Actinomycosis is a rare form of disease that is caused by Actinomyces such as A. israelii and A. bovis, which may take the form of an acute or a subacute disease progression. 55% of this disease arises in the head and neck area, and the remaining 45% of the disease occurs in the chest and the gastrointestinal tract, Our cases show the rare routes of invasion of actinomycosis. The first case was a 40-year-old man complaining of headache for 5-6 months and of a recently developed trismus. Soft brownish bulging mass was observed in his posterior nasopharyngeal wall. CT showed the skull base involvement, and biopsy confirmed actinomycosis. The patient was successfully cured with penicillin. The second case was a 49-year-old female presenting a firm and fragile mass in her left nasal cavity. She was treated with endoscopic removal of the mass including the adjacent mucosa followed by ampicillin administration for 8 months. The last case was a 78-year-old female having a painful mass on the right cheek, Diagnosis was confirmed with the fine needle aspiration biopsy. She was successfully treated with surgical excision and antibiotic treatment. We present, with the appropriate review, 3 cases of actinomycosis that developed in three different areas of the head.
Actinomyces ; Actinomycosis* ; Adult ; Aged ; Ampicillin ; Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Cheek ; Diagnosis ; Disease Progression ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Head* ; Headache ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Mucous Membrane ; Nasal Cavity ; Nasopharynx ; Neck* ; Penicillins ; Skull Base ; Thorax ; Trismus

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degree of liver injury after injection of ethanol, hot normal saline and hot hypertonic saline into normal rat liver. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty white rats weighing 200-300g were used. There were three groups (ethanol, hot normal saline, and hot hypertonic saline), and these were divided into subgroups (5 rats in each) according to amount of injected material and duration. Under either anesthesia, each drug (ethanol -0.05ml, 0.1ml, 0.2ml ; hot normal saline -0.1ml, 0.2ml, 0.4ml ; hot hypertonic saline -0.1ml, 0.2ml, 0.4ml ) was introduced directly into the liver. Pathologic specimens were obtained 7 and 14 days after injection. RESULTS: With regard to histologic change after 7 days, the ethanol group showed less tissue damage such as coagulation necrosis and inflammatory infiltration-than the hot saline group. There was however, no significant difference among the three groups in tissue damage 14 days. Nor was there any significant histologic difference between the different saline concentration groups. CONCLUSION: Histologically, there was no significant difference among the three groups in tissue damage at 14 days, and it is suggested that this is due to irreversible change in damaged tissue. Tissue damage was caused mainly by the high temperature of saline rather than by high osmolarity.
Anesthesia ; Animals ; Ethanol* ; Liver* ; Necrosis ; Osmolar Concentration ; Rats*

BACKGROUND: Long-term treatment of immunosuppresant CsA causes interstitial inflammation and fibrosis in the kidney. Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays the most important role in the pathogenesis CsA-induced renal injury. Accordingly we evaluated the anti-inflammatory effect of angiotensin II blockades using losartan (LSRT) in a rat model of chronic CsA nephropathy. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats, initially weighing 225 to 250 g, were used. After 1 week of a low-salt diet (0.05% sodium), the rats were randomized into four groups and treated for 4 weeks. The Vehicle (VH) group was treated with olive oil. The VH+LSRT group was treated with olive oil and LSRT. The CsA group received CsA. The CsA+LSRT group was simultaneously treated with CsA and LSRT. The anti-inflammatory effect of LSRT was evaluated with C-reactive protein (CRP) expression, osteopontin (OPN) mRNA and protein expression, and ED-1 infiltration RESULTS: The CsA treatment caused an increase in serum creatinine and a decrease in creatinine clearance compared with that of the VH group. Intrarenal CRP positive cells were significantly decreased in the CsA+LSRT group compared with the CsA group (38.0 +/- 2.1 vs. 65.0 +/- 5.1, p<0.01). In the CsA group, the degree of OPN mRNA expression was increased compared with that of the VH group. But, OPN mRNA expression was decreased in the CsA+LSRT group (387.5 +/- 56.6% vs. 719.8 +/- 58.5%, p<0.05). In the degree of ED-1 infiltration, we had a similar results such as CRP and OPN mRNA expression (CsA group 30.5 +/- 8.0 vs. CsA+LSRT 86.0 +/- 11.0, p<0.01). CONCLUSION: We concluded that the anti-inflammatory effects of angiotensin II blockade has a potential protective effect against CsA-induced renal injury.
Angiotensin II* ; Angiotensins* ; Animals* ; C-Reactive Protein ; Creatinine ; Diet, Sodium-Restricted ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Kidney ; Losartan ; Male ; Models, Animal* ; Olea ; Osteopontin ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Renin-Angiotensin System ; RNA, Messenger ; Olive Oil