Hyperthermo-chemo-radiotherapy as a definitive treatment for patients with early esophageal carcinoma.

Ten patients with early stage esophageal carcinoma were treated with hyperthermo-chemo-radiotherapy (HCR) without surgery. The reasons for the inoperability of these patients included medically inoperable unresectable cancers, advanced age, and/or refusal to undergo surgery. The diagnosis of early esophageal carcinoma was determined by esophagograms, endoscopy, and ultrasonography. Squamous cell carcinoma was histopathologically confirmed in each case. Each patient underwent four to nine sessions of hyperthermic treatment combined with external irradiation and chemotherapy using bleomycin; eight of these patients received additional radiation, and two terminated treatment after the HCR therapy. The tumors in all patients showed either a complete response (CR) or a partial response (PR) after HCR therapy; in two patients viable cancer cells remained, but later disappeared after additional radiation. Five patients experienced no local recurrence for 12 to 70 months and are now alive and doing well, three died of other medical conditions without any evidence of esophageal cancer, and two died of recurrent esophageal cancer 20 to 27 months after initial admission. All ten patients tolerated the HCR well without any systemic side effects. However, in two patients, esophageal erosion was recognized endoscopically. HCR therapy therefore deserves serious consideration when treating patients with small malignant lesions of the esophagus who, for various reasons, are unable to undergo surgery.     

Increased MR signal intensity due to cervical myelopathy. Analysis of 29 surgical cases

The cases of 29 patients with cervical myelopathy, who had been treated by anterior spine fusion, were reviewed. The relationship between pre- and postoperative magnetic resonance (MR) images was investigated with special reference to increased signal intensity in the spinal cord on the T2-weighted images and the relevance of this finding to clinical conditions. Preoperatively, there were areas of increased signal intensity in 12 patients whereas there were no areas of increased signal intensity in the other 17. The lesions were not clearly demonstrated on T1-weighted images. The pre- and postoperative clinical condition of the patients whose preoperative MR images showed areas of increased signal intensity in the spinal cord on T2-weighted images was worse than that of the patients who did not have areas of increased signal intensity. Of the 12 patients with regions of increased signal intensity preoperatively, five showed decreased signal intensity postoperatively compared to the preoperative levels and seven had no change. The postoperative recovery of the five patients who showed decreased signal intensity postoperatively was better than that of the seven patients who exhibited no change. The areas of increased MR signal in the spinal cord might be due to edema, cord gliosis, demyelination, or microcavities.     

AMP deaminase activity of skeletal muscle in neuromuscular disorders in childhood. Histochemical and biochemical studies

We studied the histochemical staining and biochemical activity of AMP deaminase in biopsied muscle in Becker-type muscular dystrophy (BMD), Fukuyama-type congenital muscular dystrophy (FCMD), Duchenne-type muscular dystrophy (DMD), Werdnig-Hoffmann disease (WH) in order to elucidate the change of AMP deaminase activity in muscle with neuromuscular disorders in childhood. The intensity of AMP deaminase staining did not decrease in BMD with mild pathologic change, but in DMD, FCMD and WH it decreased in parallel with the severity of the pathologic change. The biochemical activity of AMP deaminase did not decrease in muscle with mild pathologic change in patients with DMD and tended to decrease according to the progress of the disease. The activity of AMP deaminase in muscle of patients with FCMD and WH which showed severe pathologic change was remarkably low. It was demonstrated that the decrease in the activity of AMP deaminase was related to the intensity of pathologic change rather than diagnosis of a neuromuscular disorder.     

Effects of Glucocorticoids on Humoral and Cellular Immunity and on Airway Inflammation in Patients with Steroid-Dependent Intractable Asthma

The effects of glucocorticoids on the proportion of lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid in relation to humoral and cellular immunity were studied in 56 patients with steroid-dependent intractable asthma. To analyze the mechanism responsible for reduced numbers of BAL lymphocytes, we divided the subjects into 4 groups according to their BAL lymphocyte proportions: 0—4.9%, 5.0-9.9%, 10.0-14.9%, and 15.0-20.0%. Serum IgG levels and the peripheral lymphocyte count were significantly reduced in patients with a low proportion of BAL lymphocytes (less than 9.9%) than in those with more than 10% BAL lymphocytes. Delayed cutaneous reactivity to purified protein derivative was suppressed in patients with a low proportion of BAL lymphocytes (less than 4.9%). The mean proportion of BAL neutrophils tended to increase as the proportion of BAL lymphocytes decreased. These results show that the reduction in BAL lymphocytes produced by glucocorticoids is associated with suppressed humoral and cellular immunity, and that under such conditions the proportion of BAL neutrophils increases.     

Painless aortic dissection late after aortic valve replacement, presenting as superior vena cava syndrome

A 68-year-old man, who had underwent aortic valve replacement (AVR) with Björk-Shiley disc valve for aortic regurgitation 17 years ago, was transferred to our hospital complaining of facial ruddiness and swelling, without chest or back pain. Preoperative examination revealed DeBakey type II aortic dissection, which caused superior vena cava syndrome (SVC syndrome). Emergent ascending aortic replacement was performed, postoperatively central venous pressure (CVP) decreased from 33 to 9 mmHg, and SVC syndrome was relieved. Painless aortic dissection after AVR, presenting as SVC syndrome, is a rare case, and close follow-up should be performed under consideration of painless aortic dissection late after AVR.     

Potential doubling time and tumour doubling time in meningiomas and neurinomas

Summary Cell kinetic study plays an important role in treatment planning of brain tumour patients. MIB-1 antibody has recently become available, which detects Ki-67 antigen even in the formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens. We performed MIB-1 immunostaining in 50 meningiomas and 50 neurinomas, and estimated the cell cycle time (tc) and potential doubling time (Tpot) from MIB-1 staining index (MIB-1 SI) and mitotic index (MI). MIB-1 SI logarithmically correlated with MI in both meningiomas and neurinomas. The tc and the Tpot were expressed as a function of the mitosis time (tm), while the tm is known to be around one hour and not exceeding two hours. When the tm was assumed to be one hour, the average tcs of meningiomas and neurinomas were 6.53±3.56 days and 7.67±3.27 days, respectively. The Tpots were447 × (MIB-1 SI)^–1.29 × tm in meningiomas, and490 × (MIB-1 SI) ^–0.98 × tm in neurinomas.The tumour doubling times (Tds) were calculated from serial imaging studies in 22 neurinomas and 15 meningiomas. The Tds were formulated as794 × (MIB-1 SI) ^–0.83 in meningiomas and1380 × (MIB-1 SI) ^–0.97 in neurinomas. Most of the Tds correlated well with the Tpots in meningiomas and neurinomas, and exceeded values of the Tpot when the tm is assumed to be one hour, although a few tumours showed unexpectedly longer Tds. The Tpot and the tc estimated from MIB-1 SI and MI are clinically useful parameters for predicting the growth potential of meningiomas and neurinomas where no other simple methods are available.     

Effects of calcium in continuous cardioplegia on myocardial protection

The effects of calcium (Ca) on a hyperkalemic cardioplegic solution for continuous cardioplegia were examined in an isolated perfused working rat heart model. The coronary arteries were perfused with a modified Krebs-Henseleit bicarbonate buffer (K-H) solution, containing various concentrations of Ca(0.1, 0.6, 1.2, and 2.5 mmol/l) and a high concentration of potassium (20 mmol/l), for 180 min, after which cardiac arrest was induced at 37°C for 180 min. Cardiac function and creatine kinase (CK) were measured. In the control group, K-H solution was infused in place of the cardioplegic solution, and cardiac arrest was not induced. No significant differences were observed between the groups infused with the K-H solution containing Ca concentrations of 0.6, 1.2, and 2.5 mmol/l in the percent recovery of aortic flow (82.1±2.9%, 80.6±2.0%, and 71.5±3.7% (mean±SEM) respectively) or in the recovery of other indices of cardiac function, or in CK leakage. There were also no significant differences in the recovery of cardiac function and CK leakage between these groups and the control group. In the Ca 0.1 mmol/l group, however, the characteristic Ca paradox was observed. These findings suggest that if the Ca concentration in a cardioplegic solution is higher than 0.6 mmol/l during continuous cardioplegia, excellent cardioprotective effects will be achieved.