Persistent left superior vena cava draining to left atrium with normal coronary sinus

In embryology, a persistent connection of the left superior vena cava to the left atrium rarely coexists with a coronary sinus. We herein report an unusual case of persistent left superior vena cava terminating in a left atrium with normal coronary sinus, which was revealed at the time of permanent pacemaker implantation after a second operation for recurrent left atrioventricular valve regurgitation. Because this anomaly had gone undiagnosed at the first operation, we were unable to diagnose it prior to the second operation, because the preoperative coronary angiogram clearly demonstrated a coronary sinus that was not dilated. We would have repaired the anomaly using a patch or other procedure had it been diagnosed before the second operation in order to prevent cyanosis or brain complications secondary to right-to-left shunting. One should always be on guard for this rare condition.     

Associations of personality variables with smoking behavior and pulmonary function

Interindividual variability of lung function responses to smoking is unexplained. The aim of the present study is to inquire about a possible role of personality factors for an explanation of interindividual differences of lung function responses in smokers of both sexes. The results of canonical correlation analyses showed that there are no substantial correlations of personality with smoking behavior and also no significant associations of smoking behavior with pulmonary function in a healthy sample of smokers. In males only, personality factors were related to breathing frequency, but not to static and dynamic lung volumes.     

Hypolipidemic, hypocholesterolemic and antisclerotic action of the rotenoid glycoside amorphin

Amorphin--24-vicyanoside (C34H4O16(2)H2O)--in a dose of 10 mg/kg orally decreases the content of cholesterol, total lipids, atherogenic lipoproteids in the blood and organs of intact rats and rats with endogenous or ethanol hyperlipemia, inhibits the development of experimental atherosclerosis in rabbits induced by the combination of risk factors (cholesterol + glucose + hypodynamia), decreases the content of lipids in the blood and organs (especially in aorta), prevents the development of morphological manifestations of the aorta atherosclerosis.     

Activity of lymphocytes and antibodies derived from aging and adult rats bearing a MC-induced tumor in the syngeneic ADCC test

The purpose of the present paper was to demonstrate the antitumor activity of lymphocytes and antibodies in the antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity test (ADCC) in relation to the tumor growth in adult and aging rats bearing a methylcholanthrene-induced sarcoma (MC-Sa). In the syngeneic system using the ADCC test effector spleen lymphocytes, 51Cr labeled MC-Sa target cells and anti-MC-Sa serum were derived from inbred male Wistar rats. It was found that adult and aging tumor-bearing rats possessed lymphocytes (LSa) and antibodies (Ab) which were active in ADCC. In comparative studies between the groups of adult and aging rats a reverse relationship between tumor growth and activity of LSa and Ab in the ADCC test has been found. Thus, the larger weight of tumors in the group of adult rats was followed by lower LSa and Ab activities in the ADCC test. On the other hand, the smaller tumor growth in the group of aging rats was followed by higher activities of LSa and Ab in this test. We suggest that the ADCC phenomenon could be one of the antitumor mechanisms especially effective in aging rats.     

Popliteal artery entrapment syndrome

Three cases of popliteal artery entrapment syndrome, one of them bilateral, are presented with a review of the literature, with special reference to the embryological development of the popliteal space and the diagnostic and therapeutic problems presented by this syndrome.