The corneal endothelium in vivo: its response to mild trauma

Changes in the specular microscopical appearance of the corneal endothelium are induced by the application of glycerin drops, in clinically used concentrations, to the epithelial surface of living rabbit corneas. Many of the affected cells appear to recover but a large number fall away and are replaced by the spread of neighbouring cells, eventually to leave no trace of their loss. The processes involved are described as seen and photographed in vivo with a modified, “roving”, specular microscope over prolonged periods of observation.The reduction in cell population results in no demonstrable loss of functional efficiency of the endothelium as evaluated by the temperature reversal phenomenon in vitro, after a period of cooling the eyes to 4°C. However, urethane anaesthesia is shown to be suspect in interfering with the pump-leak mechanisms of the endothelium.     

Hemobilia: Calcified hepatic artery aneurysm presenting with massive gastrointestinal bleeding

A case of a calcified and ruptured hepatic artery aneurysm presenting with hemobilia and massive gastrointestinal bleeding is reported and illustrated. The clinical diagnosis should be entertained whenever the trial of findings (abdominal colic, gastrointestinal bleeding, elevated bilirubin levels) is present. Angiography is the method of choice in confirming this diagnosis. A short review of the clinical and radiographic syndrome of hemobilia with emphasis on the occurence, significance, and prognosis of hepatic artery aneurysms is presented.     

Pneumomediastinography in carcinoma of the oesophagus

Forty-one patients with carcinoma of the gullet and oesophagogastric junction have been investigated by means of a new pneumomediastinographic method of pertracheal insufflation. More than 1,600 patients suffering from various pulmonary or mediastinal lesions have undergone this simple time-saving procedure. Pneumomediastinography cannot replace radiography of the gullet or oesophagoscopy in cases of cancer of the oesophagus. Since it reveals valuable details, which remain hidden in conventional radiographs or during oesophagoscopy, it may complement the findings of two traditional methods of investigation. The main advantages of pneumomediastinography in the diagnosis of cancer of the gullet are: it permits accurate assessment of the size and shape of the tumour; in patients submitted to radiotherapy, the local response to this treatment may be determined by changes in the size of the tumour shadow in pneumomediastinal tomograms; it establishes reliably that the tumour does not invade the adjacent organs; it facilitates visualization of some of the enlarged lymph nodes in the mediastinum which are not visible in conventional radiographs or tomograms; and the radiological characteristics of these lymph nodes facilitate an approximate differentiation between inflammatory and metastatic enlargements.     

Casus pro diagnosi; (eosinophiles Granulom,Mycosis fungoides)

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

LIGAND-INDUCED MOVEMENT OF LYMPHOCYTE MEMBRANE MACROMOLECITLES : II. MAPPING OF SURFACE MOIETIES

Anti-immunoglobulin (Ig) coupled to ferritin or hemocyanin was used to map the distribution of Ig molecules on lymphocytes derived from bone marrow (B lymphocytes) by freeze-etching. The labeled anti-Ig was distributed all over the membrane in the form of random interconnected patches forming a lacy, continuous network. This was the pattern of lymphocytes labeled at 4°C with the anti-Ig. After warming at 37°C, the labeled molecules concentrated into a single area of the cell (forming the cap) and were rapidly internalized in small vesicles Freeze-etching showed close packing of the labeled molecules in the cap area. There was evidence that in the cap area the Ig molecules were exfoliated from the plane of the membrane, suggesting that the Ig may be superficial to the bilipid layer, or weakly anchored to the membrane. Similar studies were made using antibodies to histocompatibility antigens. Thymocytes were labeled with anti-H-2 and ferritin anti-Ig at 4°C. Freeze-etching showed large patches scattered over the membrane and separated from each other by several thousand angstroms. This distribution may, in part, explain why H-2 antigens do not readily form a cap; the large patches are beyond the reach of even a double ligand (sandwich) reaction. The antigens that reacted with heterologous anti-lymphocyte globulin (ALG) were found in small noninterconnected clusters a few hundred angstroms apart. Such clusters presumably cannot be linked by a single antibody but can by a sandwich (ligand to ligand-antigen) reaction. In previous studies it was found that ALG antigens form a cap only after a sandwich reaction. Finally, the receptors for concanavalin A (Con A) were found in a lacy, irregular interconnected, random network. The spatial distribution of these moieties on the membrane may, in great part, determine their movement after reaction with one or two ligands.