Mediastinal parathyroid carcinoma presenting with severe skeletal manifestations.

Parathyroid carcinoma is a rare malignancy, accounting for about 1% of primary hyperparathyroidism. We report the case of a 23-year-old man who presented with poorly united mid-shaft fracture of the left femur with severe hypercalcaemia in the setting of 99 mTc sestamibi-avid lesions in the mediastinal and thoracic vertebrae. The patient underwent surgery, and histopathology revealed a low-grade parathyroid carcinoma. After surgery, the patient developed severe hungry bone syndrome requiring intensive calcium, magnesium and active vitamin D supplementation. A review of the literature was undertaken with regards to mediastinal parathyroid carcinoma, management of refractory hypercalcaemia in this setting and hungry bone syndrome.

Lipid analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and 31P NMR spectroscopy.

Despite the high clinical relevance, only the cellular moiety of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) has been intensively investigated and is used for diagnosis purposes. On the other hand, the cell-free fluid is, by far, less characterized. Although this fluid represents a relatively simple mixture of only a few different phospholipids (mainly phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol and cholesterol), methods for the routine analysis of these fluids are still lacking. In the present investigation we have applied, for the first time, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, as well as 31P NMR spectroscopy to the analysis of organic extracts of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids. BAL from different mammals (rat, minipig, rabbit and man) were investigated and, for means of comparison, organic extracts of lung tissue were also examined. Both applied methods provide fast and reliable information on the lipid composition of the bronchoalveolar lavage. However, despite of its comparably low sensitivity, 31P NMR spectroscopy detects all phospholipid species in a single experiment and with the same sensitivity, whereas MALDI-TOF fails in the detection of phosphatidylethanolamine in the presence of higher quantities of phosphatidylcholine. In contrast, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry is more suitable for the detection of cholesterol and the determination of the fatty acid composition of the individual phospholipids, especially lysolipids. It will be shown that all BALs exhibit significant, species-dependent differences that mainly concern the content of phosphatidylglycerol and lyso-phosphatidylcholine. It is concluded that both methods are suitable tools in lipid research due to the (in comparison to alternative methods) simplicity of performance.

Abnormal flow volume loops in patients with intrathoracic Hodgkin's disease.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To study the incidence of upper airway obstruction, as measured on the flow volume loop (FVL), in patients with bulky mediastinal Hodgkin's disease; to correlate the FVL with CT of the chest; and to follow the changes in the FVL after treatment of the tumor. DESIGN: Retrospective study of pulmonary function tests (PFTs) and chest CTs performed as part of a clinical trial for Hodgkin's disease. SETTING: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, a comprehensive cancer care center. PATIENTS: Twenty-five patients (15 men and 10 women; age range, 20 to 57 years) with bulky mediastinal Hodgkin's disease enrolled in a clinical trial of chemotherapy followed by external beam radiation therapy. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Fourteen of 25 patients (56%) had an abnormal FVL prior to therapy; after chemotherapy, only 7 of 25 patients (28%) had an abnormal FVL. The abnormal patterns seen were either those typical of fixed obstruction or variable extrathoracic obstruction. No patient had a pattern typical of variable intrathoracic obstruction. On chest CT scan, 16 patients had grade-I tracheal deformity; 6 had grade-II deformity, and 3 had grade-III deformity. All three patients with grade-III deformity had a fixed obstruction pattern, as did three patients with a grade-I pattern. Patients with a fixed pattern on FVL had significant decreases in inspiratory and expiratory flow rates. CONCLUSION: FVL abnormalities suggesting upper airway obstruction occurred in > 50% of patients with bulky mediastinal Hodgkin's disease. A fixed pattern of obstruction was associated with the lower flow rates and severe tracheal distortion on CT; these patients may warrant special attention prior to general anesthesia or invasive procedures. Asymptomatic patients with abnormal FVLs but normal tracheal profiles need not undergo extensive evaluation. No patients showed the expected pattern typical of intrathoracic obstruction, but rather the major effect was on the inspiratory loop. The authors speculate on the mechanism for this unexpected finding.

[Comparative characteristics of reactions of central hemodynamics to the exfusion of blood and plasma in surgical diseases]. / Sravnitel'naia kharakteristika reaktsii tsentral'noi gemodinamiki na oksfuziiu krovi i plazmy pri khirurgicheskikh zabolevaniiakh.

Complex clinico-laboratory and functional examinations of 102 patients have been made who had heart diseases, lung carcinoma, benign tumours of the lungs and mediastinal organs. Autoblood of 34 patients was prepared in the preoperative period (450-600 ml). A single taking the plasma by the method of double plamapheresis (500 ml) was performed in 48 patients. Autoplasma was prepared in 20 patients by the apparatus PF-0.5 (1200 ml). It is concluded that patients without pronounced insufficiency of blood circulation and anemization can easily endure exfusions of considerable volumes of blood and plasma.