Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: assessment with MR imaging

Thirty-three joints of the appendicular skeleton in 15 children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis were examined with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to determine if it could demonstrate synovial hypertrophy and status of the articular cartilage. Presumed synovial hypertrophy was seen in 13 joints as masses of varying sizes of low to intermediate signal intensity on T1- and T2-weighted images; sometimes foci of increased signal intensity, most likely due to fluid or inflammation, were seen on T2-weighted images. Probable abnormal articular cartilage was detected in ten joints, and MR imaging also demonstrated epiphyseal overgrowth, bone erosions, joint effusions, and joint space narrowing. Because MR imaging appears to provide an objective method of evaluating both synovial hypertrophy and status of articular cartilage, it may prove to be useful in monitoring progression of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and response to therapy.     

Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance study of the C6 glioma cell line cultured on microcarrier beads

The energetic metabolism of perfused C6 glioma cells anchoted and cultured on polystyrene microcarrier beads has been studied by phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic spectrocopy (NMR). The observation of in tracellular phosphorylated compounds demonstrates the metabolic long-lasting viability of the perfused cells. The effect of glucose deprivation on energetic metabolism and intracellular pH illustrates the existence of an active aerobic glycolysis. The non-invasive study of anchored C6 cells by NMR provides a direct means to investigate the metabolism of glioma cells.     

Spurious E rosette formation in B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia due to monoclonal anti-sheep RBC antibody

The apparent simultaneous presence of surface markers characteristic of both B and T cells is a phenomenon being described with increasing frequency in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We describe a patient with CLL whose B lymphocytes possessed surface immunoglobulin reactive with neuraminidase-treated sheep erythrocytes (SRBCs) and produced E rosette formation. Cytofluorography using monoclonal antibodies demonstrated the B cell nature of these cells and the absence of the SRBC receptor. Further documentation that the binding of SRBCs was mediated through immunologic reaction included E rosette formation inhibition by monospecific antisera and hemagglutination of SRBCs by a paraprotein isolated from the patient's serum. Fusion of the CLL cells with a human hypoxanthine-aminopterin- thymidine-sensitive plasma cell line resulted in the production of human hybridomas that secreted the SRBC-reactive IgM antibody. An analysis of clinical histories of CLL patients whose cells exhibited this phenomenon from both immunologic and clinical perspectives is presented.     

MR angiography with two-dimensional acquisition and three-dimensional display. Work in progress

Magnetic resonance arteriograms of healthy volunteers and selected patients were produced with a new spoiled gradient-echo pulse sequence based on time-of-flight phenomena. The procedure involves sequential acquisition of many contiguous, thin (1.5-mm) axial two-dimensional sections. These volume data are then submitted to a raytracing projection program, which retrospectively yields multiple arbitrary projection angles rotating through any plane. Venous structures are suppressed with a presaturation slab superior to the current section. The slab location is advanced in concert with advancement of each new section location. The acquisition time varies from 6 to 13 minutes, depending on the number of sections acquired for three-dimensional display. This method obviates the subtraction of image data sets to suppress signals from stationary spins, is more sensitive to slow blood flow than three-dimensional methods of acquisition, and shows special promise for the study of extracranial vascular disease.