Cranial Nerve Palsy Secondary to Botulism After Black Tar Heroin Use.

Introduction: Wound botulism (WB) is an uncommon but severe neuromuscular illness caused by the bacterium in an infected wound. There has been a dramatic increase in WB associated with black tar heroin injection in California.

Case Description: A 50-year-old male with heroin abuse presented to the emergency department with a 2-day history of dysphagia and dysarthria.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1-positive cells in axillary lymph node metastases after chemotherapy as a prognostic factor in patients with lymph node-positive breast cancer.

Background: Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1)-positive cells exhibit stem-like or progenitor ability and have been considered a clinically important diagnostic and therapeutic target in patients with breast cancer. In this study, the authors evaluated responsiveness to chemotherapy of ALDH1-positive cells in primary and metastatic lesions and its relation to prognosis for patients with lymph node-positive breast cancer.

Methods: In total, 115 patients who had breast cancer with cytologically confirmed lymph node metastases and who underwent surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) were evaluated.