Two Cases of Cerebral Sinus Venous Thrombosis Following Chemotherapy for Non-Seminomatous Germ Cell Tumor

We report on two patients with cerebral sinus venous thrombosis following chemotherapy with cisplatin, bleomycin and etoposide for non-seminomatous germ cell tumor. Headache and neurological deficits were the leading symptoms. Cancer and cisplatin chemotherapy are well-known risk factors for thromboembolic events. The therapeutic strategy is an anticoagulant therapy. Symptoms are usually reversible within weeks under this therapy. Therefore, in patients with testicular cancer and chemotherapy who present with neurological symptoms, cerebral sinus venous thrombosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis

Entanglement and Timing-Based Mechanisms in the Coherent Control of Scattering Processes

The coherent control of scattering processes is considered, with electron impact dissociation of H$_2^+$ used as an example. The physical mechanism underlying coherently controlled stationary state scattering is exposed by analyzing a control scenario that relies on previously established entanglement requirements between the scattering partners. Specifically, initial state entanglement assures that all collisions in the scattering volume yield the desirable scattering configuration. Scattering is controlled by preparing the particular internal state wave function that leads to the favored collisional configuration in the collision volume. This insight allows coherent control to be extended to the case of time-dependent scattering. Specifically, we identify reactive scattering scenarios using incident wave packets of translational motion where coherent control is operational and initial state entanglement is unnecessary. Both the stationary and time-dependent scenarios incorporate extended coherence features, making them physically distinct. From a theoretical point of view, this work represents a large step forward in the qualitative understanding of coherently controlled reactive scattering. From an experimental viewpoint, it offers an alternative to entanglement-based control schemes. However, both methods present significant challenges to existing experimental technologies

Quantum inference of states and processes

The maximum-likelihood principle unifies inference of quantum states and processes from experimental noisy data. Particularly, a generic quantum process may be estimated simultaneously with unknown quantum probe states provided that measurements on probe and transformed probe states are available. Drawbacks of various approximate treatments are considered.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Endovascular Stent Treatment for Symptomatic Benign Iliofemoral Venous Occlusive Disease: Long-Term Results 1987–2009

Venous stenting has been shown to effectively treat iliofemoral venous obstruction with good short- and mid-term results. The aim of this study was to investigate long-term clinical outcome and stent patency. Twenty patients were treated with venous stenting for benign disease at our institution between 1987 and 2005. Fifteen of 20 patients (15 female, mean age at time of stent implantation 38 years [range 18–66]) returned for a clinical visit, a plain X-ray of the stent, and a Duplex ultrasound. Four patients were lost to follow-up, and one patient died 277 months after stent placement although a good clinical result was documented 267 months after stent placement. Mean follow-up after stent placement was 167.8 months (13.9 years) (range 71 (6 years) to 267 months [22 years]). No patient needed an additional venous intervention after stent implantation. No significant difference between the circumference of the thigh on the stented side (mean 55.1 cm [range 47.0–70.0]) compared with the contralateral thigh (mean 54.9 cm [range 47.0–70.0]) (p = 0.684) was seen. There was a nonsignificant trend toward higher flow velocities within the stent (mean 30.8 cm/s [range 10.0–48.0]) and the corresponding vein segment on the contralateral side (mean 25.2 cm/s [range 12.0–47.0]) (p = 0.065). Stent integrity was confirmed in 14 of 15 cases. Only one stent showed a fracture, as documented on x-ray, without any impairment of flow. Venous stenting using Wallstents showed excellent long-term clinical outcome and primary patency rate

Extrapulmonary small cell sarcinoma: involvement of the brain without evidence of extracranial malignancy by serial PET/CT scans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Extrapulmonary small cell carcinoma (EPSCC) involving the brain is a rare manifestation of an uncommon tumor type.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report a 59 year-old Caucasian female diagnosed with an EPSCC involving the left parietal lobe without detectable extracranial primary tumor followed by serial positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging. Histopathological examination at both initial presentation and recurrence revealed small cell carcinoma. Serial PET/CT scans of the entire body failed to reveal any extracranial [¹⁸F]2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) avid lesions at either diagnosis or follow-up.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Chemotherapy may show a transient response in the treatment of EPSCC. Further studies are needed to help identify optimal treatment strategies. Combination PET/CT technology may be a useful tool to monitor EPSCC and assess for an occult primary malignancy.</p

Detection of primary sites in unknown primary tumors using FDG-PET or FDG-PET/CT

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Carcinoma of unknown primary tumors (CUP) is present in 0.5%-9% of all patients with malignant neoplasms; only 20%-27% of primary sites are identified before the patients die. Currently, 18F-fluorodeoxy-glucose positron-emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) or PET combined with computed tomography (PET/CT) is widely used for the diagnosis of CUP. However, the diagnostic yield of the primary site varies. The aim of this study was to determine whether PET or PET/CT has additional advantages over the conventional diagnostic workup in detecting the primary origin of CUP.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Twenty patients with unknown primary tumors that underwent PET or PET/CT were included in this study. For all patients, the conventional diagnostic workup was unsuccessful in detecting the primary sites. Among 20 patients, 11 had PET scans. The remaining nine patients had PET/CT. In all 20 patients, neither the PET nor PET/CT identified the primary site of the tumor, including six cases with cervical lymph node metastases. The PET and PET/CT revealed sites of FDG uptake other than those associated with known metastases in seven patients, but these findings did not influence patient management or therapy. Two patients had unnecessary invasive diagnostic procedures due to false positive results on the PET or PET/CT.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although it is inconclusive because of small sample size of the study, the additional value of PET or PET/CT for the detection of primary sites in patients with CUP might be less than expected; especially in patients that have already had extensive conventional diagnostic workups. Further study is needed to confirm this finding.</p

Combined FDG-PET/CT for the detection of unknown primary tumors: systematic review and meta-analysis

The aim of this study was to systematically review and meta-analyze published data on the diagnostic performance of combined 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) in the detection of primary tumors in patients with cancer of unknown primary (CUP). A systematic search for relevant studies was performed of the PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase databases. Methodological quality of the included studies was assessed. Reported detection rates, sensitivities and specificities were meta-analyzed. Subgroup analyses were performed if results of individual studies were heterogeneous. The 11 included studies, comprising a total sample size of 433 patients with CUP, had moderate methodological quality. Overall primary tumor detection rate, pooled sensitivity and specificity of FDG-PET/CT were 37%, 84% (95% CI 78–88%) and 84% (95% CI 78–89%), respectively. Sensitivity was heterogeneous across studies (P = 0.0001), whereas specificity was homogeneous across studies (P = 0.2114). Completeness of diagnostic workup before FDG-PET/CT, location of metastases of unknown primary, administration of CT contrast agents, type of FDG-PET/CT images evaluated and way of FDG-PET/CT review did not significantly influence diagnostic performance. In conclusion, FDG-PET/CT can be a useful method for unknown primary tumor detection. Future studies are required to prove the assumed advantage of FDG-PET/CT over FDG-PET alone and to further explore causes of heterogeneity

Dietary flavonoids inhibit the anticancer effects of the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib

Dietary flavonolds have many health-promoting actions, including anticancer activity via proteasome inhibition. Bortezomib is a dipeptide boronate proteasome inhibitor that has activity in the treatment of multiple myeloma but Is not effective In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Although CLL cells are sensitive In vitro to bortezomlb-induced apoptosis when cultured in medium, the killing activity was blocked when cultured In 50% fresh autologous plasma. Dietary flavonoids, quercetin and myrocetin, which are abundant In plasma, inhibited bortezomib-induced apoptosis of primary CLL and malignant B-cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. This inhibitory effect was associated with chemical reactions between quercetin and the boronic acid group, -RB(OH) 2 , in bortezomib. The addition of boric acid diminished the inhibitory effect of both quercetin and plasma on bortezomib-induced apoptosis. The protective effect was also reduced when myeloma cell lines, but not B-cell lines, were preincubated with quercetin, indicating a direct effect of quercetin on myeloma cells. At high doses, quercetin itself induced tumor cell death. These data indicate that dietary flavonoids limit the efficacy of bortezomib, whereas supplemental inorganic boric acid is able to reverse this. The complex interactions between quercetin, tumor cells, and bortezomib mean caution Is required when giving dietary advice to patients. © 2008 by The American Society of Hematology

Insula-specific responses induced by dental pain: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether induced dental pain leads to quantitative changes in brain metabolites within the left insular cortex after stimulation of the right maxillary canine and to examine whether these metabolic changes and the subjective pain intensity perception correlate. METHODS: Ten male volunteers were included in the pain group and compared with a control group of 10 other healthy volunteers. The pain group received a total of 87-92 electrically induced pain stimuli over 15 min to the right maxillary canine tooth. Contemporaneously, they evaluated the subjective pain intensity of every stimulus using an analogue scale. Neurotransmitter changes within the left insular cortex were evaluated by MR spectroscopy. RESULTS: Significant metabolic changes in glutamine (+55.1%), glutamine/glutamate (+16.4%) and myo-inositol (-9.7%) were documented during pain stimulation. Furthermore, there was a significant negative correlation between the subjective pain intensity perception and the metabolic levels of Glx, Gln, glutamate and N-acetyl aspartate. CONCLUSION: The insular cortex is a metabolically active region in the processing of acute dental pain. Induced dental pain leads to quantitative changes in brain metabolites within the left insular cortex resulting in significant alterations in metabolites. Negative correlation between subjective pain intensity rating and specific metabolites could be observed