Temporal bone findings in trisomy 18 and 21 syndromes

The temporal bones from fetuses with known autosomal trisomy syndromes were examined histopathologically after spontaneous or induced abortions. Fetal ages dated from the 17th to the 24th week of pregnancy. In all, 17 temporal bones from nine fetuses were studied and included seven cases of Down's syndrome and two of Edwards' syndrome. Temporal bones from fetuses with Down's syndrome had more abnormalities of the external and middle ears than of the inner ear. The bones from the fetuses with Edwards' syndrome showed abnormalities of the external or middle ear and retarded development of the inner ear (failed ossification of the otic capsule and unformed organ of Corti).     

Copy-milled all-ceramic restorations: case reports.

When all-ceramic systems are used, a respect for biocompatibility, an understanding of the patient's esthetic demands, and a justifiable reliance on the strength of the selected system are integral to success. Severely damaged molar teeth in two patients were restored with all-ceramic onlays that were prepared with a copy-milling system for ceramics. The onlay patterns were fabricated directly in the mouth with autopolymerizing resin. For these patients, the use of biologic, all-ceramic, copy-milled restorations resulted in clinical success as well as recovered function and esthetics.     

Effects of human amniotic fluid on cartilage regeneration from free perichondrial grafts in rabbits.

After the chondrogenic potential of free grafts of perichondrium was shown in several experimental studies, perichondrium has been used to reconstruct cartilage tissue in various clinical situations. This study investigates the effects of human amniotic fluid on neochondrogenesis from free perichondrial grafts in a rabbit model. Since this fluid contains high concentrations of hyaluronic acid, hyaluronic acid-stimulating activator, growth factors, and extracellular matrix precursors during the second trimester, it may have a stimulating effect on neochondrogenesis. Perichondrial grafts, measuring 20 x 20 mm2 were obtained from the ears of 144 New Zealand young rabbits and were sutured over the paravertebral muscles. The rabbits were randomly divided into three groups with 48 rabbits per group. In group 1, 0.3 ml human amniotic fluid, and in group 2, 0.3 ml saline were injected underneath the perichondrial grafts. Group 3 formed the control group in which no treatment was given. Histologically, neochondrogenesis was evaluated in terms of cellular form and graft thickness at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks after surgery. In group 1, the mature cartilage was generated quickly and the cartilage plate in this group was significantly thick and extensive when compared with groups 2 and 3 at 8 weeks ( p<0.05 ANOVA). In conclusion, our study shows that human amniotic fluid enhances neochondrogenesis from free perichondrial grafts. The rich content of hyaluronic acid and growth factors possibly participate in this result.     

Anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity: Overview of studies examining the roles of oxidative stress and free cellular iron

The risk of cardiotoxicity is the most serious drawback to the clinical usefulness of anthracycline antineoplastic antibiotics, which include doxorubicin (adriamycin), daunorubicin or epirubicin. Nevertheless, these compounds remain among the most widely used anticancer drugs. The molecular pathogenesis of anthracycline cardiotoxicity remains highly controversial, although the oxidative stress-based hypothesis involving intramyocardial production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has gained the widest acceptance. Anthracyclines may promote the formation of ROS through redox cycling of their aglycones as well as their anthracycline-iron complexes. This proposed mechanism has become particularly popular in light of the high cardioprotective efficacy of dexrazoxane (ICRF-187). The mechanism of action of this drug has been attributed to its hydrolytic transformation into the iron-chelating metabolite ADR-925, which may act by displacing iron from anthracycline-iron complexes or by chelating free or loosely bound cellular iron, thus preventing site-specific iron-catalyzed ROS damage. However, during the last decade, calls for the critical reassessment of this “ROS and iron” hypothesis have emerged. Numerous antioxidants, although efficient in cellular or acute animal experiments, have failed to alleviate anthracycline cardiotoxicity in clinically relevant chronic animal models or clinical trials. In addition, studies with chelators that are stronger and more selective for iron than ADR-925 have also yielded negative or, at best, mixed outcomes. Hence, several lines of evidence suggest that mechanisms other than the traditionally emphasized “ROS and iron” hypothesis are involved in anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity and that these alternative mechanisms may be better bases for designing approaches to achieve efficient and safe cardioprotection.     

Cytokeratin contents of basal cell carcinoma, epidermis overlying tumour, and associated stromal amyloidosis: an immunohistochemical study.

Cytokeratins (CKs) are expressed specifically in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells. We investigated the expression of CKs immunohistochemically in basal cell carcinomas (BCCs), epidermis overlying tumour, and skin tumor-associated amyloidosis (STA). Twenty cases of BCC, 11 of which had STA were included to the study. The primary antibodies of CK1-8 (AE3), CK10 (DEK-10), CK14 (LL002), CK17 (E3), CK18 (DC10), CK19 (KS19.1), CK 5/6/18 (LP34), CK8/18 (5D3) were applied to the section immunohistochemically. In BCCs without STA, CK1-8, CK14 and CK17 antibodies were expressed by tumour tissue in all biopsy specimens. In the BCCs with STA, tumour tissue was immunoreactive always with CK1-8 and CK17 antibodies, and commonly immunoreactive with anti-CK 14 antibody. In the epidermis overlying tumour tissue, there was positive immunoreactivity with anti-CK 1-8, CK 5/6/18, CK 10 and CK 14 antibodies in all biopsy specimens. Anti-CK 17 antibody was also positive in 17 biopsy specimens. STA is immunoreactive with anti-CK1-8 in all specimens. There was mild staining with anti-CK5/6/18 and with anti-CK19 whereas no immunoreactivity with anti-CK10 and CK18 antibodies was found. In conclusion, we could not find a significant CK expression difference between BCCs with and without STA. Weak positivity and a few number of CKs were shown in STA when compared with those of BCC and epidermis overlying tumour tissue expressing the more variable CKs. Interestingly, although CKs coexpressed in pairs consisting of one basic and one acidic CK, we detected predominantly basic CKs in STA.     

Effects of probucol in hyperlipidemic rabbit liver: a preliminary ultrastructural study

Probucol is a lipid-lowering agent with an antioxidant effect; however, its influence on the liver remains unclear. The effects of probucol on hyperlipidemic rabbit liver are investigated to add a structural data on its therapeutical profile. Local albino rabbits were divided into three groups. 1) Hyperlipidemic group: fed with 1% cholesterol (150 g/kg/day) enriched chow for 2 months. 2) Probucol treated group: group 1 + intraperitoneal probucol (10 mg/kg/day) administration for 15 days. 3) Control group fed with normal chow. The blood lipid profile was investigated biochemically. Liver samples were examined electronmicroscopically. Within the parenchymal cells of group 1, the amount of rough surfaced endoplasmic reticulum was increased, its cisterna was dilated displaying a moderately electron dense substance in it and showed close apposition with the condensed mitochondria. In group 2, smooth surfaced endoplasmic reticulum was in extensive amounts filling almost all of the cytoplasm, displayed a reticular, degenerated appearance and was in close relation with the condensed, degenerated mitochondria. Probucol may cause degenerative changes on the liver parenchyme at the subcellular level. It alters the structure of these cells mainly acting on the smooth surfaced endoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondria that are known to be involved in cellular detoxification.     

Perianal infections: Reader agreement and diagnostic performance of fat‐suppressed contrast‐enhanced MRI

We aimed to determine the diagnostic performance of the contrast‐enhanced fat‐suppression technique in the detectability of perianal infections and to compare this technique with different MR sequences used for this purpose. Thirty consecutive patients with clinically suspected anorectal infections were examined with fast spin‐echo (FSE) T2‐weighted, short‐inversion‐time inversion recovery (STIR), and fat‐suppressed and non‐fat‐suppressed T1‐weighted spoiled gradient‐echo (SGE) (in‐phase) dynamic contrast‐enhanced sequences. The results of MRI were correlated with the findings of surgery, which was considered as the standard of reference. Receiver‐operating‐characteristic curves were reconstructed to describe and compare the diagnostic value of each MR technique. The values of kappa were used as a measure of observer reliability. Diagnostic performances of STIR, FSE T2‐weighted and fat‐suppressed and non‐fat‐suppressed, contrast‐enhanced SGE T1‐weighted techniques showed statistically insignificant differences in detection of perianal infections. There was almost perfect interobserver agreement regarding the presence of lesions on each MR technique. Fat‐suppressed, contrast‐enhanced SGE T1‐weighted MRI showed adequate diagnostic performance in the detection of perianal infections. However, its significance is not different from the other MR sequences used for the present study.     

Extraarticular manifestations in Turkish patients with rheumatoid arthritis: impact of EAMs on the health-related quality of life in terms of disease activity, functional status, severity of pain, and social and emotional functioning

The aim of our study was to investigate extraarticular manifestations (EAMs) in Turkish patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and also assess the impact of EAMs on various health-related quality of life (HRQoL) domains, including physical, social, emotional, mental functioning, and bodily pain. A total of 150 patients were included in the study. EAMs were identified clinically. Pulmonary involvement was confirmed by using pulmonary function tests (PFT) and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), atlantoaxial subluxation by cervical spine X-rays. Peripheral neuropathy, rheumatoid nodules, and Sicca symptoms were picked up on clinical examination. Peripheral neuropathy was also confirmed by electroneurophysiologic studies. Patients were evaluated by Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality of Life (RAQoL), and Short form-36 (SF36). The quadrivariate Disease Activity Score- 28 (DAS28) was used for measuring disease activity. Functional status was evaluated by using the Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). The severity of pain was documented by using 10-cm Visual Analog Scale-Pain (VAS-pain). EAMs were observed in 50 patients (33.3%). These were pulmonary involvement (28.7%), rheumatoid nodules (14.7%), Sicca Syndrome (8%), peripheral neuropathy (2.7%), and atlantoaxial subluxation (0.7%), respectively. It was not recorded any statistically significant difference in HAQ, DAS28, VAS-pain, and RAQoL scores between the patient groups with and without EAMs. Patients with EAMs scored significantly lower in physical functioning, role-physical, and role-emotional subgroups of SF36 (P?<?0.01). Presence of EAMs is not directly associated with disease activity and functional status, but influences negatively HRQoL including physical and emotional functioning.