Giant Vascular Hamartoma of the Tongue

We present one of the largest lingual hamartomas of the tongue base to have been reported, along with a review of the current literature and a description of the management of this case, as well as insights into the histopathology of the lesion. A 21-year-old woman presented with a mass on the base of her tongue, extending to the vallecula. The mass was found to be over 4 cm and enhancing on computed tomography. The size, vascularity, and site of the lesion merited its excision using the suprahyoid pharyngotomy approach. Histopathology confirmed the mass to be a vascular hamartoma. In reviewing the literature, we encountered 61 reported cases of lingual hamartomas, which are described with a number of pathological variants and sites of occurrence and with different methods of surgical excision. The size, vascularity, and site of the lesion we found merited a different approach from the conventional transoral approach that was used in all of the previous reports. Also, our study agrees with current world literature that histopathological examination plays an important role in the final diagnosis.

Attenuation of ischemia reperfusion-induced myocardial injuries by aqueous Embelia ribes Burm. extract in albino rats

The present study was designed to evaluate the cardioprotective potential of aqueous Embelia ribes Burm extract on left anterior descending coronary artery ligation [LAD]-induced myocardial infarction in albino rats. Vehicle [1% Tween 80 in distilled water] or aqueous E. ribes extract [100 and 200 mg/kg] was administered for 7 days [pre-treatment]. In the vehicle-treated group, ischemic-reperfusion injury [IRI] was evidenced by depression of haemodynamic function [heart rate], raised levels of serum lactate dehydrogenase [LDH] and myocardial thiobarbituric acid reactive substances [TBARS] levels and depletion of myocardial endogenous antioxidants [glutathione [GSH], glutathione peroxidase [GPx], glutathione reductase [GR] and glutathione-S-transferase [GST]] and Na-K-ATPase levels, as compared to sham rats. Pre-treatment with aqueous E. ribes extract resulted in restoration of the altered hemodynamic parameters, myocardial antioxidant status and Na-K-ATPase activity as compared to ischemia reperfusion [IR] group. Further, IR-induced increased LDH and TBARS levels were significantly decreased by E. ribes extract treatment. The beneficial cardioprotective effects also translated into functional recovery of the heart. Cardioprotective effect of aqueous E. ribes extract likely results from the suppression of oxidative stress and correlates with the improved hemodynamic function and decreased Na-K-ATPase activity