The prognostic value of two histopathologic classification models of ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis: a prospective study.

Background: Berden Classification and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) Renal Risk Score are classification models for rating renal histology and predicting outcome in patients with ANCA-associated Vasculitis/Glomerulonephritis (AAV/GN). In the present study we compare their ability to predict renal function outcome in short- and long-term follow up.

Methods: Patients with an initial diagnosis of AAV/GN based on kidney biopsy were classified according to Berden and Renal Risk Score, started on the same treatment protocol, and were followed prospectively for up to 60 months.

Highlighting the importance of multidisciplinary approach: A rare case of primary periurethral poorly differentiated carcinoma.

Objective: Tumors in the periurethral area can be a rare clinical entity with many difficulties not only in the diagnosis, as well as in the treatment plan. Skene's gland adenocarcinoma accounts for less than 0.003% of all female urethral malignant neoplasms.

PTTG-1 (Securin) immunoexpression in meningiomas correlates with tumor grade and proliferation rate: potential use as a diagnostic marker of malignancy.

This study essentially aims to contribute to the immunohistochemical investigation of the use of pituitary tumor transforming gene (PTTG) as a marker of cell proliferation or advanced tumor grade in meningiomas of various WHO grades. In all, 51 cases were recovered in total, 21 Grade-I, 23 Grade-II and 7 Grade-III meningiomas. Mitotic index (MI), Ki-67/MiB-1 positivity percentage and PTTG expression were analyzed in correlation to each other as well as to the tumor WHO grades.

Deep sedation in GreenLight laser prostatectomy.

Introduction: Evaluation of ketamine and propofol combination for the performance of photoselective vaporization of prostate (PVP).

Patients And Methods: Twenty-six patients undergoing PVP for benign prostatic hyperplasia were included in the study. Co-morbidities were present in 24 patients.

Dermal Sinus Tract of the Thoracic Spine Presenting with Intramedullary Abscess and Cranial Nerve Deficits.

Congenital dermal sinus tract of the spine is an unusual developmental defect which represents a failure of the surface ectoderm and dermal elements to separate from the neuroectoderm. A 15-month-old female presented with high fever, severe right hemiparesis, difficulty breathing and cranial nerve deficits. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine revealed a congenital dermal sinus tract at the Th6 level, an intramedullary collection extending up to the brainstem and a probable intramedullary cystic lesion.

Parathyroid involvement in thyroid cancer: an unforeseen event.

Background: Parathyroid metastatic disease from thyroid cancer has not been studied extensively, mainly due to the need for parathyroid preservation during thyroid surgery.

Methods: We reviewed files from 1,770 patients with thyroid cancer followed up in our department and 10 patients with parathyroid metastases (0.5%) were identified.

Commonly used severity scores are not good predictors of mortality in sepsis from severe leptospirosis: a series of ten patients.

Introduction. Severe leptospirosis, also known as Weil's disease, can cause multiorgan failure with high mortality. Scoring systems for disease severity have not been validated for leptospirosis, and there is no documented method to predict mortality.

Isolated complete avulsion of the gallbladder (near traumatic cholecystectomy): a case report and review of the literature.

Introduction: Injury of the gallbladder after blunt abdominal trauma is an unusual finding; the reported incidence is less than 2%. Three groups of injuries are described: simple contusion, laceration, and avulsion, the last of which can be partial, complete, or total traumatic cholecystectomy.

Case Presentation: A case of isolated complete avulsion of the gallbladder (near traumatic cholecystectomy) from its hepatic bed in a 46-year-old Caucasian man without any other sign of injury is presented.

Ectopic parathyroid adenoma located inside the hypoglossal nerve.

Background: Intraneural parathyroid adenomas are extremely rare, with only 9 cases of intravagal adenomas reported. We report the first case of an ectopic parathyroid adenoma located within the hypoglossal nerve.

Methods And Results: A 62-year-old woman presented with a palpable nodule in the right submandibular area, reduced bone mass, and elevated calcium and parathormone levels.

Ureteric response to abdominal radiotherapy and metallic double-pigtail ureteric stents: a pig model.

Objective: To examine the safety and compatibility of full-length metal ureteric stents with abdominal radiotherapy.

Materials And Methods: Four ureteric stents (Resonance(TM), Cook Urological, Ireland) (RS) and four RSs specially modified to contain thermocouples were placed unilaterally in eight pigs. The contralateral ureters of the same pigs served as their controls, and contained two polymeric ureteric catheters and two similar specially modified to contain thermocouples, while the remaining four control ureters remained intact.

Metallic double pigtail ureteral stent usage during extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in the swine model: is there any effect on the ureter?

Purpose: To examine the safety and compatibility of full-length metal ureteral stent usage with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SWL).

Methods: Four Resonance ureteral stents and four special Resonance ureteral stents modified to contain thermocouples were placed unilaterally in eight pigs, with contralateral ureter of each pig serving as its own control. All pigs were subjected to the same SWL protocol in both their ureters.

The use of demographic, ultrasonographic and scintigraphic data in the diagnostic approach of thyroid nodules.

Introduction: Thyroid nodules are a common diagnostic challenge mainly because of the need to exclude thyroid malignancy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of demographic, ultrasonographic and scintigraphic findings in differentiating benign from malignant thyroid lesions in patients presenting with thyroid nodules.

Materials And Methods: 941 patients, who presented with palpable thyroid nodules and underwent at least one fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), were retrospectively evaluated.

Epidemiologic analysis of thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsies over a period of 18 years (1987-2004).

Introduction: Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy (FNA) is a method widely used in the assessment of thyroid nodules. The main aim of this 18-year retrospective study was the investigation of the diagnostic value of FNA cytology in thyroid malignancy.

Subjects And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 1376 patients who underwent 1938 FNAs from 1987 to 2004 in the Department of Endocrinology, "Hippokration" General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Serum thyrotropin concentration as a biochemical predictor of thyroid malignancy in patients presenting with thyroid nodules.

Purpose: Serum thyrotropin (TSH) is a well-established growth factor for thyroid nodules and suppression of TSH concentrations by administering exogenous thyroxine may interfere with the growth of established nodules as well as the formation of new thyroid nodules. The aim of this study was to investigate whether serum TSH at presentation is a predictor of thyroid malignancy in patients with thyroid nodules.

Methods: A total of 565 patients without overt thyroid dysfunction, who presented with palpable thyroid nodule(s) between 1988 and 2004 and underwent at least one fine-needle aspiration biopsy, were retrospectively evaluated.

Application of paclitaxel-eluting metal stents in renal artery of pig model.

Background And Purpose: Recent reports concerning coronary, carotid, and femoral vasculature have proposed the use of drug-eluting metal stents (MS) to improve clinical and angiographic outcomes. Based on these reports, we used paclitaxel-eluting MS within an animal renal artery lumen and compared the results with those using a bare-metal stent.

Materials And Methods: The experimental model in this study was the female pig renal artery.

Application of paclitaxel-eluting metal mesh stents within the pig ureter: an experimental study.

Objective: The purpose of the present study is to compare the standard bare metal stents (BMS) with the Paclitaxel-Drug Eluting Stent (DES) in the ureter of a pig model.

Materials And Methods: We report on an experimental study with ten female pigs weighing between 25 and 30 kg. The stents were randomly placed in either the right or left ureter in each of 10 study animals, for a total of 20 stented ureters.

[Congenital muscular dystrophy with laminin-a2 deficiency in early infancy: diagnosis and long-term follow-up].

Congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) is a heterogeneous group of neuromuscular disorders characterized by muscle weakness and hypotonia at birth or within the first few months of life. It is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. About half of the patients have a deficiency of the alpha-2-chain of laminin (merosin).

Pituitary metastasis of follicular thyroid carcinoma.

Objective: The case of a 60-year-old male patient with follicular thyroid cancer who developed a pituitary mass proved to be a metastasis from thyroid cancer.

Methods: Assessment with whole-body scan, ultrasound, computed tomography and thyroglobulin measurements.

Results: Despite surgery and repeated doses of radioiodine, the patient developed diplopia and ptosis of the right eyelid, along with increasing thyroglobulin levels.

A case of vulvar metastasis from rectal cancer--regional resection of the right vulva labium and vulvar reconstruction with a rhomboid transposition flap: case report.

A 72-year-old woman visited our hospital to clarify the etiology of pain, swelling and ulceration of the right large vulva labium. Rectal cancer and pulmonary metastatic tumor were detected, and the rectal cancer was resected. Biopsy from the right vulva labium revealed that the vulvar tumor was a metastatic cancer originating from rectal cancer.

Disseminated infection due to Chrysosporium zonatum in a patient with chronic granulomatous disease and review of non-Aspergillus fungal infections in patients with this disease.

We report the first case of Chrysosporium zonatum infection in a 15-year-old male with chronic granulomatous disease who developed a lobar pneumonia and tibia osteomyelitis while on prophylaxis with gamma interferon. The fungus was isolated from sputum and affected bone, and hyphae were observed in the bone by histopathology. Therapy with amphotericin B eradicated the osteomyelitis and pneumonia, but pneumonia recurred in association with pericarditis and pleuritis during therapy with itraconazole.

Developmentally-regulated lectin binding in the embryonic mouse telencephalon.

Cell-surface carbohydrate epitopes are important determinants in cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, and oligosaccharide groups are structural components of many growth factor receptors and cell adhesion molecules. These epitopes may participate in the regulation of stem cell proliferation and differentiation during central nervous system development. To further understand these cellular phenomena, it is important to define the changes in neuroepithelial cell-surface carbohydrate expression during development.

Development of the primary afferent projection in human spinal cord.

The development of spinal cord circuitry in humans is poorly characterized, primarily because standard anatomical tracers must be actively transported, which requires living tissue. Intensely fluorescent lipid-soluble tracers have largely eliminated this problem, at least for circuits that can be traced over short distances. We have, therefore, used the carbocyanine dye DiI (1,1-dioctadecyl-3,3,3,3,-tetramethyl-indocarbocyanine perchlorate) to study the development of the dorsal root afferent projection to fetal human spinal cord between 8 and 19 weeks of gestation.

Myopathy and paraproteinemia with serum IgM binding to a high-molecular-weight muscle fiber surface protein.

We evaluated a 69-year-old man with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (IgM-kappa M-protein) and progressive weakness over 2 to 3 years. The neurological examination showed symmetrical, predominantly proximal weakness. Electrophysiological testing revealed small brief motor unit potentials with fibrillations and positive sharp waves consistent with an irritative myopathy.

Neurotrophin-4 selectively promotes survival of striatal neurons in organotypic slice culture.

The neurotrophins (NGF, BDNF, NT-3, and NT-4) provide trophic support to subpopulations of neurons in the central and peripheral nervous systems. We examined organotypic slices of neonatal mouse striatum maintained in medium supplemented with neurotrophins or with CNTF to determine which of these factors influence the survivability of striatal neurons. Neuron counts at the end of the culture period revealed that NT-4 was the only factor that had a significant effect on neuronal survival, suggesting that NT-4 is a trophic factor for striatal neurons in organotypic slices.