Nuclear magnetic resonance proton imaging of bone pathology

Thirty-two patients with diversified pathology were examined with a supraconductive NMR imager using spin echo with different TR and TE to obtain T1 and T2 weighted images. They included 20 tumors (12 primary, eight metastasis), six osteomyelitis, three fractures, two osteonecrosis, and one diffuse metabolic (Gaucher) disease. In all cases except for the stress fractures, the bone pathology was clearly visualized in spite of the normal lack of signal from the compact cortical bone. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging proved to be at least as sensitive as radionuclide scintigraphy but much more accurate than all other imaging procedures including computed tomography (CT) and angiography to assess the extension of the lesions, especially in tumors extended to soft tissue. This is due both to easy acquisition of sagittal and coronal sections and to different patterns of pathologic modifications of T1 and T2 which are beginning to be defined. It is hoped that more experience in clinical use of these patterns will help to discriminate between tumor extension and soft-tissue edema. We conclude that while radionuclide scintigraphy will probably remain the most sensitive and easy to perform screening test for bone pathology, NMR imaging, among noninvasive diagnostic procedures, appears to be at least as specific as CT. In addition, where the extension of the lesions is concerned, NMR imaging is much more informative than CT. In pathology of the spine, the easy visualization of the spinal cord should decrease the need for myelography.     

Attentional demands of continuously monitoring orientation using vestibular information.

The aim of this series of experiments was to determine whether attention is normally required for continuously processing vestibular information concerning orientation, or is required only when orientation is disrupted (eg by vestibular dysfunction or by conflicting visual and vestibular orientation cues). In the first two studies, healthy subjects were passively oscillated, and indicated when they perceived they were passing through their starting position. There was only weak evidence for interference between performance on this 'continuous orientation monitoring task' and on concurrent mental tasks. However, a third study showed that when patients with vestibular imbalance carried out the continuous orientation monitoring task their performance on a concurrent mental arithmetic task was substantially impaired. This dual task interference was correlated with inaccuracy in judging orientation on the continuous orientation monitoring task, which in turn correlated with severity of recent vestibular symptomatology (assessed by questionnaire). In a fourth experiment, disorientation was induced in healthy subjects by rotating the visual field about the line of sight. Bidirectional interference was observed between monitoring orientation (assessed by accuracy in setting a rod to the perceived vertical) and performance of an arithmetic task. Dual task interference was correlated with baseline levels of disorientation induced by the visual field, as indicated by inaccuracy in judging the visual vertical. These findings suggest that monitoring orientation makes significant demands upon cortical processing resources when disorientation is induced, whether the disorientation results from deficient sensory functioning or from ambiguous perceptual information.     

Pr?senile Demenz bei polyzystischer lipomembran?ser Osteodysplasie

Wir berichten über den ersten Fall von polyzystischer lipomembran?ser Osteodysplasie oder “brain, bone and fat disease” in Deutschland. Die nach dem Erstbeschreibern auch als Morbus J?rvi-Hakola-Nasu bezeichnete Erkrankung ist bisher vor allem in Japan und in Finnland beschrieben worden. Einzelne F?lle wurden aus Schweden, Norwegen, Italien, Südafrika, Belgien und den USA berichtet. Im deutschsprachigen Raum ist bisher ein Fall aus ? ver?ffentlicht worden.     

Quality of life and standard of living in a randomly selected group of psychiatrically disabled people in Sweden 2 years after a psychiatry reform.

In Sweden, a psychiatry reform, aimed at improving the living conditions of the psychiatrically disabled, came into force in 1995. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of the reform by investigating quality of life and standard of living 2 years later in a randomly selected group of people with longstanding psychiatric disability. Self-ratings and interviews were conducted in a study group and a control group. The study group consisted of 19 women and 18 men (mean age 46.1 years) diagnosed with neurosis, schizophrenia or affective disorder. The control group consisted of 19 women and 17 men (mean age 48.7 years). Self-rated quality of life was significantly poorer in the study group (P < 0.0001, unpaired t-test), and so was housing (P < 0.001, test of similar proportions in independent samples). We found no significant positive correlation between subjective quality of life and standard of living in either group but a significant negative correlation in the control group (P < 0.05; r = 0.40, Pearson correlation coefficient). The results suggest that, in 1997, people with longstanding psychiatric disability still had poorer quality of life than the general population. This may be due to factors other than outward standard of living.     

Helicobacter pylori; histological and cultural correlation in chronic gastritis.

Seventy seven antral biopsies were collected from patients attending endoscopy clinic at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during a period of six months between December 1988 to May 1989. Of these 69 (89.6%) showed chronic gastritis as well as Helicobacter-like organisms (HLOs) in the biopsy specimens while 63 (81.8%) of biopsies grew Helicobacter pylori on culture. These findings indicate a good correlation between the histological diagnosis of chronic gastritis and isolation of H. pylori on culture.     

Criteria for the evaluation of the biochemical composition of bile]

The authors suggest additional criteria evidencing inflammations in the gallbladder and colloid stability of the bile: bile acid absorption and cholesterol sedimentation coefficients. Derivation of these coefficients is based on biochemical examination of the bile with measurements of bile acid, cholesterol, and bilirubin concentrations in both portions. The results of examinations of 99 subjects evidence the diagnostic value and specificity of the characteristics, and availability of this method for clinical practice.     

Afterpotential characteristics and firing patterns in maturing rat hippocampal CA1 neurones in in vitro slices.

The postnatal evolution of depolarizing after-potentials (DAPs) and after-hyperpolarizations (AHPs) was studied in rat CA1 hippocampal neurones (5-68 days of age) using in vitro slices. Results were pooled into 4 age groups: P5-9, P10-16, P17-24 and P26-68. In P5-9 cells, DAPs were seen as passive signals, with a time constant similar to the time constant of the membrane. The evolution of the DAP was characterized by a decrease in amplitude, an increase in duration and a change in contour. In P10-16 and P17-24 cells, the DAPs often had a plateau or a hump-like shape which increased the probability of firing and the occurrence of spike doublets. The firing pattern and bursting behaviour of P10-16 CA1 neurones differed from the pattern typical of the adult. P5-9 and P10-16 cells had post-burst AHPs with a smaller amplitude and a more prolonged early phase than at late stages of development.     

Pharmacological modulation of neuropeptides in peripheral mononuclear cells.

The concentrations of beta-endorphin and cholecystokinin were measured in fresh resting peripheral mononuclear cells obtained from rats and human subjects in basal conditions and after different pharmacological treatments. Both in the human and the rat, beta-endorphin concentrations in mononuclear cells, increased after treatment with serotoninergic agonists, decreased after dopaminergic or GABAergic drugs, while the respective antagonists exerted the opposite effect. In vitro, serotoninergic and GABAergic compounds confirmed their roles in the modulation of beta-endorphin in mononuclear cells. Cholecystokinin was never affected by the pharmacological treatments.     

Familial association of intracranial aneurysms and cervical artery dissections.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The familial occurrence of intracranial aneurysms and cervical artery dissections has been described in different families and supports the hypothesis that a primary arteriopathy may play a role in the pathogenesis of these disorders. Although the basis for this arteriopathy is generally not believed to be similar among cases of intracranial aneurysms and cervical artery dissections, several similarities exist in the epidemiology of these disorders and a common underlying arterial abnormality may be suspected. SUMMARY OF REPORTS: The medical records of all 175 patients with spontaneous dissections of the cervical arteries who were seen at the Mayo Clinic between 1970 and 1989 were reviewed to identify families in which intracranial aneurysms and cervical dissections coexisted. Three families were identified in which intracranial aneurysms and cervical artery dissections were observed among siblings. These families are described in detail. CONCLUSIONS: The familial occurrence of intracranial aneurysms and cervical artery dissections within the same families provides support to the importance of a common underlying arteriopathy in the pathogenesis of both these disorders. The underlying vascular defect may, at least in some cases, be inherited.