Juvenile angiofibroma: major and minor complications of preoperative embolization

Introduction: Juvenile angiofibromas (JA) are highly vascular, benign tumours for which surgery is the treatment of choice. In most services, embolisation is performed prior to resection. Nevertheless, there are few data on the complications of preoperative embolisation for JA. Aim: To describe major and minor complications of preoperative embolisation in a 32-year experience of patients undergoing surgical resection of JA at a tertiary hospital. Methods: Retrospective chart review study of 170 patients who underwent surgical resection of JA at a tertiary hospital between September 1976 and July 2008. Results: All patients were male. Age ranged from 9 to 26 years. Ninety-one patients had no complications after embolisation. Overall, 105 complication events occurred of which four major and 101 minor. Conclusion: In our series, preoperative embolisation for JA produced no irreversible complications and no aesthetic or functional sequelae. The vast majority of complications were transient and amenable to clinical management.

Animal models of prenatal immune challenge and their contribution to the study of schizophrenia: a systematic review

Prenatal immune challenge (PIC) in pregnant rodents produces offspring with abnormalities in behavior, histology, and gene expression that are reminiscent of schizophrenia and autism. Based on this, the goal of this article was to review the main contributions of PIC models, especially the one using the viral-mimetic particle polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid (poly-I:C), to the understanding of the etiology, biological basis and treatment of schizophrenia. This systematic review consisted of a search of available web databases (PubMed, SciELO, LILACS, PsycINFO, and ISI Web of Knowledge) for original studies published in the last 10 years (May 2001 to October 2011) concerning animal models of PIC, focusing on those using poly-I:C. The results showed that the PIC model with poly-I:C is able to mimic the prodrome and both the positive and negative/cognitive dimensions of schizophrenia, depending on the specific gestation time window of the immune challenge. The model resembles the neurobiology and etiology of schizophrenia and has good predictive value. In conclusion, this model is a robust tool for the identification of novel molecular targets during prenatal life, adolescence and adulthood that might contribute to the development of preventive and/or treatment strategies (targeting specific symptoms, i.e., positive or negative/cognitive) for this devastating mental disorder, also presenting biosafety as compared to viral infection models. One limitation of this model is the incapacity to model the full spectrum of immune responses normally induced by viral exposure.