São Paulo medical journal = Revista paulista de medicina
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Essential hyperhidrosis is a frequent disorder causing significant functional impairment. The advent and development of video-assisted thoracoscopic techniques now allows thoracic sympathectomy to be carried out precisely and safety with good results and minimal morbidity. ⋯ Thoracoscopic sympathectomy provides very good results in most patients, with a very low complication rate. However, the assessment of surgical results using conventional methods is imprecise and inaccurate. Different methodology, including quality of life assessment, must be used for comparing results and providing objective data on the results of this operation.
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Since the 1980s, sputum induction by inhalation of hypertonic saline has been successfully used for diagnosing Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in patients infected with HIV. In recent years, sputum induction and its subsequent processing has been refined as a noninvasive research tool providing important information about inflammatory events in the lower airways, and it has been used for studying various illnesses. In asthma, one application is to use sputum inflammatory indices to increase our understanding of complex relationships between inflammatory cells, mediators, and cytokine mechanisms. ⋯ Generally, induction is performed through ultrasonic nebulizers, using hypertonic saline. It is recommended that sputum be processed as soon as possible, with complete homogenization by the use of dithiothreitol. We have also shown in this article an example of a protocol for inducing and processing sputum employing a nebulizer produced in Brazil.
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Adequate knowledge of images consistent with tuberculosis activity is an important resource for tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment. ⋯ Signs suggestive of tuberculosis activity are present in the active disease and are seen via computed tomography. The extent of parenchymal attack significantly decreases following treatment. Such signs may be useful in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.
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Uterine myomas are benign tumors that mostly occur in women of reproductive age at a frequency ranging from 20 to 25%. The symptoms are increased menstrual flow, pain and compressive signs. New treatments have been proposed and uterine artery embolization is one of them. ⋯ The significant reduction in uterine and dominant myoma volume confirms the validity of the treatment of symptomatic myomas by the technique of uterine artery embolization in Brazilian women. There was significant reduction in menstrual flow and duration, as well as better cycle regularity in the women studied. The few adverse effects observed in the sample studied mainly involved pain immediately after embolization.
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Meigs' syndrome consists of a benign ovarian tumor accompanied by ascites and hydrothorax. Elevated serum CA 125 levels in postmenopausal women with solid adnexal masses, ascites and pleural effusion are highly suggestive for malignant ovarian tumor. However, patients with Meigs' syndrome can also have elevated serum CA 125 levels. The authors report a case of Meigs' syndrome with elevated CA 125 level. ⋯ A 65-year-old Brazilian woman had presented progressive dyspnea, weight loss and decline in general condition over the 7 months preceding admission to our service. In another hospital, the patient had been submitted to thoracic drainage due to pleural effusion. With recurrence of the pleural effusion and increase in abdominal volume due to ascites and a pelvic mass, the patient sought our service. Transvaginal ultrasound showed an extensive adnexal solid mass of 16.4 x 10.8 cm located in the pelvis without exact limits, and the serum CA 125 level was elevated. With a preoperative diagnosis of ovarian carcinoma, the patient was submitted to exploratory laparotomy, which revealed a left ovarian tumor. The frozen section diagnosis was thecoma. Total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was performed. The histology of the specimen confirmed the diagnosis of thecoma. The patient was asymptomatic with a normal serum CA 125 level 20 months after the operation.