Heart echinococcus cyst as an incidental finding: early detection might be life-saving

We present a 46-year-old female smoker who was admitted to the emergency department of our hospital due to cough with blood-tinged sputum for the last four days before admission. Using echocardiography and Multi-Detector Computed Tomography (MDCT) heart Echinococcosis was diagnosed. Echinococcosis is a severe health issue in some geographical regions of the world. Hydatid infection of the heart is rare and the clinical presentation is usually insidious but there is always the lethal hazard of cyst perforation. Early diagnosis and an integrated treatment strategy are crucial. The results of surgical treatment of heart echinococcosis are better than the conservative strategy only. Extraction of the cyst combined with chemotherapy peri or post operative aiming to decrease the recurrences, consists the lege artis method of encountering this medical entity. Surgical excision was performed and the patient had an uneventful recovery and follow up at six and twelve months

Protective Effects of Silymarin against Doxorubicin-induced Toxicity

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of silymarin on doxorubicin-induced toxicity to the rat kidney, heart, and liver. Materials and methods: A single dose of 10 mg/kg doxorubicin was injected intraperitoneally (ip) in the doxorubicin group. The silymarin group received silymarin (100 mg/kg) every other day. In the doxorubicin + silymarin group, silymarin was injected ip at 100 mg/kg dose for 5 days before doxorubicin administration (10 mg/kg, single ip injection) and then continued daily thereafter until euthanization. On the seventh day after doxorubicin injection, eight animals from each group were decapitated and liver and heart samples were obtained. The remaining eight animals of each group continued to receive silymarin every other day, till euthanized on the twenty first day. Serum was separated for determination of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx), catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), creatinine, urea, AST, ALT, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) activities. Histopathological and electron microscopic examinations of heart, kidney and liver sections were also performed. Results: Doxorubicin caused a significant increase in serum NO levels compared to controls. Silymarin pretreatment group lowered these. Histopathological and electron microscopic examinations of kidney, heart, and liver sections showed doxorubicin to cause myocardial and renal injury which was levv evident in silymarin treated rats. Conclusion(s): Results of the present study indicate that silymarin significantly protected doxorubicin-induced toxicities to the rat kidney, heart, and liver, thus suggesting its administration as a supportive care agent during anti-cancer treatment featuring doxorubicin

The evaluation of deaths due to methyl alcohol intoxication

Background: Methanol poisoning is a serious medical, social and economic problem that may cause severe illness or death. After methanol ingestion, central nervous system depression, headache, dizziness, nausea, lack of coordination, and confusion begins. Once the initial symptoms have passed, a second set of symptoms arises, 10 to 30 hours after the initial exposure to methanol, including blurring or complete loss of vision and acidosis. Methanol poisoning by ingestion is a world-wide problem, and in some regions it is connected with high morbidity and mortality. The lethal dose of methanol in humans shows pronounced individual differences ranging from 15 to 500 ml. Methods: The records of the First Specialization Board of the Council of Forensic Medicine between 2002 and 2010 were reviewed retrospectively for all methyl alcohol poisoning cases. Results: There were 383 cases recorded. 360 (94%) of total fatalities were men and 23 (6%) were women. The age range was between 17 and 89. Although patients were conscious, cooperative, oriented at first, deteriorated general health state, metabolic acidosis and neurologic sequelae with severe electrocardiographic (ECG) changes were seen in progress of time. The laboratory findings and MRI imaging method were applied to assess progress and medical treatment. Unfortunately severe acidosis, central nervous system (CNS) sequelae and a lethal outcome occurred. The methyl alcohol blood concentrations ranged from 0 to 826 mg per 100 ml. The most common macroscopic and microscopic finding was lung edema, cerebral and cerebellar hemorrhage, ischemic changes in the brain and optic neuritis. Putaminal necrosis and hemorrhage, brainstem petechial hemorrhage, myocardial acute ischemic changes, thalamic and hypothalamic hemorrhage were detected rarely. Conclusions: This is the first study to report postmortem findings, clinical reports, crime scene reports and eye witness accounts to investigate methyl alcohol poisoning cases from medico-legal point of view in Turkey. Methanol poisoning by ingestion is a world-wide problem with high morbidity and mortality. For preventing methanol deaths, both awareness and public education must be increased. © 2017, Scientific Publishers of India. All rights reserved

Experimental Lactococcus garvieae infection in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum 1792: a comparative histopathological and immunohistochemical study

WOS: 000334071700007PubMed ID: 23957738The aim of this study was to induce Lactococcus garvieae infection in young and adult fish through different routes [intraperitoneal (IP) and immersion (IM)] and to investigate the pathogenesis and histopathological and immunohistochemical findings comparatively. For this purpose, a total of 180 rainbow trout (90 young, 20 +/- 5g and 90 adult, 80 +/- 10g) obtained from a commercial fish farm were used. The fish were divided into eight groups, four experimental groups (Young-Adult IP groups and Young-Adult IM groups, each contain 30 fish) and four control groups (Young-Adult IP Control groups and Young-Adult IM control groups, each contain 15 fishes). The experimental study was conducted using L.garvieae, and confirmatory identification was performed by PCR. The sequence result of the PCR amplicon of 16S rDNA from isolate L.garvieae LAC1 was determined and deposited in the GenBank database under accession number . Fish in the IP groups were intraperitoneally administered an inoculate containing 10(6)cfumL(-1) bacteria 0.1mL. In the IM groups, fish were kept in inoculated water containing 10(8)cfumL(-1) bacteria for 20min. Mortality as well as clinical and pathological findings was recorded daily, and significant differences in macroscopic and microscopic results were observed between the IP and IM administration groups. All tissue samples were immunohistochemically stained by the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex and immunofluorescence (IF) methods using polyclonal antibody to detect L.garvieae antigens. In immunoperoxidase staining in the IP groups, positive reactions to bacterial antigens were most commonly seen in the spleen, kidney, heart, liver, peritoneum and swim bladder. In the IM groups, bacterial antigens were most commonly found in the eye, gill, spleen and kidney. In the IF method, the distribution of antigens in tissue and organs was similar to the reactions with immunoperoxidase staining. Finally, in this experimental study, an important correlation was seen between the distribution of L.garvieae antigens and lesions developing in many organ and tissues.Adnan Menderes University Scientific Research Projects UnitAdnan Menderes University [VTF-11001]This study was supported by Adnan Menderes University Scientific Research Projects Unit (Project no: VTF-11001)