Population history of the Dniester-Carpathians: evidence from Alu markers.

The area between the Dniester and the eastern Carpathian mountain range is at a geographical crossroads between eastern Europe and the Balkans. Little is known about the genetics of the population of this region. We performed an analysis of 12 binary autosomal markers in samples from six Dniester-Carpathian populations: two Moldavian, one Romanian, one Ukrainian and two Gagauz populations.

Rheumatoid factor revisited.

Purpose Of Review: Initial studies of the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis focused on the role of rheumatoid factor and immune complex-associated vasculitis and synovitis. Subsequent work has delineated T cell responses, the role of cytokines, chemokines, and the aggressive nature of rheumatoid synovitis. Recent findings underscore the importance of humoral immunity in this entity and are the subject of this review.

Successful cardic surgery 24 hours after craniotomy in a patient with infective endocarditis and embolic cerebellar infarction: case report.

Follow up management in a patient already treated with decompressive craniotomy for a space-occupying endocarditic stroke is difficult. While immediate valve replacement eliminates the focus and therefore the high risk of re-embolization, a neurosurgical intervention is considered a contraindication to early cardiosurgery. Herein, the first report is presented of a critically ill patient with bacterial endocarditis and a space-occupying cerebellar infarction with imminent herniation, who successfully underwent mitral valve replacement only 24 h after decompressive craniotomy.

Real-time three-dimensional ultrasound - a valuable new tool in preoperative assessment of complex congenital cardiac disease.

Evaluating complex cardiac defects in small children preoperatively requires multiple diagnostic procedures including echocardiography, and also invasive methods such as cardiac catheterisation, computer-tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. We assessed the complex anatomy of the atrioventricular valves in atrioventricular septal defect using bedside real-time three-dimensional echocardiography and comparing these results to the anatomic findings at the time of operative intervention.

Ganciclovir and foscarnet efficacy in AIDS-related CMV polyradiculopathy.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) polyradiculopathy is a rare complication of AIDS in which ascending motor weakness, sensory loss and urinary retention are associated with polymorphonuclear pleocytosis and positive CMV polymerase chain reaction in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We describe three patients with this syndrome. One patient's paresis improved after ganciclovir therapy.

Laparoscopic stenting for protection of common bile duct sutures.

Laparoscopic common bile duct exploration is comparable with the open operation and it is usually finished with the insertion of external bile drainage such as a T-tube. We performed an antegrade placement of a biliary stent with primary suture of the common bile duct following common bile duct exploration. We thereby avoided the acquisition of the additional expensive equipment required for the transcystic approach and the placement of a T-tube, which in our eyes contradicts the idea of minimized discomfort in minimally invasive surgery.