Elastic cord-induced ocular injuries.

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence and severity of ocular injuries caused by elastic cords.

Patients And Method: A retrospective review of patients' records from the Emergency Department was conducted to identify cases of elastic cord-induced ocular injuries. Over a 67-month period starting in October 1996, 28 patients (24 males and 4 females, mean age 38.

Management strategy for arterial priapism: therapeutic dilemmas.

Purpose: We present 7 cases of arterial high flow priapism and propose management algorithms for the condition.

Materials And Methods: We studied 2 children and 5 adults with posttraumatic arterial priapism. Blood gas analysis and color Doppler ultrasonography of the corpora cavernosa confirmed the diagnosis in 4 adults, while 1 patient had already undergone cavernous artery ligation in elsewhere.

Post-partum thyroiditis in a mediterranean population: a prospective study of a large cohort of thyroid antibody positive women at the time of delivery.

Post-partum thyroiditis (PPT) is a common disease with important clinical sequelae. Its clinical features, association with antimicrosomal antibodies (TPOAb) and long-term prognosis are not thoroughly described in Mediterranean populations. The aims of this study were: 1) to describe clinical features of PPT in a Greek population, 2) to associate TPOAb with PPT presence, and 3) to identify long-term prognosis of PPT.

Acute intermittent porphyria and systemic lupus erythematosus: report of a case and review of the literature.

The case of a Greek woman with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is described and the literature on this association is reviewed. The coexistence of these two diseases may be determined by unknown mechanisms or could be fortuitous.

Post-infantile giant cell hepatitis associated with autoimmune hepatitis and polyarteritis nodosa.

We report the case of a patient with corticosteroid-responsive giant cell hepatitis associated with typical manifestations and changes of polyarteritis nodosa from the kidney and central nervous system. Initially, the patient presented with transient right hemiparesis, followed by spontaneous remission without any abnormalities on computed tomography scan, magnetic resonance imaging and cerebrospinal fluid examination. A few months later he was admitted to our clinic because of icterus, peripheral oedema and abdominal distension.

Partial hypoxanthine-Guanine phosphoribosyltransferase deficiency as the unsuspected cause of renal disease spanning three generations: a cautionary tale.

Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) deficiency is an X-linked defect of purine metabolism. Clinical manifestations are usually related to the degree of enzyme deficiency: complete HPRT deficiency (Lesch-Nyhan syndrome) presenting with severe neurologic or renal symptoms, or partial HPRT deficiency (Kelley-Seegmiller syndrome) manifesting as a gout-urolithiasis syndrome. A 3-generation kindred is described in which the recognition of partial HPRT deficiency in 2 adolescent male siblings presenting with uric acid lithiasis led to the diagnosis in 2 maternal uncles already in renal failure of unknown cause.

Ambiguous genitalia, 45,X/46,XY mosaic karyotype, and Y chromosome microdeletions in a 17-year-old man.

Objective: To describe clinical and laboratory features of a patient with 45,X/46,XY mosaic karyotype and Y chromosome microdeletions and to discuss the diagnostic problems in his management.

Design: Case report.

Setting: University department.

Nyctalopia in antiquity: a review of the ancient Greek, Latin, and Byzantine literature.

Objective: To investigate the original definition and use of the term nyctalopia in ancient medical literature in view of the controversy between the English and some continental European literatures.

Design: Historical manuscript.

Methods: We review the use of the term in ancient Greek, Roman, and early Byzantine medical literature (5th century BC-7th century AD) and include a quick reference to the theories on its etymology.

Can maturation arrest occur at the stage of spermiogenesis?

This article attempts to clarify the pathological condition during which the maturation of the germinal epithelium is unable to evolve beyond a certain stage and is characterized as maturation arrest. Emphasis is given to the histological entity named spermiogenic arrest.

Testicular tumor metastatic to the nose. A case report.

In this paper we present an uncommon tumor found in the nasal cavity, the result of a metastasis from primary tumor of testis (embryonal carcinoma) in a young patient of 24 years of age. For this uncommon tumor we discuss the case with the Greek and foreign bibliography.

Changes in erythrocyte calcium and potassium in patients during HD and CAPD.

The purpose of this study was to determine the changes in calcium and potassium content in the red blood cells (RBC) of uremic patients during a hemodialysis (HD) session and a 6/hrs CAPD exchange. RBC calcium and potassium were determined in 20 patients on HD in three blood samples collected at 0'-HD (pre-HD), 45'-HD and 240'-HD (end-HD), in 20 patients on CAPD, in two blood samples, collected at 0' time (pre-inflow) and 120', (solution in peritoneal cavity) during a 6/hrs exchange (4 exchanges / 24 h) and in 20 normal subjects. The mean value (+/-SD) of RBC calcium in controls was 15.

Reflections on the European Conference "Molecular Screening of Individuals at High Risk for Developing Cancer: Medical, Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues".

The fascinating progress of molecular biology in the last decades has made possible the early identification of persons at risk of developing malignant neoplasms, such as thyroid, colon, and breast cancer. This has changed conventional medical practice and has raised a number of ethical questions. Despite the fact that there has been substantial development throughout the Western countries in legislation dealing with medical information, there is an acute need for further exploration and assessment of the moral and social dimensions of medical practices to achieve more precise and uniform regulations.

Oral ganciclovir treatment in chronic hepatitis B virus infection: a pilot study.

Background/aims: Ganciclovir is a nucleoside analogue with an excellent safety record; it is effective against cytomegalovirus infection in both its intravenous and its oral form. Intravenous administration of ganciclovir is active against hepatitis B virus but the efficacy of oral ganciclovir is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the tolerability and primary efficacy in reducing HBV DNA levels and liver enzymes of 2 dosing schedules of oral ganciclovir in HBeAg-positive and -negative patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Ilio-psoas abscess in a neonate.

A full-term, small-for-gestational-age, neonate was born 4 days after rupture of the membranes. On the 5th day of life, she developed sepsis due to Klebsiella pneumoniae. On the 18th day of life, the right hip was noted swollen with limited range of motion, but it was painless on passive movements.

Evaluation of cathepsin D immunostaining in colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Background And Objectives: Cathepsin D (CD), an estrogen-regulated lysosomal protease, has been detected in a variety of tissues. CD expression has been correlated with the invasive potential of breast cancer, acting as an autocrine mitogen or as a protease that degrades the extracellular matrix. The role of CD expression in predicting prognosis or invasive potential in colorectal carcinomas is mostly unknown.

Effect of subclinical lead intoxication on laryngeal cancer.

In this study we investigated the possible relationship of laryngeal cancer and subclinical lead intoxication, using the depression of aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity in blood as indicator. Twenty-six patients with laryngeal cancer and 53 normal controls met the criteria to enter the study. Blood ALAD activity values in the patients with laryngeal cancer ranged from 27.

Increased estrogen receptor and epidermal growth factor receptor gene product co-expression in surgically resected gastric adenocarcinomas.

Background: Evidence exists that estrogens influence the action of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and its receptor (EGF-R) at multiple levels. Estrogen and antiestrogen action on gastric and other gastrointestinal malignancies has been evaluated by several groups with conflicting results, and EGF-R has been implicated in the current growth factor-mediated models for gastric cancer progression.

Methods: ERs and EGF-Rs were detected immunohistochemically in a total of 53 advanced gastric carcinomas using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to human ERs and EGF-Rs.

Pituitary-testicular axis in men with beta-thalassaemia major.

Delayed puberty and hypogonadism are frequently observed in patients with homozygous beta-thalassaemia. We evaluated the pituitary-testicular axis in 30 thalassaemic men, aged from 17 to 35 years who were regularly transfused and underwent chelation therapy, while emphasis was given to pituitary reserves of gonadotrophins and the correlation of hormones with serum ferritin (SF). The investigation included endocrinological examination, evaluation of serum basal levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), free testosterone and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) test and also spermiograms.

Fetal varicella syndrome with manifestations limited to the eye.

The manifestations of fetal varicella syndrome usually involve several organ systems, including skin, ocular, neurologic, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary. Although ocular anomalies have been reported to be as high as 68%, manifestations limited to the eyes is extremely rare. Herein we report the case of fetal varicella syndrome with no clinical signs other than esotropia and a chorioretinal scar.

Optic tract neuropathy complicating low-dose interferon treatment.

Optic neuritis occurred in three of our patients receiving treatment with alpha interferon-2b (Intron-A; 3MU thrice weekly) for chronic hepatitis. The complication appeared within, 1, 9 1/2 and 10 months of treatment, respectively. In all cases, blurred vision was the initial complaint and subsequent electrophysiologic investigation confirmed the presence of optic tract neuropathy.

Term pregnancy after vaginal transplantation in a case of vaginal agenesis with a functional uterus.

This is a report of a successful pregnancy on a patient that had congenital vaginal aplasia with a functioning uterus. Continuity of the reproductive tract was restored at 12 years of age with transplantation of vaginal wall from the mother. The patient had no problems after initiating intercourse 7 years later and conceived without treatment after 5 years of primary infertility.

Nephroblastomatosis: the whole spectrum of abnormalities in one case.

A case of nephroblastomatosis is described in a previously healthy child with a palpable mass in the right upper quadrant as an incidental finding. This case of nephroblastomatosis demonstrates the whole spectrum of abnormalities from local regression to formation of true Wilms' tumors bilaterally over a 4-year period. The evolution of these changes provides a graphic and dramatic example of this interesting entity, indicating its potential malignant association with Wilms' tumor.