[Osteomyelitis of the jaws - review of the literature and a case report].

Osteomyelitis (OM), is a rare disease in developed countries. It is defined as a progressive inflammation of the bone and the bone marrow, and characterized by formation of necrotic bone. This disease is more common in the lower jaw, which resembles the structure of a long bone. However, there are histologic and microbiologic characteristics that constitute important factors in the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease and therefore it is not possible to make an analogy from OM of long bones to OM of the jaws. The diagnosis of OM is based on a detailed anamnesis, clinical findings, laboratory tests and imaging. The treatment of OM consists of surgical treatment, which is considered the mainstay of the treatment, and antibiotic treatment, parenteral and oral which is considered as complementary therapy. There are several surgical procedures, according to the extent of the lesion, which include: drainage, curettage, sequestrectomy, saucerization, decortications and resection. A case of osteomyelitis of the lower jaw after dental treatment is presented. The patient underwent segmental resection and reconstruction.

[One stage combined endoscopic and per-oral buccal fat pad approach for large oro-antral-fistula closure with secondary chronic maxillary sinusitis].

There are numerous surgical approaches for oro-antral-fistula (OAF) closure. Secondary sinus disease is still considered by many experts a relative contra indication for primary closure. To describe a single-stage combined endoscopic sinus surgery and per-oral buccal fat pad (BFP) flap approach for large OAF causing chronic maxillary sinusitis. The records of all the patients with OAF and chronic manifestations of secondary rhinosinusitis that were treated between 2010 and 2013 in our tertiary care medical center were reviewed. The exclusion criteria were: OAF 5 mm, resolved sino-nasal disease, OAF secondary to malignancy, recurrent fistula, medical history that included radiotherapy to the maxillary bone and age <18 years. Each procedure was performed by a team consisting of a rhinologist and a maxillofacial surgeon. The surgical approach included an endoscopic middle antrostomy with maxillary sinus drainage, and a per-oral BFP regional flap for OAF closure. Total OAF closure, complications and need for revision surgeries. Forty-five patients that underwent OAF closure together with sinus surgery using a combined endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) and BFP flap approach met the inclusion criteria. There were 28 males and 17 females with a mean ± SD age of 53.5 ± 14.9 years (range 22-80 years). The presenting signs and symptoms included purulent rhinorrhea (n = 22, 48.9%), foreign body in sinus (n = 10, 22.2%) nasal congestion (n = 7, 15.5%), halitosis (n = 6, 13.3%) and pain (n = 5, 12.2%). Surgical complications included local pain (n = 2, 4.4%), persistent rhinitis (n = 2, 4.4%) and synechia (n = 1, 2.2%). One patient required revision surgery due, to an unresolved OAF. The OAF of all the other 44 patients (97.8%) was closed after the first procedure and the paranasal sinuses on the treated side were completely recovered. The mean follow-up time for the group was 7.6 ± 4.3 months (7-21 months), and no untoward sequelae or recurrence were reported. Combined, one step, endoscopic Maxillary sinus drainage together with per-oral BFP flap approach is an efficacious surgical approach for safe closure of OAFs that are complicated with secondary chronic maxillary sinusitis.

Relationship between exhaled leukotriene and 8-isoprostane levels and asthma severity, asthma control level, and asthma control test score

OBJECTIVE: Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a completely non-invasive method for the collection of airway secretions to measure intense inflammation in the airways of asthmatics. It has been shown that the childhood asthma control test (c-ACT) is a good tool for use in the evaluation of asthmatics. Whether the c-ACT score and asthma control level correlate with the airway inflammation is not well known. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between exhaled cysteinyl leukotrienes (Cys-LTs) and 8-isoprostane levels and asthma severity, asthma control level and c-ACT score in asthmatic children. METHODS: Thirty asthmatic children were evaluated with c-ACT score and pulmonary function tests. Asthma severity and asthma control level were assessed according to GINA. EBC was collected and Cys-LTs and 8-isoprostane concentrations were determined using a specific immunoassay kit. RESULTS: Exhaled 8-isoprostane level in patients with moderate persistent asthma [114 (55-146) pg/ml] was higher than in the mild persistent group [52 (21-91) pg/ml] (p = 0.05, Mann-Whitney U [MWU]). EBC 8-isoprostane in children with 1-4 asthma exacerbations/year [52 (16-80) pg/ml] was significantly lower than in children with > 4 asthma exacerbations/year [114 (57-129) pg/ml] (p < 0.05, MWU). No significant relation was determined between exhaled 8-isoprostane and Cys-LTs levels and c-ACT score and asthma control level. Exhaled 8-isoprostane correlated negatively with bronchodilator response (p = 0.015, r = −0.45). CONCLUSIONS: Exhaled 8-isoprostane, as an oxidative stress specifier, was found to be increased in relation with asthma exacerbation frequency and oxidative stress increases with the severity of asthma. In contrast to asthma severity level, c-ACT score and asthma control level may not reflect airway inflammation

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Relationship between exhaled leukotriene and 8-isoprostane levels and asthma severity, asthma control level, and asthma control test score.

OBJECTIVE: Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a completely non-invasive method for the collection of airway secretions to measure intense inflammation in the airways of asthmatics. It has been shown that the childhood asthma control test (c-ACT) is a good tool for use in the evaluation of asthmatics. Whether the c-ACT score and asthma control level correlate with the airway inflammation is not well known. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between exhaled cysteinyl leukotrienes (Cys-LTs) and 8-isoprostane levels and asthma severity, asthma control level and c-ACT score in asthmatic children. METHODS: Thirty asthmatic children were evaluated with c-ACT score and pulmonary function tests. Asthma severity and asthma control level were assessed according to GINA. EBC was collected and Cys-LTs and 8-isoprostane concentrations were determined using a specific immunoassay kit. RESULTS: Exhaled 8-isoprostane level in patients with moderate persistent asthma [114 (55-146)pg/ml] was higher than in the mild persistent group [52 (21-91)pg/ml] (p=0.05, Mann-Whitney U [MWU]). EBC 8-isoprostane in children with 1-4 asthma exacerbations/year [52 (16-80)pg/ml] was significantly lower than in children with >4 asthma exacerbations/year [114 (57-129)pg/ml] (p<0.05, MWU). No significant relation was determined between exhaled 8-isoprostane and Cys-LTs levels and c-ACT score and asthma control level. Exhaled 8-isoprostane correlated negatively with bronchodilator response (p=0.015, r=-0.45). CONCLUSIONS: Exhaled 8-isoprostane, as an oxidative stress specifier, was found to be increased in relation with asthma exacerbation frequency and oxidative stress increases with the severity of asthma. In contrast to asthma severity level, c-ACT score and asthma control level may not reflect airway inflammation.

Role of pelvic sensory signaling during delivery in postpartum mental health.

BACKGROUND: Animal research demonstrates that pelvic sensory signaling at parturition initiates behavioral and emotional changes that are protective for mother and offspring. In contrast, research with humans has found no effect of cesarean delivery (i.e., procedure that blocks pelvic signaling) on mother's mental health. The lack of effect may reflect little consideration for the use of epidurals, another intervention that blocks pelvic signaling. The following study examines whether blocking pelvic signaling during delivery predicts postpartum depression symptomatology. METHOD: Longitudinal mental health data were collected prospectively from 142 primiparous women who had a cesarean delivery and/or received epidural anesthesia (Intervention) or delivered vaginally without anesthesia (No-Intervention). Measurements began in late pregnancy and continued through the first postpartum year. RESULTS: Intervention mothers reported more depressive symptoms at the end of the first postpartum year compared to those in the No-Intervention group. This effect was independent of socio-cultural factors known to predict levels of depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that pelvic sensory signaling may help to prepare women for the postpartum period. Considering there are many factors influencing the mental health of mothers, the present finding suggest that populations vulnerable to postpartum depression should consider a delivery without intervention, when medically permissible.

Spironolactone therapy in hypertrichosis.

Although regarded as a benign condition, simple hypertrichosis may be very disturbing to a child cosmetically. An abnormality in androgen metabolism has been implied in the etiology of simple hypertrichosis recently. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of spironolactone therapy for its antiandrogenic property in 12 prepubertal girls with hypertrichosis with no underlying etiology. The girls, with a mean age of 6.9 (1.2) years, had normal height and bone age. Basal hormone levels and adrenocorticotropin stimulation test results were in the normal ranges. Pelvic and adrenal ultrasound did not reveal pathology. Total and medullary hair width were measured from hair taken from preauricular, anterior midthigh, distal and proximal forearm areas. Spironolactone was started at an oral dose of 25 and increased to 100 mg x m(-2) x day(-1) twice daily for 1 year. Total hair width decreased significantly in the preauricular and anterior midthigh regions up to 6-9 months of treatment. Medullary hair width, which was affected by therapy to a greater extent, decreased significantly in all regions up to 6 months. Both total and medullary hair width showed a tendency to increase afterwards. No side effects were encountered. Spironolactone may be used in the treatment of simple hypertrichosis; however, more data are needed to clarify the efficacy and safety of anti-androgen therapy in hypertrichosis.

Monoclonal antibody to native P39 protein from Borrelia burgdorferi.

We have produced, by using a sonicate of Borrelia burgdorferi, a monoclonal antibody (MAb), NYSP39H, that is specific for the P39 protein band. This MAb reacted with 13 isolates of B. burgdorferi but not with eight different spirochetes (four borrelias, two leptospiras, and two treponemas). Surface labeling of B. burgdorferi with biotin and subsequent treatment with Nonidet P-40 showed that P39 was not biotinylated but was extracted with Nonidet P-40, indicating that it is present within the outer membrane, but not on the surface of the spirochete. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed the immunogold probe primarily at the cytoplasmic membrane region of the spirochete. The MAb detected B. burgdorferi in the indirect fluorescent-antibody test only when the spirochetes from a culture or in a tick homogenate were fixed with polylysine and not with acetone. NYSP39H appears to be an appropriate probe for use in the specific detection of B. burgdorferi.

Differences in expression of lupus nephritis in New Zealand mixed H-2z homozygous inbred strains of mice derived from New Zealand black and New Zealand white mice. Origins and initial characterization.

BACKGROUND: F1 hybrids of New Zealand Black (NZB) and New Zealand White (NZW) mice develop autoimmune glomerulonephritis resembling human lupus nephritis. Susceptibility to this complex autoimmune syndrome in humans and mice has been linked to genes mapping in or near the major histocompatibility complex that govern immune responses and levels of certain complement components. Previous studies showed that both parental strains contribute major histocompatibility complex-linked genes that are important for disease of the F1 hybrid. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: New inbred strains of New Zealand Mixed (NZM) mice were derived by selective inbreeding of progeny of a cross between NZB and NZW mice. Twelve of the 27 new NZM strains were selected for analysis. Mice were observed for up to 10 months of age to document the occurrence of nephritis and strain-specific differences in disease expression. H-2, Hc, and coat color loci were determined for each strain to establish homozygosity of NZB and NZW polymorphic markers. Strains were screened for the presence of anti-dsDNA autoantibodies. RESULTS: In some NZM strains early onset of lupus nephritis in females resembled the (NZB x NZW)F1 model, whereas in other strains early disease also occurred in males. Age at death and severity of nephritis vary among the lines; a few strains remain relatively free of glomerular lesions. Histocompatibility (H-2) typing showed that all strains are homozygous for the NZW haplotype (Ku, Au, Sz, Dz). Coat color analysis for four loci on chromosomes 2, 4, and 7 was consistent with specific reassortments and recombinations to explain the grey, tan, and white mice with red/pink eyes and the presence or absence of the fifth component of serum complement (C5) (Hc, chromosome 2). Anti-dsDNA autoantibodies were found in all but one of the NZM strains reported here. CONCLUSIONS: The NZM strains of mice are a unique set of inbred strains that have inherited various genomic segments of the two parental strains that lead to phenotypic differences in disease expression. These results indicate that the previously proposed strict requirement for H-2 heterozygosity for the development of nephritis in the (NZB x NZW)F1 hybrid mice may not be valid. It is assumed that both the Lpn-1 locus of NZB and the Lpn-2 locus of NZW and a sufficient number of other disease-associated genes of both ancestral strains have been recombined in these new strains to produce the various patterns of renal disease.

Lack of passive transfer of renal tubulointerstitial disease by serum or monoclonal antibody specific for renal tubular antigens in the mouse.

Mice immunized with rabbit renal basement membranes form autoantibodies to their kidney glomerular and tubular basement membranes (GBM/TBM). Development of renal tubular disease (RTD) consists of deposition of autoantibodies along the GBM/TBM with the inter- and intratubular accumulation of lymphocytes and macrophages and destruction of the TBM. Transfer of this disease in mice with either serum or monoclonal antibodies, however, has been difficult to demonstrate and, therefore, attempts were made to confirm a report that RTD is passively transferred by anti-TBM autoantibodies. Using the revised protocol in this later report, we found that 12 weeks after transfer autoantibodies were deposited along the GBM and/or TBM of the recipients, yet RTD was not observed. Although qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the antibody may play a role in the pathogenesis in the murine model of RTD, we could not obtain evidence to support and confirm this study.

[Rheumatic masking of bacterial endocarditis]. / Revmaticheskie maski bakterial'nogo endokardita.

In 36 patients with bacterial endocarditis (BE) rheumatic symptoms were detected in 61.1%. Arthralgias and arthritides having some distinctive features typical of this disease, myalgia, rheumatoid factor and LE cells (less frequently) were observed in the overwhelming majority of the patients. The authors described 3 cases where rheumatic symptoms obscured a clinical picture of BE for a long time resulting in late diagnosis and inadequate therapy.