São Paulo medical journal = Revista paulista de medicina
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The stethoscope is a universal tool in the hospital that is in direct contact with many patients and can therefore be a vector in the dissemination of bacterial infections. ⋯ Stethoscopes presented a high rate of contamination and their use without precautions can spread nosocomial infections.
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Measurements of bone density taken by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry are the most accurate procedure for the diagnosis of osteoporosis. This procedure has the disadvantage of measuring the density of all mineral components, including osteophytes, vascular and extra vertebral calcifications. These alterations can influence bone density results and densitometry interpretation. ⋯ Osteophytes and lumbar spine fractures can overestimate bone density interpretation. The interpretation of densitometry results should be carried out together with the interpretation of a simple lumbar spine x-ray in elderly women.
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Alterations of the p53 tumor suppressor gene are correlated with a critical step in the development of many human cancers. The tumor suppressor gene functions include regulation of the cell cycle and the cellular response to DNA damage, initiation of DNA repair and replication, induction of apoptosis and promotion of cell differentiation. ⋯ Smears from ten cases of cervical lesions were analyzed for status of exons 5-8 of the p53 gene using PCR/SSCP. HPV infection was also screened by the PCR method using two PCR primer sets. Changes in the p53 gene were observed in a case of squamous carcinoma and a case of asymptomatic cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade III (CIN III). High-risk HPV was detected in both cases showing that HPV infection and p53 mutation are not exclusive events.
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It has been reported that the equilibrium between the erythrocyte protease calpain I and its physiological inhibitor calpastatin is disrupted in patients with essential hypertension. ⋯ The final activity of non-purified calpain I upon its own physiological substrate, which was the approach utilized in this study, may more adequately reflect what happens in red cells. Under such conditions no imbalance favoring calpain I activity increase was observed. The protective factor provided by calpastatin against calpain I activity may diminish under hypertension.
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The association between psoriasis and hypoparathyroidism has been reported by several authors, and it has been suggested that abnormalities in calcium homeostasis may be involved in the development or exacerbation of psoriasis. However, so far there have only been two reports of pseudohypoparathyroidism associated with psoriasis. ⋯ Two siblings with psoriasis associated with pseudohypoparathyroidism were presented. The first patient was a 24-year-old white male with disseminated erythrodermic pustular psoriasis that began 2 months before admission. He had had a history of mental retardation, recurrent otitis, seizures and arthralgia from the age of 11 years onwards. He presented the characteristic phenotype of Albright osteodystrophy: short stature, obesity, round facies, broad forehead, short neck and brachydactylia. He adopted a position of flexed limbs and showed proximal muscle weakness and a positive Trousseau sign. He had clinical signs of hypocalcemia (0.69 mmol/l ionized calcium and 3.2 mg/dl total calcium), hyperphosphatemia (6.6 mg/dl), hypomagnesemia (1.0 mEq/l), hypoalbuminemia (3.1 g/dl), normal serum intact PTH levels (45.1 pg/ml), primary hypothyroidism (13.2 mU/ml TSH, and 4.7 mg/dl total T(4)), hypergonadotrophic hypogonadism (116.0 ng/ml LH, 13.2 mU/ml FSH and 325.0 ng/dl testosterone), osteoporosis, and diffuse calcifications in soft tissues and in the central nervous system. The second case was a 14-year-old white girl with a history of psoriasis vulgaris from the age of five years onwards, and antecedents of mental retardation. She presented signs of Albright osteodystrophy (short stature, round facies, obesity, short neck, brachydactylia), hypocalcemia (ionized calcium of 1.08 mmol/l and total calcium of 6.7 mg/dl) hyperphosphatemia (9.4 mg/dl), elevated serum PTH levels (223.0 pg/ml), osteoporosis, and hypergonadotrophic hypogonadism (7.0 mU/ml LH, 9.3 mU/ml FSH and undetectable estradiol levels).