[Successful microsurgical resection of a large brainstem abscess: case report and literature review]. / Uspeshnoe mikrokhirurgicheskoe udalenie abstsessa stvola golovnogo mozga: sluchai iz praktiki i obzor literatury.

OBJECTIVE: To present a patient with brainstem abscess treated by microsurgical resection. CASE PRESENTATION: A 53-years-old female patient admitted to the neurosurgical department in a severe condition with symptoms of intracranial hypertension, hyperthermia, general infectious signs and laboratory manifestations of infectious process. Contrast-enhanced MRI revealed a large brainstem lesion (abscess). Retrosigmoid craniotomy with total microsurgical resection of the abscess was performed. External ventricular drainage was incerted on the second postoperative day due to progressive hydrocephalus with clinical deterioration, it was removed in 8 days. Slow positive dynamics was observed in postoperative period. The patient was discharged in 2 weeks after surgery. CONCLUSION: There are no established algorithm for the treatment of brainstem abscesses. Therapeutic approach is advisable for small abscesses. There are 2 neurosurgical options for this lesion: stereotactic drainage and microsurgical resection with or without external ventricular drainage. Treatment strategy depends on location and size of abscess, as well as clinical state of the patient.

[Effectiveness of lamivudine in the treatment of chronic HBeAg-negative viral hepatitis B: results of continuous therapy for 18 months]. / Effektivnost' lamivudina v lechenii HBeAg-negativnogo khronicheskogo virusnogo gepatita B: rezul'taty nepreryvnoi terapii v techenie 18 mes.

The efficacy of monotherapy with one of the analogues of synthetic nucleosides (lamivudine) was studied in 22 patients with chronic viral hepatitis B (CVHB). The specific feature of the selected group was that there was no serum HBeAg, which is usually regarded as a sign of viral mutation. The time course of changes in the activity of blood and hepatic inflammatory processes and viral replication were studied at equal intervals. There was a direct correlation between the suppression of viral replication and the regression of activity indices, such as ALT, serological markers, DNA of viral hepatitis B, and the morphological constituents of the Knodell index) during lamivudine therapy. However, there were no substantial changes in the parameters of fibrosis throughout the treatment. Therapy resistance was revealed in 3 of the 22 patients with CVHV. Its basis was the mutation of hepatitis B virus in the YMDD-motive, which was detected in 2 of the 3 patients.

[Changes in the thyroid gland in Itsenko-Cushing's disease and corticosteroma]. / Izmeneniia shchitovidnoi zhelezy pri bolezni Itsenko-Kushinga i kortikosterome.

Histological and ultrastructural examinations and stereological analysis of the thyroid gland of 16 patients with Itsenko--Cushing disease and corticosteroma with glucocorticoid hyperproduction showed signs of a decrease in its functional activity. An increase in the colloid mass in follicles was accompanied by its irregular staining, flattening of the epithelium, lipomatosis of the stroma and ultrastructural signs of low activity of thyreocytes. The assumption of a spherical shape of the follicles was shown to be unjustified. The accurate quantitative evaluation of the structural changes in the thyroid gland requires information on the spacial organization of its components and shape of individual follicles.