Nontraumatic acute thoracic aortic syndromes (AAS) describe a spectrum of life-threatening aortic pathologies with significant implications on diagnosis, therapy and management. In this context, multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) is the gold standard due to its intrinsic diagnostic value; its performance approaches 100% sensitivity and specificity, and it is accepted as ...

Metabolic syndrome is commonly accompanied by an elevated cardiovascular risk with high morbidity and mortality. The alterations of the arterial vasculature begin with endothelial dysfunction and lead to micro- and macrovascular complications. The remodeling of the endothelial basal membrane, that promotes erosion and thrombosis, has a multifactorial pathogenesis that includes ...

Abstract Purpose: To present a case of penetrating aortic ulcer with extraordinary etiology. Case Report: A 57-year-old man was admitted with acute retrosternal and interscapular pain. He was a demolition worker and often used a pneumatic drill to which he pressed his chest as he drilled. Clinical examination showed previously ...

Long segment narrowing of the thoracoabdominal aorta or so-called middle aortic syndrome, is an uncommon lesion presenting variably with physical signs of coarctation of the aorta, hypertension, renal insufficiency and or mesenteric ischemia. The etiologies are multiple, but Takayasu's arteritis is a leading cause. Variable involvement of diverse systemic arterial ...

Acute aortic syndrome encompasses classic aortic dissection, intramural haematoma, penetrating aortic ulcer, and iatrogenic or traumatic transection of the aorta. These acute aortic pathologies present with characteristic 'aortic pain', and are managed by several operative and endovascular techniques.

Platypnea-orthodeoxia is a rare syndrome characterized by dyspnea and hypoxia induced by the upright position and relieved by the supine position. Several factors related to atrial anatomy can facilitate shunting through an atrial septal defect; in many cases, the syndrome is associated with patent foramen ovale and right-to-left shunt, and ...

Objectives: To report time from the onset of symptoms to hospital presentation in Australian and New Zealand patients with subsequently confirmed acute coronary syndrome, and to identify factors associated with prehospital delay time in these patients. Methods: Patients with coronary artery disease enrolled in a randomized clinical trial testing an ...

Acute aortic dissection is a rare clinical entity that mainly affects patients older than 50 years. It is unusual in younger patients and its presence has been traditionally associated with trauma, Marfan syndrome, bicuspid aortic valve and pregnancy. We present here, a case of a 30 year old pregnant female ...

At the present time, there is no widely agreed definition of postprandial lipaemia (PPL). This lack of a shared definition limits the identification and treatment of patients with exaggerated PPL as well as the evaluation of potential therapeutic agents. PPL is a complex syndrome characterized by non-fasting hypertriglyceridaemia that is ...

This study examined the association between objectively measured sedentary activity and metabolic syndrome among older adults. Data were from 1,367 men and women, aged ≥ 60 years who participated in the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Sedentary time during waking hours was measured by an accelerometer (<100 ...

Velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS; 22q11.2 deletion syndrome) represents one of the highest known risk factors for schizophrenia. Insofar as up to 30% of individuals with this genetic disorder develop schizophrenia, VCFS constitutes a unique, etiologically homogeneous model for understanding the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Using a longitudinal, case-control design, anatomic magnetic resonance ...

Marfan syndrome is an autosomal dominantly inherited disorder of connective tissue with prominent skeletal, ocular, and cardiovascular manifestations. Aortic aneurysm and dissection are the major determinants of premature death in untreated patients. In previous work, we showed that extracts of aortic tissues from the mgR mouse model of Marfan syndrome ...

Without verification of longitudinal measurement invariance, researchers cannot be certain whether observed change in the metabolic syndrome reflects true change or changes in assessment or structure of the construct over time. This research tested longitudinal measurement invariance of a 1-factor model of the metabolic syndrome during the course of 6 ...

HISTORY AND ADMISSION FINDINGS: A 79-year-old female patient was referred with acute renal failure requiring haemodialysis and haemoptysis. INVESTIGATIONS: Kidney biopsy showed extracapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis with crescents in 7 from 15 glomeruli and sclerosis in the remaining. A computed tomography scan of the chest showed evidence of alveolar haemorrhage. Serologic ...

Ortner syndrome or cardiovocal syndrome refers to hoarseness of voice due to recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis secondary to cardiovascular disease. We present three cases of Ortner syndrome in infants with congenital heart disease. All the three cases had moderate to severe pulmonary hypertension with moderately dilated pulmonary artery. We believe ...

PURPOSE: No standard case definition exists for interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome for patient screening or epidemiological studies. As part of the RAND Interstitial Cystitis Epidemiology study, we developed a case definition for interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome with known sensitivity and specificity. We compared this definition with others used in interstitial ...

An 83-year-old woman presented to the emergency department (ED) via emergency medical services with the chief complaint of "strokelike symptoms." Physical examination revealed altered mental status, tachycardia, hypotension, and a large nonpulsatile periumbilical mass. Bedside ultrasound revealed a 9-cm abdominal aortic aneurysm with absent central flow. Computed tomography scan demonstrated ...

INTRODUCTION: We describe two men with marked symptoms following orgasm. In each case, the symptoms were consistent with those found in postorgasm illness syndrome (POIS). AIM: Further elucidation of the cause of the patients' symptoms. METHODS: Both cases were investigated for causes of POIS with biochemical, hormonal, neurological, autonomic, cardiological, ...

The prenatal diagnosis of Bartter syndrome can be based on the high chloride level in the amniotic fluid. Microscopic examination of the placenta in untreated cases showed extensive mineralization in the chorionic villi in previous studies. Two cases were presented at 26-29 weeks of gestation with severe polyhydramnios. The mothers ...

OBJECTIVE: To present our experience of amniocentesis for the prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome due to unbalanced homologous acrocentric rearrangements and its recurrence in subsequent pregnancies. CASE REPORT: From January 1987 to September 2009, six cases with rea(21q21q) Down syndrome were diagnosed among 31,194 patients who underwent amniocentesis at Mackay ...

Lemierre's syndrome is a potentially fatal disease that usually presents with oropharyngeal infection, followed by sepsis, thrombosis of the internal jugular vein and septic emboli. Most cases are caused by the Gram-negative, anaerobic Fusobacterium necrophorum. We present two patients with an atypical presentation of Lemierre's syndrome and a review. These ...

Maffucci syndrome is a rare congenital non-hereditary disease characterised by subcutaneous haemangiomata and multiple enchondromata. We present a case of an intermediate grade myxoid chondrosarcoma of the tracheal cartilage in a 34-year-old man with a history of Maffucci syndrome. Chondrosarcoma of the trachea are extremely rare tumours. A review of ...

A prospective study of all cases of Streptococcus suis blood or CSF culture positive admitted to Lamphun Provincial Hospital in northern Thailand was carried out. Fifty-three cases of S. suis were identified, which comprised 70% of all viridans streptococci cases. The majority of cases (88.6%) were contracted orally and 83.0% ...

Primary hyperaldosteronism (Conns&#x2032; syndrome) commonly presents with a combi-nation of clinical features of hypokalemia and hypertension. Atypical presentations like normo-tension, normokalemia and neurological ailments are described in few cases. We encountered two such cases, the first presenting with acute neurological complaint and second case having insig-nificant hypertension. Both the patients ...

Neurological syndromes secondary to acute aortic dissection (AAD) are uncommon and usually consist of focal deficits after an embolic cerebral infarction. This article reports the observation of an AAD with the chief complaint of transient acute memory impairment-that is, a non-usual stroke-like symptom.

The prognosis of Tako-Tsubo syndrome (TTS) is believed to be favorable. In most of the cases, there is a complete recovery of left ventricular (LV) function and of symptoms, but previous cases have been described with low-output syndrome, deaths within the first 24 h from acute heart failure, and some ...

The aim of the study was to measure the positive predictive value (PPV) and sensitivity of operational case definitions of 13 syndromes in a surveillance system based on the Emergency online database of the Lazio region. The PPVs were calculated using electronic emergency department (ED) medical records and subsequent hospitalizations ...

syndrome (SARS) is an emerging transmissible disease first reported in Asia in February 2003. The disease is characterized by acute onset of fever with nonproductive cough, myalgia, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing (1). Approximately 14 % of case-patients require mechanical ventilation (1,2). The syndrome is caused by the previously ...

Fusobacteria are most often associated with the classic presentation of Lemierre's syndrome consisting of a sore throat, internal jugular vein thrombophlebitis, and septic emboli to the lungs. Unusual presentations due to the causative organism, F. necrophorum, may occur. We present such a case involving a 17-year-old male patient with pyomyositis ...

We report a case of pharmacologic regression of Urrets-Zavalia syndrome, following deep lamellar keratoplasty for severe keratoconus. Sympatholytic and parasympathomimetic drops were administered and a progressive reduction of mydriasis and restoring of pupillary kinetics were observed. Four years after surgery, it was resulting in only slight residual anisocoria.

PURPOSE: To describe the role of triple agent immunosuppression in severe recalcitrant cases of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective chart review of five cases of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome. RESULTS: All cases were treated with oral prednisolone, azathioprine, and cyclosporine in combination, and rapid remission was observed in all patients. The ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether abnormal atrial morphology, which is well recognized in autopsy series, is detectable by fetal echocardiographic examination of the four-chamber view, and can therefore be utilized to differentiate left from right isomerism in heterotaxy syndromes. METHODS: This study was a retrospective review of 30 cases with prenatally ...

Tight hamstrings syndrome (THS) has been attributed to a number of disorders. Most authors argue that tight hamstring syndrome is determined in the majority of cases by a protruding or slipped vertebral disc. The term "disc related tight hamstring syndrome" is usually used to describe the condition. However, tight hamstring ...

Since diagnosis of dysmorphic syndromes is a domain with incomplete knowledge and where even experts have seen only few syndromes themselves during their lifetime, documentation of cases and the use of case-oriented techniques are popular. In dysmorphic systems, diagnosis usually is performed as a classification task, where a prototypicality measure ...

BACKGROUND: The association of Meniere's syndrome with endolymphatic hydrops has led to the formation of a central hypothesis: many possible etiologic factors lead to hydrops, and hydrops in turn generates the symptoms. However, this hypothesis of hydrops as being the final common pathway has not been proven conclusively. SPECIFIC AIM: ...

Kearns-Sayre syndrome, first described by Kearns and Sayre in 1958, is a rare disorder consisting of ptosis, limited movement of both eyes and atypical retinal pigmentary change (salt-pepper like appearance). Most cases have shown an increase in the concentration of mitochondria and ragged-red fiber under Gomori-trichrome staining on muscle biopsy. ...

A distinct form of Moebius sequence is associated with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. There have been five such cases to date. We now add a further case with detailed neurologic, endocrine, and autopsy findings and offer a hypothesis drawing parallels with the already established basis of hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism in the X-linked form ...

Imaging of the gallbladder and biliary tract has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. Magnetic resonancecholangiopancreatography provides a noninvasive alternative to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography in the diagnosis of Mirizzi syndrome. In this laparoscopic era, when diagnosis is certain, surgeons must choose between a laparoscopic and ...

Raeder first described Horner's syndrome with ipsilateral head pain due to paratrigeminal organic disease, but most subsequent reports of this syndrome were idiopathic. Our recent case prompted a review of past reports of idiopathic Raeder's syndrome. Because in recent years the features of Raeder's syndrome have been recognized as common ...

PURPOSE: To describe an unusual case of Duane's syndrome. METHODS: Individual case report. RESULTS: A skull base meningioma was discovered in a woman with Duane's syndrome who presented with recurrent, large-angle esotropia and uncharacteristic atrophy of the lateral rectus muscle on magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan. CONCLUSION: Neuroimaging may be ...

We attempted to prove the occurrence of generalized vasospasms in cases with eclampsia/preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome and to suggest the existence of an angiospastic syndrome of pregnancy. Sixteen cases with severe preeclampsia were evaluated. Among them, three cases were complicated by eclampsia and one case with HELLP syndrome. Cranial magnetic ...

OBJECTIVE: The report describes an apparently greater incidence of Capgras syndrome among the Maori population compared with the European population, in the most easterly catchment area served by Tauranga Hospital in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty. METHOD: Over the last year we have become aware of five cases of Capgras ...

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: Sonographic (US) findings of Chilaiditi syndrome have been rarely reported in the literature. We reviewed 18 cases of Chilaiditi syndrome to pinpoint its US pattern. RESULTS: (1) US showed gas echoes of different sizes superimposed over the entire liver in two cases and over the right hepatic ...

A case study of Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) is presented with discussion of anatomical localization of injury and comparisons of pre- and postinjury linguistic, phonetic, and acoustic speech characteristics. Because the patient's injury and symptoms were unrelated to previously injured left frontal cortex, and in light of another case history ...

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ocular, facial and radiological signs of Crouzon's syndrome in a group of older patients who had not undergone previous craniofacial surgery. METHODS. Six cases of Crouzon's syndrome, four of whom belonged to a three-generation family, were examined systemically, ophthalmologically and ...

We present four cases of the 'opercular syndrome' of volitional paresis of the facial, lingual, and laryngeal muscles (bilateral facio-glosso-pharyngo-masticatory paresis). Case histories and CT brain images are presented, along with a review of the literature concerning this long-recognized but little-known syndrome. The neuroanatomic basis of the syndrome classically involves ...

In this study, we investigated the prevalence of full syndrome (FS), partial syndrome (PS) and subclinical syndrome (SCS) eating disorders in a sample of 356 high school girls. We identified two cases of anorexia nervosa (0.56%), 14 of bulimia nervosa (3.94%) and one of binge eating disorder (0.28%) according to ...

To evaluate the radiological features of mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS), 15 cases were collected for review in this hospital, retrospectively (1985-1995). Eight cases of Hurler syndrome, two cases of Hunter syndrome, two cases of Sanfilippo syndrome and three cases of Morquio syndrome were classified. Varying severity of dysostosis multiplex is the general ...

The newly introduced simplified syndromic approach for the mamagement of sexually transmitted diseases was used in a case of balanoposthitis. Gram staining from the glans penis confirmed the case as bacterial balanoposthitis. Topical zinc-sulphadiazine cream was found to be very effective in curing bacterial balanoposthitis within seven days.

Seventeen patients with a progressive bradykinetic syndrome and post-mortem findings of neurofibrillary degeneration in cerebral cortex, subcortical nuclei and brainstem were studied. Seven fulfilled currently accepted clinical diagnostic criteria for Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome, whereas the remainder who lacked supranuclear gaze palsy had alternative clinical diagnoses (idiopathic Parkinson's disease, six cases; cerebrovascular ...