RESUMO
Systemic sclerosis is a chronic, progressive disease with an extremely poor prognosis. The incidence of malignant tumors in patients with systemic sclerosis is increased when compared with that of the general population. In certain malignancies, systemic sclerosis presents as a paraneoplastic process. The symptoms of sclerosis in the organs of the head and neck often overlap with symptoms of malignant diseases, which may increase the difficulty of a differential diagnosis. Additionally, the presence of sclerosis may complicate standard examination procedures, due to poor access to the oral cavity and oropharynx. When considering treatment options, it is important to evaluate the surgical and oncological risks to soft tissues of the head and neck with regard to both diseases, as well as the relatively poor prognosis for systemic sclerosis and oropharyngeal cancer. The low incidence of patients with systemic sclerosis and oropharyngeal carcinoma together presents a clear case for a casuistic approach. Based upon our own experience, we can attest to the difficulty of treating such patients. However, we have no evidence to indicate that these patients have reduced tolerance to surgical treatments. The current study presents the case of a 47-year-old female with systemic sclerosis, who was diagnosed with oropharyngeal carcinoma. The patient initially tolerated radiotherapy treatment well, however post-radiotherapy complications occurred. Despite many enigmatic indications to the contrary, it appears that the complications in this instance may be due to late toxicity from radiotherapy.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Borrelial specific DNA was examined in a group of 62 patients with different forms of Lyme borreliosis (LB) (32 patients suffered from neuroborreliosis, 19 manifested erythema migrans, and 11 joint involvement). METHODS: Nested-PCR system with five newly derived primers was used in parallel. The study was organized prospectively, the presence of DNA was tested for plasma, CSF, joint fluid and urine before treatment, and plasma, joint fluid and urine were examined after treatment. RESULTS: Before therapy, 36 patients (58.1%) were DNA positive on the whole; 21 positive patients (65.6%) were found in the group of neuroborreliosis, 8 (42.1%) showed signs of skin involvement, and 7 (63.6%) were positive in arthritis. After treatment, 11 patients (36.7%) were positive in neuroborreliosis, 3 (17.6%) in skin form, and 6 (54.5%) in joint form of LB. Among 97 positive amplifications the most frequent target was found in primer corresponding with 16S rDNA (50 samples, 51.5%). Lower but very similar results were obtained with primers for OspA (18 positive amplifications; 18.6%), OspC (13 positive amplifications; 13.4%), and flagellin (13 positive amplifications; 13.4%). There were 11 patients in whom only DNA and no specific antibodies were found. CONCLUSIONS: Specific DNA was found in all clinical groups of LB with similar sensitivity. Examination of the borrelial DNA in urine displayed the same sensitivity as in CSF and had a two times higher sensitivity than in plasma.
