BACKGROUND Dried blood spots (DBS) on filter paper have been a successful and economical matrix for neonatal screening. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to develop and evaluate an optimized method for DBS folate analysis and to assess DBS folate stability. DESIGN DBS were eluted from paper by sonication in 5 g ascorbic acid/L containing 0.1% (by vol) Triton X-100 and hemoglobin folate values (HF...

BACKGROUND The use of simplified methods for viral load determination could greatly increase access to treatment monitoring of HIV patients in resource-limited countries. OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to optimize and evaluate the performance of the Roche COBAS Taqman assay in HIV-RNA quantification from dried blood spots (DBS) and dried plasma spots (DPS). STUDY DESIGN EDTA blo...

Our objective was to validate a commercially available ELISA to measure antibody titers against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in dried blood spots (DBS) to replace a previously validated assay for DBS that is no longer available. We evaluated the precision, reliability, and stability of the assay for the measurement of EBV antibodies in matched plasma, fingerprick DBS, and venous blood DBS samples f...

A 17-year-old male and a 28-year-old female presented with cavernous angioma and venous angioma colocated in the same region, and manifesting as convulsions. The cavernous angiomas were extirpated without damage to the venous angioma. No postoperative neurological deficits were observed. The patients have been free of convulsions without anticonvulsant medication for 2 years. Early extirpation ...

A varix occurring with a cerebral venous angioma is a rare combination of cerebral vascular malformations. The most common vascular anomaly associated with a venous angioma is a cavernous angioma. We report a case of bilateral supratentorial venous angioma with 2 varices involving the angioma situated on the right frontotemporal region. Multiple subependymal veins were seen in the right suprate...

BACKGROUND Nonmalignant skin conditions are believed to be common in adults, although there are very few community-based studies to determine their exact frequency. OBJECTIVE To record the prevalence of common, nonmalignant skin conditions in adults in central Victoria, Australia. METHODS A total of 1457 respondents from a random selection of adults aged 20 years and over from Maryborough, ...

Angioma serpiginosum is an uncommon, acquired vascular nevoid disorder with capillary dilation and proliferation in the papillary dermis. The eruptions are asymptomatic and characterized by grouped, erythematous to violaceous, serpiginous and punctate macules. The condition usually appears in females during adolescence on unilateral lower extremities and the buttocks. We report a rare case with...

The imaging features of a cavernous angioma, which originated from the meninges, are presented. The patient harbored a second cavernous angioma within the brain parenchyma. Cavernous angioma should be included in the differential diagnosis of dural lesions, especially when other cavernous angiomas are present.

We present the case of a 58-year-old man who suffered a left thalamic intracerebral hemorrhage. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an incidental venous angioma in the left frontal lobe. Further elucidated by cerebral angiography and functional MRI, this venous angioma exhibited arteriovenous shunting. The arterialized venous angioma represents an uncommon, "mixed" intracranial vasc...

Medullary hemorrhage is rare, and the causative role of hypertension still remains controversial. Cavernous angioma and other vascular malformations have been reported to cause medullary hemorrhage. A 53-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for vertigo. Medullary hemorrhage and multiple small hypointense lesions were detected on T2-star weighted magnetic resonance imaging (T2*W MRI). One a...