Diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma of the thoracic spine--differential diagnostic difficulties

Spinal Ewing's sarcomas are rare and cause problems in differential diagnosis. The radiologic, nuclear medicine and CT findings in two children with histologically proven Ewing's sarcoma are presented and problems in differential diagnosis discussed. Biopsy should be done early.     

A comparative study of the tissue-destroying effect of the laser and electrocoagulation

The effect of the laser on compact, glandular tissue at the dosage employed for the local palliative treatment of tumors, can largely be mimicked with the aid of high-frequency current (HF-current), applied with the aid of an electro-hydro-thermo-probe: The experiments described in the present study were performed on the livers of 70 male Wistar rats. The laser was applied for 2 seconds at an output of 80 J at a distance to the tissue of 0.5 cm. In the first stage, in the acute experiment, the effect of the HF-current was matched to that of the laser by varying the modulated and unmodulated current components. It was found that the depths of penetration into the tissue at the given laser settings could be achieved with modulated HF-current (so-called coagulation current) at an output of more than 72 watts (equipment setting K 10) coagulation being performed for 10 seconds. The admixture of modulated HF-current (so-called cutting current) reduces the depth of penetration into the tissue. In the first 5 days, the depth of penetration increases after both laser irradiation and HF-coagulation, by a factor of 2 to 3. With respect to the depths of penetration (DP), the scatter ranges, and the histological changes, no difference is to be seen between laser and HF lesions: Laser DP = 5.7 mm (confidence range: 4.4-7.0 mm); HF DP (equipment setting K 10) = 4.8 mm (confidence range: 3.6-5.4 mm).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Histology of port wine stains after copper vapour laser treatment

We report histological changes in four patients with port wine stains treated with 578 nm yellow light from a high power copper vapour laser. Histology showed that selective damage occurred to the ectatic blood-vessels in the dermis, without haemorrhage and damage to non-vascular structures, and without scarring. The initial damage to the overlying epidermis was not permanent, and the damaged ectatic vessels returned to normal size or were completely necrosed and replaced by collagen.     

Chromosomal Rearrangements in Three Infertile Men

Summary:  Three chromosomal rearrangements: a balanced reciprocal translocation, t(14;10) (q22;q13), a Y-autosome translocation, t(Y;16) (q11;p13) and a deleted Y chromosome, Yq- were detected among 100 infertile men. The autosomal translocation, associated with oligozoospermia was found to be familial with various effects on the female carriers and the proband's father. The patients with the chromosome Y abberations were found to be azoospermic and might have lost the genes necessary for normal sperma-togenesis.
Zusammenfassung:  Unter 100 infertilen Männern wurden drei Chromosomenneuan-ordnungen entdeckt: eine balancierte reziproke Translokation, t(14;10) (q22;q13), eine Y-autosome Translokation, t(Y;16) (q11;p13) und eine Deletion des Y-Chromosoms, Yq-. Die autosomale Translokation bei Oligozoospermie zeigte sich familiär mit verschiedenen Auswirkungen bei den weiblichen Überträgern und dem Vater des Probanden. Die Patien-ten mit chromosomalen Y-Aberrational wiesen eine Azoospermie auf und scheinen die zur normalen Spermatogenese notwendigen Gene verloren zu haben.     

Unlike hypoxia, hypoglycemia does not preferentially destroy GABAergic neurons in developing rat neocortex explants in culture

We tested whether hypoglycemia, like hypoxia, would preferentially destroy GABAergic nerve cells in the neocortex. To this end, rat neocortex explants dissected from 6-day-old rat pups and cultured up to a developmental stage approximately comparable to that of the newborn human neocortex, were exposed to hypoglycemia for different periods. Quantitative light microscopic and immunocytochemical evaluation of the cultures demonstrated that hypoglycemia does not preferentially destroy GABAergic but rather non-GABAergic neurons, a finding quite opposite to what was found after hypoxia. Recent biochemical data from other laboratories which seem to support this difference in neuronal vulnerability are discussed. It is concluded that perinatal hypoglycemia may not form such a serious threat with respect to the genesis of epilepsy as does hypoxia.     

Clinical status and emotional adjustment of children of depressed mothers

The authors compared children (ages 7-13 years) of unipolar depressed mothers with children of nondepressed psychiatric patients, of nondepressed medical patients, and of nondepressed mothers in the community. The children's adjustment was rated by clinicians on the Child Adjustment Schedule and by the mothers on the Child Behavior Checklist. The highest proportion of clinically significant problems was found in the children of the depressed mothers. However, the overlap between the problems of these children and those of the children of the nondepressed psychiatric patients calls into question the formulation that children's adjustment difficulties are specific to parental depression.     

Are ADDH and ADHD the same or different?

To assess the relationship between the DSM-III criteria for attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH) and the DSM-III-R criteria for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), children from an inner city parochial school were evaluated using a 30-item teacher questionnaire consisting of the DMS-III and DSM-III-R criteria for these disorders, the revised Conners Parent and Teacher Questionnaires, and a continuous performance test. Diagnostic groups were established based on teacher ratings of the DSM items and evaluated in relation to the rating scale data and continuous performance test. While children who were identified by teachers as having ADDH almost always satisfied the criteria for ADHD, a new group of children who were hyperactive and impulsive but less clearly inattentive also met the criteria for ADHD. Implications of the change in diagnostic criteria are discussed.     

Bonnet syndrome and posterior parasagittal tumor: clues to neural mechanisms

A case of Bonnet syndrome associated with blindness due to bilateral eye disease and a posterior parasagittal meningioma is reported. It is assumed that visual afferent deprivation alone is not enough to produce the syndrome and that, in most instances, a 'cerebral factor' must be operative if hallucinoses are to occur. The distinction between hallucinosis and hallucinations is favored and a common neural circuit for the mediation of hallucinotic imageries in general is suggested. One should not immediately put the blame on obvious eye or visual pathways affections when facing cases of Bonnet syndrome, as they are not likely to explain the complex array of images perceived by any given patient. On the contrary, the possibility of a clinically covert intracranial disease should be always raised and intensively looked for.