Relationship of the blood pressure's level and skinfold thickness]

OBJECTIVE: Hypertension is an important problem of the public health. Insufficient education of the people along with insufficient physical examination also plays a role in the poor success of the diagnosis and treatment of the hypertension. We investigated whether the skinfold thickness has an importance in the prediction of blood pressure or not. METHODS: In Aydin City area 110 women and 100 men selected by randomized sampling method were included into our study. Body mass index, blood pressure and skinfold thickness were measured according to the international guidelines. RESULTS: There was a moderate correlation between the skinfold and body mass index (r= 0.494, p=0.000) and there was a mild correlation between the body mass index and systolic and diastolic blood pressures (r=0.225, p=0.000 and r=0.300, p=0.000, respectively). There was no correlation between the skinfold thickness and systolic and diastolic blood pressures (r=0.058, p=0.400 and r=0.090, p=0.194, respectively). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that body mass index, not skinfold thickness, can be used for the prediction of the blood pressure. Some other factors independent from the body mass index might be the determinants of the skinfold thickness.     

Congestive gastropathy

15 patients with congestive gastropathy were reported including clinical and pathological characteristics of the disease. Every patient had alcoholic liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension. 6 patient's stomach was resected while in 2 further cases the disease was found at autopsy. In additional 7 cases the characteristic microvascular changes were observed in endoscopic biopsy specimens from the gastric mucosa. The authors presume that this disease has an acute and a chronic stage. In the acute stage dilated capillaries are present under the surface, not related to the inflammation of gastric mucosa. This phenomenon was described in the literature. In the chronic stage there are dilated and tortuous vessels in the submucosal layer surrounded by collagenous connective tissue. The authors suppose that the thick and fibrotic submucosal layer causes microcirculatory disturbances in the gastric mucosa. The impaired microcirculation may cause extensive ulcers with profuse and sometimes lethal bleeding.     

Isolated leukemic iritis in childhood

Case report on a child with acute lymphogenous leukemia. Although there was constant hematological remission she developed an isolated leukemic iritis and secondary glaucoma. The clinical picture showed a characteristic stratification of the hyphema. After the patient had remained seated for a prolonged period of time the leukemic cells settled above the erythrocytes, forming a so-called pseudohypopyon, which diagnostically important. Cytologic examination after anterior chamber paracentesis is indispensable in order to establish the etiology of the disease. Isolated leukemic iritis may be the first sign of a relapse and therefore indicate a need to reinstitute induction therapy.     

The relationship between anti-human eye muscle antibodies and thyroid function, anti-TSH receptor antibodies and eye symptoms in Graves' ophthalmopathy.

Circulating IgG, IgA, and IgM antibodies to human eye muscle cytosol antigens were studied in 60 patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy using the indirect ELISA method. There was a significant difference in the levels of both IgG and IgA antibodies between the patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy and a control group (p < 0.001). IgA antibodies to eye muscle cytosol antigens were raised in 20 out of 29 patients with proptosis (class 3 ophthalmopathy), in comparison with 31 patients out of the total group of 60 with Graves' ophthalmopathy (p < 0.02). Anti-TSH receptor antibodies (TRAK) were not present in over half of the 31 patients with raised IgA antibodies to eye muscle antigens. However, a significant difference was found between the levels of IgG and IgA antibodies in the TRAK-negative patients (p < 0.05). These findings suggests that both IgG and IgA antibodies to eye muscle antigens might be important in the development of ophthalmopathy.     

Simple non-radioactive detection of the CFTR mutation N1303K by artificial creation of a restriction site.

N1303K is one of the most frequent non-delta F508 mutations causing cystic fibrosis in Central Europe. Since no restriction site is altered by this mutation and no other frequent mutations are known so far in exon 21, the detection requires a separate and laborious test. A mismatched primer was used to create an artificial Hin dIII site in amplified wildtype DNA, which is destroyed by the mutation. This allows for rapid and convenient detection by restriction enzyme digestion.     

Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR in thoracic disc herniations

Summary The Gd-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance findings in two patients with herniated thoracic intervertebral discs are reported. The first patient was a 56-year-old woman with a small subligamentous T6-7 disc herniation, slightly lateralized to the right. The second patient was a 51-year-old man with a central and right posterolateral disc herniation, including a large calcified fragment, at the T8-9 level. The nonenhanced MR examination revealed the presence of an extradural mass lesion in both patients, impinging upon the dural sac and compressing and displacing the spinal cord posteriorly. The lesion was slightly hypointense on both T1- and T2-weighted spin echo sequences. Following intravenous injection of Gd-DTPA in a dosage of 0.1 mmol/kg body weight, enhancement of the posterior longitudinal ligament was noted and triangular areas of contrast uptake were seen to occur in the epidural space above and below the herniated disc. At surgery, they were found to correspond to dilated and congested epidural veins.     

Antitumor activity and cross-resistance studies with Pt-ascorbato complexes

Two ascorbatoplatinum complexes, cis-diammineascorbatoplatinum(II) (AMA) and cis-bis(ascorbato)-trans-diaminocyclohexaneplatinum(II) (CHA), were tested for antitumor activity in vivo on P388 leukemia and in vitro in suspension culture and soft agar assay. Sensitive line of L1210 and sublines with resistance induced against cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (DDP) and two derivatives of trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane (DACH) were used for the in vitro tests. DNA synthesis inhibition in both sensitive and resistant cells was tested. The results are compared with DDP and DACH-Pt(II)-4-carboxyphtalate (TMA). Both tested complexes proved their antitumor activity in our experimental systems. The CHA complex was more effective than AMA and its effectiveness is comparable with that of DDP and TMA. Cross-resistance was found between DDP and AMA as well as TMA and CHA. There was no cross-resistance between DDP versus CHA, and TMA versus AMA.