Upsala journal of medical sciences
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Review Case Reports
A case of hypoglycemic hemiparesis and literature review.
An 89-year-old man with diabetes treated with metformin 500 mg/day and glimepiride 4 mg/day was hospitalized because of hypoglycemic right hemiparesis and dysarthria (casual glucose value 1.8 mmol/L), which resolved quickly following administration of 40 mL of 40% dextrose. Hemiparesis is a rare symptom (4.2%) of hypoglycemia. There are about 200 case reports of hypoglycemic hemiparesis. ⋯ On imaging studies, abnormal findings were frequently observed in the internal capsule or splenium of the corpus callosum. The mechanism of hemiparesis is not fully understood. The existence of cases in which hypoglycemia cannot be distinguished from stroke on imaging studies suggests the importance of measurement of the blood glucose level when the symptoms of stroke are first recognized.
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A wide range of health problems has been reported in elderly post-stroke patients. ⋯ Almost all patients had a health problem during the year, but few occurred in a given week. Cognitive and communication problems were more common in interview data than record data. Co-occurrence may be used to identify subtle health problems.
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The family of platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) plays a number of critical roles in normal embryonic development, cellular differentiation, and response to tissue damage. Not surprisingly, as it is a multi-faceted regulatory system, numerous pathological conditions are associated with aberrant activity of the PDGFs and their receptors. ⋯ The cellular distribution of these proteins in tumors indicates that glial tumor cells are stimulated via PDGF/PDGFR-α autocrine and paracrine loops, while tumor vessels are stimulated via the PDGFR-β. Here we summarize the initial discoveries on the role of PDGF and PDGF receptors in gliomas and provide a brief overview of what is known in this field.
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Hyaluronan (HA) is a component of the extracellular matrix in lung tissue and is normally present at low concentrations in blood. HA is rapidly cleared from blood by the liver. Increased concentrations of plasma HA have been found in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We investigated changes in HA levels in plasma, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and lung, and their relationship to pretreatment with a leukocyte elastase inhibitor in a rat model of ARDS. ⋯ The decrease in lung HA may be involved in the development of pulmonary edema in this ARDS model, and leukocyte elastase may be one cause of this decrease. In addition, an elevated plasma HA level may be an indicator of lung injury.
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To evaluate the diagnostic possibilities of lung ultrasonography (LUS) in detecting pulmonary complications in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). ⋯ LUS enables the detection of pulmonary complications in preterm infants with RDS and has the potential to reduce the number of CXRs. The specific guidelines for its use should be provided in a more extensive study.