Chemical composition in various compartments of inner ear fluid

Summary Sodium, potassium, chloride, glucose and total protein were determined in samples of scala vestibuli perilymph, scala tympani perilymph, CSF, cochlear endolymph and utricular endolymph from normal cats. Small but significant differences were evident in the concentrations of sodium and potassium between the scala vestibuli and scala tympani perilymph. It was also apparent that each compartment of endolymph has different values for sodium and potassium concentrations. Compared with the endolymph, the perilymph was found to contain a higher concentration of glucose and total protein. These findings are discussed from the view point of biological significance.Read before the 13th Workshop on Inner Ear Biology in Düsseldorf on August 23, 1976 This work was supported by Research Grant No. ROI-NS 1026801 from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Strokes, USA     

Pet sensitivities in asthmatic children

A history of pet contact and/or apparent clinical sensitivity was obtained in 65 (55%) of 118 unselected asthmatic children. These 65 children were skin tested and their sera examined for specific IgE using the radioallergosorbent test. Those children who had apparent clinical sensitivities had larger skin test reactions and were more likely to have positive specific IgE results than those without apparent sensitivities. Positive skin tests were very common (80%), but the larger the skin test reaction (weal diameter greater than 4 mm diameter) the more likely was there to be a positive history or a positive specific IgE result. Hence a large skin test reaction can provide a helpful pointer to animal allergy of clinical importance. Commercially available animal extracts have limitations for diagnostic tests. A questionnaire survey of 150 day schools emphasized the potential opportunities for contact with animal allergens at school.     

Risk factors for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism during pregnancy or post partum: a population-based, case-control study

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine risk factors for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism during pregnancy or post partum. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a population-based case-control study. All Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents with a first lifetime deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism during pregnancy or post partum from 1966 to 1990 were identified (N = 90). Where possible, a resident without deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism was matched to each patient by date of the first live birth after the patient's child. The medical records of all remaining patients and all control subjects were reviewed for >25 baseline characteristics, which were tested as risk factors for deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. RESULTS: In multivariate analysis smoking (odds ratio, 2.4) and prior superficial vein thrombosis (odds ratio, 9.4) were independent risk factors for deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary thrombosis during pregnancy or post partum. CONCLUSION: Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis may be warranted for pregnant women with prior superficial vein thrombosis. Smoking cessation should be recommended, especially during pregnancy and the postpartum period.     

Determination of the critical concentration of neutrophils required to block bacterial growth in tissues

We showed previously that the competition between bacterial killing by neutrophils and bacterial growth in stirred serum-containing suspensions could be modeled as the competition between a first-order reaction (bacterial growth) and a second-order reaction (bacterial killing by neutrophils). The model provided a useful parameter, the critical neutrophil concentration (CNC), below which bacterial concentration increased and above which it decreased, independent of the initial bacterial concentration. We report here that this model applies to neutrophil killing of bacteria in three-dimensional fibrin matrices and in rabbit dermis. We measured killing of 10(3)-10(8) colony forming units/ml Staphylococcus epidermidis by 10(5)-10(8) human neutrophils/ml in fibrin gels. The CNC was approximately 4 x 10(6) neutrophils/ml gel in the presence of normal serum and approximately 1.6 x 10(7) neutrophils/ml gel in the presence of C5-deficient serum. Application of our model to published data of others on killing of approximately 5 x 10(7) to 2 x 10(8) E. coli/ml rabbit dermis yielded CNCs from approximately 4 x 10(6) to approximately 8 x 10(6) neutrophils/ml dermis. Thus, in disparate tissues and tissuelike environments, our model fits the kinetics of bacterial killing and gives similar lower limits (CNCs) to the neutrophil concentration required to control bacterial growth.     

At issue: The future of cognitive rehabilitation of schizophrenia

Cognitive rehabilitation is becoming an increasingly popular intervention in treatment programs for people with schizophrenia. Despite this increased acceptance, however, the evidence base on its effectiveness is not impressive. Moreover, given the evidence of cognitive recovery in treated patients who do not receive cognitive rehabilitation--from newer medications and from other evidence-based psychosocial interventions--it is not clear whether cognitive rehabilitation is worth its expense in time and resources. We believe that the slow progress in the field of cognitive rehabilitation of schizophrenia is related to failure to address several critical issues: (1) the importance of manipulating stimulus and context structure in rehabilitative interventions; (2) the need to base a cognitive rehabilitation of schizophrenia on cognitive neuroscience as opposed to neuropsychology; (3) the importance of systematically addressing motivation, self-esteem, and affective factors when designing cognition-enhancing interventions; (4) the need to move beyond one-size-fits-all interventions and develop individualized treatments; and (5) the need to address abnormalities in the experience of the self when designing interventions to optimize cognitive and behavioral performance. Suggestions for addressing these issues are discussed.     

Changing trends in the surgical treatment of Ménière's disease: results of a 10-year survey

In order to discern trends in surgical procedures used to treat Ménière's disease in the United States during the 1990s, we mailed a questionnaire to 700 members of the American Otological Society and the American Neurotology Society. These physicians were asked about the frequency, results, and complications of surgical procedures for Ménière's disease that they had performed between Jan. 1, 1990, and Dec. 31, 1999. Questionnaires were returned by 137 surgeons (19.6%). Their responses indicated that the number of vestibular neurectomies, labyrinthectomies, and endolymphatic sac surgeries all decreased during 1999. Meanwhile, the use of office-administered intratympanic gentamicin therapy increased rapidly throughout the entire 10-year period, and by 1999 it had become the most frequently used invasive treatment for Ménière's disease. Surgeons now seem to reserve inpatient procedures for cases where intratympanic gentamicin fails to control vertigo.