Sore throat as the herald of spontaneous pneumomediastinum.

This report emphasizes the need of investigating spontaneous pneumomediastinum in adolescent patients who have unusual respiratory symptoms by describing a rare case of it in a 16-year-old guy. Although the first symptom exhibited resemblance to common respiratory infections, a full physical assessment disclosed important markers, eventually establishing the diagnosis by imaging. Medical workers should consider spontaneous pneumomediastinum as a possible diagnosis, especially when symptoms overlap with those of more common illnesses, as illustrated by this example. Detecting subtle clinical signs, such as the presence of palpable crepitus in the neck area, can greatly aid in the timely and accurate diagnosis of medical disorders, reducing the chances of incorrect diagnoses and ensuring appropriate treatment. Our work significantly contributes to the understanding and awareness of spontaneous pneumomediastinum in pediatric patients, with the ultimate aim of improving patient treatment.

Comparative Evaluation of Tissue Adhesives and Sutures in the Management of Facial Laceration Wounds in Children.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated tissue adhesives in comparison to sutures for treating facial lacerations in children. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed data from September 2017 to August 2022 involving pediatric facial lacerations managed with either tissue adhesives or sutures. RESULTS: Among 50 children, 20 received tissue adhesives, and 30 received sutures. Both methods showed comparable outcomes in terms of wound complications such as dehiscence (adjusted odds ratio = 1.56, 95% CI = 0.08-31.25) and infection (adjusted odds ratio = 2.17, 95% CI = 0.08-58.80). The cosmetic outcomes, assessed using the Hollander Wound Evaluation Score, were also consistent between groups (adjusted beta = -0.55, 95% CI = -1.15-0.05). Notably, those treated with tissue adhesives reported greater satisfaction (adjusted beta = 1.13, 95% CI = 0.63 -1.63) and experienced significantly less pain (adjusted beta = -3.03, 95% CI = -4.15--1.90). CONCLUSIONS: Both techniques displayed similar rates of infection, dehiscence, and cosmetic outcomes. However, tissue adhesives were associated with increased patient comfort, especially in terms of reduced pain and greater satisfaction.

Pulmonary metastatic angiosarcoma from scalp with fatal complication: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Angiosarcoma is a rare malignant neoplasm with poor prognosis. Angiosarcoma of the scalp is frequently recurs locally, and metastasizes early despite various treatments. The common sites of metastatic are lung, liver, and lymph nodes. Pulmonary metastasis with hemoptysis and pneumothorax is rare but threatening. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 77-year-old male had recurrent angiosarcoma of the scalp even with post operation radiotherapy. At the same time, recurrent pneumothorax was noted, thus he underwent wedge resection of the right upper lobe of the lung plus pleural biopsy. The final pathologic report of cystic lesions showed metastatic Angiosarcoma. He received intravenous paclitaxel and the lung lesions dramatically diminished subsequently. DISCUSSION: Pulmonary metastasis from soft tissue sarcoma had fatal complications and poor prognosis. Metastases of AS to the lung have a well-described morphology on CT scan, but appear to be hypometabolic on PET scan and are easily misinterpreted as benign cysts. CONCLUSION: Angiosarcoma is a rare but highly vascular invasive endothelial tumor that generally metastasizes to the lung. It could cause repeated hemoptysis pneumothorax and pleural effusion. Preoperative chest CT may be recommended routinely. Aggressive treatment resulted in not only symptoms control but also good prognosis.

Time-varying land subsidence detected by radar altimetry: California, Taiwan and north China.

Contemporary applications of radar altimetry include sea-level rise, ocean circulation, marine gravity, and icesheet elevation change. Unlike InSAR and GNSS, which are widely used to map surface deformation, altimetry is neither reliant on highly temporally-correlated ground features nor as limited by the available spatial coverage, and can provide long-term temporal subsidence monitoring capability. Here we use multi-mission radar altimetry with an approximately 23 year data-span to quantify land subsidence in cropland areas. Subsidence rates from TOPEX/POSEIDON, JASON-1, ENVISAT, and JASON-2 during 1992-2015 show time-varying trends with respect to displacement over time in California's San Joaquin Valley and central Taiwan, possibly related to changes in land use, climatic conditions (drought) and regulatory measures affecting groundwater use. Near Hanford, California, subsidence rates reach 18 cm yr(-1) with a cumulative subsidence of 206 cm, which potentially could adversely affect operations of the planned California High-Speed Rail. The maximum subsidence rate in central Taiwan is 8 cm yr(-1). Radar altimetry also reveals time-varying subsidence in the North China Plain consistent with the declines of groundwater storage and existing water infrastructure detected by the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, with rates reaching 20 cm yr(-1) and cumulative subsidence as much as 155 cm.

Epithelial cell transformation sequence 2 is a potential biomarker of unfavorable survival in human gliomas.

BACKGROUND: High-grade primary gliomas are invasive and have poor outcome. The identification of biomarkers predictive of outcome in patients with gliomas is crucial for clinical follow-up. Epithelial cell transformation sequence 2 (ECT2) modulates cancer invasion, progression, metastasis and cell cycle regulation. However, its role in determining the clinical outcome of human gliomas warrants further elucidation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study hypothesized that ECT2 is over-expressed in human gliomas. We analysis de-linked data (GDS1815/219787_s_at/ECT2) in primary high-grade glioma, and exclude 23 sheets of data without detailed information. An additional database (GDS1962/234992_x_at/ECT2) was also included to evaluation ECT2 gene expression in each pathologic grading. RESULTS: Analysis of the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) profile showed that ECT2 mRNA expression level was higher in WHO grade IV (n = 81) than in grade II (n = 7, P = 0.0126) gliomas and non-tumor controls (n = 23; P = 1.65 Χ 10⁻8). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed unfavorable survival in patients with high ECT2 mRNA levels (n = 10) than in those with low ECT2 expression (n = 67) (median survival, 106 vs. 46 weeks, P < 0.0001, by log-rank test, Hazard ratio: 0.07850, 95% CI: 0.02402-0.2565). CONCLUSIONS: ECT2 expression is positively correlated with WHO pathologic grading and unfavorable survival, suggesting that ECT2 may be a potential therapeutic candidate in human gliomas.