Brugada-like ECG pattern due to giant mediastinal lipoma.

A case of a 33-year-old female who presented with mild dyspnea and palpitations is presented. Diagnostic investigation was consistent with a giant intrathoracic mass filling the right thoracic cavity and an abnormal electrocardiogram (Brugada-like pattern). The patient underwent surgical removal of the mass (benign lipoma) with a normal postoperative ECG pattern.

Microbiological risk assessment of Agios Georgios source supplies in Northwestern Greece based on faecal coliforms determination and sanitary inspection survey.

The assessment of potential risks from microbiological contamination of drinking water supplies is of greatest concern to human health. The study involves the examination of water samples from Agios Georgios source that supplies the capitals, the major towns and several villages of Arta, Preveza and Lefkada prefectures, in Northwestern Greece. The study includes the sanitary inspection survey of the source and the microbiological examination of water samples on a monthly basis during the period February 1996-June 1999 except of Augusts (n=38).

delta IK17 antigen: a possible early marker of cancer development.

delta IK17 is a 44 kD molecule located on the surface of T, B and NK cells in normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) (1). The portion of PBMC expressing delta IK17 was determined in 52 patients with benign breast diseases, 182 patients with breast malignancies and 132 healthy individuals. The percentage of delta IK17-positive cells was significantly lower in the early stages (I-IIA) of malignancy compared to that of healthy donors.

Difference between young and old patients in characteristics of leukemic cells: older patients have cells growing excessively in vitro, with low antigenicity despite high HLA-DR antigens.

Fifty-six patients with acute, non-lymphatic leukemia in the initial phase were studied. The poor prognostic signs were excessive in vitro growth, many HLA-DR-positive cells, or a low ratio of leukemic cell antigenicity to HLA-DR positivity and age. The cells from older patients formed more clusters (P less than 0.

Glucocorticoid receptor concentrations and terminal transferase activity as indicators of prognosis in acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia.

Activity of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT), adenosine deaminase, and 5'nucleotidase and the cellular concentration of glucocorticoid (dexamethasone) receptor were determined in 25 patients with acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia. All patients were treated according to a common protocol. Increased activity of TdT (greater than 0.

Relapse of acute myeloblastic leukemia lasting for four years. Production by leukemic cells of colony-stimulating activity and non-production of leukemia-associated inhibitor.

A 36-year-old woman with acute myeloblastic leukemia (M2) achieved complete remission in Feb. 1973, after ten weeks of chemotherapy with rubidomycin-cytosine arabinoside. She received weekly immunotherapy with bacillus Calmette-Guerin and allogeneic non-irradiated blast cells and monthly chemotherapy with thioguanine-cytosine arabinoside as maintenance.

Predicting response to combination chemotherapy in acute myeloblastic leukemia--- a way to individualize treatment.

Cytostatics are toxic, and individual variations in drug metabolism large. Therefore the possibility to predict which cytostatic combination should be abandoned because it will not lead to a remission was studied in 58 leukemia patients. A simple following of changes in white blood cell, platelet and blast cell numbers in peripheral blood (combined into so-called chemotherapy points) makes it possible to predict which patients in the presenting phase of AML will achieve remission, but this was possible neither in the relapse phase of AML, nor in promyelocytic or monocytic leukemias.