Carotid intima-media thickness in maintenance hemodialysis patients: role of cardiovascular risk factor.

Introduction: Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) has been introduced as a cardiovascular disease predictor which may increase in hamodialysis patients. As there are many risk factors in the uremic state that theoretically lead to increase in CIMT, this study was aimed to determine risk factors of CIMT increase in a group of hemodialysis patients.

Materials And Methods: Seventy-two hemodialysis patients with a mean age of 61.

Value of ultrasound-guided irrigation and drainage of refractory pyocysts in ADPKD.

Background: Cyst infections is not common in the patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) however it may pose major problems to the clinicians because the diagnosis is hampered by lack of reliable imaging techniques for identification of the infected cysts and treatment may be difficult due to poor penetration of antibiotics into the cysts.

Case Presentation: We present a case of ADPKD and intractable pyocysts that did not respond to standard antibiotic therapy but successfully treated by using ultrasound-guided cyst puncture, and repeated irrigation and drainage.

Conclusion: Where the experienced interventional radiologists are available, this method can rescue these patients from nephrectomy.

Hydatid cyst of the parotid gland.

Primary hydatid cyst of the parotid gland is extremely rare, even in the endemic areas. A 23-year-old woman presented with slowly progressive swelling in the right periauricular region. Computed tomography (CT) scan of the head and neck revealed a round, well-demarcated water-density mass in the right parotid gland.

Hydatidosis of the pelvic cavity: a big masquerade.

We report and discuss a case of primary hydatidosis of the pelvic cavity in a woman who presented with severe weight loss and abdominal pain. This unusual presentation was initially considered as a tumor process until surgical exploration and microscopic studies confirmed the diagnosis. The gynecologists should be aware of possibility of primary hydatid cyst of the pelvic cavity and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cystic pelvic masses, especially in areas where the disease is endemic.

Liver: an alarm for the heart?

Background/aims: Fatty liver (FL) and coronary artery disease (CAD) have several risk factors in common, which are usually considered to account for their frequent coexistence. The independent association between FL and angiographic CAD was assessed in this case-control study by considering the contribution of their shared risk factors.

Methods: Three hundred and seventeen adult patients who underwent elective coronary angiography (CAG) were recruited immediately after CAG and classified into either of the two groups A (normal or mildly abnormal CAG; n=85) or B (clinically relevant CAD; n=232).