Co-infection leprosy and tuberculosis: a systematic review

Leprosy and tuberculosis are endemic in several countries. The aim of this study was to describe factors associated with co-infection among both diseases. A systematic review was carried out, following the Quality of Reporting of Meta-analyses, with the PubMed and Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) portals as sources, under eligibility criteria: cross-sectional, cohort, case-control studies or case reports, published in Portuguese, English, French and Spanish, from 2015 to 2020. Studies that dealt with leprosy and tuberculosis not in the context of co-infection were excluded. The initial phase resulted in 1079 articles; 13 went on to a final stage. All were case reports. Thirteen (72.2%) participants were male, aged between 17 and 72 years. Life habits were found in 8 (44.4%) of the articles: 1 (12.5%) reported chronic alcoholism, 1 (12.5%) reported chronic smoking and alcoholism and 1(12.5%) reported chronic smoking, alcoholism and use of illicit drugs. Pathological history was mentioned by 14 (77.8%) patients; 1 (7.1%) reported HIV/AIDS. Three patients (16.6%) described previous history of tuberculosis and/or leprosy. Seven (38.9%) participants reported vaccination with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin. The pulmonary form of tuberculosis predominated and one third of the patients presented resistance to, at least, one tuberculostatic. All cases had multibacillary leprosy. The study did not highlight any comorbidity, and there was no change in the course of the conditions owing to co-infection.

Review article on treatment of lung cancer and newer therapeutic modalities

Introduction- lung cancer remains to be a major health problem globally leading to mortality, the cause of which is linked to chronic smoking, and other contributing factors. Staging- The American joint committee on cancer adopted the 8 th edition of the international association for the study of Lung Cancer's (IASLC) stagingChemotherapy- Several classes of anti cancer drugs based on their mechanism of action are used such as alkylating agents, anti metabolites, antibiotics, mitotic inhibitors, second and third generation EGFR inhibitors Thoracic surgery-Modern surgical techniques, like less invasive video assisted thoracoscopic surgery can be done. Also in radical radiotherapy stereotactic ablative radiotherapy is used to deliver large doses with high precision. Conclusion- immunotherapy is the most revolutionary advance in tumour research which continues to face challenges which if overcame can be an open door for multiple possibilities in the management of lung cancer.

Giant Testicular Cancer: Clinical Picture

Testicular tumour is the most malignant cancer in young males 15 to 34 years of age. Its accounts for 1% of all male cancer and 5% of urological malignancy [1]. The management of this type of cancer is radical inguinal orchiectomy which is the gold standard for the diagnosis and initial management of a suspected testicular cancer. Trans -scrotal orchiectomy is discouraged because scrotal violation is associated with higher rates of local recurrence and altered pathways of metastatic dissemination [2]. We report a young patient 23 years old. History: Chronic smoking, cannabis. Admitted for large bursa evolving for 14 months. The history of the disease dates back to 14 months by the gradual increase in the volume of the bursa with an alteration of the general status with a weight loss estimated at 10kgs. Clinical examination showed: right hemi-scrotum increased in volume with a hard consistency with a left testicle repressed in extreme lateral and some inflammatory lesions. Right testis was not palpable with a cord repulsed and glued to the inguinal orifice. The ultrasound of the scrotal content showed: large right testis hypervascularized with moderate anterior cloisonnae hydrocele, bilateral testicular microlithiasis. Tumor markers: Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) 229IU, beta-Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (beta-hCG) 29.73mUI/ ml, Alpha-Foetoprotein (AFP) 400IU/ml. Patient benefited from a complete pre-operative assessment that did not object to any abnormality. Programmed for a right inguinal orchiectomy and reduction scrotoplasty (Figure 1).

Correlation of Chronic Smoking with Meibomian Gland Dysfunction – A Study at Wardha, Maharashtra, India

BACKGROUND Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is one of the causes of evaporative dry eye disease. It is the terminal duct obstruction of the Meibomian gland and is associated with glandular secretion changes. These changes lead to decreased amount of lipids secretion which accounts for instability of tear film leading to evaporative dry eye disease. Chronic smoking also causes irritative, burning eyes along with unstable tear film. We wanted to study the corelation of chronic smoking with Meibomian gland dysfunction. METHODS This is a hospital based observational cross-sectional study that enrolled a total of 100 subjects having Meibomian gland disease (MGD), out of whom 61 were smokers and 39 were non-smokers. All enrolled subjects underwent tear film breakup time (TBUT), Schirmer I test (SIT) and slit-lamp microscope examination of lid margin abnormalities, Meibomian gland expression as well as meibum. RESULTS Our study found that the patients with Meibomian gland dysfunction with the history of chronic smoking had a remarkably decreased value of tear film break up time (TBUT), Schirmer’s 1 Test which explains the dry eye symptoms as compared to MGD patients without smoking. No significant differences were seen in lid margin irregularity and meibum secretion. Meibomitis is found in 29 smokers with MGD and 5 non-smokers with MGD which is not significant. CONCLUSIONS Chronic smoking is associated with MGD. KEY WORDS Cigarette Smoking, Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, Tear Film Tests

Structural and functional remodeling of the female Apoe-/- mouse aorta due to chronic cigarette smoke exposure

Despite a decline in popularity over the last several decades, cigarette smoking remains a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Yet, the effects of cigarette smoking on vascular structure and function are largely unknown. To evaluate changes in the mechanical properties of the aorta that occur with chronic smoking, we exposed female Apolipoprotein E-deficient mice to mainstream cigarette smoke daily for 24 weeks, with room air as control. By the time of sacrifice, cigarette-exposed mice had lower body mass, but experienced larger systolic/diastolic blood pressure when compared to controls. Smoking was associated with significant wall thickening, reduced axial stretch, and circumferential material softening of the aorta. While this contributed to maintaining intrinsic tissue stiffness at control levels despite larger pressure loads, the structural stiffness became significantly larger. Furthermore, the aorta from cigarette-exposed mice exhibited decreased ability to store elastic energy and augment diastolic blood flow. Histological analysis revealed a region-dependent increase in the cross-sectional area due to smoking. Increased smooth muscle and extracellular matrix content led to medial thickening in the ascending aorta, while collagen deposition increased the thickness of the descending thoracic and abdominal aorta. Atherosclerotic lesions were larger in exposed vessels and featured a necrotic core overlaid by a thinned fibrous cap and macrophage infiltration, consistent with a vulnerable phenotype. Collectively, our data indicate that cigarette smoking decreases the mechanical functionality of the aorta, inflicts morphometric alterations to distinct segments of the aorta, and accelerates the progression of atherosclerosis.