Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography: a recent application for the diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma has a decisive influence on the prognosis of cirrhotic patients, and the use of imaging modalities is essential for the screening, diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. Ultrasound plays a major role among them, because it provides real-time and non-invasive observation by a simple and easy technique. In addition, ultrasound-guided needle puncture methods are frequently required for the diagnosis and/or treatment process of hepatocellular carcinoma. The development of digital technology has led to the detectability of blood flow by color Doppler ultrasound, and the sensitivity for tumor vascularity has shown remarkable improvement with the introduction of microbubble contrast agents. Moreover, near real-time three-dimensional ultrasound images are now available. These advancements in the ultrasound field have led to rapid progress in hepatocellular carcinoma management, and continuing advances are expected. This article reviews the current application of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for hepatocellular carcinoma in clinical practice.

Antibody to human T-lymphotropic virus in a patient with Guillain-Barre syndrome: case report

Amostra de soro obtida de paciente com a sindrome de Guillain-Barre revelou-se positiva quanto a presenca de anticorpos para o virus linfotropico humano T (HTLV-I) pelo metodo imuno-enzimatico (ELISA) e a analise por "Western-Blot". Resultaram negativos os testes visando a deteccao de enterovirus (incluindo poliovirus) a partir de material fecal, tanto em cultura de tecidos como em camundongos recem-nascidos; exames com amostras de soro aguda e convalescente nao exibiram qualquer evidencia de infeccao recente pelos tres tipos de poliovirus. O teste de Paul-Bunnel, assim como o "ELISA" para a deteccao de IgM anti-citomegalovirus resultaram negativos. Nao foi registrada, no presente caso, quer a leucemia adulta de celulas T, quer linfomas.

Prevalence of human T cell leukemia virus-I (HTLV-I) antibody among populations living in the Amazon region of Brazil (preliminary report)

Forty-tree (31.4%) out of 137 serum samples obtained from two Indian communities living in the Amazon region were found to be positive for HTLV-I antibody, as tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa). Eighty-two sera were collected from Mekranoiti Indians, yielding 39% of positivity, whereas 11 (20.0%) or the 55 Tiriyo serum samples had antibody to HTLV-I. In addition, positive results occurred in 10 (23.2%) out of 43 sera obtained from patients living in the Belem area, who were suffering from cancer affecting different organs. Five (16.7%) out of 30 Elisa positive specimens were also shown to be positive by either Western blot analysis (WB) or indirect immunogold electron microscopy (IIG-EM)