"Little league elbow"— acute traction apophysitis in an adolescent badminton player

A case of an acute traction apophysitis, "little league elbow", in an adolescent badminton player is presented. After a period of intense badminton activity, the patient developed typical signs of inflammation related to his elbow. X-ray showed soft tissue calcifications and ultrasound showed intra-articular swelling and a possible apophysitis related to the elbow. After a period of immobilization followed by low activity he could return to normal sports activity.     

Pseudoaneurysm of the superficial femoral artery following accidental trauma: result of treatment by percutaneous stent-graft placement

Accidental trauma frequently involves the extremities, and can extend to involve their blood supply, causing exsanguinating hemorrhage and pseudoaneurysm in the involved blood vessel. This is traditionally managed by surgical repair. We report a case in which control of life-threatening hemorrhage and exclusion of a large, post-traumatic pseudoaneurysm in the superficial femoral artery was performed by a commercially available stent-graft, without complication. This treatment method may be a safe and effective alternative to surgery in selected patients. Received: 10 February 1998; Revision received: 31 March 1998; Accepted: 20 April 1998     

颅脑外伤性迟发性出血的CT诊断

目的：用ＣＴ随访研究颅内迟发性血肿,方法：在２３２例颅脑外伤患者中行ＣＴ随访检查,结果：６１例发现有迟发性颅内出血,其中３８例为原血肿增大或出现新的血肿;８例为对冲伤血肿,１５例为脑挫伤与小量散在出血灶,结论：在外伤病例中,即使开初ＣＴ扫描为阴性者,如病人的临床表现有改变,如症状加重,意识丧失,抽搐等,应立即行ＣＴ复查,对ＣＴ随访的价值及迟发出血的机理也进行了讨论。     

Apoptotic cascade of neurons in the subcortical sensory relay nuclei following the neonatal infraorbital nerve transection

A terminal transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) method was utilized for detection of neuronal death in the subcortical relay nuclei of the trigeminosensory system following the infraorbital nerve transection in newborn rats. At 18-24 h after injury, numerous TUNEL-positive profiles were found within the ventroposteromedial thalamic nucleus (VPM) contralateral to the injury, whereas the VPM on the ipsilateral side and of the age-matched normal control contained only a few profiles per section. Electron microscopy revealed that the TUNEL-positive profiles were apoptotic neurons. The ventral part of the ipsilateral brainstem sensory trigeminal nuclear complex (the nucleus principalis, and the subnuclei oralis and interpolaris) exhibited statistically significant 65-70% increase in number of apoptotic neurons compared to the contralateral side. Taken together with our previous study [T. Sugimoto, C. Xiao, H. Ichikawa, Neonatal primary neuronal death induced by capsaicin and axotomy involves an apoptotic mechanism, Brain Res. 807 (1998) 147-154], the present results demonstrated a cascade of apoptosis in the primary, secondary and tertiary order sensory neurons along the neuroaxis.     

Myelinated afferent fiber types that become spontaneously active and mechanosensitive following nerve transection in the rat

It is difficult to know which afferent types preferentially develop ectopic firing characteristics following nerve injury because axotomy disconnects the sensory receptor ending from the remainder of the afferent neuron. We compared the prevalence of ectopic firing originating in nerve-end neuromas of nerves serving muscle and skin in the rat. Spontaneous firing was much more prevalent in the injured medial gastrocnemius nerve, a hindlimb muscle nerve, than in the saphenous and sural nerves which primarily innervate hindlimb skin. Ectopic mechanosensitivity, on the other hand, was more prominent in neuromas of the cutaneous nerves. In neuromas of the facial nerve, a cranial nerve which serves striated muscles of the face, there was no spontaneous discharge and very little ectopic mechanosensitivity. We conclude that the development of spontaneous ectopic discharge and ectopic mechanosensitivity depends on the type of myelinated afferent fiber involved.     

带状疱疹神经痛77例临床分析

目的　探讨带状疱疹神经痛的临床特点。方法　分析７７ 例带状疱疹患者神经痛与疱疹关系,症候定位,误诊 原因及治疗转归。结果　神经痛与水疱疹是带状疱疹主要临床表现,以单节段神经节受累为主,多个神经节受累１４ 例（１８２ ％ ） , Ｈｕｎｔ 综合征１１ 例（１４３ ％ ） ;神经痛先于疱疹出现组４０ 例（５２０ ％ ） ,其中２６ 例误诊（６５０ ％ ） ,和神经痛与疱疹同时出 现组比较有极显著差异（ Ｐ ＜ ００１） ,老年人较中青年人更易误诊（ Ｐ ＜ ００５） ,疱疹落痂后遗神经痛２４ 例（３１２ ％ ） ,止痛 与抗病毒治疗有效。结论　 了解神经痛与疱疹呈节段性分布的临床特点,有助于带状疱疹的早期临床诊断与治疗,有利于疾病转归。     

Mild experimental brain injury differentially alters the expression of neurotrophin and neurotrophin receptor mRNAs in the hippocampus

The molecular events responsible for impairments in cognition following mild traumatic brain injury are poorly understood. Neurotrophins, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), have been identified as having a role in learning and memory. We have previously demonstrated that following experimental brain trauma of moderate severity (2.0-2.1 atm), mRNA levels of BDNF and its high-affinity receptor, trkB, are increased bilaterally in the hippocampus for several hours, whereas NT-3 mRNA expression is decreased. In the present study, we used in situ hybridization to compare BDNF, trkB, NT-3, and trkC mRNA expression in rat hippocampus at 3 or 6 h after a lateral fluid percussion brain injury (FPI) of mild severity (1.0 atm) to sham-injured controls at equivalent time points. Mild FPI induced significant increases in hybridization levels for BDNF and trkB mRNAs, and a decrease in NT-3 mRNA in the hippocampus. However, in contrast to the bilateral effects of moderate experimental brain injury, the present changes with mild injury were restricted to the injured side. These findings demonstrate that even a mild traumatic brain injury differentially alters neurotrophin and neurotrophin receptor levels in the hippocampus. Such alterations may have important implications for neural plasticity and recovery of function in people who sustain a mild head injury.     

Autoimmune maintenance and neuroprotection of the central nervous system

The genesis of immune privilege high in the evolutionary tree suggests that immune privilege is necessary, if not advantageous for the progressive development of the CNS. Upon reaching a certain degree of complexity, it seems as if the CNS was obliged to restrain the immune system from penetrating the blood-brain barrier. CNS autoimmunity against myelin proteins is known to be a contributory factor in the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis and in the animal model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) (Wekerle, 1993). Such autoimmunity has therefore been regarded as detrimental and hence obviously undesirable. However, recent findings in our laboratory suggest that T-cell autoimmunity to CNS self-antigens (Moalem et al., 1999), if expressed at the right time and the right place, can do much good in the CNS. We shall review the experiments briefly, and then discuss their implications for our understanding of immune privilege and CNS maintenance after injury.