[Tuberculous Spondylitis - Diagnosis and Management].

Tuberculous Spondylitis - Diagnosis and Management Despite a decreasing incidence of tuberculosis (TB) over the last decades in Switzerland, the frequency of newly diagnosed tuberculous spondylitis has remained stable. It occurs most frequently in old, immunocompromised persons and/or persons who have moved to Switzerland from TB endemic areas. It is a chronic manifestation of TB, which is characterized by 'cold abscesses', neurological deficits and kyphotic spinal deformity.

Two women with recurrent falls: La maladie des genoux bleus alias cryptogenic drop attacks.

Two women, aged 79 and 56, reported recurrent falls for several years without any prodromes or residues, without any known features of either syncope or seizure, without any detectable causative condition and seemingly without revealing any pathognomonic signs in the clinical examination. In both cases, the falls occurred only while walking and without loss of consciousness. These falls resulted always in dropping forward with pouncing on the knees.

Appearances are deceptive..

A 31-year-old man was referred with sudden onset of a painful periorbital angio-oedema. Assuming a first episode of allergic or acquired angio-oedema, the patient was treated with a plasma-derived C1 esterase inhibitor, tranexamic acid and fresh-frozen plasma, after the initial treatment with corticosteroids and histamine blockers was unsuccessful. As blood cultures grew group A streptococci, the diagnosis of periorbital necrotising fasciitis was made, and treatment was subsequently changed to clindamycin and ceftriaxone.

Family outbreak of an infection with a recombinant Coxsackie A virus in eastern Switzerland.

Purpose: We report on an unusual familial outbreak of a coxsackie virus infection in Switzerland in which five family members were affected. Most of the patients presented with signs of meningitis, and four were hospitalized.

Methods: In three individuals, the virus was detected in the cerebrospinal fluid, pharynx, and stool, respectively.

Intratumoral plasmacytoid dendritic cells associate with increased survival in patients with follicular lymphoma.

Gene array studies on follicular lymphoma (FL) have associated non-malignant tumor-infiltrating immune cells with patient survival. We examined the role of such cells detectable by immunohistochemistry in a tissue microarray, focusing on plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs). These cells physiologically produce interferon-α, which has been used in the therapy of FL.