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Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) inhibitors, in particular infliximab, have shown effectiveness as a third-line treatment option in relapsing, refractory sarcoidosis that requires an increased dose of corticosteroids plus one or more anti-sarcoidosis disease modifying drugs [...]

A 78-year-old male presented at the emergency room complaining of dry cough, fever up to 38.5 °C and malaise for 1 month. He had visited a general practitioner and received amoxicillin 500 mg three times a day for 7 days for a presumed chest infection, without improvement. He had a history of diabetes and arterial blood hypertension, for which he was receiving metformin 1000 mg twice a day and amlodipine 10 mg a day for 7 years. He reported no alcohol abuse and was an ex-smoker of 20 pack-years (quit 30 years ago). He had no recent hospitalisations or any medical interventions., Acute interstitial pneumonias mimic infectious pneumonias. Radiology signs point to, but usually don't establish, diagnosis. http://bit.ly/3b3P1iK

There is a lack of a national organized screening program for colorectal cancer in Greece, and asymptomatic detection is usually the result of individual decisions. The collection of epidemiologic endoscopic data from a population of interest would therefore provide valuable information for future treatment guidance, especially during periods of economic austerity. The current cross-sectional study included 380 asymptomatic, average risk individuals undergoing screening colonoscopy for the first time, during the period of one year in a tertiary public hospital in Athens. Descriptive and analytic epidemiologic data were analyzed. The prevalence of adenomas and advanced lesions were compared between the younger and older cohort, and a regression model was applied for risk evaluation. The mean age of participants was 63 years, and 53% were male. A significant proportion of patients presented with polyps (51.5%) and 25% of them had lesions in the proximal colon. The prevalence of adenomas and advanced adenomas was 29.5 and 11.8%, respectively. Similar high prevalence rates of lesions were identified in the cohort of individuals 50 years of age). Regression models identified age, number and size of polyps as the major risk factors for the detection of adenomas. The increase of advanced lesions in the older and younger cohort requires confirmation by larger studies. Overall, the results of the present study indicate the requirement for a well-organized screening colonoscopy program starting from as early as 40 years of age. This program may confer an additional endoscopic burden with socioeconomic consequences in a country with limited health resources.

The effect of hepatic stimulator substance (HSS) administration on cadmium (Cd) induced hepatotoxicity was studied in the rat. HSS was extracted from the liver of weanling rats (Hepatology 1988; 7: 100–106). Rats were injected with 2.5 mg CdCl 2 /kg body weight to induce acute liver injury, evaluated 24 h later. Serum enzyme activities of alanine amino-transferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and histological parameters were used for the estimation of Cd-induced hepatotoxicity. HSS, at doses of 10, 20 and 40 mg protein/kg body weight, injected 10 h after Cd administration, caused dose-dependent decrease of hepatic injury. HSS suppressed the elevation of AST and ALT induced by Cd, in a dose-dependent manner. Liver histological changes indicated that HSS reduced the severity of hepatic lesion induced by Cd administration and reversed Cd-induced hepatotoxicity. In conclusion, our results suggest that HSS administration protects the liver against Cd-induced injury.

Ganglioneuroma is a rare benign tumor, usually seen in children and young adults, arising in the central nervous system. Most of the noncranial ganglioneuromas are located in the posterior mediastinum and the retroperitoneum. We report the first case of a primary, adult paratesticular ganglioneuroma that presented as a paratesticular mass. The patient underwent surgical intervention for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.