β-Endorphin serum levels in patients with vitiligo

Aim The aim of this study is to correlate the β-endorphin levels at the early and more chronic stages of the disease in an attempt to find or confirm an etiological factor of vitiligo. Background The exact pathogenesis of vitiligo is still unclear. The most important theories are the self destruction, the autoimmune and the neural theories. Methods Patients with vitiligo (n= 28) were divided into two groups according to the duration of their disease. A group of 15 members of medical staff was the control group. β-endorphin levels were determined with a radioimmunoassay (¹²⁵I-β-endorphin IncstarCo). Results The mean β-endorphin levels (11.88 ± 2.25 pmol/l) in patients at the early years of the disease (Group A) were statistically elevated compared to those of patients with ‘chronic’ vitiligo (9.27 ± 2.73 pmol/l) and to those of controls (8.53 ± 2.53) pmol/l). Conclusion We suggest that high β-endorphin levels play a role in the pathogenesis of vitiligo as well as in the prognosis of the disease.     

Eight-channel transmit/receive body MRI coil at 3T.

Multichannel transmit magnetic resonance imaging (MR) systems have the potential to compensate for signal-intensity variations occurring at higher field strengths due to wave propagation effects in tissue. Methods such as RF shimming and local excitation in combination with parallel transmission can be applied to compensate for these effects. Moreover, parallel transmission can be applied to ease the excitation of arbitrarily shaped magnetization patterns. The implementation of these methods adds new requirements in terms of MRI hardware. This article describes the design of a decoupled eight-element transmit/receive body coil for 3T. The setup of the coil is explained, starting with standard single-channel resonators. Special focus is placed on the decoupling of the elements to obtain independent RF resonators. After a brief discussion of the underlying theory, the properties and limitations of the coil are outlined. Finally, the functionality and capabilities of the coil are demonstrated using RF measurements as well as MRI sequences.     

Vom Konzept zur Praxis – Aktuelles in der Luftrettung

The 2006, annual meeting of the senior physicians and emergency medical technicians of the German Air Rescue Service (Deutschen Rettungsflugwacht, DRF) was titled “From Concept to Practice”. The themes of security in the air rescue services and the current practice of cardiopulmonary respiration were discussed. In addition, different concepts and networks for treating patients with acute coronary syndrome or severe trauma were presented. The training of emergency technicians and quality assessment using the database of the whole TeamDRF was explained. New helicopter stations as well as long-range transport using normal aviation by the TeamDRF were presented.     

Breast cancer surveillance — a cost-effective strategy

Summary The effectiveness of a surveillance program for breast cancer recurrence in extending survival is predicated on two assumptions: 1) most recurrences are detected at an early stage at surveillance visits; and 2) the early treatment of recurrence offers a better chance of cure or longer survival. However, the data suggest that neither of these two assumptions is correct, and that postoperative follow-up of patients with breast cancer is expensive and does not significantly extend survival.This minisymposium was presented December 8, 1992, at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, and was sponsored by educational grants from Amgen and from Bristol-Myers Oncology Division.     

Ultrasound for the assessment of the embolic risk of carotid plaques

In a prospective study we compared duplex-ultrasound characteristics of symptomatic internal carotid artery (ICA) stenoses with cranial computerized tomographic (CCT) findings in 82 patients suffering from completed or transient middle cerebral artery symptoms. The aim was to assess the pathogenic role of ICA plaque morphology and the potential embolic risk of ICA plaques. The degree of carotid stenosis was estimated by spectral analysis of the pulsed Doppler signal. The CCT findings were classified as being either normal, lacunar lesions, hemodynamically induced low-perfusion infarctions, or territorial embolic infarctions. According to their ultrasonic features we characterized the ICA plaque surface as smooth or irregular and their structure as homogeneous or heterogeneous. Plaques with an irregular surface and heterogeneous echogenicity dominated significantly in CCT-territorial infarctions (p < 0.01), whereas hemodynamically induced low-perfusion infarctions showed no relationship with any plaque characteristic. High degree ICA stenoses (> 50>%) dominated in both territorial infarctions and low-perfusion infarctions, as compared to ipsilateral normal CCT or lacunes (p < 0.05). Normal CCT and lacunar infarctions were associated with homogeneous and smooth plaques (both p < 0.05). We conclude that > 50% ICA stenoses can cause both hemodynamically induced low-perfusion infarctions as well as thromboembolic territorial infarctions, whereas ulcerated and heterogeneous plaques constitute a high risk factor for arterio-arterial embolic stroke. Furthermore, carotid ultrasound may help to estimate the clinical significance of carotid lesions.