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The most common etiology of lymphedema in our environment is tumoral and, generally, it is due to treatment of the cancer itself. However, the initial presentation of prostate carcinoma as lymphedema is very rare. In fact, there aren't very few documented cases in literature. We described the case of a patient who was admitted into the hospital to be examined for lymphedema in his genitals and legs. Our patient was diagnosed of prostate carcinoma with retroperitoneal adenopathies. The best treatment in this case is block-hormonal therapy. Prognosis is very bad and the survival rate is poor within five years of diagnosis.

Objectives: To assess the routine indication of chest roentgenogram after thoracentesis in function of iatrogenic pneumothorax causation, following a procedure protocol., Patients and Methods: Prospective study of 104 consecutive thoracentesis procedures performed in 76 patients. The procedure was protocolized and after each thoracentesis a chest roentgenogram was obtained within 6 hours after the procedure. The attending physician completed a questionnaire relative to patients data characteristics of the pleural effusion., Results: Two pneumothorax were noted following thoracentesis (2%) which did not require pleural drainage. These pneumothorax occurred in patients with parapneumonic pleural effusions., Conclusions: The routine practice of chest roentgenogram after thoracentesis does not seem to be warranted and should be individualized. The performance of thoracentesis by physicians in training period, with procedure protocolization, minimizes the risk of pneumothorax.

When faced with a patient with exercise-induced syncope, it is important to exclude heart disease. Nevertheless, neurally-mediated syncopes should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis and the tilt table test is essential to establish this diagnosis. We report the case of an 11-year-old boy, who presented recurrent exercise-induced fainting. The results of cardiac and neurologic tests were negative. The tilt table test with pharmacological challenge with isoproterenol infusion induced arterial hypotension and presyncope, and a diagnosis of neurally-mediated syncope was made. After initiating beta-blocker treatment, the patient has remained asymptomatic during a follow-up of 10 months.

A 44 year-old man with a type I Neurofibromatosis (NFI) and an intercostal mass is presented. By means of percutaneous fine needle aspiration punction under CT control, this tumor could be diagnosed of neurofibroma. It is important to remark not only the role of helical CT with anatomical reconstruction in the diagnosis of intercostal tumors, but also that intercostal location of neurofibromas has been rarely reported in the literature. Because of frequent association between NFI and neoplasms, it is always necessary to perform histological study of every new tumor that appears in the course of this entity.

In order to determine the changes in the clinico-pathological pattern of admitted patients in an internal medicine department, 240 patients/year were compared during the years 1984 and 1989. A predominant proportion of males was registered (3:2); which did not vary by the year. An increased tendency of the median age (55.78 vs 58.48 years) was also established. The medium time of admission (8.98 vs 9.5 days) and mortality rate (6.3% vs 7.1%) did not change. A high rate (greater than 50%) of cardiovascular and respiratory disease was found on analyzing the cause of admission; in 1989 infection caused by HIV was detected and admissions to optimize the treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus were observed which did not exist in 1984. A slight but surprising decrease in admissions due to acute ischemic cardiopathy and significant decrease of admissions owing to respiratory disease were also noted. The majority of the patients admitted had a baseline disease (85% in 1984 and 87.1% in 1989). The knowledge of these data and their variations in every hospital department will, undoubtedly, assist in achieving a better use of technical and human health resources.