Paraffinoma.

The subcutaneous infiltration of liquid paraffin is still used for penile enlargement. The procedure has many complications. A late problem is the development of foreign body granulomas known as paraffinomnas.

[Congenital syphilis].

Syphilis has been a re-emerging disease in the past few decades. As a consequence, the prevalence of congenital syphilis is expected to be on the rise. Maternal syphilis may be related to several pathologies, such as miscarriage, stillbirth, or congenital syphilis in the child.

[Analysis of syphilis and gonorrhoea cases, based on data from the National STD Centre, Department of Dermatology and Venerology, Semmelweis University (2005-2008)].

The STD Department of Semmelweis University Budapest is the National Centre of Hungary, which is responsible for screening and care of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), including syphilis and gonorrhoea. 42,114 patients attended the STD Department and 25,362 anonymous screening (HIV: 12,337, syphilis: 13,025) were done between January 2005 and December 2008. During this period 600 syphilitic and 339 gonorrhoea infections were diagnosed.

[Sexually transmitted infections in the XXI century].

Sexually transmitted infections in the XXI century. The most important measurements in the management of sexually transmitted diseases are discussed. Course and incidence of classical venereal diseases, especially that of syphilis are detailed.

[Aids-related toxoplasma-encephalitis presenting with acute psychotic episode].

The most frequent neurological manifestations of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome-(AIDS) are Cerebral Toxoplasmosis, Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma (PCNSL), Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML) and AIDS-encephalitis (AIDS-dementia complex, multinucleated giant cell encephalitis, HIV-encephalopathy). Neurological complications usually occur in the advanced stages of the disease, and they are uncommon in the beginning as presenting illness, but may result in life-threatening condition or in death. Rarely the disease presents as a neuropsychiatric illness in an undiagnosed AIDS patient, delaying a proper diagnosis.

The Dominant T-Helper Lymphocyte Function of HIV Infected Patients.

In HIV infection, the decrease in the number and functional activity of lymphocytes is accompanied by atopia and an increased level of total IgE and some specific IgE antibodies. This could be explained by the Th2 dominance induced by HIV replication and so a Th1-Th2 switch could have prognostic value. We investigated the characteristic T-helper phenotype dominance and its relationship to cytokine expression and IgE immune response in the early stage of asymptomatic HIV infection.

Determination of HIV-1 Subtypes in Hungary by Synthetic Peptides Representing the V3 Loop of env.

For the determination of HIV-1 diversity and serotyping of HIV-1 subtypes, an enzyme immunoassay was developed based on synthetic peptides representing immunodominant epitopes of the V3 loop of HIV-1 subtypes A, B, C and E, respectively. Sera from 53 asymptomatic HIV-1 infected individuals were tested for their pattern of binding reactivity to the synthetic peptides. 45/52 (85%) of the sera reacted exclusively to V3 peptide representing HIV-1 B subtypes, 4/52 (7.