[Mucocele of the frontal sinus simulating metastasis of follicular thyroid carcinoma in an 131I scan]. / Mucocele del seno frontal simulando metástasis de carcinoma folicular de tiroides en un rastreo con 131I.

The 131I scan is the preferred test in the follow-up of differentiated thyroid cancer patients although the many unusual circumstances of radioiodine uptake that can provide false positive results must be identified. We present the case of a woman who had undergone a thyroidectomy and was being treated for follicular carcinoma with an ablative dose os radioiodine whose pre- and post-treatment scans only revealed post-surgical residual thyroid tissues. A total body scan with 131I performed at one year demonstrated the success of the ablation. However, a left supra-orbital pathological deposit was observed during a subsequent routine 131I scan. The thyroglobulin serum level was below the sensitivity level for the assay (< 1 ng/ml) and the serum antibodies against thyroglobulin were not detected. A simple x-ray and bone scintigraphy were inconclusive. The CT and MRI revealed the presence of a mucocele in the left frontal sinus which was confirmed through histological examination. The possibility of a false positive results in an 131I scan must always be kept in mind, especially in the presence of atypical uptakes and undetectable thyroglobulin serum levels. As far as we know, only one similar case has been published previously.

Free cholesterol deposition in the cornea of human apolipoprotein A-II transgenic mice with functional lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase deficiency.

We have developed several lines of transgenic animals that overexpress different levels of human apolipoprotein A-II (apoA-II). The 11.1 transgenic line has human apoA-II in plasma at threefold the level in normolipidemic humans and a functional lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) deficiency. The latter is a biochemical phenotype similar to that of fish-eye disease (FED), which is characterized by free cholesterol (FC) and phospholipid accumulation in the cornea, leading to opacity and impaired vision. To assess whether the metabolic alterations in these mice also lead to lipid accumulation in the cornea, we fed them on a long-term regular chow or high-fat/high-cholesterol (HF/HC) diet. The 11.1 transgenic mice showed a moderate accumulation of FC in the cornea, but only when fed the regular chow diet. This FC accumulation was less severe than the accumulation described in FED, which may explain the lack of corneal opacity in these mice. Electron microscopy and immunoblotting analysis of the cornea of 11.1 transgenic mice in comparison to control mice showed (1) a mild but nevertheless more intense intracytoplasmatic lipid particle deposition in the epithelial cells and (2) a decrease of immunoreactive apoA-I in the area of Bowman's layer and at the superficial stroma. The serum capacity to cause cholesterol efflux from rat fibroblasts was decreased in 11.1 transgenic mice, but only in those fed a regular chow diet. We conclude that 11.1 human apoA-II transgenic mice may be a useful model for studies of early lipid deposition in the cornea and its possible prevention.

[Evaluation of metabolic control in a summer camp for diabetic children (Villarcayo 1991)]. / Evaluación del control metabólico en una colonia de niños diabéticos (Villarcayo 1991).

The relevance of the diabetological education in the treatment of diabetis mellitus must be a prioritary goal in order to reach a proper metabolic control and to avoid as much as possible both acute metabolic complications and long-term vascular and neurological complications, achieving thus a total integration of the diabetic patient in the society. We have monitored during 15 days a group of diabetic children with IDDM in a summer camp, assessing in all of them several clinical and biochemical parameters. The results have been statistically analyzed using the Student's test. After the stay in the summer camp, we observed a significant reduction in the total dose of insulin (p < 0.001) and in the number of hypoglycemias (p < 0.001) and an increase in the average levels of capillary glycemia at the end of the study period when compared with the beginning, with p < 0.001 (breakfast preprandial), p < 0.05 (lunch preprandial) and p < 0.01 (dinner and night preprandial). We did not observe any significant differences in the other parameters studied. In inclusion, the stay in the summer camp of this group had a positive effect, achieving a better metabolic control with lower doses of insulin.