São Paulo medical journal = Revista paulista de medicina
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Obesity and asthma are serious and growing problems. Since adipose tissue produces inflammatory substances, the aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of asthma among students at schools in São José do Rio Preto (Phase 1), and to corroborate the hypothesis for an association between obesity and asthma among these students (Phase 2). ⋯ In our study group, we did not find any association between increased BMI and the prevalence of asthma.
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Hypothyroidism is more prevalent in the elderly and its symptoms can be confused with other changes due to aging. Doctors caring for the elderly need to be attentive to this diagnostic possibility. This case report case is notable not only because it presents a rare complication of hypothyroidism (kidney failure), but also because patients with chronic kidney failure of any etiology may suffer increased renal dysfunction as a result. ⋯ This was a 66-year-old male outpatient with a history of generalized edema over the preceding eight years, with periods of worsening, that was intractable to treatment with diuretics. Physical examination revealed bradycardia (heart rate: 52 bpm), pallor, dry and infiltrated skin, macroglossia, edema in the lower limbs and a palpable thyroid with hard consistency. Laboratory tests showed: creatinine 3.9 mg/dl; urea 95 mg/dl; potassium 6.0 mEq/l; thyroid-stimulating hormone > 100 mUI/ml; triiodothyronine 0.01 ng/dl; free thyroxin 0.01 ng/dl; antithyroglobulin 31 IU/ml (normal values: < 40 IU/ml); antithyroperoxidase 85 IU/ml (normal values: < 15 IU/ml); creatinine clearance 30 ml/min/1.73 m(2); and proteinuria 122 mg/24 h. After five months of treatment with thyroxin (100 mcg/day), the patient returned without any symptoms and presented the following test results: urea 48 mg/dl; creatinine 1.4 mg/dl; creatinine clearance 67 ml/min/1.73 m(2); potassium 4.2 mEq/l; thyroid-stimulating hormone: 20.85 mUI/ml; free thyroxin: 0.71 ng/dl. Hypothyroidism alone can cause renal impairment or worsen renal function in preexisting illnesses. Its treatment can stabilize the clinical condition, or possibly improve it.
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Case Reports
Absence of the musculocutaneous nerve: a rare anatomical variation with possible clinical-surgical implications.
The musculocutaneous nerve is one of the terminal branches of the lateral fasciculus of the brachial plexus, and is responsible for innervation of the flexor musculature of the elbow and for skin sensitivity on the lateral surface of the forearm. Its absence has been described previously, but its real prevalence is unknown. ⋯ A case of absence of the musculocutaneous nerve that was observed during the dissection of the right arm of a male cadaver is described. The area of innervation was supplied by the median nerve. From this, three branches emerged: one to the coracobrachialis muscle, another to the biceps brachii muscle and the third to the brachialis muscle. This last branch continued as a lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve. This is an anatomical variation that has clinical-surgical implications, considering that injury to the median nerve in this case would have caused unexpected paralysis of the flexor musculature of the elbow and hypoesthesia of the lateral surface of the forearm.
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Epithelioid hemangioma or angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia is an uncommon benign vascular neoplasm that is usually located on the face or neck. Exceptionally, it has been described affecting the colon, with only two such cases described in the worldwide literature. The aim here was to present a case of primary epithelioid hemangioma of the sigmoid colon with confirmation by immunohistochemical examination. ⋯ A 37-year-old woman had had a complaint of intermittent abdominal pain for six months. Two months after the condition started, she began to present changes in her intestinal habit, with evacuations containing blood and mucus and a weight loss of 4 kg over this period. At physical examination, a palpable mass was noted in the lower left quadrant of the abdomen. Neoplasia of the colon was clinically suspected and she underwent colonoscopy. This demonstrated the presence of a vegetating sessile lesion of approximately 5 cm in diameter, at a distance of 36 cm from the anal margin. It occupied 80% of the intestinal lumen. A biopsy collected during the examination suggested a diagnosis of neoplasia of vascular origin. After surgical resection, histopathological examination of the resected specimen confirmed the diagnosis of epithelioid hemangioma of the colon, which was backed up by the immunohistochemical panel (factor VIII, Ki-67, CD-34). At present, three years after the surgery, the patient is asymptomatic, she has recovered her normal weight and she has normal findings from control colonoscopy. Despite the rarity of neoplasia of vascular origin, this possibility should be considered in the differential diagnosis for colorectal tumors.
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Case Reports
Clinicopathological features of 45,X/46,Xidic(Y) mosaicism and therapeutic implications: case report.
45,X/46,Xidic(Y) mosaicism demands careful and thorough study because of both its variable clinical features and its potential complications. ⋯ The present case relates to a three-year-old girl with the mosaic karyotype 46,X,idic(Y)(q11.2)[23]/45,X[6]. She had no signs of virilization or Turner's syndrome phenotype, but she was referred to our hospital because she presented reduced growth rate, abnormal facies and a melanotic nevus. After examination, she underwent prophylactic gonadectomy because of the risk of gonadoblastoma. Cytogenetic analysis on the streak gonads and blood showed significant differences in the 45,X cell line between these two tissues. The presence of the sex-determining region Y (SRY) gene did not determine male differentiation, which meant in the present case that the predominance of the X cell line in the gonadal tissue was probably due to the determining factor for female sexual differentiation.