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Tuberculous Pericarditis
Tuberculous pericarditis is a form of pericarditis. Pericarditis caused by tuberculosis is difficult to diagnose, because definitive diagnosis requires culturing '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' from aspirated pericardial fluid or pericardial biopsy, which requires high technical skill and is often not diagnostic (the yield from culture is low even with optimum specimens). The Tygerberg scoring system helps the clinician to decide whether pericarditis is due to tuberculosis or whether it is due to another cause: night sweats (1 point), weight loss (1 point), fever (2 point), serum globulin > 40g/L (3 points), blood total leucocyte count <10 x 109/l (3 points); a total score of 6 or more is highly suggestive of tuberculous pericarditis. Pericardial fluid with an interferon-γ level greater than 50 pg/mL is highly specific for tuberculous pericarditis. There are no randomized trials which evaluate the length of anti-tuberculosis treatment required for tuberculous pericardi ...
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Pericarditis
Pericarditis is inflammation of the pericardium, the fibrous sac surrounding the heart. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp chest pain, which may also be felt in the shoulders, neck, or back. The pain is typically less severe when sitting up and more severe when lying down or breathing deeply. Other symptoms of pericarditis can include fever, weakness, palpitations, and shortness of breath. The onset of symptoms can occasionally be gradual rather than sudden. The cause of pericarditis often remains unknown but is believed to be most often due to a viral infection. Other causes include bacterial infections such as tuberculosis, uremic pericarditis, heart attack, cancer, autoimmune disorders, and chest trauma. Diagnosis is based on the presence of chest pain, a pericardial rub, specific electrocardiogram (ECG) changes, and fluid around the heart. A heart attack may produce similar symptoms to pericarditis. Treatment in most cases is with NSAIDs and possibly the ant ...
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Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in which case it is known as latent tuberculosis. Around 10% of latent infections progress to active disease which, if left untreated, kill about half of those affected. Typical symptoms of active TB are chronic cough with blood-containing mucus, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. It was historically referred to as consumption due to the weight loss associated with the disease. Infection of other organs can cause a wide range of symptoms. Tuberculosis is spread from one person to the next through the air when people who have active TB in their lungs cough, spit, speak, or sneeze. People with Latent TB do not spread the disease. Active infection occurs more often in people with HIV/AIDS and in those who smoke. Diagnosis of active TB is ...
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Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (M. tb) is a species of pathogenic bacteria in the family Mycobacteriaceae and the causative agent of tuberculosis. First discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch, ''M. tuberculosis'' has an unusual, waxy coating on its cell surface primarily due to the presence of mycolic acid. This coating makes the cells impervious to Gram staining, and as a result, ''M. tuberculosis'' can appear weakly Gram-positive. Acid-fastness, Acid-fast stains such as Ziehl–Neelsen stain, Ziehl–Neelsen, or Fluorescence, fluorescent stains such as Auramine O, auramine are used instead to identify ''M. tuberculosis'' with a microscope. The physiology of ''M. tuberculosis'' is highly aerobic organism, aerobic and requires high levels of oxygen. Primarily a pathogen of the mammalian respiratory system, it infects the lungs. The most frequently used diagnostic methods for tuberculosis are the Mantoux test, tuberculin skin test, Acid-Fast Stain, acid-fast stain, Microbiological cultu ...
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Pericardium
The pericardium, also called pericardial sac, is a double-walled sac containing the heart and the roots of the great vessels. It has two layers, an outer layer made of strong connective tissue (fibrous pericardium), and an inner layer made of serous membrane (serous pericardium). It encloses the pericardial cavity, which contains pericardial fluid, and defines the middle mediastinum. It separates the heart from interference of other structures, protects it against infection and blunt trauma, and lubricates the heart's movements. The English name originates from the Ancient Greek prefix "''peri-''" (περί; "around") and the suffix "''-cardion''" (κάρδιον; "heart"). Anatomy The pericardium is a tough fibroelastic sac which covers the heart from all sides except at the cardiac root (where the great vessels join the heart) and the bottom (where only the serous pericardium exists to cover the upper surface of the central tendon of diaphragm). The fibrous pericardiu ...
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Biopsy
A biopsy is a medical test commonly performed by a surgeon, interventional radiologist, or an interventional cardiologist. The process involves extraction of sample cells or tissues for examination to determine the presence or extent of a disease. The tissue is then fixed, dehydrated, embedded, sectioned, stained and mounted before it is generally examined under a microscope by a pathologist; it may also be analyzed chemically. When an entire lump or suspicious area is removed, the procedure is called an excisional biopsy. An incisional biopsy or core biopsy samples a portion of the abnormal tissue without attempting to remove the entire lesion or tumor. When a sample of tissue or fluid is removed with a needle in such a way that cells are removed without preserving the histological architecture of the tissue cells, the procedure is called a needle aspiration biopsy. Biopsies are most commonly performed for insight into possible cancerous or inflammatory conditions. History T ...
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Tygerberg Score
The Tygerberg score is a clinical decision tool that allows the clinician to decide whether pericarditis is due to tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ... or not. It uses five variables: # Weight loss (1 point) # Night sweats (1 point) # Fever (2 points) # Serum globulin >40 g/L (3 points) # Blood leukocyte count <10 × 109/l (3 points) A total score of 6 or more is highly suggestive that tuberculosis is the cause of the pericarditis. References * {{cite journal , vauthors=Reuter H, Burgess L, van Vuuren W, Doubell A , title=Diagnosing tuberculous pericarditis , journal=Q J Med , year=2006 , volume=99 , pages=827–39 , pmid=17121764 , issue=12 , doi=10.1093/qjmed/hcl123 , doi-access=free Tuberculosis Medical scales ...
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Interferon-gamma
Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) is a dimerized soluble cytokine that is the only member of the type II class of interferons. The existence of this interferon, which early in its history was known as immune interferon, was described by E. F. Wheelock as a product of human leukocytes stimulated with phytohemagglutinin, and by others as a product of antigen-stimulated lymphocytes. It was also shown to be produced in human lymphocytes. or tuberculin-sensitized mouse peritoneal lymphocytes challenged with Mantoux test (PPD); the resulting supernatants were shown to inhibit growth of vesicular stomatitis virus. Those reports also contained the basic observation underlying the now widely employed IFN-γ release assay used to test for tuberculosis. In humans, the IFN-γ protein is encoded by the ''IFNG'' gene. Through cell signaling, IFN-γ plays a role in regulating the immune response of its target cell. A key signaling pathway that is activated by type II IFN is the JAK-STAT sig ...
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Picogram
To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following lists describe various mass levels between 10−59  kg and 1052 kg. The least massive thing listed here is a graviton, and the most massive thing is the observable universe. Typically, an object having greater mass will also have greater weight (see mass versus weight), especially if the objects are subject to the same gravitational field strength. Units of mass The table at right is based on the kilogram (kg), the base unit of mass in the International System of Units ( SI). The kilogram is the only standard unit to include an SI prefix (''kilo-'') as part of its name. The ''gram'' (10−3 kg) is an SI derived unit of mass. However, the ''names'' of all SI mass units are based on ''gram'', rather than on ''kilogram''; thus 103 kg is a ''megagram'' (106 g), not a *''kilokilogram''. The ''tonne'' (t) is an SI-compatible unit of mass equal to a megagram (''Mg''), or 103 kg. The unit is in common use for m ...
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Cardiac Tamponade
Cardiac tamponade, also known as pericardial tamponade (), is the buildup of fluid in the pericardium (the sac around the heart), resulting in compression of the heart. Onset may be rapid or gradual. Symptoms typically include those of obstructive shock including shortness of breath, weakness, lightheadedness, and cough. Other symptoms may relate to the underlying cause. Common causes of cardiac tamponade include cancer, kidney failure, chest trauma, myocardial infarction, and pericarditis. Other causes include connective tissues diseases, hypothyroidism, aortic rupture, autoimmune disease, and complications of cardiac surgery. In Africa, tuberculosis is a relatively common cause. Diagnosis may be suspected based on low blood pressure, jugular venous distension, or quiet heart sounds (together known as Beck's triad). A pericardial rub may be present in cases due to inflammation. The diagnosis may be further supported by specific electrocardiogram (ECG) changes, chest X-ra ...
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Bongani Mayosi
Bongani Mawethu Mayosi BMedSci, MB ChB, FCP(SA), DPhil, (28 January 1967 – 27 July 2018) was a South African professor of cardiology He was the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town and an A-rated National Research Foundation researcher. Prior to this, he was head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital. his research interests included rheumatic fever, tuberculous pericarditis and cardiomyopathy. He was a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa and a former President of the College of Physicians of South Africa and he headed numerous other biomedical organisations during his career. Early life At the youthful age of 15, he received the top marks in the Independent Transkei's matric exams. Career In 2017 he was elected to the US National Academy of Medicine. Professor Mayosi published over 400 peer-reviewed academic articles individually and collectively, including collabor ...
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