Behçet's disease (BD) is difficult to diagnose in children because patients often do not have characteristic symptoms and pediatricians have a low awareness of BD. We report on the case of BD in a 12-year-old boy that presented as endocarditis. Prednisolone, started after infective endocarditis had been ruled out, had a dramatic effect. Cardiac involvement in BD and the differential diagnosis of endocarditis are discussed.

Behcet Syndrome↗

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Lymphangioma of the transverse colon treated by transendoscopic polypectomy: report of a case and review of literature.

This report concerns a 73-year-old man complaining of intermittent, dull, umbilical pain on one month's duration. Barium-enema examination and endoscopy revealed a hemispheric cystic tumor at the midportion of the transverse colon, and the presumptive diagnosis was cystic submucosal tumor of the colon. Transendoscopic polypectomy was performed and the bulk of the lesion was locally excised from the colonic mucosa. Histologic examination revealed cavernous lymphangioma originating from the submucosa.

Aged↗

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Impaired cardiorespiratory response to brief sudden strenuous exercise in the postoperative tetralogy of fallot patients: a ten-second pedaling test.

No studies of cardiorespiratory response to brief, sudden, strenuous exercise in patients after tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) repair have been reported. We investigated the exercise capacity of TOF patients using a ten-second pedaling test designed to study cardiorespiratory responsiveness to brief, sudden, strenuous exercise. We assessed exercise capacity using a ten-second pedaling test (ten seconds maximal of voluntary cranking as fast as possible against an ergometer's inertial resistance), coupled with a conventional ramp-type progressive exercise test at a constant rate to the limit of tolerance, in eight male postoperative TOF patients and eight male control subjects. In the ten-second pedaling test, there were no significant differences in the integrated areas of heart rate (HR) and oxygen uptake () responses between the TOF patients and controls, but there were significantly longer decreasing phase time constants of HR and responses in the TOF patients than in the controls. In the conventional exercise test, the endurance time, peak-HR, and peak- did not differ between the groups. The TOF group, with a normal exercise capacity assessed by a conventional exercise test, had an impaired cardiorespiratory response to brief, sudden, strenuous exercise assessed by a ten-second pedaling test.

Adolescent↗

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Serous retinal detachment in patients under systemic corticosteroid treatment.

PURPOSE: To understand the pathophysiology of central serous chorioretinopathy or bullous retinal detachment in patients under systemic corticosteroid treatment. Little is understood about the mechanism of the development of serous retinal detachment. METHODS: Three patients who had developed central serous chorioretinopathy or bullous retinal detachment during systemic corticosteroid administration were examined by fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography. RESULTS: Indocyanine green angiography revealed dilated choroidal veins, delayed choroidal filling, intrachoroidal hyperfluorescence, and patchy hypofluorescence at or near the sites of dye leakage examined by fluorescein angiography. CONCLUSIONS: The primary change caused by central serous chorioretinopathy is thought to occur in the choroid, followed by the breakdown of the outer blood-retinal barrier in the pigment epithelium, resulting in the development of serous retinal detachment.

Adult↗

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Conjugation of Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase with succinylated gelatin: pharmacological activity and cell-lubricating function.

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and succinylated gelatin (succinyl gelatin) were conjugated to improve in vivo pharmacological activity of SOD. Lysyl residues of human recombinant Cu,Zn-SOD were cross-linked with carboxyl residues of succinyl gelatin using 1-ethyl-3-[3- (dimethylamino)propyl]carbodiimide. Various chemical and pharmacokinetic parameters of the conjugate were determined. Analysis by atomic absorption spectrometry and amino acid composition revealed that the conjugate was composed of about 2.9 mol of succinyl gelatin (with a mean molecular weight of 23,000) to 1 mol of SOD and exhibited an apparent mean molecular weight of 98,000. The conjugate retained almost 100% of its original activity on a molar basis. When the succinyl gelatin-conjugated Cu,Zn-SOD (Suc-gel-SOD) was administered intravenously to mice, its plasma half-life was prolonged to 29.7 min compared with 4.5 min for native SOD. Tissue distribution analysis revealed that intravenously administered Suc-gel-SOD showed a much greater accumulation than native SOD in the liver followed by in decreasing order the kidney, the lung, and the spleen; native SOD was excreted more rapidly into urine before it accumulated in tissues. Furthermore, Suc-gel-SOD exhibited lower antigenicity and immunogenicity than native SOD, and it had a better therapeutic effect against ischemic edema of the foot pad in mice. The conjugate was found to accumulate more than native SOD in the ischemic foot pad. A newly added property of the conjugate is cell-lubricating activity, which facilitated cell passage through micropores and reduced hemolysis during cell passage in vitro.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

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Evoked spinal potentials as a monitor of spinal cord viability.

To determine the diagnostic and prognostic significance of evoked spinal potentials (ESPs), reproducible, compressive spinal cord lesions were produced in dogs under ESP monitoring. Both motor recovery and histologic findings were investigated in relation to the amplitude and persistence of the ESPs. Animals that had moderate, anterior compression (51% of canal width) in which the ESP was maintained had considerable motor recovery. Among animals that had submaximal compression (60%), motor recovery was good in those with persistent ESPs. The compression ratio at which ESPs terminated (67%) was termed the "electrophysiologic maximum tolerable compression." Continuous ESP expiration resulted in irreversible lesions and loss of motor recovery. Compressive spinal cord lesions of reproducible, graded severity were employed for the first time in our study of ESP. Persistence and amplitude were both useful in predicting not only the severity and extent of this type of lesion but also the recovery.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Maternal regulation of sibling interactions in the preschool years: observational study in Japanese families.

Characteristics of three maternal regulating behaviors--(1) reference to one sibling's actions or emotional states toward the other sibling, (2) encouragement of sibling interactions, (3) distraction of one sibling's attention away from the other sibling-and their associations with children's positive and negative behaviors toward their siblings were investigated through semistructured home observations for 40 sibling pairs (1-4 years, 2-8 years) and their mothers in Japanese families. Maternal regulating behaviors were observed more frequently when the younger sibling was still in an early developmental stage in the preschool years, although the findings were modest. The older sibling's negative behaviors toward the younger sibling positively correlated with maternal distraction toward the younger; alternatively, the younger sibling's negative behaviors do not correlate with maternal distraction but do correlate with maternal encouragement directed toward the older sibling. Reliable associations were found between maternal regulating behaviors and prosocial exchanges between siblings; maternal reference to the younger sibling's actions or emotional states directed toward the older sibling was associated with the older sibling's positive behavior toward the younger sibling. Maternal regulating behaviors during mother-sibling triadic interactions were associated with the quality of sibling relationships.

Child↗