Laryngeal Resistance before and after Minor Surgery: Endotracheal Tube versus Laryngeal Mask Airway™

Background: The placement of an endotracheal tube (ETT) may promote laryngeal swelling, which is an important cause of upper airway obstruction after extubation. The authors hypothesized that laryngeal swelling after ETT placement increases laryngeal resistance and tested that hypothesis by comparing postoperative laryngeal patency between patients with ETT placement and those with a Laryngeal Mask Airway(TM) (LMA(TM)).

Methods: Fourteen adult patients who underwent elective minor surgeries were randomly allocated to two groups whose airway would be managed through ETTs (the ETT group) or LMAs(TM) (the LMA(TM) group) during the surgery. While maintaining at sevoflurane 1 minimum alveolar concentration, the authors measured laryngeal resistance before and after surgery, during both spontaneous breathing and mechanical ventilation under complete paralysis. In addition, they endoscopically measured the vocal cord angle under complete paralysis.

Results: In association with marked swelling of the vocal cords, the vocal cord angle significantly decreased after surgery in the ETT group, whereas the angle did not change in the LMA group. Laryngeal resistance during mechanical ventilation significantly increased only in the ETT group. Laryngeal resistance during spontaneous breathing significantly increased after surgeries in both groups.     

Left anterior hemiblock studied by computer graphic electrocardiography

In order to find the three-dimensional distribution of ventricular depolarization potentials in left anterior hemiblock (LAHB) diagnosed by the conventional scalar ECG, 7 subjects with LAHB aged 9 to 62 years old who were otherwise healthy were studied by computer graphic electrocardiography (CGECG).Two modes of the initial ventricular depolarization (IVD) were noted. (1) The IVD appeared irregularly and separately on the mid- to lower central region of the anterior body surface. (2) The IVD appeared in a form rather like a parallelogram on the central region of the anterior body surface. Both (1) and (2) potentials propagated toward the left middle, lower, and lateral regions of the anterior body surface as normally observed; however, they were far lower in voltage than those observed in intact subjects.From the results, it has been concluded that LAHB may be, not a block, but rather a defective ventricular septal conduction.Presented at the 34th Annual Congress, International College of Angiology, Budapest, Hungary, July 1992.     

Leukocytosis and low serum IgA in workers exposed to the epoxy compound,t-methyl-3-phenylglycidate

Summary Forty-nine out of 54 male workers engaged in the production of an epoxy compound, t-methyl-3-phenylglycidate, showed skin symptoms in varing degrees that may be due to the skin-irritative effect of the compound. The exposed workers were also shown to have subjective symptoms which may be related to the irritative property of the compound on surface tissue. Laboratory examinations on the blood obtained from the exposed workers showed significantly higher values of leukocyte concentration as compared with the non-exposed controls. This was chiefly caused by the increase of neutrophilic granulocytes and T-cell lymphocytes. Serum IgA levels of the exposed workers were shown to be significantly lower than those of the control group. Hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit value and red cell count of the exposed workers remained at the same level as those of the control subjects. Liver or kidney damage was not found in biochemical analyses on the sera of exposed workers.     

Fate of odontoblasts and blood capillaries in the incisal region of the rat incisor pulp

Transmission electron microscopy of thin sections of the rat incisor pulp revealed that in the middle region of the incisor there were fenestrated capillaries in the “predentinal plexus” and that this region contained the tallest odontoblasts. The odontoblasts gradually became shortened in the incisal part of this region: the fenestrated capillaries in the predentinal plexus changed to continuous type capillaries. Almost all the odontoblasts had degenerated near the incisal end of the tooth. The predentinal plexus disappeared in this region, but the “subodontoblastic capillary plexus” persisted. In a specific region just beneath the worn incisal end, numerous macrophages and polymorphonuclear neutrophils appeared and scavenged the degenerating cells, possibly including the odontoblasts. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Telomerase activity in the human endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle

In a total of 41 endometrial tissue samples, the relationship between telomerase activity and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) labelling index was studied. In samples of endometrium from the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle, telomerase activity was found in 15 out of 17 cases (88%). Two samples from the early proliferative phase showed negative telomerase activity and a low PCNA labelling index. However, three out of 16 samples of early secretory phase endometrium showed telomerase activity and a PCNA labelling index. In mid- to late secretory phase endometrium, in menopausal endometrium and in decidualized endometrium induced by progesterone neither telomerase activity nor PCNA labelling was found. These results suggest that telomerase activity of the endometrium may be correlated with the proliferative potential of the epithelial cells and that its activity may be regulated by oestrogen.      

TPA-induced cohort migration of well-differentiated human rectal adenocarcinoma cells: cells move in a RGD-dependent manner on fibronectin produced by cells, and phosphorylation of E-cadherin/catenin complex is induced independently of cell-extracellular matrix interactions

 We have already presented a two-dimensional cell motility assay using a highly metastatic variant (L-10) of human rectal adenocarcinoma cell line RCM-1 as a motility model of tumour cells of epithelial origin. In this model, L-10 cells showed locomotion as a coherent sheet when stimulated with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), and we called this type of movement ”cohort migration”. Electron and immunoelectron microscopic study of the migrating cell sheets demonstrated localized release from cell–cell adhesion only at the lower portion of the cells with loss of E-cadherin immunoreactivity, and this change was associated with increased tyrosine phosphorylation of the E-cadherin–catenin complex, including β-catenin. Cell–extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions involved in this TPA-induced cohort migration and their effect on tyrosine phosphorylation of the E-cadherin-catenin complex have now been investigated. L-10 cell cohort migration was almost completely inhibited by addition of Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptide into the medium, and thus RGD dependent. Cohort migration was stimulated on type I and IV collagens, fibronectin (FN)- and laminin-coated substratum, but was inhibited by RGD only on FN-coated surface. By using immunofluorescent techniques, FN was demonstrated preferentially around migrating cells, and a protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide, inhibited the migration by about 75%. FN produced by L-10 cells were found to be mostly EDA+ FN when analysed by RT-PCR. Moreover, anti-FN antibody, but not anti-vitronectin antibody, inhibited the TPA-induced cohort migration almost completely. Thus, it was likely that L-10 cells produced FN themselves and moved on the FN substrate in an RGD-dependent manner. However, stimulation of migration by type I collagen coating and inhibition by RGD treatment did not affect the tyrosine phosphorylation of the E-cadherin–catenin complex induced by TPA, indicating that cell–cell interactions were adjusted to suit cell migration, irrespective of the condition of cell–ECM adhesion, during TPA-induced cohort migration. Received: 31 December 1997 / Accepted: 2 April 1998     

Coexpression of growth arrest-specific gene 6 and receptor tyrosine kinases,Axl and Sky,in human uterine endometrium and ovarian endometriosis

We demonstrated the expression of Gas6, the protein product of the growth arrest-specific gene 6 (gas6) and a member of the vitamin K-dependent protein family, and its receptor tyrosine kinases, Axl and Sky, in human uterine and ovarian endometriotic endometria using RT-PCR-Southern blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Gas6, Axl and Sky mRNA were detected in all samples analysed. There was no significant difference between the levels of Sky mRNA in normal uterine and endometriotic endometria; however, the levels of Gas6 and Axl mRNA in endometriotic endometria were significantly higher than in normal endometria. These mRNA levels showed no significant alteration during the menstrual cycle. In the immunohistochemical study, Gas6, Axl and Sky were found in endometrial glandular cells and stromal cells in all samples analysed. This study demonstrates the coexpression of receptor tyrosine kinases and their ligand, Gas6, in normal uterine and ovarian endometriotic endometria, and the overexpression of Axl and Gas6 in endometriotic endometria. It is suggested that Gas6 and Axl signal transduction is aberrantly stimulated in endometriotic endometria, and is plausibly related to its growth potential.