Comparison of central and intraesophageal factors between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) patients and those with GERD-related noncardiac chest pain.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) causes a wide range of symptoms. Some patients present with typical symptoms such as heartburn and regurgitation and others with atypical symptoms such as chest pain. The mechanism responsible for the varying clinical presentation of GERD is still not fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate differences in central and local intraesophageal factors between patients with typical GERD symptoms and those with noncardiac chest pain (NCCP). Patients presenting with typical and atypical symptoms suspicious of GERD underwent upper endoscopy and 24-hour pH monitoring with four sensors, each positioned at a different esophageal level. All patients completed GERD symptom, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Symptom Stress Rating questionnaires. From January 2006 to December 2009, 50 patients were recruited, 29 with typical symptoms, and 21 with NCCP. Patients with proven GERD and NCCP had higher proximal extension of acid during reflux episodes than patients with typical symptoms. They were found to be older, had a shorter history of symptom onset, worse anxiety scores, and more endoscopic findings compatible with gastritis. Proximal extension of acid during the reflux episodes in patients with GERD presenting with NCCP may play a role in symptom generation.

A highly unusual right atrial mass presented in two women.

Intravenous leiomyomatosis is a rare, benign neoplasm of the uterine, affecting adult women. We report two cases in whom intravenous leiomyomatosis extended through the inferior vena cava into the right heart chambers and the pulmonary artery. Both patients underwent staged operation with excision of the cardiac and primary tumour. The differential diagnosis of a right atrial mass in middle-aged women should include intravenous leiomyomatosis.

Experimental septic arthritis in rabbits treated by a combination of antibiotic and steroid drugs.

OBJECTIVES: Intraarticular steroid injection is traditionally contraindicated during acute septic arthritis. However, there is abundant evidence which proves that the damage to the joint is not only due to the direct effect of bacteria, but also to the local protective mechanisms evoked by the organism. There is, therefore, theoretical justification for a combined therapy of systemic antibiotics and intraarticular corticostertoids in septic arthritis. METHODS: Experimental arthritis was induced by the intraarticular injection of Staphylococcus epidermidis in rabbits. The experimental scheme included three groups of animals: animals that were infected but not treated (group 1); animals treated with systemic antibiotics (group 2); and animals treated with systemic antibiotics and intraarticular steroids (group 3). Nine days later the animals were sacrificed and joint histopathological-histochemical indices were calculated. RESULTS: Animals from groups 2 and 3 had a smaller pannus, reduced proteoglycan loss, no loss of cartilage height and diminished synovial inflammation in comparison to the animals from group 1. The animals from groups 2 and 3 were identical in terms of cartilage cellularity, surface erosion, chondrocyte cloning, pannus formation and proteoglycan loss. Synovial inflammation appeared to be less pronounced in group 3 animals when compared to animals of group 2. CONCLUSION: Concomitant antibiotic-steroid treatment of septic arthritis seems to be harmless in this experimental setting.

Effects of adrenaline, calcium, and ouabain on the resting potential of frog muscle: interpretation based on the theory of allosteric control of cooperative interactions among surface anionic sites.

The surface adsorption theory of the cellular electric potential, a subsidiary of the association-induction hypothesis, can offer quantitative interpretations of the equilibrium resting potential of frog muscle in the presence of a constant concentration (100 mM) of external Na+ and varying external K+ (ranging from 0.1 mM to 100 mM) both in the absence and in the presence of cardinal adsorbents (ouabain, adrenaline, or Ca++). The theory can also quantitatively describe experimental data published by other laboratories from the studies of various cell types in the presence of these and other cardinal adsorbents, including some well known data which, up to now, have been regarded as specific evidence in support of the electrogenic pump theory.

[Improved method for the quantitative determination of lipid hydroperoxides and the change in their content in the tissues on exposure of the body to a high external temperature]. / Usovershenstvovannyi metod kolichestvennogo opredeleniia gidroperekisei lipidov, izmenenie ikh soderzhaniia v tkaniakh pri vozdeistvii na organizm vysokoi vneshnei temperatury.

A new procedure is developed for amperometric registration of the equivalence point in iodometric assay of lipid hydroperoxides. The procedure increased accuracy of the analysis. Content of lipid hydroperoxides was calculated by means of a new equation. Concentration of lipid hydroperoxides was studied using the new method both in tissues and blood of intact animals and in those of animals, which were subjected to the effect of high external temperature.