BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a spindle cell malignancy of endothelial cell origin. The tumor has been demonstrated to be associated with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) or Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-like virus (KSHV). Previous studies have revealed the distribution of unique viral strains in different ethnic populations. Eastern Taiwan has an ethnically mixed populat...

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) is the most prevalent of the human prion diseases, which are fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative diseases caused by the infectious prion protein (PrP(Sc)). The origin of sCJD is unknown, although the initiating event is thought to be the stochastic misfolding of endogenous prion protein (PrP(C)) into infectious PrP(Sc). By contrast, human growth h...

This review constitutes an overview of our investigations of aristolochic acid nephropathy, a chronic kidney disease associated with carcinomas of the upper urinary tract. Our studies began by confirming the hypothesis that chronic dietary poisoning by aristolochic acid was responsible for endemic (Balkan) nephropathy. A unique TP53 mutational signature in urothelial tumors and the presence of ...

Dear Editor, Nicolau's syndrome, also called embolia cutis medicamentosa or livedoid dermatitis, is a rare injection site reaction characterized by immediate intense pain at the injection site followed by erythema and a hemorrhagic patch with a livedoid reticular pattern after injections of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), antiepileptics, antibiotics, antihistaminics, corticoster...

In this month's issue of Critical Care, Determann and colleagues report the results of a randomized controlled trial comparing the effects of mechanical ventilation (MV) with two tidal volumes (6 versus 10 ml/kg predicted body weight) on cytokine levels in lung lavage fluid and plasma as a surrogate for early identification of acute lung injury (ALI) and/or acute respiratory distress syndrome (...

OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study were to determine which serum thyroid hormone test best identifies iatrogenic hypothyroidism in cats that develop azotaemia after radioiodine treatment and to determine which thyroid test best differentiates these azotaemic, hypothyroid cats from azotaemic, radioiodine-treated euthyroid cats, as well as from azotaemic cats with chronic kidney disease and ...

introduction iatrogenic patellar fracture is reported as a complication of patella procedures, such as medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction, reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee using bone-patellar tendon-bone technique, and resurfacing the patella in total knee arthroplasty. case presentation a 65-year-old lady with right patella fracture was treated with open ...

bacterial meningitis after spinal and epidural anesthesia is a very rare but serious complication. we report a case of meningitis developing a number of hours after a spinal block for caesarean section. no organism was grown but the csf pattern was suggestive of bacterial meningitis. severe neurological sequelae were present after three months of hospitalization. meningitis is a serious complic...