Spindle Cell Hemangioma of the Lung: A Case Report.

Spindle cell hemangioma (SCH) is an uncommon tumor that usually presents as a subcutaneous or deep dermal nodule affecting the extremities of young people. It is primarily a benign vascular neoplasm with a tendency to recur locally. Reports describing SCH diagnosed in muscles, retroperitoneum, mediastinum, and even in the spinal cord occasionally surface in the literature.

Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products Challenges and Perspectives in Regenerative Medicine.

Recently, the design and development of a modern health policy in the field of regenerative medicine leads to the formation of a new and integrated cognitive field, which requires systematic research and study in order to produce innovative answers and best practices. Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) is a new product category, which is at the heart of concern since it has to deal with diseases in which traditional medicine has proven to be ineffective so far. The aim of this review is to provide evidence for the state of the art ATMPs and their modern applications in the field of regenerative medicine.

A widespread toxin-antitoxin system exploiting growth control via alarmone signaling.

Under stressful conditions, bacterial RelA-SpoT Homolog (RSH) enzymes synthesize the alarmone (p)ppGpp, a nucleotide second messenger. (p)ppGpp rewires bacterial transcription and metabolism to cope with stress, and, at high concentrations, inhibits the process of protein synthesis and bacterial growth to save and redirect resources until conditions improve. Single-domain small alarmone synthetases (SASs) are RSH family members that contain the (p)ppGpp synthesis (SYNTH) domain, but lack the hydrolysis (HD) domain and regulatory C-terminal domains of the long RSHs such as Rel, RelA, and SpoT.

Primary Sternal Osteomyelitis: A Case Report and Review.

Primary sternal osteomyelitis (PSO) remains a rare but morbid and challenging condition. Due to the limited reports of PSO in the literature, management of this disease continues to lack consensus. We present a case report highlighting how PSO remained, in our experience, refractory to medical management, and how operative intervention provided resolution, and a review of the literature.

Development of predictive nomograms for clinical use to quantify the risk of isolating resistance prone organisms in patients with infected foot ulcers.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have been considered prevalent pathogens in foot infections. However, whether empiric therapy directed against these organisms is necessary, and in whom to consider treatment, is rather unclear. The aim of this study was to develop predictive algorithms for forecasting the probability of isolating these organisms in the infected wounds of patients in a population where the prevalence of resistant pathogens is low.

Outcomes associated with the use of a revised risk assessment strategy to predict antibiotic resistance in community-onset pneumonia: a stewardship perspective.

Objectives: There is growing evidence that patients with community-onset pneumonia and recent healthcare exposure are not at equally high risk of infection with MDR organisms. An individualized approach is necessary with regard to risk assessment and choice of antibiotics.

Methods: We reviewed the records of 102 patients admitted for community-onset pneumonia, before and after the implementation of a revised risk assessment programme for MDR organisms using the drug resistance in pneumonia (DRIP) score.

Sublobar resection is equivalent to lobectomy for T1a non-small cell lung cancer in the elderly: a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database analysis.

Background: Anatomic lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection is considered the optimal management for early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Limited lung resection may be preferable in the elderly population, who are more likely to have poor pulmonary reserve and multiple comorbidities. Our primary objective was to compare the survival of patients aged ≥ 75 y who underwent sublobar resection or lobectomy for stage IA NSCLC.

Incidental tracheal diverticulum discovered 30 years after tracheo-esophageal fistula repair.

Tracheo-esophageal fistula is a well-described congenital abnormality treated surgically upon diagnosis. Although respiratory-related and reflux-related complications are frequent, recurrent fistula and diverticulum can occur. This case report describes the rare occurrence of a gross type B fistula repaired at birth, which was then asymptomatic for nearly 30 years until presentation with chest pain.

Is the trocar technique for tube thoracostomy safe in the current era?

A best evidence topic in thoracic surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was, 'in adult patients who require a tube thoracostomy, is the trocar technique comparable to blunt dissection in terms of rate of tube malposition or complications?' Altogether more than 258 papers were found using the reported search, of which 7 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The authors, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes and results of these papers were tabulated.

Successful treatment of Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum with posaconazole.

Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis is a widespread and potentially disfiguring protozoal infection that is endemic in the Mediterranean basin, Africa, and parts of Asia. Human infection is caused by several species of Leishmania parasites, such as Leishmania infantum. Available systemic and topical treatments vary in efficacy and are often unjustified due to their toxicity.

Transdiaphragmatic amyloidoma.

The term "amyloidoma" has been used to describe localized pulmonary nodular amyloidosis when it is a solitary lesion. Amyloidoma is an uncommon and infrequently reported cause of benign pulmonary lesions. We report the case of a 45-year-old man with hemoptysis, eosinophilia, and a large mass involving both lobes of the left lung, the chest wall, and, via extension through the diaphragm, the liver.

Clinical trials for pulmonary metastasectomy.

There remains great controversy as to the indications and true benefits for pulmonary metastasectomy. The number of metastatic lesions, length of disease-free interval, and unilaterality has shown to be important prognostic factors on overall survival. In this review, we evaluate a number of clinical trials and critically assess the rational to perform pulmonary metastasectomy, which is a local treatment for a systemic disease process.

Adjuvant effect of a Flt3 ligand (FL) gene-transduced xenogeneic cell line in a murine colon cancer model.

Background: Flt3 Ligand (FL) has been shown to elicit antitumor responses induced by tumor antigen stimulation. Allogeneic and xenogeneic cell lines transduced with cytokine genes may be used to augment the antitumor efficacy of tumor antigens.

Objectives: The objective was to evaluate the augmentation of tumor lysate-induced immunity by a more clinically applicable FL gene-transduced xenogeneic cell line in combination with interleukin-2 (IL-2) in a CC-36 murine colon cancer model.

Therapeutic effect of colon tumor cells expressing FLT-3 ligand plus systemic IL-2 in mice with syngeneic colon cancer.

Flt-3 ligand (FL) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) have been shown to enhance individually the antitumor response against several cancers. Therefore, treatment with a combination of FL gene-transduced tumor cell plus soluble IL-2 was studied in a murine colon adenocarcinoma model. The human full-length FL cDNA was cloned from FL-expressing cell line AML-193 by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Overview analysis of adjuvant therapies for melanoma--a special reference to results from vaccinia melanoma oncolysate adjuvant therapy trials.

A phase III, randomized, double-blind, multi-institutional vaccinia melanoma oncolysate (VMO) trial was performed for patients with stage III (AJCC) melanoma. When compared with the control vaccinia virus (V) therapy, VMO therapy did not show clinical efficacy in the final analysis of data from this trial. However, the data did allude to significant therapeutic efficacy with VMO therapy if it had been compared with an observation arm.

Noninherited maternal antigens do not increase the susceptibility for familial rheumatoid arthritis. European Consortium on Rheumatoid Arthritis Families (ECRAF).

Objective: It has been proposed that noninherited maternal HLA-DR antigens (NIMA) might play a role in the susceptibility for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This hypothesis has not been thoroughly tested in patients with familial RA, in whom genetic factors, either inherited or not, might have stronger influence than in patients with sporadic RA. We investigated the NIMA hypothesis in a large cohort of European patients with familial RA.

Association of MICA gene and HLA-B*5101 with Behçet's disease in Greece.

Purpose: Behçet's disease (BD) is known to be associated with HLA-B51 in many different ethnic groups. Recently MICA, a member of a novel family of the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I genes termed MIC (MHC class I chain-related genes), was identified near the HLA-B gene, and a triplet repeat microsatellite polymorphism was found in the transmembrane (TM) region. Because a strong association with BD of one particular MICA-TM allele, A6, was shown in a Japanese population, the present study was conducted to investigate microsatellite polymorphism in Greek patients with BD to know whether this association is generally observed in BD occurring in other populations.

HLA-B*5101 in Greek patients with Behçet's disease.

Behçet's disease (BD) is a recurrent systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology. Genetic factors and infectious agents seem to be related to the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease. BD is strongly associated with HLA-B51 antigen in many ethnic groups.

HLA-DRB1 alleles in Greek rheumatoid arthritis patients and their association with clinical characteristics.

The association of certain HLA-DRB1 alleles in Green rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with several features of the disease, the gender of the patient and the age at onset was investigated. This case control study includes 86 Greek RA patients and 130 healthy controls unrelated to the patients. HLA typing was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and hybridization with sequence-specific oligonucleotide (SSO) probes.

Effects of sho-saiko-to on production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and superoxide from peripheral monocytes and polymorphonuclear cells isolated from HIV infected individuals.

The effects of Sho-saiko-to (SST), a traditional Chinese medicine, on the production of PGE2 from monocytes, LTB4 and superoxide from polymorphonuclear cells (PMNC) in HIV infected individuals were studied. SST inhibited the production of PGE2 from monocytes stimulated by opsonized zymosan in all groups including the healthy control group and also inhibited the production of superoxide from PMNC after stimulation with FMLP. On the other hand, SST enhanced the production of LTB4 when PMNC were stimulated by the calcium ionophore A23187.

The immunomodulatory effect of leflunomide in rat cardiac allotransplantation.

Leflunomide, a novel immunosuppressant, has been the subject of recent preclinical studies using solid organ allo- and xenotransplantation models. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of leflunomide using a rat cardiac allotransplant model in two different strain combinations (DA x PVG and DA x Lew). Leflunomide, at doses ranging between 5 and 30 mg/kg, prolonged graft survival in both strain combinations as effectively as CsA and FK506 1 mg/kg (P < 0.

Active pulmonary tuberculosis in patients with AIDS: spectrum of radiographic findings (including a normal appearance).

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of chest radiography in the detection of active pulmonary tuberculosis in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Materials And Methods: Initial interpretations of chest radiographs of 133 adult patients with AIDS and positive sputum or bronchoalveolar lavage cultures for Mycobacterium tuberculosis were reviewed. Radiographic findings were correlated with CD4 T-cell counts, sputum stains for acid-fast bacilli (AFB), and antituberculous drug sensitivity.