Stroke associated with Mycoplasma hominis infection: a case report

Background Mycoplasmas are the smallest prokaryotic microorganisms in nature. Many cases of stroke post-Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection have been reported, particularly in the pediatric population. However, Mycoplasma hominis infection has not previously been associated with stroke. Case presentation We report the case of a 36-year-old Greek woman who presented with an extensive stroke with an unspecified cause. She had a concurrent genital infection with Mycoplasma hominis for an unknown duration. Conclusion An association may exist between stroke and the immune response to Mycoplasma hominis infection.

VICE'S SECRET: PRODICUS AND THE CHOICE OF HERACLES

In a well-known parable, told by Xenophon but credited by him to the sophist Prodicus, the young Heracles setting out on the road meets two women whose appearance turns out to be in accord with their characters and names, which are soon proclaimed by each to be Virtue and Vice. The former comports herself as a proper Greek woman should, ‘becoming to look at and freeborn by nature, her body (σῶμα) adorned with purity, her eyes with shame, her stature with moderation (τὸ δὲ σχῆμα σωφροσύνῃ), dressed in white’ (transl. Mayhew). Vice, on the other hand, is self-absorbed and slutty: ‘well nourished to the point of fleshiness and softness, made up to appear whiter and redder than she was in fact’, τὸ δὲ σχῆμα ὥστε δοκεῖν ὀρθοτέραν τῆς φύσεως εἶναι, ‘with wide-open eyes, dressed to show off her ripeness, often checking herself out and seeing whether anyone was looking at her, often even looking at her own shadow’.

The Ideal of Female Beauty in Greek Tombstone Inscriptions and Writings of Early Christian Authors

The extant remains from both Classical and Hellenistic periods portray a body of a Greek woman in all its beauty. They do not cover what was once revealed. On the contrary, they bring the female beauty to the centre of attention. This freedom of expression gradually disappears and a body is exposed only when portraying a woman with colourful past to show her failures. This paper introduces Greek tombstone inscriptions that captured female beauty for the future generations. Upon this, a question arises: what do these inscriptions mean to a casual reader? What is their purpose? What value did a beautiful woman have in the ancient society? Was she somewhat different from those around her? How did emerging Christianity react to the Greek ideal of beauty? What ideas were adopted and what ideas were firmly rejected? These and many other questions have arisen during the study of the inscriptions that engage people even today.

Pregnancy Complications in a-Thalassemia (Hemoglobinopathy H): A Case Study

Thalassemia intermedia (TI) is a clinical definition which represents a wide spectrum of thalassemia genotypes but mainly includes patients who do not require or only occasionally require transfusion. An uncommon case of a 32-year-old Greek woman, para 1, at the 22nd week + day 3 of gestation with thalassemia intermedia (she was splenectomized), where her pregnancy was complicated with portal vein thrombosis, splenic thrombosis, and partial HELLP, is described. This is a generally uncommon event in thalassemia intermedia. She had no transfusion as her hematologist consulted and she took anticoagulation therapy. Thus, we present for the first time in the literature a case of HbH a-thalassemia pregnant woman whose pregnancy was complicated with portal vein thrombosis, splenic vein thrombosis, and partial HELLP; she was treated with anticoagulation therapy and she had a successful outcome.

Preservative Monitoring of a Greek Woman with Hydrops Fetalis due to Parvovirus B19 Infection

Primate erythroparvovirus 1 (parvovirus B19) is a member of theErythrovirusgenus of the Parvoviridae family and it is one of the few members of the family known to be pathogenic in human. B19 infection is common and widespread with the virus being associated with numerous rheumatologic and haematologic manifestations. More specifically, maternal infection with parvovirus B19 during pregnancy can cause severe anemia which may lead to nonimmune hydrops or fetal demise, as a result of fetal erythroid progenitor cells infection with shortened half-life of erythrocytes. We present a rare case reported in the Greek population, of subclinical transient reticulocytopenia due to B19 parvovirus infection, in an asymptomatic pregnant woman, without medical history of hemoglobinopathy, and with the presence of hydrops fetalis during the third trimester of her pregnancy.