Sunday, July 19, 2026
Saturday, July 11, 2026
Scoliosis: Causes, Symptoms, Types, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options
SCOLIOSIS
Scoliosis is a rotational deformity of the spine and ribs. While in most cases the cause of scoliosis is unknown (idiopathic scoliosis), in excess of 50 genetic markers have been identified as having a major role in adolescent idiopathic curves. Scoliosis may also result from a variety of congenital, neuromuscular, mesenchymal, and traumatic conditions, and it is commonly associated with neurofibromatosis.
Thursday, July 9, 2026
Pelvic and Prostatic Trauma: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Management of Posterior Urethral Injury
PELVIC AND PROSTATIC TRAUMA
Penetrating trauma to the prostate gland is rare as it is protected from penetrating objects by the surrounding bony pelvis. However, penetrating injury to the prostate is possible from broken pelvic bones as a consequence of pelvic fracture. The real concern with prostatic trauma, however, involves injury to the posterior and prostatomembranous urethra that lie superior to the urogenital diaphragm. This is most commonly a consequence of forceful blunt trauma to the pelvis.
Breast Development Stages: Tanner Stages, Puberty Changes, and Normal Growth in Girls
THE BREAST DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
In a human new born at birth, in the female as well as in the male, the mammary glands have developed sufficiently so that they appear as distinct hemispheroidal elevations, palpable as movable soft masses. This is especially prominent in postterm infants. Histologically, a number of branching channels with layers of lining cells and plugs of basal cells at their ends, the future milk ducts and glandular lobules, respectively, can easily be recognized. In a great number of infants an everted nipple is observed, and in about 10% a greatly enlarged gland can be palpated, a condition that received the unfortunate name of mastitis neonatorum, though no signs of inflammation exist. These early glandular structures may produce a milk like secretion, the “witch’s milk,” starting 2 or 3 days after birth. All these neonatal phenomena in the breast are the result of the very intensive, maternal estrogen driven developmental processes in the last stages of intrauterine life. The changes subside within the first 2 to 3 weeks of life. It is during this period that the breast undergoes marked involutional changes leading to the quiescent stage, which is characteristic of infancy and childhood. During these periods, the male and the female glands consist of a few branching rudimentary ducts lined by flattened epithelium, surrounded by collagenous connective tissue.
Saturday, July 4, 2026
Cardiac Echinococcus Infection (Hydatid Pericarditis): Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment
Echinococcus Infection and Hydatid Pericarditis
Cardiac
Echinococcus Infection
Even in endemic regions, the heart is rarely affected by Echinococcus disease; the incidence of primary myocardial involvement is less than 2% in human echinococciasis (echinococcosis). The parasitic six-hooked embryo reaches the myocardium through the coronary circulation, having passed through the gastric or intestinal mucosa into the portal circulation, and through both the hepatic and the pulmonary capillary bed. It can establish itself and develop into an echinococcus cyst in almost any part of the myocardium, but cysts are mostly located in the walls of the ventricles (see Plate 6-149). There is a higher incidence of cysts in the myocardium of the left ventricle because its vascular bed is more abundant. The developing parasitic membranous cyst is surrounded by a fibrous sac or capsule, the adventitia. When it grows larger, the cyst may protrude into a cardiac cavity, the pericardial sac, or both, its greater and more prominent part usually projecting toward the pericardium.
Tremor: Causes, Symptoms, Types, Diagnosis & Treatment Explained
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| Basal Ganglia and Movement Disorders |
Tremor
Tremor is a rhythmic, oscillatory, involuntary movement caused by the alternating activation of agonist and antagonist muscles. The etiology of tremor is diverse and includes hereditary (familial tremor), degenerative (Parkinson disease), metabolic (thyroid, parathyroid, or hepatic disorders and hypoglycemia), toxins (nicotine, mercury, lead, carbon monoxide, manganese, arsenic, toluene), illicit drug use or medication-induced (neuroleptics, tricyclics, lithium, cocaine, alcohol, adrenaline, bronchodilators, theophylline, caffeine, steroids, valproate, amiodarone, thyroid hormones, vincristine), peripheral neuropathies (Charcot Marie Tooth disease, RoussyLevy syndrome, complex regional pain syndrome), and psychogenic disorders.
Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) in Children: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis & Emergency Treatment
Diabetic Ketoacidosis
Diabetes is a chronic disease defined by hyperglycemia caused by insulin deficiency. (Chapter 71 provides a detailed discussion of diabetes mellitus.). This may be the result of a lack of insulin production, as in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) or the body’s ineffective use of the insulin it produces, as in type 2 diabetes mellitus. The most common form of diabetes in children is T1DM.
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS): Symptoms, Causes, Types, Diagnosis & Treatment
EHLERS-DANLOS SYNDROME
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a heterogeneous disease of defective connective tissue production. There are many subtypes, most caused by defects in collagen formation or in the posttranslational modification of collagen. This grouping of diseases has been confusing because of the variable nature of the subtypes and the lack of a universally adopted classification system. Under the most recent system, there are 7 distinct subtypes; under the historical classification, there were 11 types. The new classification system has not been universally adopted, which contributes to the confusion. As the genetic defects behind each subtype are determined, researchers and clinicians will gain a better understanding of the syndrome.
Thursday, July 2, 2026
Neurofibromatosis (NF1 & NF2): Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Long-Term Management
Tuberous Sclerosis (Bourneville Syndrome): Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment & Skin Signs
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| Genodermatoses and Syndromes |
Tuberous sclerosis (Bourneville’s syndrome) is a multisystem disease that often manifests with cutaneous findings. It is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner and is directly caused by a defect in one of two genes, TSC1 or TSC2, usually due to a spontaneous mutation. TSC1 has been shown to encode the hamartin protein, whereas TSC2 gene encodes the tuberin protein. The skin, central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular, respiratory, visual, and musculoskeletal systems are affected. This genodermatosis has an extremely variable phenotype. At one extreme is the severely disabled and mentally delayed individual with severe seizure disorders; at the other end of the spectrum is the individual with mild skin disease and unappreciable CNS disease.









