Methotrexate osteopathy in long-term, low-dose methotrexate treatment for psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVES: Herein we describe an additional case of myelolipoma of the adrenal gland, an uncommon tumor of the adrenal cortex, that had been incidentally discovered during abdominal US evaluation of the biliary tree. The clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of the condition are discussed. METHODS: Surgical treatment of the biliary tree and myelolipoma was performed through a Chevron transversal incision during the same surgical session. RESULTS: Surgery achieved good results and the postoperative course was unremarkable. CONCLUSIONS: Myelolipoma is a benign nonfunctioning tumor of the adrenal cortex comprised of adipose and hematopoietic tissue. It is usually asymptomatic and incidentally discovered during diagnostic evaluation for other pathologies. The diagnosis is made by US, CT and MRI. There is no agreement on whether surgical treatment is warranted.     

X-ray imaging using amorphous selenium: determination of Swank factor by pulse height spectroscopy

The use of photoconductors, especially amorphous selenium (a-Se), in x-ray imaging is currently of interest. A critical performance parameter of an imaging detector is the Swank factor for degradation of the signal to noise ratio, or DQE(0), due to variations in the detector response. The Swank factor is evaluated from measured pulse height spectra generated by the absorption of monoenergetic x-ray photons. The spectra show an additional width over previous theoretical expectations, but the Swank factor is still close to the high values previously predicted theoretically.     

An investigation into the relationships between area social characteristics and road accident casualties

This paper reports on the analysis of a data base created by merging road casualty information and census data for the former Lothian region in Scotland. The data base was established by assigning resident postcodes to each casualty record and relating these postcodes to the census data for the relevant census output area. Initially, consideration was given to the relationship between casualty frequencies and the distance of the accidents from the zones of residence. As might be anticipated, the casualty frequencies were higher nearer to the zones of residence, possibly due to higher exposure. Subsequently, the relationships between casualty rates and social deprivation indicators for the casualties' zone of residence were investigated. In general it was found that the casualty rates amongst residents from areas classified as relatively deprived were significantly higher than those from relatively affluent areas.     

Prospective study of human herpesvirus 6, human herpesvirus 7, and cytomegalovirus infections in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients

Blood samples from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients were monitored for cytomegalovirus (CMV), human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), and HHV-7 by PCR. We detected CMV in 17% of the patients, HHV-6 in 6%, and HHV-7 in 3%. The viral loads of CMV were significantly higher than those of HHV-6 (P = 0.007) or HHV-7 (P = 0.01). Detection of CMV and HHV-6 was associated with low and high CD4 counts, respectively.