Alveolar soft part sarcoma is a slow growing but, highly malignant tumour.
This rare, distinctive sarcoma, typically occurring in young patients was first described by Christopherson et al in 1952.
Do doctors make New Year’s resolution? We have already taken an oath to serve the patients and our community to the best of our ability. I will continue to be a lifelong learner, apart from that I have not made any new resolution for 2016. In this post I want to share 8 medical stories that touched my heart.
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln
Happy 2016 to all my readers.
“Rudolph the red–nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows.”
Everyone has seen pictures of reindeer, for they are the animals that are said to draw the sledge of Father Christmas. Reindeers are protected from the cold by a thick skin and two coats of hair, a long coarse outer one and a fine, woolly inner one. The colour of the outer coat changes from dark brown in summer to a lighter brown in winter.
Reindeer in Norwegian arctic region has a distinct pink coloration at tip of nose.
Can Ince et al studied the functional morphology of the nasal microcirculation in humans in comparison with reindeers. (Why Rudolph’s nose is red: observational study –BMJ 2012;345:e8311).
The nasal microcirculation has important roles such as heating, filtering, and humidifying inhaled air, controlling inflammation, transporting fluid for mucous formation, and delivering oxygen to the nasal parenchymal cells.
The pathophysiology of many nasal conditions, such as congestion and epistaxis, is based on the regulatory mechanisms of the microcirculation.
Nasal mucosa has an important part in the uptake of drugs and responses to allergens.
The introduction of hand-held intravital video microscopes has helped in direct visualisation of the nasal microcirculation in humans.
These imaging instruments have had a special impact on intensive care medicine as they have shown the nasal microcirculation to be the most sensitive haemodynamic indicator of outcome and response to treatment. These instruments have also identified the microcirculation as a key factor in a wide range of other diseases, including diagnostic support and treatment responses in oncology.
Using the technique of hand-held vital video microscopy the authors characterised the microvasculature of the human nose and applied the same technique to reindeer for comparative purposes.
Intravital video microscope showed complex architecture of the nasal microcirculation, including the kinetics of flowing red blood cells, and provided new insights into the adaptive behaviour of vascular structures under varying clinical conditions.
An interesting finding was the presence of gland-like structures in the nasal mucosa. The explanation for the function of these circular vascular structures is mucous secretion. These structures are scattered throughout the nose and maintain an optimal nasal climate during humid weather and extremes of temperature as well as being responsible for fluid transport and acting as a barrier.
The nasal microcirculation in humans consists of hairpin-like vessels, microcirculatory networks, and crypt-like structures surrounded by capillaries.
What does Christmas remind you of ? Mistletoe, holly, Christmas tree, Christmas pudding, and so many wonderful things. When the heart is happy, Christmas can never be dull. It’s not just about feasting and fun. It’s also a time for happy reunions with family and friends.
Mistletoe is known to bring happiness, safety, and good fortune as long as it does not touch the ground. This is probably why it is hung up in homes in Christmas time and is supposed to bring luck to those who kiss under it.
Extracts and preparations from the parasitic plant mistletoe (Viscum album ) have been used in the treatment of cancer for decades.
First recorded use in oncology was by the Dutch physician Ita Wegman who used a mistletoe extraction for the treatment of a breast cancer patient following a recommendation by Rudolf Steiner in 1917.
Extracts from the plant are used in adjuvant cancer therapy mainly as injections.
The most important active agents are lectins, which have cytotoxic and immunostimulating effects.
Mistletoe extracts have low toxicity. No fatal side effects have been reported.
Breast cancer is among the most frequent types of cancer in women worldwide. Current conventional treatment options are accompanied by side effects. Mistletoe is amongst the important herbal medicines traditionally used as complementary remedies.
The benefit of mistletoe in laryngeal cancer treatment requires further investigation, and might be considered in selected patients, as an adjunct or when other conventional therapies have failed.
Mistletoes of the Loranthaceae and Viscaceae are hemiparasitic plants and their preparations in the form of injectable extracts, infusions, tinctures, fluid extracts or tea bags are widely used in various cultures in almost every continent to treat or manage various health problems including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, inflammatory conditions, irregular menstruations, menopause, epilepsy, arthritis, cancer, etc.
In Germany mistletoe extract is one of the most commonly used complementary therapeutic strategies in the treatment of urological tumours.
Clinical effects of mistletoe products include improvement of quality of life, reduction of side effects from chemotherapy and radiation, and possibly increased survival.
In central Europe, white-berried mistletoe (Viscum album) preparations not only are among the most common types of treatments used in integrative medicine but also have been among of the most commonly prescribed cancer treatments in Germany per se in 2010.
By 2017, mistletoe preparations will have been used in the treatment of cancer patients for 100 years.
Further reading
It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious. ~Oscar Wilde
Charisma is not so much getting people to like you as getting people to like themselves when you’re around. ~Robert Brault
Tail of the Pancreas is narrow and usually lies in contact with the inferior part of the gastric surface of the spleen. It is present within the two layers of the splenorenal ligament together with the splenic vessels, to which it is closely related.
Epididymis consist of a tortuous canal which forms the first part of the efferent route from the testis. It consists of central region, or body, a superior enlarged head, and an inferior pointed end, the tail. The lateral surfaces of the head and tail of epididymis are covered by the tunica vaginalis and hence free.
The Superolateral part of Breast is prolonged upwards and laterally towards the axilla, forming the axillary tail, which pass through the deep fascia to lie in close relationship to the pectoral group of axillary lymph nodes.
The cartilage of auricle of the external ear consists of a single piece of elastic fibrocartilage. This cartilage is absent from the lobule and between tragus and beginning of helix. Anteriorly, where the helix bends upwards, there is a small cartilaginous projection – spine of the helix. At its other extremity the cartilage is extended inferiorly as the tail of the helix. The tail of the helix is separated from the antihelix by the fissure antitragohelicina.
The caudate nucleus is an arcuate mass of gray matter which has a head, body and tail. The anterosuperior end is massive and termed head. At the interventricular foramen this narrows into body of the nucleus which tapers imperceptibly into the tail.
Dentate gyrus is a crenated strip of cortex. Anteriorly, the dentate gyrus is continued into the notch of the uncus, where it makes a sharp bend medially across the central part of its inferior surface. This transverse part is smooth and featureless, being termed the tail of the dentate gyrus (band of Giacomini), and it becomes indistinguishable on the medial aspect of the uncus.
Tailbone ( coccyx) is the terminal segment of the spine. It is a triangular bone that consists usually 3 to 5 rudimentary vertebrae fused together . The lower part of the filum terminale, also known as coccygeal ligament, inserts to the first segment. The coccyx is bordered anteriorly by the levator ani muscle and the sacrococcygeal ligament.
“A dog can express more with his tail in minutes than his owner can express with his tongue in hours.”—Anonymous