Acne Scars

Neth Heart J. 2009 May; 17(5): 199-207Chamuleau SA, Vrijsen KR, Rokosh DG, Tang XL, Piek JJ, Bolli RMyocardial infarction results in loss of cardiomyocytes, scar formation, ventricular remodelling, and eventually heart failure. In recent years, cell therapy has emerged as a potential new strategy for patients with ischaemic heart disease. This includes embryonic and bone marrow derived stem cells. Recent clinical studies showed ostensibly conflicting results of intracoronary infusion of autologous bone marrow derived stem cells in patients with acute or chronic myocardial infarction. Anyway, these results have stimulated additional clinical and pre-clinical studies to further enhance the beneficial effects of stem cell therapy. Recently, the existence of cardiac stem cells that reside in the heart itself was demonstrated. Their discovery has sparked intense hope for myocardial regeneration with cells that are obtained from the heart itself and are thereby inherently programmed to reconstitute cardiac tissue. These cells can be detected by several surface markers (e.g. c-kit, Sca-1, MDR1, Isl-1). Both in vitro and in vivo differentiation into cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells has been demonstrated, and animal studies showed promising results on improvement of left ventricular function. This review will discuss current views regarding the feasibility of cardiac repair, and focus on the potential role of the resident cardiac stem and progenitor cells. (Neth Heart J 2009;17:199-207.).

Lett Appl Microbiol. 2009 May 27; Liu JH, Gao L, Liu TG, Chen WQAbstract Aims: Dwarf bunt of wheat, caused by Tilletia controversa Kühn, is a destructive disease on wheat as well as an important international quarantined disease in many countries. The objective of this investigation was to develop a diagnostic molecular marker generated from amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) for rapid identification of T. controversa. Methods and Results: A total of 30 primer combinations were tested by AFLP to detect DNA polymorphisms between T. controversa and related species. The primer combination E08/M02 generated a polymorphic pattern displaying a 451-bp DNA fragment specific for T. controversa. The marker was converted into a sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR), and specific primers (SC-01(49)/SC-02(415)), designed for use in PCR detection assays, amplified a unique DNA fragment in all isolates of T. controversa, but not in the related pathogens. The detection limit with the primer set SC-01(49)/SC-02(415) was 10 ng of DNA which could be obtained from 11 mug of teliospores in a 25-mul PCR reaction. Conclusions: An approach to distinguish T. controversa from similar pathogenic fungi has been developed based on the use of a SCAR marker. Significance and Impact of the Study: Development of the simple, high throughput assay kit for the rapid diagnosis of dwarf bunt of wheat and detection of T. controversa is anticipated in further studies.

Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2009 May 26; Abbas Fehmi SM, Kochman MLPURPOSE OF REVIEW: In order to predict whether the gastroenterologist will have a role in the rapidly developing field of natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES), it is helpful to examine the new developments in this field. Our goal in this review is to examine the recent developments in the field and study the gastroenterologists' role to best make this prediction. RECENT FINDINGS: Perhaps the most significant development in the field of NOTES has been the favorable patient and physician preferences for NOTES. There is evidence that patients would prefer NOTES cholecystectomy to laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The most common reason for this choice appears to be the lack of pain and visible scar. Another very significant development has been the reality of human NOTES procedures. Multiple centers have reported human NOTES procedures, including transgastric appendectomies, transgastric liver biopsies, transgastric tubal ligation and transvaginal cholecystectomy without major complications. Gastroenterologists' expertise with flexible endoscope was critical in the above cases. Recently, a few publications have also shown how gastroenterologists with expertise in endosonography can have a role in affirming safe access. SUMMARY: Although no one can predict with certainty where the field of NOTES will be in 1 year, it seems likely that gastroenterologist involvement will be necessary and advancements in this field will be applicable and diffuse into our daily practice.

Pathologica. 2008 Dec; 100(6): 473-5Khaled A, Hammami H, Fazaa B, Zermani R, Ben Jilani S, Kamoun MREndometriosis is defined as the presence of extra-uterine endometrial tissue. The prevalence rate of umbilical endometriosis ranges from 0.5 to 1.0% of all patients with extragenital endometriosis. In this report, we present a case of primary umbilical endometriosis to highlight the challenges encountered during diagnosis. A nulliparous 39-year-old woman presented to our department with a 2-year history of a tender, painful and non-reducible, firm umbilical mass that enlarged slowly reaching 2 cm in diameter. She had never been pregnant nor had any abdominal surgery. There was no sequential bleeding. Ultrasound of the umbilical region showed a well defined, oval shaped anechoic area. Histological examination on a cutaneous biopsy concluded umbilical endometriosis. The patient was subsequently referred to a gynecologist and underwent surgery with en bloc excision of the lesion. Generally, umbilical endometriosis presents as a roundish tumuor that can either partly or completely occupy the umbilical scar with intermittent bleeding. Characteristically, the mass increases with the menstrual cycle, becoming more evident and usually harder and is associated with cyclic pain. Its pathogenesis remains uncertain. Clinical diagnosis is difficult, and umbilical endometriosis can be easily confused with other conditions such as benign and malignant tumours. Ultrasound examination is useful, and surgical excision is the treatment of choice. Several cases of malignant transformation have also been described.