Infantile spasms. A retrospective study of 105 cases.

This paper is a summary of our observations on 105 cases of infantile spasms. The age of onset was around six months after birth, but the patients came for treatment mainly about one year after onset. Fever of unknown cause, asphyxia, birth injury, infection of the central nervous system, tuberous sclerosis, phenylketonuria and recent immunization etc. were complained. Clinically, it is characterized by head nodding, mental retardation, myoclonic jerks and various neurologic deficits. EEG findings showed classical or modified arrythmia or other epileptiform patterns. About one third of 22 cases examined had abnormal brain stem auditory evoked potentials. Among 42 patients who underwent CT scanning before ACTH treatment, 18 were normal and 7 abnormal; during ACTH treatment 3 normal and 4 abnormal; after completion of treatment, 4 normal and 6 abnormal, suggesting no further atrophy of the brain. Examination of trace elements of the hair by particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) method in 23 patients revealed a significant difference in lead, calcium and zinc contents between patients and 101 controls, but no statistical difference in iron and copper contents between the two groups. Sodium valproate, prednisone and ACTH appear to be effective in the treatment of infantile spasms. Eight patients fully recovered, and they can go to school without difficulty. Many patients derived various degrees of improvement to the satisfaction of their parents. Two patients were still amented and often attacked by myoclonus. The effects, side effects of these drugs, and the possible pathogenesis were discussed.

     

The influence of some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on the retraction of collagen lattices.

The effects of some antirheumatics on the formation and retraction of collagen lattices seeded with fibroblasts have been studied. Among the antirheumatics, diclofenac was the most active inhibitor of lattice retraction, then tropesin and to a lesser extent indomethacin. Ibuprofen which is known as a very slight inhibitor of protein synthesis was able to significantly enhance lattice retraction when 10 micrograms/ml (48.5 microM) and 50 micrograms/ml (242 microM) were used.     

补肾益气逐浊法治疗ABO溶血致习惯性流产的临床研究

目的观察补肾益气逐浊法治疗ABO溶血所致习惯性流产的临床疗效。方法将152例患者随机分为两组，治疗组98例，用补肾益气逐浊法，选用黄芪、菟丝子及蚕砂颗粒剂口服；对照组54例，口服胸腺肽肠溶胶囊等。结果在降低血清抗体效价方面，治疗组总有效率为95．9％，对照组为51．9％；在妊娠疗效方面，治疗组总有效率为95．9％，对照组为42．1％。治疗组疗效明显优于对照组（P〈0．01）。结论补肾益气浊法治疗ABO溶血所致的习惯性流产疗效显著。     

The Application of Topical Anesthesia Combined with Subconjunctival Anesthesia for Glaucoma Surgery

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility, reliability and analgesia effect of topical anesthesia combined with subconjunctival anesthesia in anti-glaucomatous surgery.Methods: Two hundred and four cases (357 eyes) underwent anti-glaucomatous surgeries under topical anesthesia with 0.5％ Alcaine eye drops combined with subconjunctival anesthesia with 2％ Lidocaine. The analgesic effect was analysed with visual analogue pain scale.Results: Among all of 357 eyes, 62 eyes underwent peripheral iridectomy, 67 eyes underwent simple trabeculectomy, 167 eyes underwent compound brabeculectomy and 12 eyes nonpenetrating trabecular surgery. The effects of anesthesia were as follows: 304 eyes (85.2％) were painless (Grade Ⅰ), 50 eyes (14.0％) were slight painful (Grade Ⅱ), and 3 eyes (0.8％) were more painful (Grade Ⅲ) during surgery. And no severe complications were observed in all the cases during surgery and postoperatively. Amaurosis fugax was not observed in the glaucoma patients at the late stage with narrow vi     

Characteristics of antibody responses in tick-borne encephalitis vaccination breakthroughs

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus is an important human pathogenic flavivirus that is endemic in Europe and Asia. The disease can be effectively prevented by inactivated vaccines and vaccination breakthroughs (VBTs) are rare. We investigated the characteristics of antibody responses in such VBTs in comparison to those in unvaccinated TBE patients. In contrast to the unvaccinated controls, most of the VBTs displayed a delayed IgM antibody response and had high avidity and strongly neutralizing antibodies already in the first sample taken upon hospitalization. The antibody profile of these patients therefore had the characteristics of an anamnestic immune response. In the VBTs analyzed, immunological priming and memory were apparently not sufficient or fast enough to prevent the disease.     

Presence of lysine at aa 335 of the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase protein of mumps virus vaccine strain Urabe AM9 is not a requirement for neurovirulence

The recent global resurgence of mumps has drawn attention to the continued need for robust mumps immunization programs. Unfortunately, some vaccines derived from inadequately attenuated vaccine strains of mumps virus have caused meningitis in vaccinees, leading to withdrawal of certain vaccine strains from the market, public resistance to vaccination, or in some cases, cessation of national mumps vaccination programs. The most widely implicated mumps vaccine in cases of postvaccination meningitis is derived from the Urabe AM9 strain, which remains in use in some countries. The Urabe AM9 vaccine virus has been shown to exhibit a considerable degree of nucleotide and amino acid heterogeneity. Some studies have specifically implicated variants containing a lysine residue at amino acid position 335 in the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) protein with neurotoxicity, whereas a glutamic acid residue at this position was associated with attenuation. To test this hypothesis we generated two modified Urabe AM9 cDNA clones coding either for a lysine or a glutamic acid at position 335 in the HN gene. The two viruses were rescued by reverse genetics and characterized in vitro and in vivo. Both viruses exhibited similar growth kinetics in neuronal and non-neuronal cell lines and were of similar neurotoxicity when tested in rats, suggesting that amino acid 335 is not a crucial determinant of Urabe AM9 growth or neurovirulence.