Relationship between left ventricular systolic function and the myocardial gray level distribution in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy]

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is characterized by progressive left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction of nonspecific etiology. Fifty-nine DCM patients were serially observed by echocardiography for 4.5 +/- 2.6 years, and 7.3 +/- 3.4 times M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography was performed during the observation period using SSH-11A (Toshiba). To assess LV systolic function, ejection fraction was calculated by Pombo's method. Myocardial gray level distribution shown by echocardiography was calculated to assess the myocardial tissue character. Two-dimensional echocardiographic images were obtained in the parasternal short-axis view, recorded on U-matic videotape, and transferred to an image processing computer system (MIPRON, Kontron). The images were digitized and stored on the computer. The regions of interest (ROI) were placed in the LV septum, posterior papillary muscle, posterior wall, anterior papillary muscle and entire LV wall. The gray level distributions in each ROI and its quantitative parameters (mean, SD, skewness, excess) were calculated. The corrected myocardial gray level of every ROI (CMD) was also calculated and expressed as the ratio to the mean gray level of the LV cavity. Seven patients exhibited significant decreases in ejection fraction (more than 10%) during the observation period (group A); the remainders showed less change (group B).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Intracranial arterial vasospasm associated with pituitary apoplexy after head trauma--case report.

A case of intracranial arterial vasospasm caused by pituitary apoplexy after head trauma is reported. In this case, pituitary apoplexy was secondary to head trauma, and the vasospasm was thought to be due to subarachnoid hemorrhage from a pituitary tumor. No such case has previously been reported in the literature.     

Pseudo-adrenal incidentaloma: magnetic resonance imaging in a patient with para-adrenal Castleman's disease.

We report a case of para-adrenal angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia (Castleman's disease) of the hyaline-vascular type. The mass could not be differentiated from an adrenal tumor by ultrasonography and computed axial tomography (CT). However, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggested the possibility of an extra-adrenal origin of the mass. The intensity of the mass by MRI was homogeneous and of a higher intensity in the T2-weighted image than in the T1-weighted image, a finding similar to lymphadenopathy, lymphatic tumorous mass or metastatic tumor of the lymph node. Ultrasonography, CT and MRI may not be useful in characterizing Castleman's disease, but MRI was useful to distinguish asymptomatic para-adrenal masses from those of adrenal origin.     

Newborn infant with maternal anti-SSA antibody-induced complete heart block accompanying cardiomyopathy.

Newborn case of maternal anti-SSA antibody-induced congenital complete heart block (CCHB) accompanying cardiomyopathy is presented. Unexpectedly, she died of ventricular tachycardia, not bradycardia, 6 days after birth. Autopsy revealed left ventricular cardiomyopathy with endocardial fibroelastosis. Thus, when evaluating fetal cardiac performance in cases of maternal anti-SSA antibody-induced CCHB, it is necessary to pay attention to myocardial attributes such as endocardial hyperplasia.     

Cerenkov counting of low-energy beta-emitters using a new ceramic with high refractive index

The threshold beta-ray energy for Cerenkov photon production can be reduced to about 0.07 MeV by using a transparent ceramic with a high refractive index. This makes it possible to measure the low-energy beta-emitters ¹⁴C and ⁴⁵Ca by Cerenkov counting with efficiencies of 1.5% and 2.3%, respectively.     

Health-related quality of life among persons living in Japan with a permanent colostomy.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of persons with a permanent colostomy to that of the general Japanese population and explore the factors influencing HRQOL. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey. SETTING AND SUBJECTS: A total of 255 persons with an ostomy who attended a meeting of the Japan Ostomy Association in the Kanto region of Japan. INSTRUMENTS: The HRQOL was assessed using Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Japanese version 1.2. Factors potentially influencing the HRQOL were age, sex, marital status, employment status, number of people in the household, time since colostomy, and diagnosis. METHODS: Questionnaires were distributed to the subjects and SF-36 scores were determined and compared with the corresponding national-norm data by Wilcoxon signed rank sum test. A logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors. RESULTS: The questionnaire response rate was 66.7%. Subjects with a urostomy or an ileostomy and those with missing data were excluded. Data from 102 subjects with a permanent colostomy were analyzed. The subjects' scores were significantly lower than the national-norm scores in the role-physical and social functioning scales. Being employed was associated with significantly lower scores or associated with a tendency toward lower scores. CONCLUSIONS: Scores in two scales in these subjects were lower than those of national-norm scores. Being employed had a negative impact on the HRQOL of subjects with a permanent colostomy. The results of this study provide reference data for future research and underscore the importance of support for persons with a colostomy.     

Endotoxin shock in newborn dogs: serial hemodynamic studies

Using a newly modified dye dilution method for cardiac output determination, we successfully performed frequent serial hemodynamic measurements in newborn dogs to characterize hemodynamic changes in endotoxin shock in neonates. Sixty-seven mongrel newborn dogs (2 to 20 days old, 300 to 1500 gm) were divided into four groups: group 1 (2 to 20 days old, 300 to 1500 gm) received normal saline solution, group 2 (2 to 10 days old, 300 to 800 gm) received 1.5 mg/kg of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS), group 3 (2 to 10 days old, 300 to 800 gm) received 10 mg/kg of LPS, and group 4 (11 to 20 days old, 801 to 1500 gm) received 10 mg/kg of LPS. Cardiac output, heart rate, mean arterial pressure, systemic vascular resistance, and minute work were measured serially after endotoxin administration for 4 hours. Despite extensive manipulation, these measurements were stable in controls throughout the length of the study. Endotoxin, administered at two different doses of 1.5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg, had profound effects on hemodynamic responses. These effects included a significant dose-related fall in cardiac output, minimal changes in heart rate, and a marked rise in systemic vascular resistance. The hemodynamic changes reported in this study lend additional support to the hypothesis that maturational factors are involved in the hemodynamic response to LPS.     

Analysis of the determinant factors for open heart surgery without blood transfusion by the quantification theory--possibility of application of maximum surgical blood order schedule for open heart surgery]

In order to complete operations without blood transfusion we have chosen means of preoperative autologous blood saving and intraoperative autotransfusion, but we have not always achieved our purpose. We examined 29 patients (13 patients without blood transfusion and 16 with blood transfusion) to analyze the determinant factors as to whether open heart surgery without blood transfusion may be indicated or not, according to the quantification theory (type II) and to examine the possibility to apply the maximum surgical blood order schedule (MSBOS) for the open heart surgery by the quantification theory (type I). The analysis of determinant factors revealed hematocrit (Ht) value before saving of blood (more than 40%) as the best contributor of possibility of non-blood transfusion surgery, followed by the amount of blood loss during operation (less than 600 ml), the amount of saving blood (more than 800 ml), body weight (less than 70 kg), calculated Ht value on the beginning of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) (more than 24%), CPB time (less than 120 minutes) and the amount of postoperative blood loss (less than 600 ml). The prospective using blood volume at the operation was precisely calculated by the values of 4 preoperative factors, that is, the amount of saving blood, calculated Ht value on the beginning of CPB, CPB time and body weight. Therefore it is important to increase the amount of preoperative saving blood and decrease the amount of surgical bleeding in order to perform operations without blood transfusion, and is possible to apply the MSBOS for the open heart surgery.