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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this prospective study was to test two-dimensional dynamic anorectal ultrasonography (2D-DAUS) in the assessment of anismus and compare it with echodefecography (ECD). METHOD: Fifty consecutive female patients with outlet delay were submitted to 2D and 3D-DAUS, measuring the relaxing or contracting puborectalis muscle angle during straining. The patients were assigned to one of two groups based on ECD findings. Group I consisted of 29 patients without anismus and group II included 21 patients diagnosed with anismus. Subsequently 2D-DAUS images were checked for anismus and compared with ECD findings. RESULTS: Upon straining, the angle produced by the movement of the puborectalis muscle decreased in 26 out of the 29 (89.6%) patients of group I and increased 19 out of the 21 (90.4%) patients of group II. The mean angle during straining differed significantly between group I and group II. The index of agreement between the two scanning modes was 89.6% (26/29) for group I (Kappa: 0.796; CI: 95%; range: 0.51-1.0) and 90.4% (19/21) for group II (Kappa: 0.796; CI: 95%; range: 0.51-1.0). CONCLUSION: Two-dimensional dynamic anal ultrasonography can be used as an alternative method to assess patients with anismus, although the 3-D modality is more precise to evaluate the PR angle as the sphincters integrity as the whole muscle length is clearly visualized.

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This study focused on the long-term consequences of tubal ligation on women's lives. Women 30 to 49 years old living in Campinas, State of São Paulo (Brazil), were interviewed: 236 sterilized at least five years prior to the interview and 236 non-sterilized women. Their experiences with the currently used contraceptive methods were compared with regard to satisfaction, benefits, and damage attributed to the method, feelings of regret, and perception of effects on their health, body, menstruation, sex, affective and family life, job, studies, economic status, and self-esteem. Scores were created to compare the groups in relation to self-esteem, well-being/quality of life, relationship with partner, and gender issues. Satisfaction with the currently used contraceptive method was significantly higher among sterilized women, although they more frequently reported having regretted being sterilized at some moment in time. Relatively more sterilized women felt that the contraceptive method had improved their sex lives and economic status, while producing a negative effect on their menstruation. No significant difference was observed between the groups with regard to the scores studied.

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Impairment of natural cytotoxicity mediated by natural killer (NK) cells may play a role in the pathogenesis of penile carcinoma. The aim of this study was to examine the NK activity profile and its prognostic significance in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the penis. The NK activity was measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 39 patients diagnosed histologically as having invasive squamous cell penile carcinoma and 4 patients with verrucous carcinoma of the penis. Of 39 patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma, 4 had undergone previous penile amputation. According to the prognosis, the patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma were divided into two groups: with metastasis and without metastasis. The patients were evaluated in relation to clinicopathologic variables using univariate analyses. NK cell activity was significantly decreased in all patients with penile carcinoma when compared with the control groups (p < 0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups with and without metastasis. We conclude that there is a decrease in NK activity in PBMCs from patients with penile carcinoma and that the presence of advanced disease or metastatic involvement is not responsible for this reduction.

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Twenty-nine patients with severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) were submitted to bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and their immunological recovery analysed. Total lymphocyte counts, estimation of B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes and their subsets, natural-killer (NK) activity were performed. Cells with the CD8+ phenotype and NK activity were the first signs of immunological recovery, whereas the CD4+ subset recovered later in patients who suffered from acute graft versus host disease (GvHD) and infections. Acute and chronic GvHD, cirrhosis, rejection and HIV viral infection contributed to the persistence of the profound immunodeficiency status observed after BMT. Our results did not differ greatly from the others and confirmed that BMT may be performed in underdeveloped countries despite the difficulties it might pose.

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Cytogenetic studies in patients with acute leukemia showed structural abnormalities on chromosome 11 at band q23 in five cases. Four of these had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) associated with t(4;11)(q21;q23) and one case had acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia (ANLL) (M5) associated with t(11;17)(q23;q21). We examined the CD3D and c-ets-1 genes in the t(11;17)(q23;q21) patient to ascertain any association between them and the chromosome change. In situ hybridization results showed that unlike in other studied cases with rearrangements of 11q23, the CD3D gene in the t(11;17)(q23;21) is transposed to the der(17) chromosome, providing evidence for a different breakpoint in the 11q23 region.

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We describe a case of allograft rejection that occurred 23 months after successful bone marrow transplantation for severe aplastic anemia in a patient with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. The allograft rejection appears to have been induced by recombinant alpha-interferon (rINF-alpha) treatment for non-A, non-B hepatitis that developed 11 months after transplantation. During the 9 months of active hepatitis, the donor graft functioned normally; however, 3 months after rINF-alpha therapy was started, pancytopenia and a chimeric hematopoietic state developed. rINF-alpha was discontinued, cyclosporin A was reintroduced, and autologous bone marrow recovery followed. rINF-alpha treatment may be detrimental to some recipients of allogeneic bone marrow transplants.

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The effects of TPA (12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate) and RA (retinoic acid) were investigated on the cell lines HL60 (acute promyelocytic leukemia) and K562 (erythroleukemia) and on cells from patients with several kinds of leukemia. There were 14 cases of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), 2 cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), 23 cases of acute myeloid leukemia (M1-M7), 5 cases of chronic myelocytic leukemia in blast crisis (CML-BC) and 2 mixed leukemias. In almost all of the cases examined, after TPA exposure cells from patients with proven myeloid leukemia became adherent to the substrate, while lymphoid leukemia cells remained in suspension, allowing the differentiation of lymphoid from myeloid blasts. The only exception was in one case of CLL, which had cells that became adherent with long filamental projections. In addition, increased phagocytosis following TPA exposure permitted characterization of M7 as this was the only myeloid leukemia negative for phagocytosis. Further discrimination between the subtypes of myeloid leukemia could be based on the increased lysozyme production seen after TPA in M4 and M5. Esterase positivity allowed the discrimination of M1 cells, which were negative before and after TPA treatment. In agreement with the results of other authors, TPA and RA led to independent ways of differentiation, granulocytic-like lineage and monocytic-like cells being favored by RA and TPA, respectively. The capacity of the same cell to differentiate into more than one lineage, depending on whether RA or TPA was used, was only seen in the present study with M3 cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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Thirty-one patients (pts) with aplastic anaemia (AA) were studied whose probable etiology were: idiopathic (16 pts), nocturnal aroxysmal haemoglobinuria (NPH) (2 pts), benzene (4 pts), agrotoxics (5 pts), pharmaceutical drugs (2 pts) and insecticides (2 pts). A decrease in total lymphocyte counts was seen in 10 pts belonging mainly to the NPH and pharmaceutical drug groups, whereas, in the benzene group the opposite was found. B cell levels were low in 9 out of 20 pts. T cell levels varied, the majority of patients had normal levels, 13 presented low levels and 4 had increased numbers. CD4 levels were low in 14 pts and T cell numbers were compensated in some by an increase in CD8 cells. Our results show that there is a great heterogeneity among the patients and there might be differences in the immunological profile of aplastic anaemia depending on the causative agent of the disease.

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