São Paulo medical journal = Revista paulista de medicina
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Lead poisoning due to retained gunshot bullets is a well-known clinical problem that is fairly frequently described in the literature. The risk factors for this occurrence relate mainly to whether the lead bullet is in contact with the joint fluid or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The treatment for these cases entails chelation therapy while symptoms are shown and definitive surgical removal of the bullet as a potential source of lead. The aim of this paper is to describe a clinical case of lead poisoning due to a retained gunshot bullet in contact with CSF. ⋯ A 42-year-old male was hit by gunshot bullets during a holdup, and one of them was retained in the spinal cord. Six years later, he developed intense low back pain and underwent laminectomy. Nine years later, he then underwent arthrodesis on L5-S1, but he developed intense abdominal pain after the surgical procedure. For five years, he was treated with calcium versenate in five-day cycles, with a good response. The chelation therapy cycles showed great efficacy during symptomatic periods, thus reducing the symptoms and signs of poisoning and promoting great amounts of lead excretion, thereby reducing the total lead burden responsible for the symptoms. Fortunately, over the last four years, the symptoms have improved and the urine levels of aminolevulinic acid (ALA) have declined, to reach complete normalization. This shows that a healing process is probably taking place on the spinal wound, thereby isolating the bullet fragments from CSF contact.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Expression of estrogen and progesterone receptor genes in endometrium, myometrium and vagina of postmenopausal women treated with estriol.
Estriol is an estrogen with considerably weaker stimulatory effects on endometrial proliferation than estradiol. A study was conducted to determine the level of estrogen receptors (ERs) and progesterone receptors (PRs) in women who received 14-day vaginal estriol therapy, compared with those who did not receive this therapy. ER and PR gene expression was analyzed in the endometrium, myometrium and vagina of postmenopausal women treated with estriol. ⋯ The results obtained suggest that the women who received 14 days of treatment with vaginal estriol had higher ER and PR mRNA levels. No difference between these groups regarding endometrial proliferation was observed.
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Differences in human papillomavirus (HPV) types may correlate with the biological potential and invasion risk of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 2 and CIN 3). The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between different combinations of HPV types and CIN severity. ⋯ The severity of high-grade CIN may be aggravated by the presence of HPV types included in the Alpha 9 phylogenetic classification and by infections including HPV 16 and 18, singly or in combination with other HPV genotypes.
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Counting and separating hematopoietic stem cells from different sources has importance for research and clinical assays. Our aims here were to characterize and quantify hematopoietic cell populations in marrow donors and to evaluate CD34 expression and relate this to engraftment. ⋯ We advocate that true stem cells are CD34+/CD45-/CD38-/low-Rh-123 accumulations.
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In the past, changes in tibial slope were not considered when planning or evaluating osteotomies, and success in high tibial osteotomy was related to the alignment and amount of femorotibial angular correction. The aim here was to measure changes in tibial slope after medial opening wedge tibial osteotomy and investigate the effect of tibial slope angle on the clinical results. ⋯ Medial opening wedge tibial osteotomy led to a small increase in tibial slope. No significant correlation was found between increased tibial slope and short-term clinical results after high tibial osteotomy. Other clinical studies are needed in order to establish whether extension or flexion osteotomy could benefit patients with medial compartment gonarthrosis.