mucosal lesions in patients with celiac disease: a prospective controlled study

OBJECTIVE: Several studies have demonstrated that chronic exposure to gluten may damage the structure and function of the gastric mucosa in gluten-sensitive patients. However, until now, these abnormalities have been incompletely studied. Our purpose in the present study was to characterize, in a prospective controlled study, the endoscopic and histological appearance of the gastric mucosa in a large cohort of patients with celiac disease with and without Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. METHODS: We evaluated biopsy specimens taken from the gastric body and antrum of 218 individuals who underwent upper endoscopy for small bowel biopsy. One hundred-four patients had celiac disease (80 of them at the time of diagnosis-untreated). In 114 subjects celiac disease was excluded. RESULTS: Endoscopic findings did not show a difference between the groups. The prevalence of cases with normal gastric mucosa, chronic superficial gastritis, and atrophic gastritis was similar in patients and controls. Similarly, presence of metaplasia, inflammatory activity, and lymphoid follicles and aggregates did not show differences between the groups. Histological or serological evidence of H. pylori infection was detected in 86% of patients (82% of untreated celiacs and 95% of those on those taking treatment). The infection was highly prevalent in patients (89%) and controls (97%) diagnosed with chronic gastritis. Untreated patients had a significant greater IEL count in the antrum and corpus than controls (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.001, respectively). A global analysis of the data on intraepithelial lymphocyte (IEL) counts in the different populations suggest that the inflammatory state may represent the cumulative effect of H. pylori infection and gluten sensitivity. Only three patients had IEL infiltration compatible with diagnosis of lymphocytic gastritis (count >25%) and three other patients had borderline counts. CONCLUSIONS: According to our results, celiac disease patients presented a similar prevalence of gastric mucosal abnormalities compared with the control population. Evidence of H. pylori infection was very high compared with the prevalence in the general Argentine population. As a particular observation in our celiac population, the disease was rarely associated with lymphocytic gastritis. We suggest that the chronic inflammatory state evidenced by a gastric mucosal lymphocyte infiltration may be secondary to the combination of H. pylori infection and chronic gluten ingestion in gluten-sensitive subjects.