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Dermatomyositis (dur-muh-toe-my-uh-SY-tis) is an uncommon inflammatory disease marked by muscle weakness and a distinctive skin rash. Dermatomyositis affects adults and children alike. In adults, dermatomyositis usually occurs from the late 40s to early 60s. In children, the disease most often appears between 5 and 15 years of age. Dermatomyositis affects more females than males. There's no cure for dermatomyositis, but periods of remission — when symptoms improve spontaneously — may occur. Treatment can clear the skin rash and help you regain muscle strength and function. Symptoms ShareTweet June 17, 2014 References Products and Services Newsletter: Mayo Clinic Health Letter See also Dysphagia Electromyography Fatigue MRI Muscle pain Peptic ulcer Prednisone risks, benefits Show more Advertisement Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. Advertising & Sponsorship PolicyOpportunitiesAd Choices Mayo Clinic Store Check out these best-sellers and special offers on books and newsletters from Mayo Clinic. NEW! – The Mayo Clinic Diet, Second Edition Treatment Strategies for Arthritis Mayo Clinic on Better Hearing and Balance Keeping your bones healthy and strong The Mayo Clinic Diet Online
Preventing heart attacks and stroke can involve extensive surgery to remove plaque from your arteries, but as FOX17's Nick Paranjape shows us, there's a new procedure in Middle Tennessee that is less invasive and substantially cuts down on your recovery time. At 76, Jimmy Wilkie of Hendersonville exercises on his treadmill 3-4 times a week. Recently, he started having pain in his left leg. It was so bad, he couldn't even walk. Turned out, Mr. Wilkie had a blocked artery in his leg. In years past, this would've required major bypass surgery. Not anymore!"The Turbohawk Catheter has really opened a new door for us," says Dr. Dan Wunder.Dr. Wunder, an Interventional Radiologist at Premier Radiology in Madison, is talking about the Turbohawk. It's a device which is inserted into the blocked artery, and inside the Turbohawk are 4 tiny blades."It can cut the plaque and with that shape of the disc it cuts with it pushes it forward into the catheter," says Dr. Wunder.The one-hour procedure doesn't just push the plaque to the sides where it can re-grow, but instead grabs it and removes it!"We pull it back out and it fills up," says Dr. Wunder. "Empty it out, go back down and we can cut some more out."Before and after images really say it all."They used a roto rooter as he called it," says Wilkie.A roto rooter, Turbohawk, call it what you want, but Wilkie says all he knows is the procedure worked right away!"There wasn't any pain at all in my leg," says Wilkie.It's rare, but the outpatient procedure can have complications like plaque getting pushed down in the leg. Dr. Wunder says the main symptoms of a blockage in your legs is having severe pain or cramping when you're walking or exercising.
Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a type of surgery that improves blood flow to the heart. Surgeons use CABG to treat people who have severe coronary heart disease (CHD). CHD is a disease in which a waxy substance called plaque (plak) builds up inside the coronary arteries.
Norepinephrine is synthesized from dopamine by dopamine β-hydroxylase.[7] It is released from the adrenal medulla into the blood as a hormone, and is also a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and sympathetic nervous system where it is released from noradrenergic neurons.
Some of these advancements include the use of robots to perform the surgery and the use of computer mapping scanners and software and even 3D printers to make the artificial knee implant. We are also seeing a lot of different advances being made by the medical device manufacturers.Some of these changes are designed to make the devices more durable than the 10 to 20 years they are currently rated to last. This is important when younger patients who are years away from being considered elderly have a total knee replacement, they will typically need another artificial knee implanted at a later date since they are likely to outlive the implant, which doesn’t always happen with elderly patients.
The epididymis is a long coiled tube that lies above and behind each testicle. The epididymis collects and transports sperm from the testis to the vas deferens (tubes that transport sperm to the urethra). An epididymal cyst is a cyst-like mass in the epididymis that contains clear fluid. Typically, epididymal cysts and spermatoceles do not cause symptoms. When discovered, the epididymal cyst is usually about the size of a pea and feels separate from the top of the testis. Spermatoceles typically arise from the head of the epididymis, and are felt on the top portion of the testicle. Epididymal cysts and spermatoceles are often incidental findings on testicular self-examination or routine physical examination. It is important that any mass noted in the scrotum be examined by a urologist in order to obtain an accurate diagnosis, especially a mass on the testicle itself. Our team in the Division of Urology will typically be able to confirm the diagnosis on physical exam. However, a scrotal ultrasound may also be used in order to rule out other conditions.
Both lower extremities must be evaluated to determine the presence or extent of any disease and to ascertain the pulse status of the patient. The feet are examined for signs of peripheral vascular disease and the anterior and posterior tibial pulses are palpated. Because an intact arch can supply retrograde flow to the major vessels of the foot, it can be helpful to put pressure on the anterior tibial artery when detecting the presence of a posterior tibial pulse and visa-versa. This "modified Allen's test" may detect proximal vessel obstruction masked by an intact foot arch. The need for preoperative angiography in young, healthy patients with a normal physical examination has been hotly debated. Our tendency has been to obtain preoperative angiograms as a guide. Although rare, we have seen lower extremities with a dominant peroneal artery nourishing the foot and distal anterior and posterior vessels, contraindicating sacrifice of the peroneal artery. MRI or CT angiography can also be used in many circumstances.
Acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) is a syndrome caused by inadequate blood flow through the mesenteric vessels, resulting in ischemia and eventual gangrene of the bowel wall. Although relatively rare, it is a potentially life-threatening condition. Broadly, AMI may be classified as either arterial or venous. AMI as arterial disease may be subdivided into nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) and occlusive mesenteric arterial ischemia (OMAI); OMAI may be further subdivided into acute mesenteric arterial embolism (AMAE) and acute mesenteric arterial thrombosis (AMAT). AMI as venous disease takes the form of mesenteric venous thrombosis (MVT).
Buerger's disease (thromboangiitis obliterans) is a rare disease of the arteries and veins in the arms and legs. In Buerger's disease, your blood vessels become inflamed, swell and can become blocked with blood clots (thrombi). This eventually damages or destroys skin tissues and may lead to infection and gangrene. Buerger's disease usually first shows in your hands and feet and may eventually affect larger areas of your arms and legs. Virtually everyone diagnosed with Buerger's disease smokes cigarettes or uses other forms of tobacco, such as chewing tobacco. Quitting all forms of tobacco is the only way to stop Buerger's disease. For those who don't quit, amputation of all or part of a limb is sometimes necessary.
In dark or dim light, the pupil dilates to allow more light into the eye to improve vision. Normal pupil size tends to range between 2.0 and 5.0 millimeters, depending on the lighting. The younger you are, the larger your pupils tend to be.
This procedure, and other types of soft palate surgery, targets the back of the roof of your mouth. It involves removing and repositioning excess tissue in the throat to make the airway wider. The surgeon can trim down your soft palate and uvula, remove your tonsils, and reposition some of the muscles of the soft palate. UPPP and other soft palate procedures are the most common type of surgery for sleep apnea. But UPPP alone is unlikely to cure moderate to severe sleep apnea. It may be combined with surgeries that target other sites in the upper airway.
A cervical herniated disc may be treated by removing part of the disc through a small incision (microdiscectomy). If this is done from the back (posteriorly) rather than from the front of the neck, a spinal fusion is not necessary. The alternative is an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion procedure.
Compartment syndrome can develop in the foot following crush injury or closed fracture. Following some critical threshold of bleeding and/or swelling into the fixed space compartments, arterial pulse pressure is insufficient to overcome the osmotic tissue pressure gradient, leading to cell death. The complicating factor is related to the magnitude of the force of the crush injury. The amount of swelling or bleeding has to be sufficient to impair arterial inflow, while not being of sufficient magnitude to produce an open injury, which decompresses the pressure within the affected compartments. When the injury is open, we then attribute the late disability primarily to the crushing injury to the involved muscles.
Arthrocentesis involves both the puncture of a joint and the aspiration of its synovial fluid. It is typically used to make an accurate diagnosis of a painful, warm, swollen joint. Removal of excess fluid can be therapeutic. Analysis of the removed fluid helps to decipher its etiology. [1]
Biceps tenodesis is a common procedure performed for tendinopathy of the long head of the biceps brachii (LHB). Indications include partial-thickness LHB tear, tendon subluxation with or without subscapularis tear, and failed conservative management of bicipital tenosynovitis. Biceps tenodesis may also be performed for superior labrum anterior to posterior tears.