Thymus vulgaris essential oil: chemical composition and antimicrobial activity.

The study was designed to determine the chemical composition and antimicrobial properties of the essential oil of Thymus vulgaris cultivated in Romania. The essential oil was isolated in a yield of 1.25% by steam distillation from the aerial part of the plant and subsequently analyzed by GC-MS. The major components were p-cymene (8.41%), γ-terpinene (30.90%) and thymol (47.59%). Its antimicrobial activity was evaluated on 7 common food-related bacteria and fungus by using the disk diffusion method. The results demonstrate that the Thymus vulgaris essential oil tested possesses strong antimicrobial properties, and may in the future represent a new source of natural antiseptics with applications in the pharmaceutical and food industry.

Multifocal choroidal metastases from thyroid carcinoma: a case report.

We present the case of a 62-year-old female patient, with follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma, which presented to our department for a severe decrease in vision at right eye level. Despite a complex therapy, that included a near-total thyroidectomy, thyroid I-131 ablation, suppressive therapy with LT4, and external beam radiotherapy with cobalt- 60, the patient developed multiple lung, mediastinal, liver, and bone metastases, followed after 1 year, by multifocal choroidal metastases. The complex ocular investigations performed for the diagnosis and follow-up of the choroidal metastases are presented. A review of the literature was also performed. The rarity of choroidal metastases in patients with thyroid carcinoma imposes, for their detection, periodic ocular examinations.

Histopathological prognostic and risk factors in patients with laryngeal neoplasms.

UNLABELLED: Head and neck cancer is a public health problem, accounting for the fifth place of all human cancers. Each year in the US, 3% of new cases of cancer develop in this sphere. Histopathology of the primary tumor and/or laterocervical adenopathy is essential to establish the therapeutic strategy. Histopathological findings reveal a diagnostic certainty and also provide prognostic information. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We have prospectively studied a number of 95 patients with laryngeal neoplasms, which were treated in the ENT Clinic of Timisoara, Romania. The group of patients with neoplasic disease was subdivided into two groups: group 1 - patients with palpable laterocervical adenopathy and detected primary tumor (T+N+), and group 2 - patients without palpable laterocervical adenopathy, but with detected primary tumor (T+N0). Only patients with squamous cell carcinomas were included in this study. We assessed the following microscope parameters: neoplasm confirmation, histological type of neoplasm, the degree of tumor differentiation, intratumoral inflammatory reaction, perineural infiltration and the cell invasion in the small vessels. All patients underwent surgery. RESULTS: N2 and N3 stage adenopathies were more common in patients with medium or low degree of cell differentiation; they were associated with weak inflammatory response of the primary tumor, within vascular invasion alone or associated with the perineural infiltration. N0 and N1 adenopathies were associated with average and good cell differentiation degree, with rich inflammatory infiltrate. CONCLUSIONS: Histopathological examination of the primary tumor and cervical adenopathy is essential in establishing the diagnosis and the therapeutic approach. Histopathological examination offers information on the prognosis. Cell differentiation degree, inflammatory reaction and the cell invasion in the small vessels are the main prognostic factors of laryngeal neoplasms.

[Serous macular detachment associated with circumscribed choroidal hemangioma: a case report]. / Decolare seroasa maculara asociata hemangiomului coroidian circumscris--apropo de un caz clinic.

INTRODUCTION: Choroidal hemangiomas are benign vascular hamartomas that typically present from second to fourth decade of life, when they can cause visual disturbance due to exudative retinal detachment. They represent uncommon benign choroidal vascular tumors, usually occuring sporadically in the absence of systemic disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We report the case of a young female patient, presenting a juxtapapillary circumscribed choroidal haemangioma complicated with serous macular detachment. The patient underwent photodynamic therapy with verteporfin (PDT). Systematic follow-up using ophthalmoscopy, ultrasonography, Fluorescein angiography and Indocyanine green angiography was performed. RESULTS: The patient presented regression with flattening of tumour, resolution of the subretinal fluid, and significant improvement of vision. DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS: Mostly asymptomatic, the choroidal hemangiomas can be associated with serous retinal detachment, leading to reduced vision and metamorphopsia; in those cases, the long term visual prognosis is poor, even in adequately treated patients. PDT is effective in eliminating the subretinal fluid and improving vision in patients with circumscribed choroidal hemangioma.