Management of cerebral vasospasm

Cerebral vasospasm is delayed narrowing of the large arteries of the circle of Willis occurring 4 to 14 days after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). It is but one cause of delayed deterioration after SAH but, in general, is the most important potentially treatable cause of morbidity and mortality after SAH. Development of vasospasm is best predicted by the volume, location, persistence and density of subarachnoid clot early after SAH. Diagnosis is made by catheter angiography or, with less accuracy, by computed tomographic angiography, transcranial Doppler ultrasound or other methods. Treatment remains problematic because it is expensive, time-consuming, associated with substantial risk and largely ineffective. Treatment includes optimization of factors that affect cerebral blood flow and metabolism, systemic administration of nimodipine, hemodynamic therapy and pharmacologic and mechanical angioplasty.     

Clinical and Immunological Studies on Healthy Blood Donors Hepatitis B Antibody Carriers

Ten healthy blood donors persistently seropositive for anti-HBs and without a history of clinically overt viral hepatitis were studied. While physical examination and biochemical liver function tests exhibited normal values in all cases, immunologic studies revealed coexistence of a long-term anti-HBs carrier state with the presence of cell-mediated immunity to HBV antigens and autoantibodies in some. These results suggest a complex immunologic phenomenon underlying the development of the anti-HBs carrier state.     

The physical performances of a single slice positron tomographic system and preliminary results in a clinical environment.

Metabolic phenomena can be studied and measured non-invasively using positron emitting radionuclides and a suitably adapted tomographic system. The choice of a single slice ring camera is justified by its physical performance, which is presented here and discussed. A series of measurements with geometrical phantoms and analytical simulations have been performed to determine the critical characteristics of the system. This has permitted optimization of certain parameters enabling very interesting clinical results to be obtained at SHFJ, particularly in the area of cerebral physiopathology. In addition, the potential of obtaining absolute quantitative values of regional activity is presented. The calibration of the regional activity is presented. The calibration of the system, spatial non-stationarities, and attenuation correction, which represent the main sources of error, are considered in detail. A precision of the order of 10% should be obtainable. Such a quantitation method has been successfully applied to the in vivo study of the regional extraction of cerebral oxygen.     

Recognition of the pattern in ultrasonic sectional pictures of the prostate for tumor diagnosis.

To diagnose tumorous alterations of the prostate, we examined the organ with ultrasonics by scanning directly from the abdominal wall through the filled bladder (transvesical). The research is aimed at: 1) improvement and mathematical preparation of the ultrasonic pictures to assist the physician in his diagnosis. 2) ascertainment of significant parameters which allow the classes "normal prostate", "adenoma" and "carcinoma" to be distinguished in screening examinations. The results show that with ultrasonics, adenomas and carcinomas are recognizable in 96% of the examined patients and can be differentiated from normal prostate tissue. The palpation finding was used as a reference in most cases.     

Computerized transrectal ultrasound of the prostate in a multicenter setup (C-TRUS-MS): detection of cancer after multiple negative systematic random and in primary biopsies

Objective  

To improve prostate cancer diagnostic imaging, a computer-based analysis of the transrectal ultrasound signal (C-TRUS) was developed. Until recently, the C-TRUS existed only as a stand-alone device. Now, C-TRUS was developed into a network-compatible module (C-TRUS-MS). This new technology allows users to transmit C-TRUS images from any internet platform to C-TRUS-MS investigation. After analysis, the cancer-suspicious marked images are then retransmitted via internet. Targeted biopsies can then be taken at the urologists’ office remotely.