[Bone involvement in chronic disseminated paracoccidioidomycosis. A report on the first cases in Rio Grande do Sul]. / Acometimento ósseo na paracoccidioidomicose crônica disseminada. Relato dos primeiros casos no Rio Grande do Sul.

The first cases of bone involvement in paracoccidioidomycosis observed in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) are reported. Clinical and radiological findings are commented and some peculiarities are pointed out.

Abdominal angiostrongylosis in southern Brazil--prevalence and parasitic burden in mollusc intermediate hosts from eighteen endemic foci.

Angiostrongylus costaricensis is a parasitic nematode of rodents and molluscs are the intermediate hosts. Nocturnal collection of molluscs and search for infective third stage larvae of A. costaricensis was carried out in 18 endemic foci identified by the notification of a confirmed diagnosis in human biopsies or surgical specimens. Molluscs were digested in acidic solution and isolation of larvae eventually present was done in a Baermann funnel. Larvae identified by the presence of a delicate groove in the tail were counted to assess the individual parasitic burden. Four species were found infected, with ranges of prevalence in parenthesis: Phyllocaulis variegatus (7% to 33.3%); Bradybaena similaris (11.7% to 24.1%); Belocaulus angustipes (8.3%) and Phyllocaulis soleiformis (3.3% to 14.2%). Parasitic burden varied from 1 to 75 with P. variegatus, 1 to 98 with B. similaris. 1 to 13 with B. angustipes and 1 larvae in each of two specimens of P. solciformis. P. variegatus was present in all sites and was found infected with the highest prevalence figures and the highest individual parasitic burdens. These data stress the importance of veronicellid slugs as intermediate hosts for A. costaricensis in the endemic areas in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Seroepidemiology of abdominal angiostrongyliasis: the standardization of an immunoenzymatic assay and prevalence of antibodies in two localities in southern Brazil.

Abdominal angiostrongyliasis is a nematode disease produced by Angiostrongylus costaricensis, a metastrongylid parasite of wild rodents. Accidental human infection occurs through ingestion of food or water contaminated with third-stage larvae present in the mucous secretion of terrestrial molluscs. An ELISA test was standardized for detection of IgG antibodies recognizing a surface antigen prepared from female worms. Competitive absorption of sera with Ascaris suum crude antigen resulted in a test with 86% sensitivity and 83% specificity. The disease is endemic in Southern Brazil and a number of cases are diagnosed every year through anatomo-pathological examination of biopsies or surgical specimens, since no other diagnostic method is available. According to seroepidemiological studies, prevalences in two transmission foci are 29.8 and 66%, attesting to the widespread occurrence of the infection in those endemic areas.

On the diversity of mollusc intermediate hosts of Angiostrongylus costaricensis Morera & Cespedes, 1971 in southern Brazil.

Veronicellid slugs are considered the most important intermediate hosts of Angiostrongylus costaricensis, an intra-arterial nematode of rodents. Studies undertaken in three localities in southern Brazil led to identification of molluscs other than veronicellid slugs as hosts of A. costaricensis: Limax maximus, Limax flavus and Bradybaena similaris. These data indicate a low host specificity of larval stages of A. costaricensis, as it has been reported to other congeneric species.

Detection of the acute phase of abdominal angiostrongyliasis with a parasite-specific IgG enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.

Angiostrongylus costaricensis may cause intestinal lesions of varied severity when it accidentally infects man in Central and South America. First-stage larvae have never been detected in stools. Therefore, a parasite-specific IgG ELISA was evaluated for the determination of the acute phase of infection. The specificity and the sensitivity of the immunoassay was shown to be 76.2% and 91.1%, respectively. Eight serum samples taken from patients with histopathological diagnosis, at different time points (3 to 15 months) after surgical treatment, showed a sharp and early decline in antibody reactivity. The titration of anti-A. costaricensis antibodies has proved to be a useful method for the diagnosis of acute abdominal angiostrongyliasis.

Actinomicose da parede abdominal -relato de um caso. / Actinomycosis of the abdominal wall-report of a case

A actinomicose e uma doenca causada por actinomicetos do genero Actinomyces e pelo Arachnia propionica.A infeccao se apresenta mais frequentemente em sua localizacao cervico-facial, toracica e abdominal. Dentre as manifestacoes menos frequentes da actinomicose a localizacao na parede abdominal e uma das mais raras. Poucos casos de actinomicose com esta localizacao tem sido relatados (Milkov & Andreev, 1963 Depaulis & Martinet, 1964: Modrzewski & Ryder-Struska, 1967; Mousseau & Mousseau, 1973; Olsson, 1974; Minocha, Sharma & Nair 1975; Puppala & Steinheber, 1978), o que justifica a publicacao deste caso

Prototecose do cotovelo: relato de um caso. / Protothecosis of the elbow: report of a case

Os autores relatam o primeiro caso de prototecose humana observado no Brasil

Leiomiossarcoma de mama. / Leiomyosarcoma of the breast

Os autores descrevem um caso de leiomiossarcoma de mama salientando os aspectos morfologicos e tecem comentarios sobre conduta terapeutica, baseados no comportamento biologico da lesao