Our data reveal that treated congenital toxoplasmosis has little effect on the quality of life and visual function of the affected individuals. These encouraging findings may help to alleviate the anxiety of affected individuals and their parents.

A controlled trial of contact allergen therapy of alopecia areata (AA) using squaric acid dibutyl ester (SADBE) was performed on 17 patients. The right side of the patient’s scalp was treated and the left side acted as an untreated control. Minimal signs of terminal hair growth were present in only 3 patients after 8–12 weeks of therapy. A majority of patients experienced adverse effects which led to the early withdrawal of 2 patients and the premature termination of the trial. We do not recommend the use of SADBE in the treatment of AA.

Hedback and Perk (1987) is an exception. Although no randomized allocation was made, we included the study because of the long follow-up period (5 years).

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Background Acute postoperative pain is one of the most disturbing complaints in open heart surgery, and is associated with a risk of negative consequences. Several trials investigated the effects of psychological interventions to reduce acute postoperative pain and improve the course of physical and psychological recovery of participants undergoing open heart surgery. Objectives To compare the efficacy of psychological interventions as an adjunct to standard care versus standard care alone or standard care plus attention in adults undergoing open heart surgery on pain, pain medication, mental distress, mobility, and time to extubation.

A 62-yr-old white nonsmoking male, with no history of serious diseases, was referred to the emergency department due to increasing epigastric pain during the previous 2 days. Physical examination revealed clinical signs of peritonitis. Abdominal sonography demonstrated cholecystolithiasis and splenomegaly. Abdominal radiography showed pronounced air content of the intestinal loops. Based on these results, the diagnosis of acute biliary pancreatitis was suspected. The chest radiograph confirmed an intrathoracic mass located at the right side of the spine ( fig. 2) and abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed massive peripancreatic exudation, cholecystolithiasis and splenomegaly. On examination of the chest CT, the intrathoracic mass was located close to the thoracic spine. It was 40620 mm in size, ovally shaped and even surfaced ( fig. 3).The patient was transferred to the intensive care unit for treatment of acute pancreatitis, and underwent an endoscopic retrograde cholangiography with papillotomy and extraction of numerous pigmentary gallstones. Laboratory signs of inflammation and cholestasis normalised during the following FIGURE 1. Peripheral blood smear taken on admission of the patient.

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