Dyskinesia as a new adverse effect of hormonal treatment in West syndrome.

West syndrome is an age-dependent epileptic encephalopathy. Despite potential side effects, hormonal therapy remains the main treatment for West syndrome. Here, we report on 10 patients receiving steroid treatment who presented with unusual, mostly hyperkinetic, movements. Facial grimacing, repetitive mouth opening, adduction and abduction of upper and lower extremities, and periodical strabismus in different combinations were observed in all patients, independent of formulation, dose, duration, and efficacy of treatment. Symptoms disappeared in sleep and reappeared immediately on arousal. Dyskinesias stopped gradually after a month of discontinuation of treatment. Repeated EEGs did not show corresponding epileptiform activity. We conclude that these abnormal movements can be attributed to side effects of hormonal treatment.

Ethical considerations: the participation of children in elite sports.

In a way, children involved in elite sports can be considered participants in an uncontrolled mass experiment with human beings. Sports have many benefits for children, especially when this activity is compared with the sedentary life styles of too many children all over the world. However, training in such sports is progressively becoming more prevalent in an earlier age in childhood, and potential risks of musculoskeletal disorders or diseases, social isolation to a restricted group with similar interests, and the psychologic stress of repetitive and monotonous sports activities for several hours each day, are concerning physicians. Added to these concerns are the dangers associated with hormonal and dietary manipulations practiced by athletes in elite sports. Ethics committees to control training procedures of gifted children and to propose higher age limits for participants, especially in international sports events, seem to be needed. Long-term effects of elite sports activities beginning in early childhood should be studied using appropriate epidemiologic methods. The basic ethical consideration is not to harm or alienate children by using them as objects for sports organizations, spectators or nationalists.

A influência das alterações hormonais no tratamento ortodôntico / Influence of hormonal alterations on orthodontic treatment

Introdução / Embora se saiba que algumas alterações hormonais podem afetar o tratamento ortodôntico, existe uma escassez de dados publicados sobre a relação entre essas alterações do sistema endócrino e os possíveis problemas durante o tratamento ortodôntico. Quase todos os estudos foram experimentais, realizados em ratos; os estudos em humanos foram raros, com preponderância de relatos de casos e avaliação de um único hormônio. / Objetivo / A presente revisão busca sintetizar, para o ortodontista clínico, a evidência disponível sobre os principais aspectos que devem ser observados para o tratamento de pacientes portadores de alterações endócrinas, sob o ponto de vista ortodôntico, quanto aos aspectos de crescimento craniofacial, erupção e movimentação dentária, os quais requerem cuidados especiais e que podem apresentar possíveis limitações para o tratamento ortodôntico. / Métodos / Por meio de busca nas bases de dados Medline, PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Lilacs e BVS, foram selecionados os artigos mais relevantes que avaliaram pacientes com as características acima descritas. / Resultados / Os hormônios somatotrófico, insulina, paratormônio e esteroides sexuais podem induzir alterações indesejadas no crescimento craniofacial, metabolismo ósseo e no aumento de predisposição a problemas periodontais, o que requer adequação do plano de tratamento pelo ortodontista. Há pouca evidência sobre o uso dos hormônios tiroxina, relaxina, vitamina D e calcitonina para evitar reabsorção radicular e aumentar a velocidade de movimentação dentária. / Conclusão / Mais estudos com seres humanos, de alto nível de evidência, são necessários para aprofundar o conhecimento sobre a influência dos hormônios na Ortodontia, para reduzir o risco de efeitos indesejados e aumentar a previsibilidade dos resultados a serem obtidos.

Roles of gall bladder emptying and intestinal transit in the pathogenesis of octreotide induced gall bladder stones.

BACKGROUND: Octreotide treatment of acromegalic patients increases the % deoxycholic acid conjugates and the cholesterol saturation of gall bladder bile, and induces gall stone formation. AIMS: To study the roles of gall bladder emptying and intestinal transit in these phenomena. METHODS AND PATIENTS: Gall bladder emptying and mouth to caecum transit was measured in (a) control subjects and acromegalic patients given saline or 50 micrograms of octreotide, and (b) acromegalic patients taking long term octreotide. In the second group, large bowel transit was also measured. RESULTS: A single dose of octreotide inhibited meal stimulated gall bladder emptying, the ejection fraction falling from mean (SEM) 66.0 (2.3)% to 7.0 (5.3)% in controls (p < 0.001); from 72.5 (2.1) to 16.6 (5.1)% in untreated acromegalic patients (p < 0.001), and to 30.4 (9.5)% in acromegalic patients taking long term octreotide (p < 0.001 v untreated acromegalic group). Octreotide prolonged mouth to caecum transit time, from 112 (15) min to 237 (13) min in controls (p < 0.001), from 170 (13) min to 282 (11) min in untreated acromegalic patients (p < 0.001), and to 247 (10) min in acromegalic patients taking long term octreotide (p < 0.001 v untreated acromegalic patients). The mean large bowel transit in octreotide untreated compared with treated acromegalic patients remained unchanged (40 (6) h v 47 (6) h). CONCLUSIONS: Prolongation of intestinal transit and impaired gall bladder emptying may contribute to lithogenic changes in bile composition and gall stone formation in patients receiving long term octreotide.

Leuprolide versus diethylstilbestrol for metastatic prostate cancer.

We compared the efficacy and safety of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue, leuprolide (1 mg subcutaneously daily), with diethylstilbestrol (DES, 3 mg by mouth daily) in patients with prostate cancer and distant metastases (Stage D2) who had not previously received systemic treatment. Initial therapy (leuprolide or DES) was continued for as long as an objective response was noted; cross-over to the alternative arm occurred at the time of disease progression or intolerable adverse reactions. Ninety-eight patients were randomly assigned to leuprolide, and 101 to DES. Suppression of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone and decreases in acid phosphatase were comparable in the two groups. Patients receiving DES experienced more frequent painful gynecomastia (P less than 0.00001), nausea and vomiting (P = 0.02), edema (P = 0.008), and thromboembolism (P = 0.065) than those receiving leuprolide. The leuprolide group reported more "hot flashes" (P = 0.00001). Overall, 86 per cent of the leuprolide group had an objective response (complete response, 1 per cent; partial response, 37 per cent; stable disease, 48 per cent), as compared with 85 per cent of the DES group (complete, 2 per cent; partial, 44 per cent; stable, 39 per cent). Actual survival rates at one year were 87 per cent for the leuprolide group and 78 per cent for the DES group (P = 0.17). We conclude that leuprolide offers an important alternative treatment that is therapeutically equivalent to and causes fewer side effects than DES for the initial systemic management of metastatic prostate cancer.

Influência dos hormônios sexuais sobre os tecidos periodontais em usuárias de contraceptivos hormonais / Influence of sexual hormones on periodontal tissues in hormonal contraceptives users

Com o objetivo de avaliar a influência da ação dos contraceptivos hormonais sobre os tecidos periodontais, realizou-se uma pesquisa, considerando a relevância de alguns aspectos: a duração de uso e o tipo da droga utilizada, a concentração dos hormônios sexuais presentes, o grau de higiene bucal e a presença de fatores de risco locais associados. A amostra foi constituída por 60 mulheres, entre 17 e 47 anos de idade, sendo 30 mulheres representando o grupo teste (usuárias da droga) e 30 fazendo parte do grupo controle (não-usuárias). Os dados foram coletados por meio de roteiro de entrevista e de exame clínico utilizando os índices IPC e IHO-S. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que o uso de contraceptivos hormonais não influenciou na ocorrência da doença periodontal. As péssimas condições de higiene bucal, associadas à presença de cálculo, apresentaram-se de forma homogênea na população estudada. O tempo de uso de contraceptivos hormonais, bem como diferenças nos tipos e concentrações hormonais de estrógeno e progesterona não representaram grandes mudanças na condição periodontal das mulheres da droga.

Ação dos anticoncepcionais orais de baixa dosagem na gengiva humana / The role of low-dosage oral contraceptives on human gingiva

A pesquisa foi realizada com o objetivo de estudar os efeitos dos anticoncepcionais orais (AO) de baixa dosagem na gengiva humana, em 110 pacientes, sendo 51 usuárias e 59 não usuárias da medicação e divididas em universitárias e não universitárias, utilizando-se os índices de placa (IPL) e gengival (IG). Os resultados clínicos obtidos foram submetidos ao teste estatístico de Kruskal-Wallis. Pudemos constatar, de maneira geral, que o índice de placa é proporcional ao índice gengival, sugerindo que as condições locais têm maior importância, para as pacientes sob ação hormonal dos AO.