Tobacco smoke in the development and therapy of periodontal disease: progress and questions.

In recent years, epidemiological studies have pointed to a significant correlation between cigarette smoke and poor periodontal status. Cigarette smoking is a significant risk factor for the onset and development of periodontal disease, and an association between reduced healing response subsequent to periodontal therapies and cigarette smoking has been found. The epidemiological studies reported here are also supported by the results of an in vitro study on the cytotoxicity of two of the volatile components of cigarette smoke that we ourselves conducted, in which the investigated compounds were found to damage human gingival fibroblasts.

The lymphatic vessels and their relationship to lymph formation in the human urinary bladder.

After endoscopic transurethral biopsies of normal human urinary bladder, an extensive network of small initial lymphatic vessels was depicted by means of light and electron microscopy. Using light microscopy, lymphatic vessels were seen in the mucosa and submucosa and formed a complex network in the detrusor muscular coat. These lymphatics were characterized by an irregular and attenuated wall and increased in number and size from the superficial to the deeper region of the bladder.

[Angiomorphology of the ciliary body in diabetic disease].

The authors describe the pathological changes in the vascular structures of the ciliary body occuring in diabetes mellitus. The lesions consist of a quantitative reduction in the number of vessels and in modifications of diameter and arborisation. Changes include sectoral thinning, isolated and grouped aneuryms and marked tortuosity.