The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of surgery radioguided with intravenous (99m)Tc sestamibi associated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast to detect tumor extent and guide complete tumor resection. A descriptive experimental study was developed with 10 breast cancer patients (stage IIA-IIB) who underwent mastectomy. From 2 to 10 days before surgery, the patients underwent breast MRI with 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe immunohistochemical detection of myoepithelial cells in benign sclerosing lesions of the breast is useful in distinguishing them from tubular carcinoma. So far, this detection has been carried out using antibodies against cytoskeletal proteins, such as alpha-smooth muscle actin (1A4) and calponin. However, the specificity of these markers has been questioned since they may be expressed in stromal myofibroblasts and vascular smooth muscle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The risk of adverse clinical cardiac events is increased in patients with panic disorder (PD). We evaluated possible mechanistic links between PD and heart disease. We estimated cardiac vagal activity from heart rate variability (HRV) measurements and quantified sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity using plasma noradrenaline tracer kinetics methodology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough many body attitudes scales have been developed, none have been translated into Portuguese. This study aimed to translate the Ben-Tovim and Walker Body Attitudes Questionnaire and assess validity and reliability for a Brazilian sample. Women with (n = 39) and without (n = 57) eating disorders completed the scale, to assess discriminant validity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatients with panic disorder are at increased cardiac risk. While the mechanisms responsible remain unknown, activation of the sympathetic nervous system may be implicated. Using isotope dilution methodology, investigations of whole-body and regional sympathetic nervous activity have failed to show any differences between patients with panic disorder and healthy subjects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The oncological safety of skin-sparing mastectomy (SSM) has been the object of several studies.
Methods: From June 2003 to January 2004, 42 breast cancer patients, stage 0 to IIIA, underwent SSM. Before surgery, two lines were drawn on the breast skin, representing SSM and conventional mastectomy incisions.
Stallion semen cryopreservation, despite its impact on the horse industry, is not an established technology. During the last years, a number of modifications have been proposed to the freezing process, however, a large population of stallions still have poor semen quality and fertility after frozen-thawed. Glycerol toxicity could be a reason for the variation on stallion sperm freezability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA rare association of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and systemic sclerosis (SSc) is reported in a Brazilian Mestizo patient presenting a human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genotype that included HLA SSc-susceptibility genes previously reported in different ethnic groups and HLA-B27 associated with AS. The underlying genetic background supporting the full expression of both SSc- and AS-susceptibility alleles and the pertinent literature are discussed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuman breast carcinomas represent a heterogeneous group of tumors diverse in behavior, outcome, and response to therapy. However, the current system of pathological classification does not take into account biologic determinants of prognosis. The purpose of this study was to classify and characterize breast carcinomas based on variations in protein expression patterns derived from immunohistochemical analyses on tissue microarrays (TMAs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: All living organisms perform their functions normally according to circadian rhythms. Certain diseases, such as ischemic heart disease and asthma, produce symptoms that are distributed during the day in a nonrandom fashion. Chronomodulated therapy with some regimens of chemotherapy and other drugs produce better results than traditional schedules.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To evaluate and compare the relationship of body mass index (BMI) and the immunoexpression of estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR) in endometrial polyps (EP) and endometrium, in gland and stromal cells of postmenopausal women.
Methods: Thirty-five postmenopausal women with benign endometrial polyps, who had not been taking medication with hormonal effects for at least 6 months, were submitted to operative hysteroscopy. The presence of ER and PR were evaluated by immunohistochemical method using a semiquantitative analysis.
Via a detailed case study of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, we show that a method of determining the direction of information flow among signals is able to provide focal localization via the simultaneous analysis of multiple EEG channels. This determination is accomplished by representing information flow direction via directed graphs, where focal electrodes are associated with high observed rates of pertinence to strongly connected subgraphs. Further clinical support to this finding is provided by results for an additional 9 cases of focal epilepsy cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study was to evaluate reliability and discriminant validity of the Restraint Scale (RS) translated into Portuguese. The version was obtained through a process of translation and back translation. Women with eating disorders (n = 39: 24 bulimics and 15 anorexics) and students without eating disorders (n = 57) filled the scale.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBraz J Med Biol Res
November 2004
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous herpesvirus, and most people have serological evidence of previous viral infection at adult age. EBV is associated with infectious mononucleosis and human cancers, including some lymphomas and gastric carcinomas. Although EBV was first reported in lymphoepithelioma-like gastric carcinoma, the virus was also found in conventional adenocarcinomas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPanic disorder serves as a clinical model for testing whether mental stress can cause heart disease. Our own cardiologic management of panic disorder provides case material of recurrent emergency room attendances with angina and electrocardiogram ischemia, triggered arrhythmias (atrial fibrillation, ventricular fibrillation), and documented coronary artery spasm, in some cases with coronary spasm being complicated by coronary thrombosis. Application of radiotracer catecholamine kinetics and clinical microneurography methodology suggests there is a genetic predisposition to panic disorder that involves faulty neuronal norepinephrine uptake, possibly sensitizing the heart to symptom generation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPesticides are used in most countries around the world to protect agricultural and horticultural crops against damage. Poisoning by these toxicant agents occurs as a result of misuse or accidental exposure, and also by oral ingestion (voluntary or not). In Portugal, pesticide intoxications are still a cause of death, found in a considerable number of cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRetrospective analysis of 982 renal transplants over 21 years (1981 to 2002) sought to evaluate the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB). This analysis included 74 patients: 30 with a past TB history, who had INH prophylaxis since the beginning of immunosuppression, and 44 who only became TB infected after receiving transplants. The diagnosis of TB was made by a compatible medical situation with bacteriological/histological confirmation, which when not possible, underwent a therapeutic test occur.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe last few days of life have received significant attention in the literature. Reports have shown similarities and differences between programs. As a palliative care service in a cultural context that has not been reported on, we thought that an audit of our own experience in the care of patients in the last 48 hours of life and a comparison with other programs would be important.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: This is a descriptive study about the readmissions of elderly patients in a general hospital located in the city of Marília, São Paulo, Brazil, in 1996 and 1997.
Objectives: characterizing the readmission profile with respect to the following variables: gender, age, marital status, origin, profession, main and secondary diagnoses, time of hospitalization, type of discharge, financing source, type of procedure and interval between hospitalizations; analyzing the nursing notes in the patients' records about health conditions at the time of admission and discharge. A database about admissions was compiled by using the Epi-Info 6 software.