Oral manifestations of human T-cell lymphotropic virus infection in adult patients from Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) was the first human retrovirus discovered and its pathogenesis is related to T cells infection. This study aimed to verify the presence of oral manifestations in a Brazilian population of patients who was seropositive for HTLV, and identify risk factors for oral manifestations. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: An assessment was made of 139 patients at the Emilio Ribas Institute of Infectious Diseases. RESULTS: A total of 112 (80.5%) patients were HTLV-1, 26 (18.7%) were HTLV-2+. About 35.2% of patients had myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), with 48 of them being HTLV-1+ and one patient was seropositive for HTLV-1 and -2. The most common oral manifestations were: xerostomia (26.8%), candidiasis (20.8%), fissured tongue (17.9%), and loss of tongue papillae (10.0%). A multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that HAM/TSP is an independent risk factor for xerostomia (P = 0.02). The patients who were HAM/TSP+ were three times more likely to develop xerostomia when compared with patients without HAM/TSP (odds ratio = 2.69, 95% confidence interval = 1.17-6.17). CONCLUSION: Despite the fact that the findings of this study suggest a relationship between xerostomia and HAM/TSP, more studies should be developed to show what the association would be between xerostomia presented by HTLV patients and pathogenesis of the virus.

Small ileal neurofibroma causing intussusception in a non-neurofibromatosis patient.

Neurofibromas in the small intestine are usually accompanied by von Recklinghausen's disease (neurofibromatosis), and usually originate in the intramuscular plexus of Auerbach. We present here a solitary neurofibroma, which caused an ileocolic intussusception, originating in the submucosal plexus of Meissner in a non-neurofibromatosis patient. To our knowledge, there is no previous report of a neurofibroma originating in the plexus of Meissner. This condition was clearly confirmed by macroscopic and microscopic evaluation.

Glutaraldehyde-fixed heterologous pericardium for vena cava grafting following hepatectomy.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Glutaraldehyde-fixed heterologous pericardium has been widely used for grafts in cardiac surgery. We applied it for inferior vena cava (IVC) patch grafting following combined resection of the liver and the IVC. METHODOLOGY: IVC grafting using a glutaraldehyde-fixed horse pericardium following combined resection of the liver and the IVC was performed in 2 patients--one with hepatocellular carcinoma and the other with hepatic metastasis following rectal cancer. The retrohepatic vena cava defect was closed with a 10 x 5 cm patch in one patient and a 7 x 4 cm patch in the other. RESULTS: Hepatic vascular exclusion was avoided in both patients. The IVC exclusion period was 40 min for the first patient and 25 min for the second. One patient required a veno-venous bypass with an active centrifugal pump of 153 min. There was no complication and no graft infection. The microscopic extension to the IVC was evident in one patient, and fibrous adhesive was evident in the IVC wall of the other. One patient died of hepatic failure 3 years and 6 months after surgery, and the other died of hepatic recurrence 7 months after surgery. Both grafts were patent, without calcification and stricture, until the patients' death. CONCLUSIONS: Glutaraldehyde-fixed heterologous pericardium is an option for IVC grafting.