[Paleopathology of deafness: skulls of the Dupuytren Museum]. / Paléopathologie de la surdité: inédits ostéo-archéologiques.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Dupuytren Museum was indispensable for the knowledge of pathological anatomy for physicians and surgeons. Nowadays, it is more a museum than a learning unit, but it provides an opportunity to understand through numerous scientific studies the origin of diseases, injuries mechanism and the functional consequences of which could suffer some patients. This study illustrates the interest of the study on pieces in pathological anatomy's museums, this time across selected skulls which belonged to hearing loss people. bizarre.

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in developing countries.

Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP) is a serious fungal infection among immunocompromised patients. In developed countries, the epidemiology and clinical spectrum of PcP have been clearly defined and well documented. However, in most developing countries, relatively little is known about the prevalence of pneumocystosis. Several articles covering African, Asian and American countries were reviewed in the present study. PcP was identified as a frequent opportunistic infection in AIDS patients from different geographic regions. A trend to an increasing rate of PcP was apparent in developing countries from 2002 to 2010.

Tei index to assess fetal cardiac performance in fetuses at risk for fetal inflammatory response syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: To examine, in patients with premature rupture of the amniotic membranes (PROM) at < 34 weeks of gestation, the relationship between fetal myocardial performance measured by the Tei index and fetal inflammatory response syndrome (FIRS). METHODS: A case-control study was conducted including 15 preterm PROM patients with gestational age between 24 and 33 weeks admitted to Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, and 15 controls with the same gestational age range. Fetal echocardiography with Doppler was performed at admission for the preterm PROM group, with serial examinations every 7-10 days thereafter until delivery, and at the time of inclusion in the control group. Flow velocity waveforms were obtained for the left ventricle, from which the Tei index was calculated. Placental histopathology and perinatal outcome were compared between the groups. RESULTS: The left ventricular Tei index was significantly greater in fetuses with preterm PROM compared with controls (0.63 +/- 0.13 vs. 0.51 +/- 0.10, P = 0.007). While there was no difference in isovolumetric times, the left ventricular ejection time was significantly shorter in the preterm PROM group (164 +/- 17 ms vs. 184 +/- 16 ms, P = 0.003). In the preterm PROM group, neonatal sepsis was diagnosed in 73.3%, and funisitis and chorionic vasculitis confirmed FIRS in 53.3%, compared with 6.7% for these three diagnoses in controls (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These data provide further evidence that cardiac dysfunction is present in the setting of preterm PROM. The study of myocardial performance with the Tei index is a novel non-invasive approach to assess cardiac function and monitor the fetus affected with FIRS.

Postcoital treatment with levonorgestrel does not disrupt postfertilization events in the rat.

Levonorgestrel (LNG), a progestin widely used for regular hormonal contraception, is also used for emergency contraception (EC) to prevent pregnancy after unprotected intercourse. However, its mode of action in EC is only partially understood. One unresolved question is whether or not EC prevents pregnancy by interfering with postfertilization events. Here, we report the effects of acute treatment with LNG upon ovulation, fertilization and implantation in the rat. LNG inhibited ovulation totally or partially, depending on the timing of treatment and/or total dose administered, whereas it had no effect on fertilization or implantation when it was administered shortly before or after mating, or before implantation. It is concluded that acute postcoital administration of LNG at doses several-fold higher than those used for EC in women, which are able to inhibit ovulation, had no postfertilization effect that impairs fertility in the rat.