Diagnóstico pouco usual de obstrução da traqueia

AbstractMale, 54 years old, with smoking habits. The patient complaints were cough, with bleeding secretions in the previous two months. Because of the persistence of the symptoms, a broncoscopy was proposed. This exam showed multiple lesions in the traquea, nearly 2cm above the vocal cords that compromised the airway and did not allow the progression of the bronchoscope. For this reason, it was decided to introduce a tracheal prosthesis. Because of instability, and the suspicion of malignancy we started thoracic irradiation. The histological specimen was compatible with anaplastic Lymphoma, CD 30+.Because of respiratory distress, with stridor, the prothesis was removed. The traquea was permeable after this.The patient was discharged and oriented to Clinical Haematology. He is clinically stable and under monitoring, having now completed a chemotherapy treatment with CHOP (Ciclophosphamide, Adriamycin or Hydroxydorubicin, Vincristine or Oncovin and Prednisone).The primary mediastinal Large Cells Lymphoma represents 11.5% of the Large Cells Lymphomas (2% of the non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas). This neoplasm is in many studies considered incurable, but there are some positive results with the combination of radiotheraphy and chemotherapy. If there is any airway compromise, the tracheal prosthesis may be one option for the resolution of the respiratory insufficiency.Rev Port Pneumol 2006; XII (3): 303-30

Chromosome Segregation Is Biased by Kinetochore Size

Chromosome missegregation during mitosis or meiosis is a hallmark of cancer and the main cause of prenatal death in humans. The gain or loss of specific chromosomes is thought to be random, with cell viability being essentially determined by selection. Several established pathways including centrosome amplification, sister-chromatid cohesion defects, or a compromised spindle assembly checkpoint can lead to chromosome missegregation. However, how specific intrinsic features of the kinetochore—the critical chromosomal interface with spindle microtubules—impact chromosome segregation remains poorly understood. Here we used the unique cytological attributes of female Indian muntjac, the mammal with the lowest known chromosome number (2n = 6), to characterize and track individual chromosomes with distinct kinetochore size throughout mitosis. We show that centromere and kinetochore functional layers scale proportionally with centromere size. Measurement of intra-kinetochore distances, serial-section electron microscopy, and RNAi against key kinetochore proteins confirmed a standard structural and functional organization of the Indian muntjac kinetochores and revealed that microtubule binding capacity scales with kinetochore size. Surprisingly, we found that chromosome segregation in this species is not random. Chromosomes with larger kinetochores bi-oriented more efficiently and showed a 2-fold bias to congress to the equator in a motor-independent manner. Despite robust correction mechanisms during unperturbed mitosis, chromosomes with larger kinetochores were also strongly biased to establish erroneous merotelic attachments and missegregate during anaphase. This bias was impervious to the experimental attenuation of polar ejection forces on chromosome arms by RNAi against the chromokinesin Kif4a. Thus, kinetochore size is an important determinant of chromosome segregation fidelity

31. Biopsia aspirativa transtorácica por agulha fina para o diagnóstico de lesões pulmonares

Transthoracic Fine-Needle Aspiration contributes for the diagnosis of pulmonary malignant and benign lesions through cytologic analysis of the obtained material.The purpose of this study was to determine indications, accuracy and safety of transthoracic fine-needle aspiration (TNA) in the evaluation of patients with pulmonary lesions.The authors made a retrospective chart review of seven hundred and forty patients submitted to TNA in our hospital, between September 1, 1998 and June 30, 2003. Three hundred and seventy four (50,5%) were outpatients. TNA procedure was performed using an ultrathin needle, guided by fluoroscopy and cytopathologic evaluation of samples was immediate in all patients. TNA was diagnostic in 72.0% patients: a diagnosis of malignancy was achieved in 81.8% of those and benign pathology was identified in 18.2%. Complications occurred in 7.8%: pneumothorax in 5,9% patients (chest tube placement required in 2,1%); haemoptysis occurred in 2.5%.We concluded that TNA has an excellent diagnostic accuracy for malignant pulmonary lesions at a low complication rate, therefore it can be safely done in outpatients

Modelling agronomic properties of Technosols constructed with urban wastes

International audienceThe greening of urban and suburban areas requires large amounts of arable earth that is a non-renewable resource. However, concentration of population in cities leads to the production of high amounts of wastes and by-products that are nowadays partly recycled as a resource and quite systematically exported out of urban areas. To preserve natural soil resources, a strategy of waste recycling as fertile substitutes is proposed. Eleven wastes are selected for their environmental harmlessness and their contrasted physico-chemical properties for their potential use in pedological engineering. The aim is (i) to demonstrate the feasibility of the formulation of fertile substrates exclusively with wastes and (ii) to model their physico-chemical properties following various types, number and proportions of constitutive wastes. Twenty-five binary and ternary combinations are tested at different ratios for total carbon, Olsen available phosphorus, cation exchange capacity, water pH, water retention capacity and bulk density. Dose-response curves describe the variation of physico-chemical properties of mixtures depending on the type and ratio of selected wastes. If these mixtures mainly mimic natural soils, some of them present more extreme urban soil features, especially for pH and P Olsen. The fertility of the new substrates is modelled by multilinear regressions for the main soil properties

Digital PCR methods improve detection sensitivity and measurement precision of low abundance mtDNA deletions

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations are a common cause of primary mitochondrial disorders, and have also been implicated in a broad collection of conditions, including aging, neurodegeneration, and cancer. Prevalent among these pathogenic variants are mtDNA deletions, which show a strong bias for the loss of sequence in the major arc between, but not including, the heavy and light strand origins of replication. Because individual mtDNA deletions can accumulate focally, occur with multiple mixed breakpoints, and in the presence of normal mtDNA sequences, methods that detect broad-spectrum mutations with enhanced sensitivity and limited costs have both research and clinical applications. In this study, we evaluated semi-quantitative and digital PCR-based methods of mtDNA deletion detection using double-stranded reference templates or biological samples. Our aim was to describe key experimental assay parameters that will enable the analysis of low levels or small differences in mtDNA deletion load during disease progression, with limited false-positive detection. We determined that the digital PCR method significantly improved mtDNA deletion detection sensitivity through absolute quantitation, improved precision and reduced assay standard error

CHANG-ES XI: Circular Polarization in the Cores of Nearby Galaxies

We detect 5 galaxies in the CHANG-ES (Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies -- an EVLA Survey) sample that show circular polarization (CP) at L-band in our high resolution data sets. Two of the galaxies (NGC~4388 and NGC~4845) show strong Stokes $V/I\,\equiv\,m_C\,\sim\,2$\%, two (NGC~660 and NGC~3628) have values of $m_C\sim \,0.3$\%, and NGC~3079 is a marginal detection at $m_C\sim \,0.2$\%. The two strongest $m_C$ galaxies also have the most luminous X-ray cores and the strongest internal absorption in X-rays. We have expanded on our previous Faraday conversion interpretation and analysis and provide analytical expressions for the expected $V$ signal for a general case in which the cosmic ray electron energy spectral index can take on any value. We provide examples as to how such expressions could be used to estimate magnetic field strengths and the lower energy cutoff for CR electrons. Four out of our detections are {\it resolved}, showing unique structures, including a {\it jet} in NGC~4388 and a CP `conversion disk' in NGC~4845. The conversion disk is inclined to the galactic disk but is perpendicular to a possible outflow direction. Such CP structures have never before been seen in any galaxy to our knowledge. None of the galaxy cores show linear polarization at L-band. Thus CP may provide a unique probe of physical conditions deep into radio AGNs.Comment: 30 pages, 4 figures, accepted to MNRA