Animals ; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic ; adverse effects ; Fluorouracil ; adverse effects ; Male ; Rats ; Spermatozoa ; abnormalities

Diabetic Neuropathies ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Skin ; innervation ; Sympathetic Nervous System ; physiology

In general, testicular artery (TA) usually arises from the antero-lateral part of the abdominal aorta below the origin of the renal arteries at second lumbar vertebrae level. Very rarely variations in the origin of the testicular arteries are observed. We here report a rare case of bilateral unusual origin and course of the testicular artery. On the right side, testicular artery aroused from the aorta about 0.5cm above the origin of the renal artery and gave off inferior suprarenal artery. In contrast, left testicular artery springs from the pre-hilar branch of the left renal artery, 2cm before reaching the hilum of kidney. On both sides, testicular arteries descended in front of the hilar structures of the kidney. Since, the origin and course of the testicular artery is important to consider during surgical and diagnostic interventions, knowledge of such variation may be helpful in avoiding diagnostic and surgical errors and adverse consequences especially during laparoscopic approaches.

AIMTo observe the effect of tamoxifen citrate on spermatogenesis and tubular morphology in rats.

METHODSThe effect of tamoxifen citrate i.g. at doses of 400 and 800 mg.kg(-1).day(-1) in 0.1 mL olive oil for 30 days on seminiferous tubular morphology, seminiferous epithelial diameter (STD), epithelial height (SEH), epididymal sperm count and percent abnormal sperm were evaluated at day 1, 12 and 36 after treatment. Controls were given the vehicle.

RESULTSThe higher dose resulted in tubular atrophy on day 31. The STD, SEH and sperm count were decreased and the abnormal spermatozoa increased in a dose-dependent manner with the maximal effect on day 36.

CONCLUSIONTamoxifen citrate induces tubular shrinkage and atrophy and sperm abnormality at a dose-dependent manner.

Animals ; Epithelial Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; Male ; Rats ; Seminiferous Tubules ; anatomy & histology ; drug effects ; Sperm Count ; Spermatogenesis ; drug effects ; physiology ; Tamoxifen ; pharmacology

AIMTo evaluate the effect of tamoxifen citrate on male reproductive system of rat.

METHODSGroups of male rats were gavaged with tamoxifen at doses of 200 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1), 400 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) or 800 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) in 0.1 mL olive oil for 10 consecutive days. Controls were treated with 0.1 mL olive oil. Rats were anesthetized and killed on d 3, d 15 or d 35 after the last dose. Testes were collected, processed for paraffin embedding, sectioned at 5 microm thickness, stained with HE and analyzed microscopically.

RESULTSThere was a dose-dependent increase in the occurrence of seminiferous tubular distortion with germinal cell sloughing. The highest dose increased the number of multinucleated giant cells on d 3 and d 15.

CONCLUSIONTamoxifen citrate induces multinucleated giant cells and germinal epithelial sloughing in a dose-dependent manner and these changes are detrimental to male fertility.

Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal ; toxicity ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Giant Cells ; drug effects ; ultrastructure ; In Vitro Techniques ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Seminiferous Tubules ; cytology ; drug effects ; Tamoxifen ; toxicity ; Testis ; cytology ; drug effects

Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) is a rare inherited disorder that presents as abnormally elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and premature heart disease, requiring frequent intervention through lipid apheresis for management. The risk of perioperative cardiac events is higher in patients with HoFH because of its pathophysiological manifestations in the vascular system. Careful cardiac precautions and anesthetic assessments are necessary to ensure patient safety. In the following case report, we discuss the clinical course and anesthetic considerations for a 14-year-old girl with HoFH undergoing sedation for dental extractions and mandibular molar uprighting in an outpatient oral surgery clinic. Considerations included the use of heparin in the patient's weekly plasma lipid apheresis treatment. In order to reduce the risks of peri- and postoperative bleeding and perioperative cardiac events, the operation was scheduled for 4 days after apheresis. This allowed for adequate heparin clearance, while also reducing the likelihood of possible cardiac events. A literature review revealed no results for the outpatient management of patients with HoFH undergoing sedation for noncardiac procedures. Our reported case serves as a clinical example for physicians to be utilized in the future.

OBJECTIVES: Radiotherapy for head and neck tumors is known to potentially induce sensorineural hearing loss, which is possibly due to damage to the cochlear and/or auditory pathways. Since the success of cochlear implantation depends on a functional auditory nerve, this paper aims to study the hearing outcomes of cochlear implantation in irradiated ears. METHODS: A retrospective study of cochlear implant recipients from our institution who had previously received radiotherapy for head and neck cancers was performed. A control group with cochlear implants who did not receive radiotherapy was recruited. A review of case records, speech discrimination scores (SDS), and a validated subjective questionnaire in the form of the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) was administered to the study group who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Global and category scores in both groups were averaged and statistically compared via non-inferiority (NI) testing. RESULTS: With the control group (n=8) as the reference, the -DeltaNI was defined, and a one-tailed lower 95% confidence interval was used for the irradiated group (n=8). The APHAB degree of improvement (%) results were as follows: global, 28.9% (19.32%, -DeltaNI=16.3%); ease of communication, 67.0% (58.36%, -DeltaNI=37.5%); background noise, 53.2% (44.14%, -DeltaNI=26.8%); reverberation, 41.7% (28.85%, -DeltaNI=32.7%); and aversiveness, -46.2% (-67.80%, -DeltaNI=-56.9%). The SDS was 66.9% (56.02%, -DeltaNI=51.0%). From the results, lower 95% confidence interval limits of global APHAB, SDS, ease of communication, and background noise scores of the irradiated group were within the defined -DeltaNI boundary and hence are not inferior to the control. The categories of reverberation and aversiveness could not be proven, however. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated marked improvements in hearing measured both objectively and subjectively. The overall hearing outcomes after cochlear implantation for post-irradiated patients were not worse than patients who have had no prior irradiation to ear structures.
Auditory Pathways ; Cochlear Implantation ; Cochlear Implants ; Cochlear Nerve ; Deafness ; Ear ; Head ; Hearing ; Hearing Aids ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Humans ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; Neck ; Noise ; Retrospective Studies ; Speech Perception ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Though anomalies of the superior belly of the omohyoid have been described in medical literature, absence of superior belly of omohyoid is rarely reported. Herein, we report a rare case of unilateral absence of muscular part of superior belly of omohyoid. During laboratory dissections for medical undergraduate students, unusual morphology of the superior belly of the omohyoid muscle has been observed in formalin embalmed male cadaver of South Indian origin. The muscular part of the superior belly of the omohyoid was completely absent. The inferior belly originated normally from the upper border of scapula, and continued with a fibrous tendon which ran vertically lateral to sternohyoid muscle and finally attached to the lower border of the body of hyoid bone. The fibrous tendon was about 1 mm thick and received a nerve supply form the superior root of the ansa cervicalis. As omohyoid mucle is used to achieve the reconstruction of the laryngeal muscles and bowed vocal folds, the knowledge of the possible anomalies of the omohyoid muscle is important during neck surgeries.
Cadaver ; Formaldehyde ; Humans ; Hyoid Bone ; Laryngeal Muscles ; Male ; Neck ; Scapula ; Tendons ; Vocal Cords

Here we present a unique case of variation in the branching pattern of the coeliac trunk. In the present case, the coeliac trunk was replaced by two separate arterial trunks. The first arterial trunk bifurcated into the left gastric and the left hepatic arteries. The second arterial trunk bifurcated into a splenic artery and a hepato-gastroduodenal trunk. The hepato-gastroduodenal trunk presented an unusual course and termination. The right hepatic artery arising from the hepato-gastroduodenal trunk also showed a variant course. Such rare variations are important for gastroenterological surgeons and interventional radiologists due to increase in number of transplantation surgeries and live donor liver transplantations.
Hepatic Artery ; Humans ; Liver Transplantation ; Portal Vein ; Splenic Artery ; Tissue Donors

BACKGROUND: We investigated the whole genome sequence (WGS) of a carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolate belonging to the global clone 2 (GC2) and predicted resistance islands using a software tool. METHODS: A. baumannii strain YU-R612 was isolated from the sputum of a 61-yr-old man with sepsis. The WGS of the YU-R612 strain was obtained by using the PacBio RS II Sequencing System (Pacific Biosciences Inc., USA). Antimicrobial resistance genes and resistance islands were analyzed by using ResFinder and Genomic Island Prediction software (GIPSy), respectively. RESULTS: The YU-R612 genome consisted of a circular chromosome (ca. 4,075 kb) and two plasmids (ca. 74 kb and 5 kb). Its sequence type (ST) under the Oxford scheme was ST191, consistent with assignment to GC2. ResFinder analysis showed that YU-R612 possessed the following resistance genes: four β-lactamase genes bla(ADC-30), bla(OXA-66), bla(OXA-23), and bla(TEM-1); armA, aadA1, and aacA4 as aminoglycoside resistance-encoding genes; aac(6')Ib-cr for fluoroquinolone resistance; msr(E) for macrolide, lincosamide, and streptogramin B resistance; catB8 for phenicol resistance; and sul1 for sulfonamide resistance. By GIPSy analysis, six putative resistant islands (PRIs) were determined on the YU-R612 chromosome. Among them, PRI1 possessed two copies of Tn2009 carrying bla(OXA-23), and PRI5 carried two copies of a class I integron carrying sul1 and armA genes. CONCLUSIONS: By prediction of resistance islands in the carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii YU-R612 GC2 strain isolated in Korea, PRIs were detected on the chromosome that possessed Tn2009 and class I integrons. The prediction of resistance islands using software tools was useful for analysis of the WGS.
Acinetobacter Infections/*drug therapy/microbiology ; Acinetobacter baumannii/drug effects/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology/*therapeutic use ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics ; Carbapenems/*therapeutic use ; DNA, Bacterial/chemistry/*genetics/metabolism ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Genomic Islands/genetics ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Multilocus Sequence Typing ; Plasmids/genetics/metabolism ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis, DNA