Reversible ophthalmoplegia in CPEO

A 4-year-old girl was seen in our department for erythroderma, palmoplantar hyperkeratosis, and scalp desquamation present since birth. The dermatosis had run an intermittent course, with exacerbations after infections and spontaneous remissions. A specimen from a skin biopsy performed at 1 year of age showed the characteristic features of psoriasis, findings that were confirmed in our biopsy specimen. Treatment with acitretin controlled the outbreaks. At 7 years of age she has developed, for the first time, plaque type psoriasis. Congenital erythroderma is an unusual form of psoriasis with a wide differential diagnosis.     

Musculoskeletal pain syndromes that affect adolescents

Musculoskeletal pain is one of the most common pains of adolescence, along with headache and abdominal pain, and arthralgia is the single most common reason for referral to the pediatric rheumatologist. Not surprisingly, the pediatric rheumatologist is frequently called to distinguish organic from functional symptoms. During the past decade, the pediatric rheumatology community has been evaluating increasing numbers of adolescents and preadolescents who experience musculoskeletal symptoms presumably as a defense against emotional stress from achievement either in academic work or in sports. To complicate the challenge further, coexistent organic and psychologic disturbance is not rare. Clearly, organic illness does not protect a patient from emotional plan, and it may be most difficult to differentiate nonorganic pain in a patient with a known organic illness. Conversely, adolescents with organic illness may use their disease for secondary gain. Fear of misdiagnosis of physical illness as psychiatric and the notion that all of the patient's complaints should be explained by a unifying diagnosis cause diagnostic error in both psychogenic illness with physical manifestations and physical illness with psychogenic symptoms.     

Migration of bullet in the spinal canal: a case report

As the spinal canal expands at T10 level naturally, it has been thought that the migration of a bullet within the spinal canal above this level is prevented and the migration of a bullet may only occur between T10 and S1 level. Here, a very rare case of a bullet traversing the length of the spinal canal is reported.     

Succession of mutations in the Sabin strain of type 3 poliovirus replicating in the central nervous system of monkeys

Pentachlorophenol (PCP), which has been used as a wood preservative, was reported to be a liver carcinogen in mice. To investigate the initial effects of PCP administration under the same conditions of exposure as in the carcinogenic study, we examined oxidative stress and cell proliferation, along with other hepatotoxicological parameters, in the livers of B6C3F1 mice fed PCP in their diet at doses of 0.03, 0.06, and 0.12% for up to 4 weeks. We observed significant increases of 8-OHdG levels in hepatic nuclear DNA at doses of 0.03% and above at 2 and 4 weeks. Likewise, dose-dependent increases in the labeling index of cells were detected by counting those that had incorporated 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine throughout the experimental period. Also, we found significant elevations of the liver weights, concurrent with increases in hepatic DNA content in the treated mice, which again were dose-related. Serum aspartic transferase activity at doses of 0.06% and above were significantly increased despite these changes being slight. Also, histopathological examination provided no evidence of necrotic changes, but severe hepatocyte swelling in the treated mouse livers. These data indicate that PCP might be able to induce cell proliferation in the mouse liver, as well as induce oxidative DNA damage, suggesting both changes may play an important role in hepatocarcinogenesis.     

Adenosine-5'-tetraphosphate and guanosine-5'-tetraphosphate: new substrates of the cytosolic exopolyphosphatase of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A cytosolic preparation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is capable of hydrolyzing adenosine-5'-tetraphosphate and guanosine-5'-tetraphosphate with activities which are 1.5-2 times greater than that with polyP15. The apparent K(m) values for hydrolysis of adenosine-5'-tetraphosphate and guanosine-5'-tetraphosphate are 100 and 80 microM, respectively. A comparative study of inhibitors shows that these activities are inherent characteristics of these exopolyphosphatases.     

Cloning and characterization of a testis-specific, developmentally regulated A-kinase-anchoring protein (TAKAP-80) present on the fibrous sheath of rat sperm

(-)-beta-D-2-Aminopurine dioxolane (APD), (-)-beta-D-2-amino-6-chloropurine dioxolane (ACPD) and dioxolane guanine (DXG) are nucleoside analogues possessing potent activity against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) in vitro. APD and ACPD are metabolized in vivo to yield DXG. Reversed-phase HPLC analytical methodologies were developed for the simultaneous determination of APD and DXG, and for ACPD and DXG in monkey serum, urine and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). 2-Fluoro-2',3'-dideoxyinosine (FDDI) served as the internal standard. The extraction recoveries of the nucleoside analogues from serum samples were similar, averaging approximately 90%. The limit of quantitation of the analytical method for serum samples was 0.1 microg/ml for DXG, and 0.25 microg/ml for APD and ACPD. The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations for each compound at low, medium and high nucleoside concentrations were less than 9.0%. The accuracy of the assay methods was greater than 90% for prodrugs and parent compound. Similar results were observed with urine and CSF samples. Thus, these methods provide sensitive, accurate and reproducible determination of the prodrugs and parent nucleoside in biological samples.     

Endoscopic ligation or diathermy of the sphenopalatine artery in persistent epistaxis

Conventional methods of arterial ligation in persistent epistaxis often involve significant surgical morbidity, as well as failure due to arterial anastomosis. We have performed endoscopic intranasal end ligation or diathermy of 11 sphenopalatine arteries in 10 patients with no complications and with no further episodes of epistaxis, with an average follow-up period of nine months.