Unusual presentation of culture positive brucellosis

We have reviewed the clinical presentation of 100 consecutive culture positive cases of brucellosis which came under our care during the last two years. Of these, six had atypical presentations and but for the routine practice of sending blood for brucella culture, the diagnosis would have been missed. The unusual presentations included a 19 year old boy presenting as an acute abdomen ending in laparotomy, a 52 year old man presenting with a psoas abscess, a 29 year old woman presenting with a transient perinephric mass, a 75 year old man with an acute flare up of his osteoarthritis, a 65 year old diabetic man presenting in an insulin-resistant diabetic state and a 35 year old man presenting with a cauda equina syndrome.     

Tumor vascular signals in renal masses: detection with Doppler US

The vascularity of 49 renal masses (26 malignant and 23 benign lesions) was investigated with duplex Doppler ultrasound. Doppler signals obtained at the margins of renal masses were defined as "tumor signals" when the Doppler-shifted frequency of the lesion exceeded the frequency shift in the ipsilateral main renal artery. These exceeded 2.5 kHz with a 3-MHz insonating frequency. Among the 26 renal masses that subsequently proved to be malignant, tumor signals were obtained in 15 of 18 (83%) untreated renal cell carcinomas, in three of four Wilms tumors, and in two patients with metastases to the kidney, but not in the one patient with lymphoma. None of the 23 benign renal masses demonstrated tumor signals. Tumor vascularity in malignant lesions gives rise to abnormal, high-velocity, Doppler-shifted signals that can help in the differential diagnosis of renal masses.     

Biotinylated GHK peptide incorporated collagenous matrix: A novel biomaterial for dermal wound healing in rats

Matrikines are small peptide fragments of extracellular matrix proteins that display potent tissue repair activities. Difficulties in achieving sustained delivery of bioactive concentration of matrikines in the affected area limits their therapeutic use. The present study evaluates the effects biotinylated matrikine peptide (bio-glycyl-histidyl-lysine) incorporated collagen membrane for dermal wound healing processes in rats. Biotinylated peptide incorporated collagen matrix (PIC) showed better healing when compared to wounds treated with collagen matrix [CF (collagen film)] and without collagen [CR (control)]. Binding studies indicate that biotinylated GHK (Bio-GHK) binds effectively to the collagen matrix and red blood cell (RBC) membrane when compared with t-butyloxycarbonyl substituted GHK (Boc-GHK). Wound contraction, increased cell proliferation, and high expression of antioxidant enzymes in PIC treated group indicate enhanced wound healing activity when compared to CF and CR groups. Interestingly Bio-GHK incorporated collagen increases the copper concentration by ninefold at the wound site indicating the wound healing property of Bio-GHK can also be linked with both copper localization and matrikine activities. These results demonstrate the possibility of using Bio-GHK incorporated collagen film as a therapeutic agent in the wound healing process.