Influence of hereditary haemochromatosis on left ventricular wall thickness: does iron overload exacerbate cardiac hypertrophy?

Background: The left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy increases the risk of heart failure. Hypertension and infiltrative cardiomyopathies are the well-known reasons of LV hypertrophy. The growing interest of scientists in this issue affects hereditary haemochromatosis (HH), which is characterised by the excess deposition of iron mostly due to HFE gene mutation. The aim of our study was to investigate the possible influence of HH on LV parameters in patients with early-diagnosed (early HH) and long-lasting and long-treated (old HH) disease. Materials and methods: Thirty nine early HH and 19 old HH patients were prospectively enrolled in the study; age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers constituted the appropriate control groups. All participants had echocardiography performed (including three-dimension volume and mass analysis); the iron turnover parameters were measured at the time of enrolment in every HH patients. Results: Echocardiographic parameters regarding to left atrium (LA), LV thickness, mass and long axis length were significantly higher, whereas LV ejection fraction was lower in early HH in comparison to healthy persons. In old HH patients the differences were similar to those mentioned before, except LV ejection fraction. The presence of hypertension in both HH groups did not influence echo parameters, as well as diabetes in old HH. The strongest correlation in all HH group was found between the time from HH diagnosis and LA, LV thickness and volumes parameters, but the correlations between iron turnover and echo parameters were non-existent. Conclusions: Hereditary haemochromatosis, not only long-lasting, but also early-diagnosed, could lead to exacerbation of LV wall thickness and cardiac hypertrophy. This effect is not simply connected with hypertension and diabetes that are frequent additional diseases in these patients, but with the time from HH diagnosis

27 Przypadek skojarzenia leczenia promieniami (brachyterapia i teleterapia) mięsaka prążkowokomórkowego oczodołu u dziecka

W pracy przedstawiono przykład leczenia promieniami mięsaka prążkowo-komórkowego oczodołu u 9 ietniego dziecka w stopniu zaawansowania klinicznego T1- po nieradykalnym zabiegu operacyjnym. W pierwszym etapie przeprowadzono brachyterapię HDR Ir-192. Podano 21 Gy w punkcie referencyjnym w 3 frakcjach w ciągu 3 dni. Następnie chorego napromieniano w warunkach terapii megawoltowej na obszar części przyśrodkowej oczodołu strony lewej, dawka frakcyjna 1,5 Gy/g do dawki całkowitej 25,5 Gy/g. Całkowita dawka fizyczna wyniosła 46 Gy. Celem skojarzenia brachterapii z teleterapią była ochrona soczewki i zmniejszenie ryzyka zaćmy popromiennej. W pracy przedstawiono rozkłady dawek w brachyterapii wykonane na podstawie tomografii komputerowej oraz technikę konformalnej teleterapii

19 Brachyterapia w zapobieganiu restenozie tętnicy nerkowej – doniesienie wstępne

WprowadzenieWśród chorych na wtórne nadciśnienie tętnicze największą grupę stanowią chorzy na nadciśnienie naczyniowo-nerkowe (RVH) spowodowane zwężeniem tętnicy nerkowej. Postępowanie zachowawcze w RVH jest najczęściej nieskuteczne, a zasadniczą formą leczenia wciąż pozostaje przezskórna śródnaczyniowa plastyka tętnicy nerkowej (PTRA). Problemem przy takim postępowaniu jest ponowne zwężenie tętnicy nerkowej. Metodą, z którą wiąże się w ostatnim okresie największe nadzieje na zapobieganie restenozie lub wydłużenie czasu do jej powstania jest brachyterapia donaczyniowa.Cel pracyCelem pracy jest przedstawienie doświadczenia pracowni brachyterapii Instytutu Onkologii w Gliwicach związanego z brachyterapią tętnicy nerkowej po PTRA.Opis przypadkuw dniu 22.10.1999 roku w Instytucie Onkologii w Gliwicach przeprowadzono pierwszą w Polsce brachyterapią tętnicy nerkowej u 47-letniej chorej na RVH operne na leczenie farmakologiczne. Zabieg PTRA wykonano w Śląskim Centrum Chorób Serca w Zabrzu. Poszerzone naczynie nerkowe napromieniano przy użyciu aplikatora naczyniowego, sprzętu i systemu planowania firmy Nucletron. Podano jednorazową dawkę 15 Gy w punkcie referencyjnym 4,5 mm od osi aplikatora. Całkowita długość napromienianego obszaru wynosila 2,25 mm, a całkowity czas leczenia – 3 min 30 s. Zabieg przebiegł płanowo, bez powiktań. Do czerwca 2000 roku napromieniono 16 chorych na RVH.WniosekBrachyterapia tętnicy nerkowej po PTRA może stanowić ważny etap w zapobieganiu restenozie lub wydłużeniu czasu do jej wystąpienia

31/Palliative effectiveness and tolerance of endobronchial HDR brachytherapy in patients with lung cancer -the preliminary experience of Oncology Centre in Gliwice, Department of Brachytherapy

AlmEndobronchial HDR brachytherapy (E-HDR-BT) is a well-established method of palliative treatment in patients with lung cancer. There is, however, no consensus on optimal radiation and the rate of complications. The aim of the work is to evaluate early effectiveness and tolerance of E-HDR-BT in palliative treatment of patients with lung cancer treated in Oncology Centre in Gliwice.Material and methodsSince 2000 in Oncology Centre in Gliwice HDR (Ir192) E-HDR-BT is used in palliative treatment of patients with bronchial obturation due to lung cancer. Regression of bronchial obturation and improvement in dyspnoea, cough and haemoptysis after therapy was analyzed for the first thirty patients. The total dose was 18 Gy, calculated at 1cm from the source, in 3 fraction (of 6 Gy) given everyweek.ResultsTwenty-five patients finished therapy as planned. Five patients didn’t complete treatment: two of them (6.6%) died because of massive haemoptysis; one patients suffered from exaggeration of angina pectoris, one patients developed high hectic fever not responding for antibacterial treatment, one suffered from exaggeration of their symptoms prohibiting continuation of the treatment. Changes in obturation of the bronchi and in patient's symptoms are shown in Table 1.Table 1Changes in obturation of the bronchi and in patient's symptom.SymptomsImprovementNochangesExaggerationObturation #/%22/88%3/12%0Dyspnoea #/%15/54%11/40%2/7%Cough #/%4/27%10/67%2/7%Haemoptysis #/%2/14%10/72%2/14%More detailed analysis of improvements in symptoms has been carried out according to own scoring system for dyspnoea, cough and haemoptysis. Mean duration of palliative response was 55 days (1–405). Mean survival time was 114 days (2–406).ConclusionE-HOR-BT is an effective method of palliation of symptoms related to bronchial obturation in course of lung cancer. The most frequent serious treatment complication of E-HOR-BTwas massive haemoptysis

Electrical resistivity, magnetism and electronic structure of the intermetallic 3d/4f Laves phase compounds ErNi2Mnx

The non-stoichiometric intermetallic compounds RENi2Mnx (RE = rare earth) with the cubic MgCu2-type structure display a large variety of magnetic properties which is due to a complex interplay between the degrees of freedom of the 3d and 4f electrons and their interactions. We performed a comprehensive study of the electrical resistivity, magnetic properties and the electronic structure of ErNi2Mnx (x =0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25) compounds by employing a suitable set of complementary experimental approaches. We find an increase in electrical resistance compared to ErNi2 upon Mn doping, the residual resistivity ratio decreases with increasing manganese content. The Curie temperature exhibits a sharp increase to around 50 K for Mn concentrations x 0.5, whereas the saturation magnetization decreases with growing Mn content x 0.5. Valence band X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals an increasing intensity of Mn 3d states near Fermi energy in dependence of Mn concentration and Curie temperature. Resonant photoelectron spectroscopy of ErNi2Mn0.75 reveals that the photoemission decay channels dominate the valence band spectra across the Er N5 and Mn L3 X-ray absorption maxima, whereas the L3VV Auger dictates the resonant valence band spectra close to and at the Ni L3 X-ray absorption edge

Measurement of bacterial adhesion to metal surfaces with different chemical composition - evaluation of different methods

In the current study attention has been focused on the evaluation of different methods of measurement of bacterial adhesion to the metal surfaces with different chemical composition. The direct methods, which included determination of the number of bacterial cells using fluorescence microscopy and Colony Forming Units (CFU) on agar medium, and indirect methods using Alamar Blue (AB) and MTT assays, were evaluated. The chemical compositions of the metal surfaces included: copper, iron, chromium and nickel. Interaction effects of assay and metal compound have been specifically demonstrated in this study. It was found that metal ions reacted with components of the indirect colorimetric tests used in his study (AB and MTT assay). Consequently, those tests gave positive false results. In contrast to the indirect methods, direct counting methods such as microscopy techniques and CFU counting, were successfully applied for evaluation of bacterial adhesion to the metal surfaces. However, considering the limits for the surfaces of the examined samples for microscopy, the determination of the CFU was found to be the best method for testing the adhesion to metal surfaces. The method, combined with the appropriate detachment procedures allowed for a precise determination of the number of bacteria on the entire surface of the evaluated metal samples

The influence of sewage sludge addition on selected physico-chemical parameters of degraded soils

Gleby zdegradowane w wyniku szkodliwego oddziaływania emisji z hut metali nieżelaznych są często wyjałowione z substancji organicznej oraz brak w nich odpowiedniej mikroflory. Taki stan środowiska glebowego wyklucza skuteczność biologicznej rewitalizacji bez wcześniejszego wzbogacenia matrycy gleby odpowiednimi substratami. W pracy przedstawiono wyniki badań dotyczące zmian wartości wybranych parametrów mikrobiologicznych i fizyczno-chemicznych gleby wzbogaconej komunalnymi osadami ściekowymi po 6 miesiącach od aplikacji substratu. W doświadczeniu wykorzystano zdegradowaną glebę pochodzącą z terenu oddziaływania huty w Miasteczku Śląskim i komunalny osad ściekowy z oczyszczalni ścieków komunalnych w Pajęcznie w trzech proporcjach wagowych (10, 30 i 50%). Przeprowadzone analizy wykazały poprawę większości badanych parametrów (pH, TEB, CEC, azot organiczny, fosfor przyswajalny, liczebność grzybów i promieniowców), a zastosowane osady ściekowe przyczyniły się zarówno do wzrostu zdolności buforowych badanej gleby, jak i jej znacznego wzbogacenia w fosfor przyswajalny łącznie z poprawą stosunku C:N. Otrzymane dane wskazują, że w badanej glebie zachodzi korzystna odnowa procesów mineralizacji substancji organicznej, co potwierdza skuteczność stosowania osadów ściekowych w rekultywacji gleb zdegradowanych.One of the most widespread form of soil degradation is the chemical contamination, which is generally seen in industrialized areas and can be manifested as heavy metals pollution. Soils degraded by the toxic emissions from non-ferrous foundries (rich of heavy metals) are very often deficient in organic compounds and suitable microflora because of limited soil's protective abilities in the presence of metallic elements contamination. That kind of soils is hard to revitalize without earlier improvement of soil matrix by specific substratum. Sludges from municipal waste water treatment plants (particularly from country-side ones) are rich in nutritive compounds which can be assimilated by plants. Because of that, sludges can be very effective soil-forming substrates in upper layers of inorganic ground where they can restore a biological activity which is proper for fertile soils. The paper presents the evaluation of municipal sewage sludge influence on selected physico-chemical and biological (bacteria and fungi constitute the most important part of the microflora present in soils) parameters of degraded soil after six months since the application. The investigated soil was taken from the area polluted by Miasteczko Slaskie zinc foundry, and municipal sewage sludge originated from waste water treatment plant in Pajeczno. Conducted analyses have shown improvement in the majority of studied parameters (fungi and actinomycetes population, pH, TEB, CEC, Kiejdahl's nitrogen and assimilable phosphorus). Applied sewage sludge caused improvement of sorption capacity (cation exchange capacity - CEC) which indicates amelioration of soil's fertility. Sludge used in experiment also indicates high enlargement of assimilable phosphorus in connection to appropriate carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N). The presented work has shown positive sewage sludge influence on organic matter mineralization processes which confirms the fact that this substratum can be effectively used in degraded soil reclamation e.g. in low cost soil cleaning procedures like phytoremediation