Their contribution to the understanding of this unusual endemic disease of the kidneys was their description of symptoms which were not typical of common chronic nephritis, i.e., incidence only in adults (no children affected), absence of high blood pressure, xanthochromia of palms and soles (Tanchevs sign), early hypochromic anemia, absence of proteinuria, and slow progression of kidney failure.A striking feature of the disease is its very localized occurrence. There are approximately ten small areas where it occurs, all of them more or less rural, but nothing seems to connect those areas other than the occurrence of this illness. Tanchev and colleagues suggested that the condition was sui generis. Their initial tentative hypothesis for its cause was intoxication with heavy metals, because the affected villages were supplied with water coming from nearby Vratsa Mountain, a karst-type mountain.The disease was originally called "Vratsa nephritis," and became known as "Balkan endemic nephropathy" later, after people living in Yugoslavia and Romania were found to be suffering from it as well. But in Bulgaria and in neighbouring countries, the condition is known as "Tanchevs Nephropathy", in homage to Dr. Tanchevs work. See also
Nephropathy
Citrinin
Ochratoxin A

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Subepithelial mucinous corneal dystrophy (SMCD) is a rare form of corneal dystrophy. It was first described in 1993 by Feder et al. Anterior to Bowman layer, deposits of glycosaminoglycan were detected and identified as chondroitin-4-sulfate and dermatan sulfate. References


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