Assessment of closed head injury in trauma-related spinal cord injury

The complete medical records of 122 patients who sustained traumatic spinal cord injuries were reviewed to determine the frequency and results of emergency room assessments for loss of consciousness (LOC) and post-traumatic amnesia (PTA). Eighty-eight percent of the patients were assessed for LOC and 19% were assessed for PTA. Fifty patients (41% of the total population) admitted to LOC, PTA or both. Fourteen of these 50 patients underwent subsequent radiographic examinations of the skull, all of which were negative. Because of the association of intracranial complications and long-term cognitive sequelae with even brief LOC or PTA, early recognition of craniocerebral trauma is an important component of the acute management of spinal cord injured patients.     

Polymorphonuclear leukocyte function in psoriasis vulgaris

Polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) migration was assessed in vitro using the agarose plate method in patients with psoriasis vulgaris, and compared with an age- and sex-matched control group. No significant difference was found between the two groups in the PMN response to the chemotactic substances F-Met-Leu-Phe (FMLP) or zymosan activated serum (ZAS). Equally, the chemokinetic or chemotactic potential of psoriatic serum did not differ from control serum. Our results do not support a primary abnormality of PMN function in psoriasis.     

Surgical revision of biliopancreatic diversion

Biliopancreatic diversion is a very effective method for weight reduction. In some instances it is too effective and needs to be revised.     

Naloxone-reversible analgesia as a result of stimulation of the habenula in the rat

Electrical stimulation of rat habenular complex induces analgesia, evaluated by the tail-flick test, dependent on intensity of stimulation with a long post-effect, that is reversible by naloxone and without behavior effects at less that 400 mA. Bilateral destruction of habenula fails to provoke hyperesthesia but causes more marked long-term tolerance effects than in controls. Anatomy suggests that the habenula activates an inhibitory descending system in the spinal cord with a probable relay in the dorsal raphe and involving an endogenous opioid-dependent stage.