[Peripartum cardiomyopathy with biventricular failure plus pulmonary thromboembolism and atrial septal defect]. / Miocardiopatía periparto con fallo biventricular más tromboembolismo pulmonar y comunicación interauricular.

This case report examines peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM), a rare variant of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, which manifests at the end of labor or puerperium. The frequency of this pathology varies globally, and its association with risk factors such as genetic disorders, autoimmune diseases, viral infections, suggests a multifactorial etiology. Diagnostic criteria include: Heart failure secondary to left ventricular systolic dysfunction, manifested in the puerperium or at the end of pregnancy and lack of other identifiable causes of heart failure. The case presents a patient with no significant personal pathological history, who, 17 days post cesarean section developed acute symptoms, including abdominal pain, dry cough and dyspnea. Clinical findings revealed hypoxemia, alterations in blood tests and an echocardiogram that confirmed an atrial septal defect. Multidisciplinary management resulted in successful treatment and the patient was discharged without complications. This case highlights the importance of MCPP, a disease with high maternal mortality. The connection between atrial septal defect and PPCM, as well as the involvement of pulmonary thromboembolism.

[Primary Kaposi's sarcoma of the penis in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome]. / Sarcoma de Kaposi primario de pene en un paciente con síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida.

Presentation of one case of a 40 year-old, homosexual, AIDS diagnosed male with extrapulmonary tuberculosis (lymphatic nodes) and prior history of gonococcal urethritis, brain toxoplasmosis, molluscum contagiosum and pneumonia by Pneumocystis carinii. A purpura-type lesion with inflammatory features appeared in the foreskin which was diagnosed as primary Kaposi's sarcoma of the penis. The article explains the clinical signs and symptoms, laboratory data, histological findings, and it reviews the literature.

Liver growth factor purified from human plasma is an albumin-bilirubin complex.

We have reported that a liver growth factor isolated from plasma of partially hepatectomized rats is an albumin-bilirubin complex. In this paper, we characterize the liver growth factor purified from subjects with hepatitis (h-LGF). This factor increases synthesis of DNA in a dose-dependent manner both in vivo in mouse hepatocytes, with a dose of maximal stimulation of 150 ng of h-LGF/mouse, and in vitro in rat liver cell culture, with maximal effect at 7.5 to 10 ng of h-LGF/ml. In vivo, h-LGF increases the mitotic index of mouse hepatocytes, its action being organ-specific, acting on liver, but not on spleen, kidney, lung or brain. In vitro, h-LGF stimulates the uptake of 22Na+ by hepatocytes. In addition, we carried out a study comparing it with human serum albumin in terms of absorbance, fluorescence, circular dichroism spectra, amino acid composition, tryptic maps and antigenic determinants (Ouchterlony immunodiffusion). All these tests suggested that human serum albumin is a constituent of h-LGF. Moreover, when albumin isolated from humans without hepatic pathology is incubated with bilirubin, the albumin-bilirubin complex formed mimics the activity of the human liver growth factor with respect to stimulation of DNA synthesis and the effects on the mitotic index of mouse hepatocytes in vivo. We propose that this human liver growth factor is an albumin-bilirubin complex.