M Laajam | PubMed Health

PubMed1987

Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis.

Multiple phaeohyphomycotic brain abscesses caused by Cladosporium species occurred in a 55 year old woman. No immunological abnormality could be detected. The disease ran a protracted course for a total of 20 months before she died from sudden rupture of an abscess loculus into the ventricular system. Course was characterised by spontaneous remissions and relapses totally independent of adequate doses and prolonged regimes of all the three available anti-fungal chemotherapeutic agents, namely amphotericin B, flucytosine and ketoconazole. Three surgical procedures were carried out; and surgical intervention appeared to be the only modality of treatment capable of prolonging the life or altering the course of the disease. An interesting transitory pulmonary phase of phaeohyphomycosis resembling miliary tuberculosis was noticed. This may help to explain the portal of entry and mole of spread of the fungus to the brain. A dematiaceous fungus was isolated from these abscesses. Mycologic features and histology of brain lesions are described.

Amphotericin B↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Diagnostic yield of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in relation to age and gender: a study of 10112 Saudi patients.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The availability of fiberoptic endoscopy has made it relatively easy to evaluate symptoms of upper gastrointestinal disorders with a significant degree of accuracy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To determine the pattern of upper gastrointestinal lesions in the Saudi population with particular reference to the influence of age and gender, 10,112 patients were studied. RESULTS: No abnormal findings were detected in 26.9%. The frequency of ulcer lesions was 13.7% while non-ulcer, mucosal inflammation was diagnosed with a frequency of 33.7%. In the young (less than 20 years of age), the most common lesion was duodenal ulcer or duodenitis, whereas in the elderly (above 60 years of age), esophagitis, hiatus hernia and esophageal varices were the most frequently diagnosed. The highest mean ages were observed in the group of patients with gastric and esophageal cancers (mean ages of 58.8 and 65.1 years, respectively). There was no gender-related differences with regard to the mean age of patients in all the diagnostic categories. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides baseline data on the age distribution of major upper gastrointestinal diseases among the Saudi population. The peculiarities of upper gastrointestinal endoscopic findings in advanced age are clarified. The influence of demographic changes on the pattern of these diseases in Saudi Arabia can be evaluated against our findings in the future.

Age Factors↗