Total hip replacement in a patient with systemic mastocytosis: a case report.

Systemic mastocytosis is a rare condition that often involves the bone marrow. We report the case of a patient with systemic mastocytosis who underwent total hip replacement. Technical difficulties encountered during the procedure included a narrow medullary canal and abnormally hard bone, later confirmed by laboratory measurements. Follow-up at five years showed a good clinical and radiological outcome.

Hyperammonemia with complex urinary tract anomaly: a case report.

Hyperammonemia has been reported rarely in the pediatric age group in systemically ill patients. All cases resulted from infections with urea splitting organisms, which are more common among patients who have undergone surgical procedures on the urinary tract. The authors report for the first time in the pediatric literature, one patient who presented with hyperammonemic encephalopathy that resulted from urinary tract infection with Staphylococcus epidermidis and Corynebacterium sp.

Cribriform variant papillary thyroid cancer: a characteristic of familial adenomatous polyposis.

Inherited cancer syndromes may predispose to more than one type of cancer, and these characteristically develop at an earlier age than their sporadic counterparts. The occurrence in a single individual of multiple, early onset primary cancers may indicate an inherited cancer susceptibility. Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), an autosomal, dominantly inherited susceptibility to colorectal adenomas and cancer also predisposes to childhood medulloblastomas and to a specific rare histologic type (cribriform variant) of papillary thyroid cancer. We describe a patient who developed a childhood medulloblastoma of the cerebellum, and subsequently a cribriform papillary thyroid cancer. These cancers predated the diagnosis of FAP in this patient, who was later found to have several relatives with FAP. The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) mutation delineated in this family was in the region associated with those causing an increased risk of thyroid cancer. We submit that the diagnosis of the cribriform variant of papillary thyroid cancer in a young individual, especially after a previous cancer diagnosis, should alert the physician to the possibility of a diagnosis of FAP.

Necrobacillosis--an unusual case of pharyngotonsillitis.

Necrobacillosis is a potentially life-threatening septicaemic illness occurring in the previously fit and healthy. The authors illustrate a case presenting as an atypical pharyngotonsillitis with renal complications, initially misdiagnosed as poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis. Necrobacillosis should be considered in cases of unusual pharyngotonsillitis.

Unusually severe food poisoning from vanilla slices.

Thirty six people suffered from severe vomiting and diarrhoea 15 min to 3 h after eating vanilla slices from the same bakery. Five patients were admitted to hospital, and one developed unusual skin lesions after admission. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in large numbers from vanilla slices of the same batch as those giving rise to symptoms, and from five faecal specimens obtained from affected persons. Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis were also isolated from the slices. Unbaked custard provides an ideal environment for bacterial multiplication, especially when (as on this occasion) the ambient temperature is persistently high.

Xerographic applications in neuroradiology. A comparison with conventional film imaging.

The capacity of electrostatic imaging for edge enhancement and wide latitude recording can improve visualization in neuroradiologic studies using low differential absorption contrast agents. Gas myelography and pneumoencephalography show the most satisfactory improvement in visualization. Tomography combined with xerography enhances definition further, but with gas myelography, especially in the thoracic region, plain xeroradiographic definition is frequently diagnostic.