ABSTRACT
The embryonal sarcoma of the liver is an extremely malignant, aggressive and infrequent condition of the liver, predominantly affecting children in the age groups of four to ten. The disease manifests with fever, abdominal pain or mass, nausea and laboratory findings suggestive of liver cell injury. The diagnosis can be made using tumor markers, imaging, immunohistochemistry and histopathology. The multimodal management protocol focuses the use of surgical resection, chemotherapy and radiation to significantly improved survival rates and quality of life in these patients
ABSTRACT
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a chronic debilitating condition that occurs in children affected with measles. SSPE is broadly distinguished as typical SSPE, the more rampant form, occurring over a period of years following primary measles infection, while the atypical has a more rapidly progressive course over weeks to months. SSPE can present with cognitive, epileptic, autonomic, pyramidal and ophthalmologic manifestations with scholastic decline being the primary feature. The management of SSPE focuses on improvement of quality of life and prolongation of survival which can be achieved with the use of supportive care modalities and immunomodulators respectively. This is a comprehensive review which discusses several parameters of SSPE such as epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentations, and detailed management protocol for this condition. As part of this review, we also discuss a case of rapidly progressive, fulminant and atypical SSPE in a five-year-old male presenting clinically with myoclonic jerks of lower extremities.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Presently, in vitro and in vivo screening of anti-tubercular drugs is a time-consuming exercise. Therefore, it is important to develop faster methods. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Towards this end, conventional plating and radiometric BACTEC methods of anti-tubercular screening were compared to determine the efficacy of anti-tubercular drugs (isoniazid and rifampicin) and morphine in Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv-infected mice and macrophages. RESULTS: A linear correlation (R2 = 0.95) was observed between number of colony forming units (CFUs) and growth index (GI) values. BACTEC method was found to be faster and sensitive as compared to plating method. Further, BACTEC method, being a closed system, appeared to be less susceptible to microbial contamination and poses less biohazard. CONCLUSION: We conclude that BACTEC method can be employed for easy, precise, and rapid screening of anti-tubercular compounds and morphine in mice and macrophage models.
Subject(s)
Animals , Antibiotics, Antitubercular/pharmacology , Bacteriological Techniques , Cells, Cultured , Colony Count, Microbial , Female , Humans , Isoniazid/pharmacology , Lung/microbiology , Macrophages/drug effects , Male , Mice , Microbial Sensitivity Tests/methods , Morphine/pharmacology , Mycobacterium tuberculosis/drug effects , Narcotics/pharmacology , Radiometry , Rifampin/pharmacology , Spleen/microbiologyABSTRACT
We report the case of a patient who needed mitral valve replacement but was at a high risk of myocardial injury with the conventional technique (cardioplegic arrest on cardiopulmonary bypass). Valve replacement was carried out on a beating heart on cardiopulmonary bypass by perfusing the heart continuously with oxygenated noncardioplegic normothermic blood via the coronary sinus.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Female , Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation/methods , Humans , Mitral Valve/surgery , Mitral Valve Insufficiency/surgeryABSTRACT
The case report describes a difficult and not uncommon situation of a patient suffering from an evolving myocardial infarction with hemodynamic instability along with a critical bilateral extracranial carotid artery stenosis. A technique of retrograde coronary sinus perfusion was used to temporarily stabilize the cardiac status while the carotid lesion was being tackled.