[Controversies about the clinical management of Whipple's disease]. / Controversias en el manejo clínico de la enfermedad de Whipple.

BACKGROUND: There are a lot of controversies related to the diagnostic and therapeutic management of Whipple s disease. PATIENTS: We present 4 cases of Whipple's disease, collected from the Gastroenterology Service of the Hospital Ramon y Cajal, from Madrid. RESULTS: The average age was 69. The first symptoms were in order of frequency, arthralgias, loss of weight, arthritis, diarrhoea, fever, epigastric pain and neurologic symptoms. Three were treated with trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazol and one with cefixime. There were no recurrences. CONCLUSIONS: The endoscopic appearance of the duodenum is fundamental for the suspicion of the disease. The initial parenteral treatment may consist of ceftriaxone and try to avoid using streptomycine because of its toxicity, followed by oral trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazol. As an alternative to the latter, cefixime is usually effective. The typical findings of the duodenum biopsy can persist several months or years after finishing the treatment, decreasing the value of endoscopic pursuit after treatment.

[Primary testicular lymphoma. Report of a new case and review of the literature]. / Linfoma testicular primario. Aportación de un nuevo caso y revisión de la literatura.

Primary testicular lymphoma is an uncommon testicular tumour that accounts for no more than 9% of all testicular tumours in those series with higher incidence; testicular lymphoma as haematopoietic tumours are also rare accounting for just 1% of all lymphomas; but due to their highly malignant histopathology they may become highly aggressive tumours. Patient age at presentation is over 60 years old which makes it the most frequent tumour for this age group. There is no standard protocol to treat this malignancy due to lack of extensive series. We contribute one case and make a literature review discussing the current therapeutic trends for this disease.

[Macroscopic and microscopic study of the right coronary artery after radiofrequency catheter ablation of cavotricuspid isthmus in an experimental model]. / Estudio macro y microscópico de la arteria coronaria derecha tras ablación con catéter y radiofrecuencia del istmo cavotricuspídeo en un modelo experimental.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: The right coronary artery (RCA) is found in the AV groove, just below the ablation target of atrial flutter, the cavotricuspid isthmus (ICT). After radiofrequency (RF) ablation with standard catheters, there have been no reports of complications, but it may not be successful in 10% of the cases. However, the use of irrigated tip catheters, which create deeper lesions, might potentially damage the coronary tree. METHODS: We analyzed the effects of ICT RF ablation on the coronary tree, with macroscopic and microscopic anatomopathological study. Ablation on ICT was performed using an irrigated tip catheter in 16 pigs and was randomly compared with a standard ablation catheter. There were no clinical problems, modifications of ST or new arrhythmias during the ablation. The heart was extracted at 1 week. RESULTS: The macroscopic study demonstrated that the right coronary artery was preserved, along the ICT, surrounded by the epicardial fat. The microscopic study showed an inflammatory reaction in the epicardial fat that reached the adventitia of the coronary artery, but never produced necrosis in 14 cases. The muscular wall of the artery had signs of focal inflammation without endothelium involvement in 2 cases. However, we found a subepicardial vein completely damaged by the radiofrequency. CONCLUSIONS: Although the right coronary artery is located just below the isthmus, no necrosis was observed in any case. However, there was an inflammatory reaction that focally reached the muscular wall. The veins may be damaged in RF ablation, perhaps due to the different blood flow of each vessel.