Association of cytokines with endothelium dependent flow mediated vasodilation (FMD) of systemic arteries in patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Aim of this study was to elucidate the relation between localised inflammatory heart disease and endothelial dysfunction in the peripheral circulation, considering circulating cytokines as a potential link.

Methods: In 38 patients with non-ischemic heart disease, myocardial biopsies were examined for myocardial inflammation (immunohistology) and virus persistence (PCR). Cytokines (sIL-4, IFN-g, IFN-b, IFN-a, sIL-12p7, TNF-a) were measured by ELISA in venous serum.

Bilateral synchronous tonsillar carcinoma in cervical cancer of unknown primary site (CUPS).

In addition to panendoscopy and imaging for staging, ipsilateral tonsillectomy is a standard procedure in the search for the primary tumor in cervical cancer of unknown primary site (CUPS). It is not clear from the literature, whether bilateral tonsillectomy has been established as the standard procedure in cancer of unknown primary origin. A bilateral synchronous tonsillar carcinoma has thus far only been described three times in the literature.

Immunoglobulin G3 cardiac myosin autoantibodies correlate with left ventricular dysfunction in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy: immunoglobulin G3 and clinical correlates.

Background: Effector functions of an aberrant immune response have been implicated in the pathogenesis of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). The immunologic determinants of myocardial dysfunction, however, remain poorly understood. This study sought to determine the relation of different immunologic responses to hemodynamic dysfunction in DCM.

Cervical cat scratch disease lymphadenitis in a patient with immunoglobulin M antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii.

We report on a young patient with chronic cervical lymphadenopathy and serological and histological evidence for infection with Bartonella henselae and Toxoplasma gondii. Serological follow-up studies, including testing for avidity of Toxoplasma-specific immunoglobulin G antibodies, assisted in the determination of the cause of the acute lymphadenitis. Our results suggest that the clinical symptoms were most likely due to cat scratch disease rather than to acute toxoplasmosis.