Stenosis
Unusual narrowing of the blood vessels or other tubular structures or organs is referred to as stenosis. In simple words stenosis means narrowing of the various body parts. The common causes for stenosis include birth defects, inflammation, neoplasm (abnormal proliferation of cells), ischemia (reduction of blood supply thus damaging tissues), infection, iatrogenic (complications arising from any treatment) and atherosclerosis.
Spinal stenosis: Specific causes include rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, aging, spinal injury or tumor and spondylosis. Symptoms include pain and weakness in the legs along with cramps, imbalance and loss of control over bladder and bowel movements.
Mitral valve stenosis: Specific causes include endocarditis, atrial myoxma, rheumatic fever and Lutembacher syndrome. Symptoms of mitral valve stenosis are fatigue, recurrent respiratory infections and swelling in the feet.
Aortic valve stenosis: This type of stenois may be caused by rheumatic fever, Williams syndrome, LDL receptor deficiency and senile or bicuspid aortic valves. The typical symptoms of aortic valve stenosis are chest pain and heart murmur, fatigue and shortness of breath and heart palpitations.
Pulmonary valve stenosis: Specific causes include deformity during fetal development, rheumatic fever and endocarditis. This type of stenosis is symptomized by cough and fatigue, fluid retention and shortness of breath.
Treatment differs according to the type of stenosis. While physical therapy, drugs like analgesics and lumbar brace are used to manage spinal stenosis, aortic valve stenosis and pulmonary valve stenosis are treated with valve replacement surgery.
Thallium scan
A thallium scan is a diagnostic test to examine the heart so as to evaluate the blood supply to the heart muscles. The first part of the thallium scan involves walking on treadmill. When you are about to stop exercising, thallium is injected into the IV line so as to collect images. Special large imaging cameras (gamma scintillation camera) take pictures of the heart during the thallium scan. Inadequate blood supply to any part of the heart can be detected with a thallium scan. Cold spots on the thallium scan indicate damage to heart tissue or ischemia. The patient is advised not to eat for 4 hours prior to a thallium scan.
Precocious Puberty
Precocious puberty is an uncommon condition that occurs when puberty begins before the age of eight in girls and before age nine in boys. The signs and symptoms of precocious puberty:
In Girls:
- Development of breasts
- Hair development underarm or in public parts
- Rapid height growth
- Onset of menstruation
- Acne
- Adult body odor
In Boys:
- Enlargement of testicles
- Hair growth in face (usually grows first on the upper lip), public parts /underarm
- Rapid height gain
- Deepening of voice
- Acne
- Adult body odor
In some children 'partial' precocious puberty could be seen. Girls may show breast development that later disappears or may persist without any other physical changes of puberty. Such children with partial precocious puberty should be evaluated by a medical professional to rule out any other health problems. By and large such instances do not require any treatment and usually will show the other expected signs of puberty at the right age.
Causes for Precocious Puberty
Abnormalities in ovary and testicles may contribute to precocious puberty. Problems in the ovaries, thyroid gland disorders can also cause the onset of puberty ahead of schedule. Sometimes precocious puberty is the result of a structural problem in the brain such as a tumor, brain injury due to head trauma, infection such as meningitis that triggers puberty to begin early. In a majority of girls there is no underlying medical problem but they simply start puberty too early for no known reason. Certain types of environmental contamination like environmental toxins could play a role in causing precocious puberty.
Central precocious puberty
- Tumor in the brain or spinal cord
- Infection such as encephalitis or meningitis
- A birth defect in the brain such as hydrocephalus or hamartoma (tumor)
- Radiation to brain or spinal cord
- Injury to brain or spinal cord
- Ischemia
- McCune Albright Syndrome - a genetic disease that affects the bones and skin color and causes hormonal problems
- A group of inherited disorders known as Congenital adrenal hyperplasia which involves abnormal hormone production by the adrenal glands.
- Hypothyroidism
Bibliography / Reference
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