Rebound thymic enlargement on CT in adults.

The objective of this study is to report the development of thymic enlargement in adults, mainly associated with chemotherapy for malignancy. The typical CT features of this phenomenon are described. The clinical data and CT studies of 13 adult patients with newly appearing thymic enlargement on CT were reviewed.

Thyroid function in pregnancy - maternal-fetal relationship in health and disease.

The article reviews the changes in maternal and fetal thyroid function during pregnancy. During the first trimester the fetus is dependant on maternal thyroxine and later on the direct supply of iodine from the mother for its own thyroxine production. The placental deiodinase metabolism provides the fetus with additional iodine and protects the fetus from excessive iodothyronine transfer and enables the development of its own hypothalamic pituitary thyroid axis.

Patient-adjusted intermittent electrostimulation for treating stress and urge urinary incontinence.

Objective: To assess the safety and efficacy of pelvic floor muscle electrostimulation (ES) in women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) or mixed UI (MUI, urge and interstitial cystitis), using a new portable electrostimulator (Miniaturo, Biocontrol Medical Inc., Yehud, Israel) which delivers different forms of stimulation for treating these two conditions.

Patients And Methods: For SUI the stimulator is activated on demand only by a sudden increase in intra-abdominal pressure; for frequency and urgency a milder, continuous ES is used.

Ghrelin secretion is modulated in a nutrient- and gender-specific manner.

Background: Ghrelin is a potent GH secretagogue that also plays an important role in appetite and weight regulation. Ghrelin increases hunger and food intake, and its levels decrease after a standard meal or glucose.

Objective: To examine the effects of standard oral glucose, lipid and protein loads on ghrelin levels, investigating the possibility that these responses may be modulated by several anthropometric and metabolic factors.

Blocking of the placental immune-modulatory ferritin activates Th1 type cytokines and affects placenta development, fetal growth and the pregnancy outcome.

Background: Placenta immunomodulatory ferritin (PLIF) cDNA was recently cloned from the human placenta, where it is expressed in syncytiotrophoblast and decidual mononuclear cells. PLIF and its subcloned bioactive domain (C48), expressed in Escherichia coli, are immunosuppressive proteins and induce pronounced IL-10 production in vitro and in vivo.

Methods And Results: PLIF serum level, measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, was elevated in pregnant mice throughout gestation and declined towards delivery.

Hepatic infarctions during pregnancy are associated with the antiphospholipid syndrome and in addition with complete or incomplete HELLP syndrome.

Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and maternal complications including thrombotic events and early pre-eclampsia. HELLP syndrome (Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, Low Platelets) represents a unique form in the spectrum of pre-eclampsia. This report describes four patients with pregnancy-associated hepatic infarctions.

[Healthcare for migrant workers in Israel].

An estimated 300.000 migrant workers are currently living in Israel, which is about 5% of the general population. More then half of this population is undocumented and have very limited access to public health care.

Fluvoxamine is ineffective in the treatment of enuresis in children and adolescents: an open-label pilot study.

Tricyclic antidepressants possess established antienuretic properties. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have similar antidepressant properties to the tricyclic antidepressants and a safer side effect profile. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antienuretic efficacy of one SSRI, fluvoxamine.

Effect of cytomegalovirus immediate early gene products on endothelial cell gene activity.

Objective: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection or reactivation from latency in vascular cells have been shown to contribute to atherosclerosis. CMV-infected endothelial cells (ECs) exhibit enhanced adhesion and procoagulant properties, changes compatible with processes observed in atherogenesis. The major immediate early promoter drives immediate early gene transcription.

Tumor necrosis factor alpha and interferon gamma--induced cell growth arrest is mediated via insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3.

Retinoic acid (RA), and the combination of TNFalpha and Interferon (IFN-gamma) inhibit human salivary gland tumor (HSG) cell growth with the combination of all three being even more inhibitory (P<0. 05). Previous studies have demonstrated that these inhibitory effects of RA, and the combination of TNFalpha and IFN-gamma are associated with increased accumulation of IGFBP-3 in the culture medium of HSG cells.

Effect of bovine growth hormone administration on the pattern of thymic involution in mice.

Age-related decline of the thymus in mice was reversed by repeated injections of bovine growth hormone. After hormone administration that was begun at 5, 8, or 11.5 months of age, the cortical volume fraction (Vc), cortical/medullary ratio (C/M) and thymocyte numbers found were in the range obtained with younger mice.

Fever associated with teething.

A relationship between teething and fever was sought by examining mothers' reports of the 20 days before the eruption of the first tooth in 46 healthy infants. Twenty infants had a fever of greater than 37.5 degrees C on day 0 compared with seven infants (or fewer) from day 19 to day 4.

Severe tubular resistance to aldosterone in a child with familial juvenile nephronophthisis.

A 9.5-year-old girl, whose early symptoms were polyuria and growth retardation, is described. During the progression of her disease, hyperkalaemia developed out of proportion to the degree of renal insufficiency.

Nd: YAG laser treatment of anterior chamber implantation cysts.

The development of an epithelial implantation cyst is a severe complication of anterior segment surgery and trauma. Two patients with anterior chamber implantation cysts were treated with Nd: YAG laser. One required surgical correction as the cyst reformed after each of 6 laser treatment sessions.