Alcohol-dependent criminals: on the problem of their confinement according to paragraph 64 of the German federal law

The article presents part of the results of a Federal German investigation of psychiatric confinement in cases of delinquency in accordance with German law. Among the 674 inmates whose case history could be included in the investigation, there was a predominance of alcohol dependence in two-thirds of them. Confinement occurred mostly only after addiction and delinquencies had been going on for a long time. In more than one-half of the patients no attempt had previously been made to treat and manage their alcohol addiction. Every fourth patient is confined without first consulting a psychiatric expert. Basing on sociobiographic characteristics it is possible to form two contrasting groups of patients: a smaller group where addiction has set in early and delinquency at a late stage, and a larger one with early onset of delinquency developing parallel to the abuse of alcohol. This leads to conclusions with regard to the development of specific treatment guidelines.     

Grenzen und Möglichkeiten der Glaskörperchirurgie bei diabetischer Retinopathie

Hintergrund: Verschiedene Indikationen für glask?rperchirurgische Eingriffe bei Komplikationen der diabetischen Retinopathie haben sich etabliert. Jedoch gibt es wenig Daten zu der Frage, in welchen Situationen auf einen Eingriff wegen aussichtsloser funktioneller Prognose verzichtet werden sollte. Material und Methode: Die Krankengeschichten von 389 Patienten, die zwischen 1990 und 1994 in unserer Klinik wegen Komplikationen der diabetischen Retinopathie vitrektomiert worden sind, wurden retrospektiv analysiert. Die Nachbeobachtung betrug mindestens 6 Monate, im Median 26 Monate. Mit multivariaten, logistischen Regressionsanalysen wurden Faktoren ermittelt, die mit schlechten postoperativen, funktionellen Ergebnissen korrelieren. Ein mathematisches Modell wurde entwickelt, welches die Einsch?tzung der Prognose für verschiedene Ausgangssituationen erlaubt. Ergebnisse: Bei 45 Augen (12%) stieg der postoperative Visus nicht über 1/50. Risikofaktoren waren Ablatio der Makula, Ausdehnung der Ablatio, Rubeosis und Dauer der Visusminderung. ?hnliche Risikofaktoren gelten auch für Revisionsoperationen. Bei einem Auge mit totaler Traktionsablatio von über 6 Monaten Dauer und Rubeosis liegt die berechnete Wahrscheinlichkeit für einen postoperativen Visus über 1/50 lediglich bei 2%. Schlu?folgerungen: Bei totaler Traktionsablatio, insbesondere bei Rubeosis und l?ngerem Bestehen der Ablatio, ist die Prognose extrem schlecht. Auf operative Ma?nahmen sollte hier verzichtet werden.      

Hypointense transcerebral veins at T2*-weighted MRI: a marker of hemorrhagic transformation risk in patients treated with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator.

Prediction of hemorrhagic transformation (HT) in patients treated by intravenous recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) is a challenging issue in acute stroke management. HT may be correlated with severe hypoperfusion. Signal changes may be observed at susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within large perfusion defects. A signal drop within cerebral veins at T2*-weighted gradient-echo MRI may be expected in severe ischemia, and may indicate subsequent risk of HT. The authors prospectively searched for an abnormal visibility of transcerebral veins (AVV) within the ischemic area in patients with hemispheric ischemic stroke, before they were treated with intravenous rt-PA therapy. Any correlation between AVV and baseline clinical or MRI findings, or further HT, was noted. An AVV was present in 23 of 49 patients (obvious, n = 8; moderate, n = 15), and was supported by severe hemodynamic changes at baseline MRI. The AVV was correlated with the occurrence of parenchymal hematoma type 2 at computed tomography during the first week (r = 0.44, P = 0.002). Five of six type 2 parenchymal hematomas occurred in association with obvious AVV. At multiple regression analysis, two baseline MRI factors had an independent predictive value for HT risk during the first week: the AVV and the cerebral blood volume ratio (Nagelkerke R2 = 0.48).     

Clonidine and Dexmedetomidine Potently Inhibit Peristalsis in the Guinea Pig Ileum In Vitro

Background: Inhibition of intestinal peristalsis is a major side effect of drugs used for anesthesia or for analgesia and sedation of patients in the intensive care unit. This in vitro study examined the effect of clonidine and dexmedetomidine on intestinal peristalsis and analyzed some of their mechanisms of action.

Methods: In isolated segments of the guinea pig small intestine, peristalsis was triggered by a perfusion-induced rise of the intraluminal pressure. The peristaltic pressure threshold to elicit a peristaltic wave was used to quantify drug effects on peristalsis. Vehicle (Tyrode's solution), clonidine (10 nm-100 [mu]m), or dexmedetomidine (0.1-100 nm) were added extraserosally to the organ bath. In other series of experiments, clonidine or dexmedetomidine was administered after pretreatment with yohimbine, prazosin, apamin, naloxone, or vehicle. Clonidine was also tested after blockade of NO synthase with l-NAME and in the presence of the inactive enantiomer d-NAME.

Results: Clonidine and dexmedetomidine concentration-dependently increased peristaltic pressure threshold and inhibited peristalsis (clonidine: EC50 = 19.6 [mu]m; dexmedetomidine: EC50 = 12.0 nm). The inhibition caused by clonidine could be prevented by pretreatment with yohimbine, naloxone, and apamin, but not by prazosin, l-NAME, or d-NAME. Inhibition caused by dexmedetomidine was prevented by yohimbine only.     

Tissue characterization of symptomatic and asymptomatic disc herniations by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging

The purpose of this investigation was to determine differences in tissue composition of symptomatic and asymptomatic disc herniations as reflected in T₁ and T₂ relaxation times (quantitative magnetic resonance investigation of the lumber spine. The longitudinal and transverse magnetic rlaxation times (T₁ and T₂, respectively) were calculated from a set of 20 images obtained with five single-slice/multi-echo sequences at different repetition time values on a commercial whole-body system (1.5 T). Twenty-two symptomatic and asymptomatic disc herniations could be matched according to age, gender, disc level, and the extent of herniation (protrusion or extrusion) and were compared with regard to T₁ and T₂ relaxation times. Symptomatic disc herniations exhibited significantly (p_T1 < 0.04 and p_T2 < 0.003) shorter T₁(ΔT₁:–182.1 milliseconds, ?15%) and T₂(ΔT₂: ?11.0 milliseconds, ?21%) relaxation times than matched asymptomatic herniations. Symptomatic disc herniations also exhibited more advanced disc degeneration as graded by Pearce's criteria (p < 0.01). These results suggest that symptomatic and morphologically matched asymptomatic disc herniations differ with regard to disc matrix composition.     

Effect of artifacts due to flowing blood on the reproducibility of phase-contrast measurements of myocardial motion

The reproducibility of myocardial motion trajectories calculated from cine phase-contrast (PC) velocity data is reduced by artifacts due to the inconsistent motion of intracardiac blood. Spatial presaturation reduces these artifacts but requires a longer sequence TR, with a potentially negative effect on trajectory accuracy and reproducibility. We investigated the effect of spatial presaturation on trajectory reproducibility. A midventricular transaxial slice was imaged in five normal volunteers. The same slice was imaged three times each with sequences using spatial presaturation or not. Because the most serious artifacts originate in the heart chambers and propagate in the phase-encoded direction, myocardial regions that were in line with the heart chambers (in the phase-encode direction) had the highest artifact level in the scans without spatial presaturation. The reproducibility of trajectories for regions placed in these areas (the anterior wall, septum and posterior wall in the transaxial scans with phase encoding in the anterior-posterior direction) improved by a factor of two when presaturation was used (P < .001). In areas that were not in line with the heart chambers (eg, the anterior aspect of the lateral wall in the transaxial scans), the effect of presaturation was not significant. These results correlate well with the measured reduction in artifact level. The reproducibility of myocardial motion trajectories over large areas of the heart is improved to approximately 1 mm when presaturation is used. Therefore, use of presaturation is recommended for myocardial motion studies using cine PC velocity data.     

Die neue Rubrik ?Molekularbiologie: Prinzipien und Praxis”

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Pyridazines,LVII: Synthesis and Cyclocondensation Reactions of (2-Aminophenyl)-(4-pyridazinyl)-ketone,a New Diaza Isoster of 2-Aminobenzophenone

A convenient approach to the new 2-aminobenzophenone analogue 4 is reported. Condensation reactions of 4 with ortho esters or amide acetals, respectively, followed by intramolecular cyclisations were found to provide smooth access to (4-pyridazinyl)-substituted quinolines 10, 13a,b , and the quinazoline derivative 15 .