Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency is not associated with chronic venous disorders: A case-control study.

Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) and the presence of a Chronic Venous Disorder (CVD).

Method: We included 55 subjects with CCSVI aged >18 years, and 186 controls without CCSVI. Each subject was evaluated with color Doppler sonography in accordance with Zamboni's five criteria, examined by two neurologists and interviewed with an ad-hoc designed form.

A reliability study of colour-Doppler sonography for the diagnosis of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency shows low inter-rater agreement.

Objective: Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) has been extremely variable, associated with multiple sclerosis in colour-Doppler sonographic studies. We aimed to evaluate inter-rater agreement in a colour-Doppler sonography venous examination.

Design: Inter-rater agreement study.

[Psychotic disorders induced by interferon alfa].

The treatment with interferon-alpha is contraindicated in patients with major depression (National Institutes of Health), but a considerable number of neuropsychiatric side effects is associated with it: personality changes, impaired cognitive, mania, psychosis. In the literature limited reports of interferon-alpha-induced psychotic disorder exist. Authors report on a 46-year-old man diagnosed with alcohol induced psychotic disorder, who had been started to a treatment with Pegylated Interferon alfa-2b [Peg-Intron] and Ribavirin owing to a previous HCV-induced chronic hepatitis associated with a significant change in liver enzymes.

[Hepatosplenic cat-scratch disease in the immunocompetent adult].

Atypical manifestations of cat-scratch disease have been described in children and immunosuppressed adults. We report the first case of hepatosplenic cat-scratch disease in an immunocompetent subject, demonstration of diversity of this infection. A 33-year-old man presented with prolonged fever, lymphadenopathy and multiple hypodense lesions of liver and spleen in ultrasonographic imaging.

[Occult gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Description of a case with unusual clinical presentation].

Bleeding from small bowel is a quite rare event and often is a diagnostic challenge to physician and surgeon. We present a case of a patient with an acute massive haemorrhage due to jejunal diverticulosis and with an unusual clinical setting. The site of bleeding was localized by scan with radiotagged erythrocytes, but the diagnosis of jejunal diverticule was evident only at laparotomy.

[Anti-GOR antibodies in type II mixed cryoglobulinemia associated with hepatitis C virus infection].

The frequent association of chronic hepatitic C virus (HCV) infection and type II mixed cryoglobulinemia is considered to be one of the possible signs of interaction between the virus and the immune system. This could also be the case for the appearance of anti-GOR antibodies in serum, as they react with both viral and host antigens. We studied a group of patients with chronic hepatitis C infection and a group with type II mixed cryoglobulinemia associated with HCV infection to ascertain if anti-GOR or other non-organ specific autoantibodies were present in the serum.

Hepatotoxicity of hydroxy-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors.

The first clinical studies on hydroxy-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors reported a low incidence of liver toxicity. The personal observation of a case of simvastatin-induced acute cholestatic hepatitis prompted us to evaluate the true incidence of hepatic side effects of these drugs in a large Italian population. One hundred patients taking simvastatin and ninety patients treated with pravastatin were followed-up six months with periodical evaluation of serum lipid levels and liver function test.

Acute cholestatic hepatitis during simvastatin administration.

Simvastatin, recently introduced in clinical practice for pharmacological treatment of hypercholesterolemia, has been found to cause minor and reversible elevations of serum transaminases. We report a case of acute cholestatic hepatitis during simvastatin therapy. Clinical, biochemical, immunological, and histological findings were consistent with a simvastatin-induced liver damage through an immunological-mediated mechanism.