Thyroid hormones, their carrier proteins, and thyroid antibodies in the pleural effusion of two patients with graves' disease-induced thyrotoxicosis.

INTRODUCTION: Concentrations of thyroid hormones, their carrier proteins, and thyroid antibodies in plasma have been extensively investigated, but those in pleural effusion have not. PATIENTS AND MEDTHODS: In the present study, we report, for the first time, the concentrations of thyroid hormones, their carrier proteins, and thyroid antibodies in the pleural effusion of two thyrotoxicosis patients with Graves' disease. RESULTS: The pleural effusions were transudates. The concentrations of thyroid hormone carrier proteins, such as thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG), thyroxine-binding prealbumin (TBPA), and albumin (Alb) were approximately 30-50% of the plasma. The concentrations of total triiodothyronine (TT3), total tetraiodothyronine (TT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and free tetraiodothyronine (FT4) were approximately 15-40%, 45-55%, 45-75%, and 80-85% of the plasma, respectively. The concentration of thyroid stimulating hormone receptor antibody (TRAb) (equal to TSH-binding inhibitory immunoglobulins%; TBII%) was approximately 90% of the plasma. CONCLUSION: If the pleural effusions were treated with diuretics, substantial quantity of thyroid hormones and thyroid antibodies in the pleural effusion may have returned to the plasma, and might exacerbate thyrotoxicosis. For patients with thyrotoxicosis and pleural effusion, thoracentesis should be considered. The present findings will contribute to the understanding and treatment of hyperthyroidism-induced pleural effusion.

Mucosal inflammation in the terminal ileum of ulcerative colitis patients: endoscopic findings and cytokine profiles.

BACKGROUND: Currently, published reports of mucosal inflammation in the terminal ileum of ulcerative colitis (UC) before colectomy are scarce. AIM: To investigate inflammation in the terminal ileum of UC patients by endoscopic examinations and measurement of mucosal cytokine profiles. METHODS: Fifty consecutive patients with active UC were studied. At ileocolonoscopy, mucosal biopsies were taken from the terminal ileum. As control, mucosal biopsies from 20 patients without inflammation were examined. RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients showed endoscopically normal terminal ileum, four showed backwash ileitis, and eight showed non-backwash ileitis (ileitis with normal caecum). Pancolitis was observed in all of four patients with backwash ileitis, in 4 of 8 (50%) with non-backwash ileitis, and in 4 of 38 (11%) without ileal inflammation (P=0.0002). Extraintestinal manifestations were observed in none of 4 patients with backwash ileitis, in 6 of 8 (75%) with non-backwash ileitis, and in 3 of 38 (8%) without ileal inflammation (P<0.0001). In patients with backwash ileitis and non-backwash ileitis, ileal interleukin [IL]-1beta, IL-6, IL-8 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha levels were significantly elevated compared with the control group. Only extraintestinal manifestation was associated with higher ileal cytokine levels, whereas age, sex, and duration, extent and severity of UC did not show any apparent association. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with backwash ileitis, elevated ileal cytokines might reflect a reaction to regurgitation of colonic content into the ileum, but in patients without backwash ileitis, alternative factors are expected to contribute to the aetiology of ileal inflammation. Patients with extraintestinal manifestations had elevated ileal cytokine levels.

Broad ligament hernia successfully repaired by single-incision laparoscopy: A case report.

A 52-year-old woman with a history of two parturitions presented with lower abdominal pain. Multi-detector CT of the abdomen showed discontinuity of the sigmoid colon near the broad ligament on the left side. We assigned a provisional diagnosis of an internal hernia progressing through a defect in the broad ligament. SILS revealed a total broad ligament defect on the left side but no signs of ischemic, necrotic bowel. We successfully repaired the broad ligament defect with suturing. At the 2-month follow-up, the patient remained well with no signs of recurrence. This case appears to be the first report of a broad ligament hernia successfully diagnosed and repaired by SILS.

Impacts of long-term enteral nutrition on clinical and endoscopic disease activities and mucosal cytokines during remission in patients with Crohn's disease: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Long-term enteral nutrition may maintain clinical and endoscopic remission in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the impacts of long-term enteral nutrition on clinical and endoscopic disease activities and mucosal tissue cytokines in patients with quiescent CD. METHODS: Forty patients with CD who achieved clinical remission were included. Of these, 20 received continuous elemental diet (Elental) infusion during the nighttime and a low-fat diet during the daytime (EN group) and 20 received neither nutritional therapy nor food restriction (non-EN group). With these regimens, all 40 patients were monitored for 1 year. Further, ileocolonoscopy was performed at entry, at 6 and 12 months, and mucosal biopsies were taken for cytokine assays. RESULTS: On an intention-to-treat basis, 5 patients (25%) in the EN group and 13 (65%) in the non-EN group had a clinical relapse during the 1-year observation (P = 0.03). The mean endoscopic inflammation (EI) scores were not significantly different between the groups at both entry and 6 months, but at 12 months EI scores were significantly higher in the non-EN group than in the EN group (P = 0.04). Additionally, the mucosal tissue interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha levels significantly increased with time in the non-EN group (entry versus 12 months, IL-1beta, P = 0.02; IL-6, P = 0.002; TNF-alpha, P = 0.001). In the EN group these cytokines did not show a significant increase. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term enteral nutrition in patients with quiescent CD has a clear suppressive effect on clinical and endoscopic disease activities and the mucosal inflammatory cytokine levels.

Comparison of the diagnostic performance of H/M ratio between early and delayed phases for Lewy body disease.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to compare the diagnostic performance of early-phase I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy with that of delayed-phase imaging in Lewy body disease (LBD). METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of ¹²³I-MIBG scintigraphy was carried out in 192 patients who were suspected of having LBD. Clinical diagnosis was obtained using the UK Parkinson's Disease Brain Bank Criteria in some cases or the third report of the Dementia with Lewy bodies Consortium in others. The participants consisted of 81 patients with LBD and 111 nondiseased patients. An injection of 111 MBq of ¹²³I-MIBG was used. Planar images were obtained in an early phase and again in a delayed phase and the heart to mediastinum count ratio was calculated for both phases. Diagnostic performance was compared using a receiver-operator characteristic analysis. The cutoff value was chosen to maximize the Youden index. The sensitivity and specificity of each phase were calculated from the optimal cutoff value. RESULTS: The heart to mediastinum ratio of the LBD group (median 1.8 and 1.45 for early and delayed phases, respectively) was significantly lower than that of the nondiseased group (median 2.93 and 3.18 for early and delayed phases, respectively). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was not significantly different between the early and delayed phases (0.871 vs. 0.893; P=0.0914). Sensitivity and specificity were 80.2 and 91% for early-phase imaging (cutoff value at 2.28) and 81.5 and 95.5% (cutoff value at 1.91) for delayed-phase imaging, respectively. CONCLUSION: The diagnostic performance of ¹²³I-MIBG scintigraphy was not significantly different between early-phase and delayed-phase imaging.

Severe duodenal hemorrhage induced by Lugol's solution administered for thyroid crisis treatment.

Lugol's solution is an iodinated agent used for treating thyroid crisis. It is primarily used in diagnostic tests for esophageal diseases. However, Lugol's solution can cause local mucosal injury and hemorrhage. We report, for the first time, a case of 34-year-old man who exhibited severe duodenal hemorrhage induced by Lugol's solution that was used to treat thyroid crisis. The quantity of Lugol's solution used for treating thyroid crisis is much higher than that used for mucosal disease investigation. Clinical practitioners should be aware of gastrointestinal hemorrhage when using Lugol's solution for the treatment of thyroid crisis.