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A novel methodology for the diagnosis of acute infections using FTIR microspectroscopy (FTIR-MSP) data on blood components and cluster analysis is presented. Blood samples were collected from 11 patients suffering from various infections and 16 age-matched healthy human controls. Blood components such as white blood cells, red blood cells, and plasma were isolated using standard procedures and FTIR-MSP of these components was utilized. A cluster analysis of the FTIR spectra was performed. The spectra obtained from the three blood components of patients were different from those of controls. The FTIR spectra of white blood cells from patients suffering infections were significantly different from the controls. Cluster analyses of averaged FTIR-MSP spectra of white blood cells provided 100% classification between patients and healthy controls.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common malignancy in children, but remarkable progress in methods of chemotherapy has increased the cure rate to 80%. The leukemic cells called blasts are eliminated within 7 days of chemotherapy. Clinically, the blast count is monitored directly with the use of blood smears on the basis of specific genetic markers and immunophenotyping methods such as flow cytometry. In this article, we present preliminary results, obtained with the use of Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy and cluster analysis, of an approach to monitoring the progress made with chemotherapy in 1 B-cell and 2 T-cell pediatric ALL patients. Our results indicated that the biological marker derived from the spectra did not provide accurate prediction of the progress made with chemotherapy. However, cluster analysis of FTIR-MSP spectra provided good classification of the samples with and without blasts, which correlate satisfactorily with clinical data. Extensive studies are required to substantiate our findings statistically which may have potential application of FTIM in the diagnosis and follow-up of various types of malignancies.

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) accounts for majority of the childhood leukemia. Outcome of children with ALL treatment has improved dramatically. Sensitive techniques are available today for detection of minimal residual disease in children with ALL, which provide insight into the effective cytotoxic treatment. Here, we present a case study, where lymphocytes isolated from two children before and after the treatment were characterized using microscopic Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. Significant changes in the absorbance and spectral pattern in the wavenumber region between 800-1800 cm-1 were found after the treatment. Preliminary analysis of the spectra revealed that the protein content decreased in the T-lymphoma patient before the treatment in comparison to the age matched controls. The chemotherapy treatment resulted in decreased nucleic acids, total carbohydrates and cholesterol contents to a remarkable extent in both B and T lymphoma patients.© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Two rare cases of peritoneal encapsulation causing partial intestinal obstruction are described. Both were operated on, and one of them had a "cocoonlike" appearance. The characteristics and differences of peritoneal encapsulation and abdominal cocoon are discussed.

Background Cholelithiasis is the gallstone disease (GSD) where stones are formed in the gallbladder. The main function of the gallbladder is to concentrate bile by the absorption of water and sodium. GSD has high prevalence among elderly adults. There are three major types of gallstones found in patients, White, Black and Brown. The major chemical component of white stones is cholesterol. Black and brown stones contain different proportions of cholesterol and bilirubin. The pathogenesis of gallstones is not clearly understood. Analysis of the chemical composition of gallstones using various spectroscopic techniques offers clues to the pathogenesis of gallstones. Recent years has seen an increasing trend in the number of cases involving children. The focus of this study is on the analysis of the chemical composition of gallstones from child and adult patients using spectroscopic methods. Methods In this report, we present FTIR spectroscopic studies and fluorescence microscopic analysis of gallstones obtained from 67 adult and 21 child patients. The gallstones were removed during surgical operations at Soroka University Medical Center. Results Our results show that black stones from adults and children are rich in bilirubin. Brown stones are composed of varying amounts of bilirubin and cholesterol. Green stones removed from an adult, which is rare, was found to be composed mainly of cholesterol. Our results also indicated that cholesterol and bilirubin could be the risk factors for gallstone formation in adults and children respectively. Fluorescence micrographs showed that the Ca-bilirubinate was present in all stones in different quantities and however, Cu-bilirubinate was present only in the mixed and black stones. Conclusions Analysis based on FTIR suggest that the composition of black and brown stones from both children and adults are similar. Various layers of the brown stone from adults differ by having varying quantities of cholesterol and calcium carbonate. Ring patterns observed mainly in the green stone using fluorescence microscopy have relevance to the mechanism of the stone formation. Our preliminary study suggests that bilirubin and cholesterol are the main risk factors of gallstone disease.