Application of the Minnesota Code in evaluating electrocardiographic features of ischemic heart disease in patients exposed to carbon disulphide

Summary We examined 81 men exposed for a long time to carbon disulphide (CS₂) and tested the possible electrocardiographic (ECG) changes of ischemic heart disease (I.H.D.). The subjects were examined twice in two years. In order to make the ECG evaluation more objective, the Minnesota Code was applied. Two obligatory ECG examinations and only one submaximal effort test were carried out. For comparative evaluation, the control group was examined once. We proved that, in spite of the accepted opinion concerning the atheromatous action of CS₂, this compound does not cause ECG symptoms of I.H.D. in a higher percentage of exposed persons. It also does not cause any significant increase in I.H.D. symptoms in dynamic ECG observations.     

Hip joint development after closed reduction, complicated by growth disturbance of the capital femoral epiphysis]

The purpose of the study was to assess hip joint development after the treatment of DDH with overhead traction and closed reduction complicated by growth disturbances of the proximal femoral epiphysis. Comparison was also made between joints affected by AVN and other treated joints. Antero-posterior radiographs of 107 hip joints (81 children) done during treatment and follow-up were retrospectively reviewed. The average age was 14.2 months (from 5 to 33 months) and age at the final follow up 20.7 years (minimum 14 years). AVN was detected in 31 (29%) of the hip joints. Type II necrosis according to Bucholz and Ogden classification system was the most common one. In the hips affected by growth disturbances of proximal femoral epiphysis there were worse final clinical and radiological results, osteoarthrosis and elongation of acetabulum were more often seen in comparison to other treated joints. There was no difference in terms of other parameters describing acetabulum. In 19 out of 31 cases deformity of femoral head was noted. AVN may present as a wide spectrum of pathology from mild, probably not significant growth disturbances of physis to severe deformity and lateralisation of femoral head. Statistically hips with AVN had worse final results and in cases with good congruity prognosis is often uncertain due to aspherical femoral head and secondary osteoarthrosis. Acetabular development is most often unaffected by AVN.     

Normal pressure hydrocephalus and cerebral blood flow: a PET study of baseline values.

Regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) was studied with O(15)-water positron emission tomography and anatomic region-of-interest analysis on co-registered magnetic resonance in patients with idiopathic (n = 12) and secondary (n = 5) normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). Mean CBF was compared with values obtained from healthy volunteers (n = 12) and with clinical parameters. Mean CBF was significantly decreased in the cerebrum and cerebellum of patients with NPH. The regional analysis demonstrated that CBF was reduced in the basal ganglia and the thalamus but not in white matter regions. The results suggest that the role of the basal ganglia and thalamus in NPH may be more prominent than currently appreciated. The implications for theories regarding the pathogenesis of NPH are discussed.     

Role of DAT‐SPECT in the diagnostic work up of Parkinsonism

The diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) can be achieved with high degrees of accuracy in cases with full expression of classical clinical features. However, diagnostic uncertainty remains in early disease with subtle or ambiguous signs. Functional imaging has been suggested to increase the diagnostic yield in parkinsonian syndromes with uncertain clinical classification. Loss of striatal dopamine nerve terminal function, a hallmark of neurodegenerative Parkinsonism, is strongly related to decreases of dopamine transporter (DAT) density, which can be measured by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The use of DAT‐SPECT facilitates the differential diagnosis in patients with isolated tremor symptoms not fulfilling PD or essential tremor criteria, drug‐induced, psychogenic and vascular Parkinsonism as well as dementia when associated with Parkinsonism. This review addresses the value of DAT‐SPECT in early differential diagnosis, and its potential as a screening tool for subjects at risk of developing PD as well as issues around the assessment of disease progression. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society     

Multimodal intraoperative monitoring: towards a routine use in surgical treatment of severe spinal disorders

European Spine Journal -     

Postoperative radiotherapy and radiotherapy combined with CCNU chemotherapy for treatment of brain gliomas

A prospective, randomized trial evaluates the effects of two postoperative treatment regimens on survival in 198 adult patients with supratentorial gliomas. All patients were irradiated with 6 000 rads after possibly radical removal of tumors. CCNU administration in the dosis of 100 mg/sq m of body surface every 6–8 weeks following surgery proved to have no significant effect on the survival of patients. The median survival time in patients receiving radiation therapy alone was 61±7 weeks, while in those receiving additional chemotherapy was 56±4 weeks. Tumor histological malignancy and patients age were found to be the only important prognostic factors, irrespective of the treatment modality. Address for offprints: T Trojanowski, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical School, Jaczewskiego 8, 20-950 Lublin, Poland     

Selective inhibition of MAO-A,not MAO-B,results in antidepressant-like effects on DRL 72-s behavior

The effects of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) that selectively inhibit the MAO-A or MAO-B forms of MAO were studied in rats performing under a differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate 72-s (DRL 72-s) schedule of reinforcement. Clorgyline and CGP11305A, irreversible and reversible MAO-A inhibitors, respectively, increased the reinforcement rate, decreased the response rate, and enhanced temporal discrimination. The irreversible MAO-B inhibitor (–)-deprenyl did not produce similar effects. Pargyline did not increase the reinforcement rate at low doses that selectively inhibit MAO-B, but did increase the reinforcement rate at doses that inhibit MAO-A by more than 90%. The present results are in accord with clinical data demonstrating that MAO-A inhibitors are effective therapeutic agents in treating depression while MAO-B inhibitors are of questionable antidepressant efficacy. The present findings provide further evidence that the DRL 72-s schedule may be useful both as a screen for identifying new antidepressants and for investigating the neurochemical effects of antidepressant drugs that are responsible for their therapeutic effects.     

Anion channels in a leaky epithelium

We have used the patch-clamp technique to characterize three anion channels in the ventricular membrane of the choroid plexus epithelium from Necturus. The most frequently occurring channel had a nonlinear IV-curve. The conductance in excised patches with 112 mM chloride at both sides was 28 pS at 0 mV, increasing towards positive membrane potentials. The selectivity ratios were P _NaP _Cl 0.1 and . SITS and furosemide (1 mM) on the inside reduces chloride flux to 0.15 and 0.37 times the control value. In attached patches, the most commonly observed channel had a conductance of 7.5 pS. The single-channel current for this channel reversed direction at 15 mV hyperpolarization, indicating accumulation of chloride to a factor of 1.8 above equilibrium. External stimulation of the tissue by theophylline, IBMX and dbcAMP, or by hypotonic shock did not increase the activity of this channel. In very few excised patches, we have observed a chloride channel with a conductance of 7 pS with 112 mM chloride at both sides. The 7 pS channel appears to be identical to a 2 pS channel found in attached patches. The 2 pS channel was not normally active in attached patches but was activated in 28% of the patches by external stimulation. Finally, in few excised patches we have found a 375 pS channel which inactivates within seconds when membrane potential is stepped from 0 mV to a value that differs more than 10–20 mV from zero. The channel did not conduct gluconate but and P _NaP _Cl 0.1. Internal SITS and furosemide (1 mM) reduced chloride flux to 0.3 and 0.5 times the control value. The channel was never seen in attached patches. The current carried through these channels can not account for the transepithelial steady state Cl^–-flux measured by microelectrodes. KCl exit from the cell is suggested to be carried by KCl-cotransport or by channels that are too small to be seen in patch-clamp experiments.     

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto in yellow-necked mice and feeding Ixodes ricinus ticks in a forest habitat of west central Poland

Wild rodents and the subadult Ixodes ricinus (L.) ticks infesting them were examined for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner s.l. in a sylvatic habitat in west central Poland during May-September 2002. In total, 818 feeding ticks were recovered from 73 infested yellow-necked mice, Apodemus flavicollis Melchior; in addition, bank voles, Clethrionomys glareolus Schreber, were rarely captured and proved to be weakly parasitized. Only 2.7% of A. flavicollis and 2.2% of 320 engorging larvae were polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive for the bacterium. All spirochete-PCR-positive samples yielded exclusively B. burgdorferi s.s. This genospecies was also the most prevalent in questing nymphs and accounted for 87.5% of the total number of Borrelia infections in nymphal ticks collected during May and June 2 yr later. The presence of the same genospecies both in naturally engorged larvae and blood-positive animals as well as the high predominance of B. burgdorferi s.s. in questing nymphs strongly differs from most study sites investigated in Europe. This unique pattern of Borrelia-diversity in both rodents and ticks seems to be determined by highly site-specific host vertebrate cenosis, and yellow-necked mice are involved in the maintenance of B. burgdorferi s.s. in the forest habitat. However, the transmission efficiency of this spirochete from the mice to the I. ricinus vector seems to be very low. The research provides additional information on the complexity of B. burgdorferi s.l. ecology in Europe, pointing to the importance of the local host community.