Contribution of the single photon emission computed tomography with 99mTc red blood cells in splenosis

The term splenosis refers to the presence of auto-transplanted splenic tissue in a heterotopic location. These foci can be localized to the liver simulating a malignant lesion. Sometimes these lesions are difficult to identify using conventional imaging techniques (ultrasound, CT and MR). Then, a scan with denatured erythrocytes marked with 99mTc has proven to be an effective technique to confirm the diagnosis of splenosis and to establish its extension. The incorporation of hybrid imaging techniques (SPECT-CT) into usual clinical practice has increased the precision of the localization of these foci of splenosis. We hereby report the cases of two patients diagnosed with splenosis, the first by laparotomy and the second after performing scintigraphy with red blood cells labeled with 99mTc. In the first case, the laparotomy revealed numerous reticulated nodules on the diaphragmatic peritoneal surface, the transverse colon and the right kidney. Finally, the anatomopathological diagnosis confirmed a case of splenosis. In the second case, the results of the 99mTc marked red blood cell gammagraphy and SPECT-CT were consistent with the diagnosis of splenosis in the patient. To obtain correct information in cases of lesions highly suspicious of splenosis, 99mTc marked red blood cell gammagraphy should be performed due to the high sensitivity and specificity of the test. Combined diagnostic imaging (SPECT-CT), have increased the specificity of this test due to improvements in the characterization of lesions. We believe that the use of this technique will help avoid unnecessary surgical procedures

Factors affecting diabetic patient’s long-term quality of life after simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation: a single-center analysis

[Purpose]: Pancreas transplantation (PT) is one of the few ways to restore euglycemia within diabetic patients; however, the high morbidity caused by surgical complications and the need for immunosuppressive therapy has raised controversy about PT improving the health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL). The aim of this study is to assess the long-term (≥ 5 years after PT) HRQoL and to identify the factors affecting it.[Methods]: A single-center, cross-sectional study of 49 sequential PT was performed. All patients conducted a telephone interview to fulfill the modification of Medical Outcome Health Survey Short Form questionnaire (SF-36v2) and were compared to similar post-PT studies from the literature.[Results]: Patients with a history of replacement renal therapy (RRT) or neuropathy undergoing a PT were associated to a worse bodily pain (P = 0.03) and physical function (P = 0.04), respectively, whereas those with retinopathy showed an improved Role Emotional (P = 0.04). Multivariate analysis revealed the presence of RRT as the only independent prognostic factor for a worse bodily pain [relative risk = 3.9; 95% confidence interval (1.1–14.6)], (P = 0.04). Furthermore, nearly all PT recipients (91.8%) claimed an overall better health than prior to PT.[Conclusion]: Our study confirms that PT recipients’ HRQoL improves after PT, showing similar HRQoL scores across different populations and suggests that patients in predialysis could benefit from an improved HRQoL if transplanted on the early stages of the disease

Histologic tumor grade and preoperative bilary drainage are the unique independent prognostic factors of survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients after pancreaticoduodenectomy

[Background and Aim]: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal types of cancer; most patients die during the first 6 months after diagnosis. With a 5% 5-year survival rate, is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in developed countries. In this regard, several clinical, histopathologic and biological characteristics of the disease favoring long-term survival after pancreaticoduodenectomy have been reported to be significant prognostic factors. Despite the availability of this information, there is no consensus about the different prognostic factors reported in the literature, probably due to variations in patient selection, methods, and sample size studied. The aim of this study was to identify the clinical and pathologic features associated to prognosis of the disease after pancreaticoduodenectomy. [Materials and Methods]: The clinical and pathologic data from 78 patients who underwent a potentially curative resection for PDAC at our institution between 2003 and 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. [Results]: Overall, high-grade PDAC cases showed larger tumor size (P=0.009) and a higher frequency of deaths in association with a nonsignificantly shortened patient overall survival (median of 12.5 vs. 21.7 mo; P=0.065) as compared with low-grade PDAC patients. High histologic grade (P=0.013), preoperative drainage on the main bile duct (P=0.014) and absence of adjuvant therapy (P=0.035) were associated with a significantly poorer outcome. Overall survival multivariate analysis showed histologic grade (P=0.019) and bile duct preoperative drainage (P=0.016) as the sole independent variables predicting an adverse outcome. [Conclusions]: Our results indicate that histologic tumor grade and preoperative biliary drainage are the only significant independent prognostic factors in PDAC patients after pancreatectomy.Peer Reviewe

Observations of the First Electromagnetic Counterpart to a Gravitational-wave Source by the TOROS Collaboration

We present the results of prompt optical follow-up of the electromagnetic counterpart of the gravitational-wave event GW170817 by the Transient Optical Robotic Observatory of the South Collaboration. We detected highly significant dimming in the light curves of the counterpart (Δg = 0.17 ± 0.03 mag, Δr = 0.14 ± 0.02 mag, Δi = 0.10 ± 0.03 mag) over the course of only 80 minutes of observations obtained ∼35 hr after the trigger with the T80-South telescope. A second epoch of observations, obtained ∼59 hr after the event with the EABA 1.5 m telescope, confirms the fast fading nature of the transient. The observed colors of the counterpart suggest that this event was a "blue kilonova" relatively free of lanthanides.Fil: Díaz, Mario Claudio. University of Texas; Estados UnidosFil: Macri, Lucas M.. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Garcia Lambas, Diego Rodolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Mendes de Oliveira, C.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Nilo Castellon, Jose Luis Emilio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; Argentina. Universidad de La Serena; ChileFil: Ribeiro, T.. Universidade Federal de Sergipe; BrasilFil: Sánchez, Bruno Orlando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Schoenell, W.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; BrasilFil: Abramo, L. R.. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; Brasil. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Akras, S.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; BrasilFil: Alcaniz, J. S.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; BrasilFil: Artola, R.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Beroiz, Martin Isidro Ramon. University of Texas; Estados UnidosFil: Bonoli, S.. Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón; EspañaFil: Cabral, Juan Bautista. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Camuccio, R.. University of Texas; Estados UnidosFil: Castillo, M.. University of Texas; Estados UnidosFil: Chavushyan, Vahram. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Coelho, P.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Colazo, Juan Cruz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Costa Duarte, M. V.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Cuevas Larenas, H.. Universidad de La Serena; ChileFil: DePoy, D. L.. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Dominguez Romero, Mariano Javier de Leon. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Dultzin, Debora. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Instituto de Astronomia; MéxicoFil: Fernández, D.. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: García, J.. University of Texas; Estados UnidosFil: Girardini, C.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Goncalves Gama, Diana Renata. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Gonçalves, T. S.. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Gurovich, Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Jiménez Teja, Y.. Ministério de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacao. Observatorio Nacional; BrasilFil: Kanaan, A.. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; BrasilFil: Lares, M.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Lopes de Oliveira, R.. Universidade Federal de Sergipe; Brasil. National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Estados UnidosFil: López Cruz, Omar. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Marshall, J. L.. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Melia, R.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Molino, A.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Padilla, Nelson. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: Peñuela, T.. University of Texas; Estados Unidos. Ludwig Maximilian Universität Munich; AlemaniaFil: Placco, V. M.. University of Notre Dame; Estados Unidos. Center for the Evolution of the Elements. Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics; Estados UnidosFil: Quiñones, Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Rivera, A. Ramírez. Universidad de La Serena; ChileFil: Renzi, Victor Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Riguccini, L.. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Ríos López, Emmanuel. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Rodriguez, Horacio Oscar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Sampedro, L.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Schneiter, Ernesto Matías. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Sodré, Laerte. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Starck Cuffini, Manuel Darío. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Torres Flores, S.. Universidad de La Serena; ChileFil: Tornatore, M.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Zadrożny, A.. University of Texas; Estados Unido