Effect of mild aerobic training on the myocardium of mice with chronic Chagas disease

Background: Chronic chagasic heart disease represents extensive remodeling of the cardiovascular system, manifested as cardiac denervation, interstitial mononuclear infiltrate, myocyte and vascular degenerative changes, fibrosis, and hypertrophy. Moreover, aerobic exercises are widely indicated for the treatment of various disorders of the cardiovascular system.Purpose: To evaluate the right and left ventricles of BALB/c mice with chronic Chagas disease, undergoing mild exercise, by using morphometric and stereological methods.Materials and methods: A total of 20 male mice at 4 months of age were used for experiments. The animals were divided into four groups (n=5 in each group): untrained control, trained control, untrained infected (UI), and trained infected (TI). Animals of UI and TI groups were inoculated with 1,000 trypomastigote forms of Trypanosoma cruzi (Y strain), and after 40 days, animals entered chronic phase of the disease. Physical exercise, which included swimming, was performed for 30 minutes daily, five times a week for 8 consecutive weeks at a bath temperature of 30°C. After the trial period, euthanasia and subsequent withdrawal of the heart were done...

Fibrous pseudotumor of tunica vaginalis and epididymis.

Paratesticular fibrous pseudotumors are rare, and less than 10% of them affect the epididymis. We report a case of testicular trauma that progressed to a painless palpable tumor in the right hemiscrotum with increased local volume. Orchiectomy followed by anatomic-pathologic examination revealed a paratesticular fibrous pseudotumor. The best treatment is scrotal exploration and frozen biopsy. On confirmation of the diagnosis, only the tumor and the tunica vaginalis are resected. Should the benign nature not be possible to determine, orchiectomy is the procedure of choice. We also reviewed published reports for this possibility in the differential diagnosis of testicular masses.