Ectopia cordis about a case at Ourossogui regional hospital center

We report in this work, an extremely rare and major case of anterior body wall defects included ectopia cordis define by abnormal location of heart outside of the thorax. This case was diagnosed at the maternity of Ourossogui regional hospital center, in Senegal. Any scan was performed during the pregnancy. Newborn died 10 minutes after birth. Ectopia cordis is related to a possible ventral midline developmental abnormality. It’s associated to other midline abnormalities and is a part of pentalogy of Cantrell. An X-linked genetic abnormality

Apport de la scintigraphie renale dans l’exploration d’un syndrome de jonction pyelo ureterale sur rein ectopique revele par une pyelonephrite gravidique a propos d’un cas.

Le syndrome de jonction pyelo-urétérale est une uropathie malformative de diagnostic anténatal de nos jours notamment dans les pays développés. Nous rapportons un cas associé à une ectopie rénale iliaque gauche révélé par une pyélonéphrite avec pyonephrose chez une gestante de 26 ans. L’exploration en imagerie a été faite à l’échographie et à la scintigraphie rénale dynamique au DTPA-99mTc et statique au DMSA-99mTc. L’exploration scintigraphique a été déterminante dans l’orientation thérapeutique qui a été sanctionnée par une néphrectomie gauche. Les aspects étiopathogéniques et la place de l’imagerie médicale notamment de la scintigraphie aussi bien dans la prise en charge diagnostique que thérapeutique sont discutées à la lumière de la littérature.Mots clés : Syndrome de jonction pyélo-uréterale, ectopie rénale, Scintigraphie rénale, pays en développement

The association of intraprostatic calcifications and dosimetry parameters with biochemical control after permanent prostate implant

Purpose: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of intraprostatic calcifications (IC) on long-term tumor control in patients treated with permanent implant prostate brachytherapy (PIPB). Materials and Methods: Data from 609 I-125 patients treated with PIPB were retrospectively reviewed. The presence of IC was determined by reviewing postimplant CT images. Doses delivered were determined using the Monte Carlo (model-based) calculations and the TG43 approach. Biochemical relapses at 7 and 10 years were determined according to Phoenix definition. Long-term biochemical relapse-free survival (bRFS) was determined using Kaplan–Meier estimates with log rank test. Cox proportional hazard models were used for analysis of predictor factors of biochemical recurrence. Results: IC were observed for 11.1% of patients. Clinical stage, PSA, Gleason score, D'Amico risk group, and ADT use were comparable between IC and no IC groups. The 7- and 10-year bRFS for the entire cohort were 94.1% and 90.6%, respectively. The bRFS at 7 years was 90.5% (with IC) vs. 94.5% (without IC) (p = 0.198); the corresponding values at 10 years were 78.8% vs. 91.8% (p = 0.046). On Cox model, only prostatic calcifications were a significant risk factor for biochemical relapse (HR: 2.30, IC 95%: 1.05–5.00, p = 0.037; and HR: 3.94; IC 95%: 1.00–15.38; p = 0.049 for univariate and multivariate analysis, respectively). Conclusion: The presence of IC in patients treated with PIPB decreases V100 and D90 for postimplant Monte Carlo dosimetry (compared with TG43); correspondingly, IC are associated with a lower 10-y bRFS. Model-based dose calculations are critical to evaluate potential cold spots due to calcifications

Addition of Berberine to 5-Aminosalicylic Acid for Treatment of Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Chronic Colitis in C57BL/6 Mice.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a common chronic remitting disease but without satisfactory treatment. Alternative medicine berberine has received massive attention for its potential in UC treatment. Conventional therapies with the addition of berberine are becoming attractive as novel therapies in UC. In the present study, we investigated the preclinical activity of a conventional oral 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) therapy plus berberine in experimental colitis. A subclinical dose of 5-ASA (200 mg/kg/day) alone or 5-ASA plus berberine (20 mg/kg/day) was orally administered for 30 days to C57BL/6 mice with colitis induced by three cycles of 2% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS). The disease severity, inflammatory responses, drug accumulation and potential toxicity of colitis mice were examined. The results showed that comparing to 5-ASA alone, 5-ASA plus berberine more potently ameliorated DSS-induced disease severity, colon shortening, and colon histological injury. Further, the up-regulation in mRNA level of colonic TNF-α as well as NFκB and JAK2 phosphorylation caused by DSS were more pronouncedly reversed in animals treated with the combination therapy than those treated with 5-ASA alone. Moreover, the addition of berberine to 5-ASA more significantly inhibited lymphocyte TNF-α secretion of DSS mice than 5-ASA alone. In the meanwhile, no extra drug accumulation or potential toxicity to major organs of colitis mice was observed with this combination treatment. In summary, our studies provide preclinical rationale for the addition of berberine to 5-ASA as a promising therapeutic strategy in clinic by reducing dose of standard therapy

Silica-Coated and Bare Akaganeite Nanorods: Structural and Magnetic Properties

We report on structural and magnetic properties of uniform silica-coated akaganeite nanorods with length of <i>L</i> ∼ 80 ± 15 nm and diameter <i>D</i> ∼ 15 ± 5 nm as well as silica shell thickness of about 5 nm. Unexpected negative difference between field-cooled (FC) and zero-field-cooled (ZFC) magnetization Δ<i>M</i> = <i>M</i>_FC – <i>M</i>_ZFC < 0, room temperature ferromagnetism, and exchange bias effect have been found. The nanorods are investigated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements. The magnetic measurements were also performed on bare akaganeite nanorods in order to discriminate the effects of silica coating on the magnetic properties. The measured coercivity and exchange bias effect of bare β-FeOOH nanorods are much lower compared with same properties of SiO₂@β-FeOOH nanorods, emphasizing the effect of silica coating on the magnetic properties. These results are discussed considering the core–shell structure of akaganeite nanorods; i.e., the inner part of the akaganeite nanorod has antiferromagnetic ordering, whereas the nanorod surface exhibits some disorder spin state