Delayed thrombin generation with hirudin anticoagulation during prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass

Patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia requiring urgent cardiac surgery present a unique challenge that must be addressed by the use of nonheparin alternatives for anticoagulation during cardiopulmonary bypass. Although isolated cases have been presented involving the use of antithrombin III independent thrombin inhibitor hirudin in this situation, its ability to completely inhibit thrombin activity has not been demonstrated. In this report we describe the efficacy of this drug in inhibiting thrombin during a case requiring prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass.     

Receptor heterogeneity in the human thyroid: differences between thyrotrophin binding sites in membrane and nuclear fractions

Binding of 125I-labelled bovine TSH to crude membrane fractions of human thyroid tissue was a saturable, hormonally specific process which yielded non-linear Scatchard plots with limiting affinities of approximately 10(9) and 10(7) l/mol. Binding activity in membranes was soluble in Triton X-100, was inhibited specifically by immunoglobulins from patients with Graves's disease, and was increased by the beta-blocking drug, propranolol. In contrast, purified nuclear preparations showed a predominance of lower affinity binding, and their binding activity was insoluble in Triton and insensitive to immunoglobulins from patients with Grave's disease and to propranolol. Tryptic digestion liberated only low affinity binding activity from membranes or nuclei. It was concluded that human thyroid tissue contains independent classes of TSH-binding sites, which differ in their chemical, immunological and hormone-binding properties.     

Assessment of recovery from serious head injury.

A procedure for serial assessment of neuropsychological recovery after serious head injury was designed. The assessment procedure consists of four segments, each appropriate for different phases of the recovery process. Recovery can be traced from early in the period of post-traumatic amnesia until it reaches an asymptote. The course of recovery of several patients has been observed. The procedure is shown to be practical and appears to be valid. The recovery process is compared to ontogenesis, and is shown to be generally similar though differing in important particulars.     

Enteric campylobacter: purging its secrets?

Campylobacterial infections are the most common cause of bacterial enterocolitis in humans. Among children, especially in developing countries, Campylobacter infections can cause severe life-threatening diarrheal disease. Although usually associated with a benign outcome in the developed world, the burden of illness posed by Campylobacter infections is enormous, and serious neurologic sequelae also can occur. For a variety of reasons our understanding of the molecular and cellular pathogenesis of Campylobacter infection has lagged far behind that of other enteric pathogens. However, recent completion of the genome sequence of Campylobacter jejuni promises to open up the Campylobacter research field with the prospect of developing novel therapeutic and preventive strategies.