Quantitative assessment of kidney split function and mean transit time in healthy patients using dynamic F-FDG PET/MRI studies with denoising and deconvolution methods making use of Legendre polynomials.

Purpose: Our objective was to assess a deconvolution and denoising technique based on Legendre polynomials compared to matrix deconvolution on dynamic F-FDG renography of healthy patients.

Method: The study was carried out and compared to the data of 24 healthy patients from a published study who underwent examinations with Tc-MAG3 planar scintigraphy and F-FDG PET/MRI. Due to corruption issues in some data used in the published article, post-publication measurements were provided.

The Use of Three Iliac Crest Muscles for Head and Neck Soft Tissue Reconstruction: Technical Note.

This technical note describes a novel approach to reconstructing soft tissue in the head and neck region by diverting a flap originally intended for hard tissue reconstruction. We present a case of a 79-year-old woman with a large tumor on the left side of the mobile tongue, where the use of a radial free flap was challenging. Instead, we used the muscular portion of the iliac crest as a reliable alternative for reconstruction, offering a suitable oral lining.

A Single Nail Dystrophy as a Unique Manifestation of Sarcoidosis: A Case Report.

Sarcoidosis with nail involvement is rare and most commonly affecting plural digits. Nail changes are frequently an indication of systemic disease and underlying bone involvement, thus complete clinical evaluation with bone and thorax radiological examination is a necessity in suspected cases. We report a case of onychodystrophy with osseous involvement of only one finger as unique manifestation of sarcoidosis, which is very rare.

Periungual Infection following a Fish Manicure.

Fish pedicures and/or fish manicures are treatments performed in spas involving the use of the living fish . In the last decade, the use of for cosmetic and therapeutic reasons has become increasingly popular. The patients are placed into a bath to control psoriasis, eczema, or other skin conditions, but there is no scientific proof of their effectiveness.

Legendre Polynomials: A Fully Automatic Method for Noise Reduction in Tc-Mercaptoacetyltriglycine Renogram Analysis.

Our purpose was to develop a fully automatic method to deal with the presence of high levels of noise interfering with quantitative analysis of fast, dynamic mercaptoacetyltriglycine renogram images. A method based on Legendre polynomials to fit and filter time-activity curves was proposed. The method was applied to a renal database that contains Monte Carlo (MC)-simulated studies and real adult patient data.

Localized bullous pemphigoid: Four clinical cases and a literature review.

Localized bullous pemphigoid (LBP) rarely evolves into the generalized form, and the prognosis is better. In our opinion, the occurrence of LBP is underestimated because of incorrect diagnoses. It is therefore important to perform a skin biopsy each time a bullous rash is concerned in order to make a definite diagnosis.

A Rare Extraskeletal Osteosarcoma Appearing After 55 Years on a Large Stage 3 Burn Scar.

It is widely accepted that chronic burn wounds may lead to the development of various malignant skin tumors. Deep stage 3 burned areas may facilitate deeper carcinogenesis. Deep tissues are probably less subject to severe insult than is the epithelial layer during physical insult, suggesting that soft tissues transform to a lesser extent during the late stages of tumoral development as in an immunocompromised district with altered local immune defense with both cellular and humoral defense affected.

Unusual Localisation for Onychomatricoma on the 5th Toenail: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Onychomatricoma is a rare and benign tumour of the nail matrix but originates rarely from the ventral portion of the proximal nail fold. This tumour is characterised by fingerlike projections that invade the nail plate. This lesion, of unknown aetiology, is typically asymptomatic with slow progression.

Olaparib combined with chemotherapy for recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer: a randomised phase 2 trial.

Background: The poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor olaparib has shown antitumour activity in patients with platinum-sensitive, recurrent, high-grade serous ovarian cancer with or without BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of olaparib in combination with chemotherapy, followed by olaparib maintenance monotherapy, versus chemotherapy alone in patients with platinum-sensitive, recurrent, high-grade serous ovarian cancer.

Methods: In this randomised, open-label, phase 2 study, adult patients with platinum-sensitive, recurrent, high-grade serous ovarian cancer who had received up to three previous courses of platinum-based chemotherapy and who were progression free for at least 6 months before randomisation received either olaparib (200 mg capsules twice daily, administered orally on days 1-10 of each 21-day cycle) plus paclitaxel (175 mg/m(2), administered intravenously on day 1) and carboplatin (area under the curve [AUC] 4 mg/mL per min, according to the Calvert formula, administered intravenously on day 1), then olaparib monotherapy (400 mg capsules twice daily, given continuously) until progression (the olaparib plus chemotherapy group), or paclitaxel (175 mg/m(2) on day 1) and carboplatin (AUC 6 mg/mL per min on day 1) then no further treatment (the chemotherapy alone group).

Normative values of skin temperature and thermal sensory thresholds in the pudendal nerve territory.

Aims: The aim of this study was to define normative values of skin temperature and thermal sensory threshold in the pudendal nerve territory.

Methods: Warm and cold detection thresholds (using the method of limits) and skin temperature were measured in a group of 41 presumably healthy female volunteers aged 41 years (range: 23-66 years) at left thenar eminence and in the pudendal nerve territory. Outlying data were discarded and 95% normative values were derived assuming Normal distributions.

Associated pyoderma gangrenosum, erythema elevatum diutinum, and Sweet's syndrome: the concept of neutrophilic disease.

Background: The association of three neutrophilic dermatoses supports the concept of "neutrophilic disease" as a syndrome representing a continuous spectrum of clinical entities.

Results: This report describes three neutrophilic pathologies arising in the same patient, in association with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis. The successive occurrence of erythema elevatum diutinum, pyoderma gangrenosum, and Sweet's syndrome illustrates the concept of "neutrophilic disease" developed by Wallach et al.

Vulvar basal cell carcinoma: report of a case involving the mucosa and review of the literature.

We report the case of woman who presented a vulvar basal cell carcinoma (BCC) on the inner part of the labium majus, treated with local resection. Vulvar BCC is a rare cancer but can be long misdiagnosed due to a non-specific presentation. Though even rarer, BCC involving the mucosal side of the labium majus has to be considered in the differential diagnosis of the vulvar tumors.

Chronic interdigital dermatophytic infection: a common lesion associated with potentially severe consequences.

Interdigital intertrigo and onychomycosis has the potential cause of severe bacterial infectious complications with pain, mobility problems, abscess, erysipelas, cellulitis, fasciitis and osteomyelitis. In another hand, diabetic neuropathy, which affects 60-70% of those with diabetes mellitus, is one of the most troubling complications for persons with diabetes. These people are high suspecting to be infected by dermatophytic infections in interdigital spaces or onychomycosis witch are frequently induce damage to the stratum corneum, leading to bacterial proliferation and secondary infection.

Efficiency of photodynamic therapy in the treatment of diffuse facial viral warts in an immunosuppressed patient: towards a gold standard?

A 64-year-old man with a pulmonary transplant developed diffuse verrucae vulgares of the neck. After the failure of multiple cryotherapy treatments, 3 sessions of photodynamic therapy resulted in rapid therapeutic clinical success. This moderately painful and well-tolerated treatment is reproducible and can be very useful in treating papillomavirus infections in the immunosuppressed patient.

Cytomegalovirus-associated protein losing gastropathy in an immunocompetent adult: a case report.

Cytomegalovirus infection of the gastro-intestinal tract is frequent and may be serious in the immunocompromised patient. We report a case of cytomegalovirus infection in an immunocompetent young man who presented total food intolerance, pleural effusion and oedema as the result of severe protein losing hypertrophic gastropathy. Hypertrophic gastropathy with severe mucosal protein loss has been described in Menetrier's disease, a condition of unknown cause which involves foveolar hyperplasia of the gastric mucosa.

Epidermoid carcinoma and perforating necrobiosis lipoidica: a rare association.

We report the case of a 33-year-old patient who had had insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) since he was 11 months old, and who presented with major perforating necrobiosis lipoidica (PNL) complicated by a well-differentiated epidermoid carcinoma. PNL is a rare clinical form of NL, always associated with diabetes. Only seven cases have been reported to date in the literature, and to the best of our knowledge, an association of epidermoid carcinoma and PNL has never been described.

Docetaxel-induced subungual hemorrhage.

Docetaxel (RP 56976 or Taxotere), a semisynthetic drug belonging to the family of taxoids, is a new chemotherapeutic agent used in phase II trials for breast, ovarian and lung cancer. We report 2 cases of subungual hemorrhages, which, to our knowledge, have yet to be cited in association with the use of docetaxel. Although not incapacitating, the patient should be made aware of the potential risk of this drug reaction.