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General Thermography
Published in James Stewart Campbell, M. Nathaniel Mead, Human Medical Thermography, 2023
James Stewart Campbell, M. Nathaniel Mead
The thymus gland is located in the anterior chest, in front of the upper portion of the heart and trachea (Figure 10.61). It is proportionally large in infancy but shrinks with age. At puberty, it weighs 30 to 50 grams, and by old age, it typically weighs 5 to 15 grams. The thymus rarely becomes neoplastic, developing into a lymphoma or thymoma. Lymphomas occupying superficial lymph nodes may appear warm on thermographic analysis, but this warmth is not associated with the thymus gland itself.165 Thymomas, on the other hand, may become large enough to become detectable as a warm area in the upper anterior chest, but no studies confirming this have been published. Though some thermographers claim that cool areas over the anterior or posterior upper chest are a sign of “underactive thymus,” this is doubtful because of the small size and normally low metabolic activity of the gland in adulthood. A cool area over the upper sternum may instead be due to the presence of thymic cysts, which may become as large as 4 cm (1.6 in.) in diameter. No studies are available concerning cool areas over the thymus gland. MRI and CAT scans can determine anatomic thymus abnormalities, while hematology can monitor the physiologic and pathologic activity of the gland.166
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Therapy for Patients with Refractory Myasthenia Gravis
Published in Richard K. Burt, Alberto M. Marmont, Stem Cell Therapy for Autoimmune Disease, 2019
Disease severity is rated and treated according to the Osserman scoring system35 (Table 1). Ocular only symptoms (Grade I) require only anti-cholinesterases such as physostigmine or neostigmine bromide. Immune suppressive drugs such as corticosteroids, azathrioprine, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporin, or mycophenolate are added for mild and moderate disease (Grade IIA and IIB). In addition to immune suppression and anti-cholinesterases, Grade III and IV disease is treated with plasmapheresis or intravenous immunoglobulin. Thymectomy is performed on all patients with thymomas and patients without thymomas who have moderate or severe disease.11,56 After thymectomy, about 50% of patients enter a medication free remission which may take 6 or more months.11
Application of Data Mining Techniques in Autoimmune Diseases Research and Treatment
Published in Shampa Sen, Leonid Datta, Sayak Mitra, Machine Learning and IoT, 2018
Sweta Bhattacharya, Sombuddha Sengupta
The common symptoms seen are drooping shoulders, difficulties in swallowing, weaknesses in arms and legs, and shortness of breath and blurred vision due to weaknesses in muscles controlling eye movements.44 Years of dealing with the disease has brought out a number of diagnostic methods such as: Edrophonium test: This test involves injection of edrophonium chloride, which relieves muscle pain by blocking the breakdown of acetyl choline and increasing the neurotransmitters concentration at the neuromuscular junction.Blood test: Done to find out the presence of antibodies against the acetylcholine receptors. Anti MuSK is another antibody checked for in suspected cases of myasthenia gravis.Diagnostic imaging: Done using CT-Scans or magnetic resonance imaging to look for thymomas.Electrodiagnostics: This involves repeated stimulation of nerves with small pulses to tire the muscles. If the person suffers from myasthenia gravis, he or she will not respond to this treatment as the nerve transmission is hindered.
Patient-specific gamma-index analysis to evaluate 99mTc-MAA as a predictor for 90Y glass microspheres liver radioembolisation dosimetry
Published in Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging & Visualization, 2019
PAULO FERREIRA, Francisco P. M. Oliveira, Rui Parafita, Pedro S. Girão, Paulo L. Correia, Durval C. Costa
Between January 2015 and September 2017, 16 patients (11 males and 5 females) were treated with 90Y-labelled glass MS liver RE in our institution. The average age of the 16 patients was 60.3 years old (range: 50–71 yrs.) on the treatment date. Of the 16 patients, 11 were previously diagnosed with metastases from colorectal carcinoma, 2 patients with metastases from pancreatic carcinoma, 1 with metastases from carcinoma of the thymus (thymoma), 1 with cholangiocarcinoma and another with hepatocellular carcinoma. Because 4 patients were submitted twice to treatment (more than one month apart), a total of 20 RE treatments were performed.