Morphometric comparison of human nerve cells: pyramidal motor system

We compared morphological and morphometric data on various motor neurons in the human pyramidal system using the modified Klüver-Barrera staining method with extremely minimized shrinkage ratio and an image-analyzer. We classified motor neurons in the human pyramidal system into three groups according to the measurement data. This report may be of interest to better understand the process of nerve conduction in the human pyramidal system.     

Studies on recurrence of cerebral aneurysm after operation

It seems to be well established that the direct surgical treatment of intracranial aneurysm such as clipping, trapping and wrapping the aneurysm. These operations have brought about excellent results but are not perfect because recurrent aneurysm and rebleeding of aneurysm have been reported shortly after the operation. However, it is very rare that subarachnoid hemorrhage arising from recurrent aneurysm long time after the operation, authors have experienced 3 cases of recurrent aneurysm in the same region long after the surgery. Two cases were readmitted to our hospital following repeat episode of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Carotid angiogram showed a new small aneurysm locating about the same place where previously operated aneurysm was situated. One of them showed development of new aneurysm at the anterior communicating after 4 years artery the neck clipping, the other one was recurrent aneurysm 9 years after the neck clipping of aneurysm at the anterior communicating artery. Two cases were treated by reclipping and got well. It has been reported in the articles that 20 cases of recurrent aneurysm were located about the same place where previously clipping aneurysm was performed. Causes of such recurrence of already clipped aneurysm could be divided into two groups. First group was considered that the treatment was unsatisfactory, because the clip had been improperly placed. The other group was considered as mechanical failure of aneurysmal clip that resulted in "slipped out," or "broken clip", and local fragility of the arterial wall adjacent to clip edge. Last case had a giant pseudoaneurysm.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effects of coronary artery bypass surgery on the stunned and hibernating myocardium in the cases with depressed left ventricular function

Chronic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction may result from irreversible damage (cell death), stunned myocardium (ST), or hibernating myocardium (HB). However, both of ST and HB are expected to be reversible. In this report, the effects of coronary artery bypass grafting on the regions of ST and HB were evaluated in 37 patients with less than 40% of LV ejection fraction. The patients were divided into two groups. Group I consisted of the patients whose postoperative LV ejection fraction rose by more than 10% compared to the preoperative value. Group II included the remaining patients with no significant improvement. After successful revascularization, 61% of HB changed to ST and 52% of ST to normal in group I. These changes were significant in comparison with group II because 48% of HB and 83% of ST in group II remained unchanged. Immediate or rapid recovery of HB hardly occurred in both of the groups. To recover normal function, HB may pass through a stage of ST on reperfusion. On the other hand, it is difficult to determine whether HB and ST with no significant changes after reperfusion are irreversibly damaged or reversible and take time to return to normal.     

Age at onset of schizophrenia: gender differences and influence of temporal socioeconomic change

This study was undertaken to examine whether males develop schizophrenia at a younger age than females, and whether temporal socioeconomic change affects the age at onset of schizophrenia. The subjects were 848 ICD-9 schizophrenics who were admitted to Nihon University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan, during the period of 1955-64 (n = 468 (214 males and 254 females), group A) or during the period of 1982-91 (n = 380 (220 males and 160 females). group B). Schizophrenic males showed an earlier age at onset than schizophrenic females. However, the mean age at onset of schizophrenia did not differ significantly between group A and group B. These results indicate that the gender difference in age at onset of schizophrenia has not been influenced by temporal socioeconomic change.     

Efficacy of axillary-axillary bypass grafting for the subclavian artery disease

Axillary-axillary bypass procedure was performed in 5 patients (3: atherosclerosis, 1: rupture of aortic arch aneurysm, 1: trauma) with the total occlusion of the subclavian artery. All the operations were performed with 6 mm ringed expanded polytetrafluoroethylene under general anesthesia. Though several types of extrathoracic procedures such as carotid-subclavian bypass, subclavian-subclavian bypass and axillary-axillary bypass are introduced, the efficacy of axillary-axillary bypass procedure is greater ease of anatomic exposure with no concern of interfering with the carotid circulation. The type of bypass to be used in a given case will depend on the individual circumstances. We suggest that this procedure is minimally invasive as well as effective for subclavian artery occlusion depending on the case.     

Double stapling method for closure of intraoperative alveolar air leakage adjacent to the staple line: a randomized experimental study on ex vivo porcine lungs

BackgroundAlveolar air leakage from a pleural defect around the staple line is one of the complications after wedge resection of the lung. An intraoperative closure of the pleural defect by suturing can cause additional pleural rupture due to tension of the pleura adjacent to staple lines. Therefore, we have introduced a novel closure method for pleural defect adjacent to the staple line, named the double stapling method. This study compared the efficacy of two closure methods; the double stapling method and conventional suturing method with pledgets using ex vivo porcine lungs.MethodsThe double stapling method involves closing the pleural defect by suturing the two parallel staple lines at both sides of the pleural defect. This method was developed to distribute the pleural tension around the needle holes of suturing. As a model of pleural defect adjacent to the staple line after wedge resection, wedge resection of the caudal lobe of left porcine lungs was performed, and a superficial square pleural defect (10 mm × 10 mm) adjacent to the staple line was made by scalpel. The defect was closed using the following two methods: (I) suturing with pledgets (n=10); and (II) double stapling method (n=10). The lobe was inflated in water at an airway pressure of 20, 25, and 30 cmH₂O; closure success or failure was judged by the absence or presence of air leakage.ResultsThe closure success was confirmed in 2 (20%) out of 10 cases in the suturing with pledgets group and 9 (90%) out of 10 in the double stapling method group (P=0.007). In 4 out of 10 cases in the suturing with pledgets group, new pleural clefts longer than 3 mm were created around the needle holes of suturing.ConclusionsEx vivo experiments have suggested the superiority of the double stapling method for the intraoperative closure of alveolar air leakage adjacent to the staple line after wedge resection, compared to conventional suturing with the pledget method.     

Maintenance and characterization of an Epstein Barr virus-infected CD56-negative T cell lymphoma.

T cell lymphoma carrying Epstein Barr virus (EBV(+) TL) is very rare among Western countries while it is much more common among Japanese. Here we report an EBV(+) TL which has been maintained for years by the use of mice with severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) mice. Lymphoma was obtained from a 55-year-old male suffering from oculomotor nerve palsy and lymphadenopathy. A small piece of biopsied tumor was transplanted into SCID mice and the lymphoma has been maintained for over 3 years with passages every 2 - 3 weeks. The maintained lymphoma, termed as TMS24, and the original lymphoma cells showed identical phenotype and genotype, including diffuse medium-sized cell morphology lacking granules, suppressor / cytotoxic immunophenotype and identical T cell receptor beta-chain gene rearrangement mode. Further, both were shown to carry an identical EBV clone in terms of the number of terminal repeats and the latency II-type restricted gene expression profile. Cytogenetically, TMS24 retained two characteristic chromosomal translocations of t(1;18)(q32;q21) and t(6;12)(p21;q24). Since only one cell line with such characters has been reported previously, TMS24 should be useful for detailed analysis of EBV(+) TL.     

Negative regulation of cell motile and invasive activities by lysophosphatidic acid receptor-3 in colon cancer HCT116 cells

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) mediates a wide range of biological responses with G protein-coupled transmembrane receptors (LPA receptors). So far, at least six types of LPA receptors (LPA receptor-1 (LPA₁) to LPA₆) have been identified. Recently, it has been reported that LPA₃ indicates opposite effects on cellular functions of cancer cells. In the present study, to assess a biological role of LPA₃ on cell migration ability of colon cancer cells, we generated LPA receptor-3 (LPAR3) knockdown (HCT-sh3-3) cells from HCT116 and measured cell motile and invasion activities. In motility assay with a cell culture insert, HCT-sh3-3 cells showed significantly high cell motile activity, compared with control cells. For invasion assay, the filter was coated with Matrigel. The invasive activity of HCT-sh3-3 cells was significantly higher than that of control cells. Furthermore, we also examined the effects of LPAR3 knockdown on the interaction between colon cancer cells and endothelial F-2 cells. When F-2 cells were cultured with serum-free DMEM containing a supernatant from HCT-sh3-3 cells, the cell growth rate and migration activity of F-2 cells were significantly stimulated, associating with the elevated expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A and VEGF-C genes in HCT-sh3-3 cells. These results suggest that LPA₃ may act as a negative regulator on cell motile and invasive abilities of colon cancer HCT116 cells.     

Cylindroma of the breast of skin adnexal type: a study of 4 cases

Four cases of solitary cylindroma of the breast of skin adnexal type are described. The tumors were morphologically and immunophenotypically identical to their dermal counterparts. They arose in close proximity to the nipple, such as the retroareolar area of the breast and in intimate association with the lactiferous ducts, suggesting an origin from the latter structures. One case occurred in a woman with hereditary multiple cylindromatosis (Brooke-Spiegler syndrome). This is the second reported case of this hereditary syndrome with extracutaneous manifestations and the first case in which the breast is involved.