Immune system parameters in children of Central and Eastern Europe: the CESAR study.

Objective: of this paper is to compare observed values of immune parameters obtained in the CESAR study (The Central Europe Study of Air Pollution and Respiratory Health, funded by EC PHARE program) with ranges derived from other large population-based studies.

Study Design: Data were collected in healthy school children aged 9-11 years, in 6 countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Slovak Republic with the same standard approach in 1996. Random samples of 85 children per country, from 19 communities were selected from children having completed the health questionnaire, in total 495 children were analyzed.

[Autoimmune mechanisms in the pathogenesis of neurologic paraneoplastic diseases].

Neurologic paraneoplastic syndromes (NPS) are disorders of the nervous system that are associated with the presence of malignant tumors. They are also known as the remote effects of cancer. There is mounting circumstantial evidence supporting the autoimmune origin of NPS.

[Sympathetic ophthalmia].

The authors give an account of a case of sympathetic ophthalmia which was successfully managed by reoperation of the injured eye, corticoids and immunosuppressive drugs. Sympathetic ophthalmia developed after perforation of the cornea along with traumatic cataract one month following the accident. It was manifested by irritation of the anterior segment of both eyes and marked exudation into the area of the posterior pole of the sympathizing eye.