Carotid artery disease development after traumatic injury inflicted by a Ram's Horn.

A 36-year-old man presented for treatment of headache, paresthesis, and weakness of his right arm and leg. Examination revealed an atherosclerotic plaque in the left common carotid artery, lying to the left internal carotid artery and resulting in 99% stenosis. The plaque was removed successfully by carotid endarterectomy. Pathological examination of the tissue confirmed the diagnosis of an atherosclerotic plaque. Detailed investigation of risk factors led to the conclusion that the stenosis of the carotid artery was due to blunt trauma caused by an injury that had occurred 30 years previously when the patient was gored by a ram's horn.

Effect of ticlopidine in the prevention of radiation enteropathy.

Impairment of vascular function is considered to play an important role in chronic radiation enteropathy. In this experimental study, the role of ticlopidine, an inhibitor of ADP-induced platelet aggregation, was investigated in radiation enteropathy. 80 male Wistar albino rats, each weighing 170-200 g, were divided into four groups: (a) radiation alone (n = 20); (b) radiotherapy plus ticlopidine (n = 20); (c) ticlopidine control (n = 20) and (d) control (n = 20). Both radiation groups received 19 Gy radiation to the exteriorized intestinal segments in a single fraction. Ticlopidine or vehicle was administered 12 h after radiotherapy and continued for 1 month. Rats from every group were euthanized randomly at intervals of 6 weeks from 2 weeks to 26 weeks. Histopathological radiation injury was assessed using radiation injury scoring (RIS). Radiation with ticlopidine or radiation alone groups showed significant RIS deterioration compared with controls in all time points studied. Comparison of median RIS of radiotherapy and radiotherapy+ticlopidine groups at the 2nd, 14th and 26th weeks yielded statistically significant RIS in favour of radiotherapy+ticlopidine group (p = 0.05). However, these differences were less pronounced at the 8th and 20th week (p = 0.07). Both radiation groups had poor weight gain when compared with control and ticlopidine groups. The weight gain in radiotherapy+ticlopidine group was significantly superior to only radiation group between 10th and 20th weeks (p = 0.05). This study showed that inhibition of platelet aggregation with ticlopidine might be useful in radiation enteropathy. However, the precise role of antiaggregant therapies on radiation enteropathy should be comprehensively studied before clinical consideration.

Radiation-induced malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the neck in a patient with laryngeal carcinoma.

Fibrohistiocytomas are soft tissue tumors of histiocytic origin that have a variety of histological patterns. Although cases of malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) of the head and neck have been reported with increasing frequency in recent years, they are considered rare. We report a case of the giant cell variant of MFH of the neck in which the patient had been given radiotherapy for T1 glottic cancer. Prognosis of MFH, the use of radiation as primary treatment, and its role in the development of secondary primary tumors in the head and neck region are reviewed. [Editorial comment: The authors stress the important relationship between prior radiation therapy and the induction of new tumors.]

Necrotizing fasciitis secondary to peritonsillar abscess: a new case and review of eight earlier cases.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a potentially fatal soft-tissue infection that occurs only rarely in the head and neck region. Broad-spectrum parenteral antibiotics and surgical debridement are the mainstays of treatment. Until now, only eight cases of necrotizing fasciitis secondary to peritonsillar abscess have been described in the English-language literature. In this article, we report a new case that occurred in an otherwise healthy 43-year-old woman. In addition to standard treatment, the patient underwent a hot tonsillectomy. After 23 months of follow-up, she is in good health.

A comparative study of azithromycin and pseudoephedrine hydrochloride for otitis media with effusion in children.

We compared the outcomes of two different regimens--azithromycin and pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (PHCl)--for the treatment of otitis media with effusion (OME) in children. In a double-blind randomized clinical study, a total of 90 children aged between 2 and 13 years with persistent OME were randomly assigned to one of 3 treatment groups. The first group received azithromycin at a dose of 10 mg/kg once daily for 3 days and this regimen was repeated weekly for up to 12 weeks according to the results of tympanometry and pneumatic otoscopy. The second group received azithromycin at a dose of 10 mg/kg once daily for 3 days for the first week, and this regimen was repeated for 1 day a week for the following 11 weeks. The third group received PHCl, 4 mg/kg, 3 times daily for up to 12 weeks. Each patient underwent pneumatic otoscopic and tympanometric investigations at baseline and at Weeks 4, 8 and 12. The outcomes in the azithromycin-treated groups were superior to that in the decongestant group. However, the difference between the outcomes in the azithromycin groups according to the treatment protocol was not statistically significant. Azithromycin therapy, particularly a once-weekly regimen, helps patients to comply with treatment and also helps us to achieve good results with minimal therapy.