Transient Axonal Branching in the Developing Corpus Callosum

During development, there is a transient overproduction of axonsin the corpus callosum; this overproduction of axons is due,in part, to a transient excess of neurons that send an axonthrough the corpus callosum. However, transient axonal branchingcould also contribute to the developmental overproduction ofcallosal axons. To investigate this possibility, we filled developingcal-losal axons in the Syrian hamster with the carbocyaninedye 1, 1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocy-anineperchlorate (Dil). Light microscopic analysis showed that, indeed,developing callosal axons branch transiently in the hamster:branching was robust on postnatal day 0 (P0) and P3 (P0 = thefirst 24 hr after birth), less prominent on P6 and P8, and absentby P11. Immature callosal axons branched before or after crossingthe midline and at all rostral-caudal and medial-lateral levelswithin the corpus callosum. The majority of callosal axon collateralsthat were contained within individual 100-µm-thick sectionswere relatively short (mean = 15.1 µm) but some collateralsextended up to     

Neck abscess: five year retrospective review of Hospital University Kebangsaan Malaysia experience

The most commonly involved space was the parapharyngeal and superficial anterior triangle followed by submandibular, retropharyngeal, posterior triangle and submental spaces respectively. Thirty-three percent of patients had diabetes mellitus as a predisposing factor. More than half of them had no known aetiological cause for the neck abscess. We encountered one mortality in an elderly patient with diabetes who succumbed to overwhelming septicaemia despite early abscess drainage and intensive medical treatment.     

Maxillary sinus tumours--a review of twenty-nine patients treated by maxillectomy approach

A retrospective data of 29 patients who underwent various types of maxillectomy from January 1998 till January 2004 in UKM hospital were reviewed. There were 21 males (72%) and 8 females (28%) with mean age of 42 years. Malays were the majority of patients 17 (59%), Chinese 11 (38%) and Indian 1 (3%). Seventeen patients (59%) presented with malignant tumours while 12 patients (41%) with benign tumours. Inverted papilloma (50%) was the commonest benign tumour and squamous cell carcinoma (36%) was the commonest malignancy. Medial maxillectomy was performed in ten patients (35%), total maxillectomy in seven patients (24%), three patients (10%) had near total, three patients (10%) had partial maxillectomy and six patients (21%) underwent inferior maxillectomy.     

Is there a geographic epidemiology of serogroups O of Pseudomonas aeruginosa?

3720 human strains of P. aeruginosa from Egypt, France, Greece, Iracq and Portugal were studied by serotyping, phage typing, and ONPG-test. The comparison of the results with the data of the scientific literature suggests that three classes of P. aeruginosa O groups can be characterized on the basis of their geographical distribution in the world: 1 degree Nine serogroups with worldwide distribution: 0:1, 0:2, 0:3, 0:4, 0:5, 0:6, 0:8, 0:9 and 0:11. 2 degrees Five serogroups absent (or very rare) in a few countries but present in others: 0:7, 0:10, 0:12, 0:13 and 0:16. 3 degrees Two serogroups very rare in all countries: 0:14 and 0:15.     

Primary lymphoma of the aorta presenting as a descending thoracic aortic aneurysm

We describe a case of primary lymphoma of the thoracic aorta that presented as an aneurysm of the descending thoracic aorta. The aortic tumor was successfully resected with 2-year disease-free survival.     

Clinicopathological correlation between brainstem gliosis using GFAP as a marker and sleep apnea in the sudden infant death syndrome

Background: Chronic hypoxia, leading to brainstem gliosis, has been postulated as a factor in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which is still the main cause of postneonatal infant death. Gliosis detected by immunohistochemistry of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a marker of apoptosis. The correlation between GFAP-positive reactive astrocytes in the brainstem and sleep apnea in SIDS was investigated. Materials and methods: Among 27,000 infants studied prospectively to characterize their sleep–wake behavior, 38 infants died under 6 months of age, including 26 cases of SIDS. The frequency and duration of sleep apnea were analyzed. Brainstem material was collected and immunohistochemistry of GFAP carried out. The density of GFAP-positive reactive astrocytes was measured quantitatively. Correlation analyses were carried out between the data on gliosis and the physiological data of sleep apnea. Results: A SIDS-specific negative correlation between the density of gliosis in the dorsal vagus nucleus in the medulla oblongata and the frequency of obstructive apnea (P=0.022) was found. Conclusions: A significant SIDS-specific correlation with gliosis in the dorsal vagus nucleus and the characteristics of sleep apnea might invite the cardiorespiratory changes in SIDS.