Peculiar Entity Research Articles

Osteogenic sarcoma of the maxilla and mandible

Osteogenic sarcoma of the maxilla and mandible is a peculiar entity within the context of the malignant bone tumors of other sites. In our series of nine cases the mean age at appearance was 34.1 years; 44.5% of the tumors affected the maxilla, and 55.5% affected the mandible. Most of the tumors were principally rapidly growing and painless or minimally painful masses. Histopathologically, the fibroblastic type was the most frequent, with prevalence of Broders' Grades III and IV. Radical surgery was the only therapeutic procedure in 87.5% of the series, producing a survival of 85%. Overall survival for all the therapeutic categories was 75%, with a mean disease-free interval of 8 years. In the remaining cases, local recurrence and intracranial invasion were the main causes of death.

Pediatrics

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is a peculiar entity in that the self-condemning reactions of the surviving family go far beyond the death itself. The parents should be helped to understand that SIDS is a disease, even though the mechanism of death is not known, and that it is neither preventable nor predictable. Surviving siblings should not be excluded from the mourning process and should be reassured about their good health and blamelessness in causing the death. If parents defer having another child until the grief process is complete, the psychologic environment for subsequent children will be healthier.

The lower esophageal ring.

In 1953, Ingelfinger and Kramer, and later Schatzki and Gary, described a ringlike narrowing of the lower esophagus which produced dysphagia. 1,2 Since then, several other similar cases have been described. Here is another case report of this peculiar entity. Report of a Case A 43-year-old master sergeant was admitted to the U.S. Army Hospital, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., on Dec. 11, 1958. For six months prior to admission he complained of intermittent, sudden, substernal pain while eating solids. The dysphagia varied from a dull ache to a sharp lancinating pain. It never lasted more than a few minutes. The patient felt relief immediately when the bolus seemed to pass an obstructed area. He would regurgitate voluntarily if the bolus did not pass promptly. (He learned to regurgitate voluntarily after years of alcoholism.) Hard boiled eggs, roast beef, bread, and most other dry foods would produce his dysphagia. There was