HTLV-I, HIV-I, and Hepatitis B and C Viruses in Western Province, Papua New Guinea: A Serological Survey

Seven hundred and twenty-three serum samples from individuals in 13 Gidra-speaking villages in Western Province, Papua New Guinea were tested for evidence of infection with human T- lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I), human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-I), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). No samples were positive for antibodies to HIV-I. Antibodies to HTLV-I were found in 13 samples (1.8%), HBV surface antigens (HBsAg) were found in 86 samples (11.9%), and antibodies to HCV were found in 30 samples (4.1%). Six (46.2%) of 13 HTLV-I positive samples were positive for HCV or HBsAg. The seropositive rate varied in different villages and the incidence of HTLV-I and HCV was higher in coastal and riverine areas than inland.     

Delayed manifestation of aortic stenosis after blunt abdominal trauma: Report of a case

Delayed manifestation of aortic stenosis caused by abdominal blunt trauma is rare. We report herein the case of a 67-year-old man who was taken to a nearby hospital after being crushed between a heavy truck and a wall. An emergency laparotomy was performed, revealing only a mesenteric tear which was repaired. He was discharged after an uneventful postoperative course; however, 1 month later he began to experience intermittent claudication, and presented to our hospital in December 1994, 1 year after the first operation. Angiography and enhanced computed tomography (CT) demonstrated infrarenal abdominal aortic dilatation with distal stenosis. Both the dilated and stenotic lesions were resected and bypass surgery was performed. Pathologic examination demonstrated that the intima had been lacerated circumferentially and everted distally, causing the aortic stenosis. To our knowledge, this is the first case of the delayed manifestation of traumatic aortic stenosis to be documented in Japan. The etiology of this rare complication of blunt trauma is described in this report.     

Expression of leukocyte adhesion molecules (ICAM-1/LFA-1) related to clinical behaviour in B cell lymphomas.

We investigated the expression of adhesion molecules of lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 alpha (LFA-1 alpha) and its ligand intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) on 74 well-characterized B cell lymphomas. The LFA-1 was expressed on B cell lymphomas (21/74; 28 per cent), but to a lesser degree than ICAM-1 which was highly expressed (48/74 cases; 64 per cent). From the results of bone marrow examination of 39 cases with B cell lymphomas, 13 of 16 cases with a lack of ICAM-1 molecule showed a higher incidence of marrow involvement, but nine of 23 cases with the expression of ICAM-1 molecule showed a lower incidence. These findings suggest that the lack of expression of the ICAM-1 molecule by B cell lymphomas correlates with bone marrow involvement by lymphoma cells (p < 0.05). Expression of the LFA-1 molecule appears not to correlate with marrow involvement (p < 0.05).     

Differences in enhancing effects of zolpidem and benzodiazepine drugs on recurrent inhibition in rat hippocampal slices

It has been reported that the clinical and electroencephalographic profiles of zolpidem, a non-benzodiazepine drug which binds preferentially to the ω₁ benzodiazepine recognition sites located within the GABA_A receptor complex, are different from those of benzodiazepine drugs, which bind non-selectively to the ω₁ and ω₂ sites. In order to clarify the electrophysiological mechanism underlying the unique profile of zolpidem, the present study compared the enhancing effects of zolpidem and two benzodiazepine drugs, triazolam and diazepam, on recurrent inhibition. This inhibition was expressed as suppression of the orthodromically induced population spikes by the preceding antidromic stimulation of the alveus in the CA1 region of rat hippocampal slices. The rank order of potency for enhancing recurrent inhibition was triazolam > diazepam > zolpidem. From the present results and previously reported findings that zolpidem has a lower affinity for the ω₂ sites than diazepam while both have the same affinity for the ω₁ sites, we concluded that the hippocampal recurrent inhibition appears to be enhanced mainly by activation of the ω₂ sites, but not by that of the ω₁ sites. Furthermore, the lower potency of zolpidem for enhancing recurrent inhibition may underlie its unique profile in terms of its clinical and electroencephalographic effects. Received: 1 November 1996/Final version: 22 January 1997     

11C-glucose metabolism in manic and depressed patients

The authors used positron emission tomography (PET) and 11C-labeled glucose to study 15 unmedicated patients with affective disorders and 7 control subjects. Diagnoses of affective disorders were based on DSM-III criteria, and symptomatology was evaluated by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Blood counts of 11C in both unipolar and bipolar patients did not differ from those in controls after oral administration of 11C-glucose. By contrast, brain counts of 11C in unipolar depressed patients were significantly lower, whereas those in bipolar manic patients were significantly higher, than in normal controls.     

DNA ploidy pattern in diffuse infiltrating carcinomas of the stomach

Analysis of DNA ploidy patterns was performed on 76 diffusely infiltrating carcinomas of the stomach and the results correlated with histologic findings and outcome. Twenty six cases were diploid (34%) and 50 cases were aneuploid. There was no correlation between DNA ploidy and histologic type, depth of invasion, lymphatic invasion, evidence of peritoneal dissemination or curability. In aneuploid tumors, incidence of vascular invasion was significantly higher than that in diploid tumors (p less than 0.05). In addition, the patients with aneuploid tumors had a poor prognosis than with diploid tumors. These results indicate that DNA ploidy patterns may possibly be a useful prognostic marker for diffusely infiltrating carcinomas of the stomach.     

Effect of natural panting frequency and cheek support on the plethysmographic determination of thoracic gas volume in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]

The authors studied the effects of natural panting frequency (NF) and the cheek support on the plethysmographic measurement of thoracic gas volume (TGV) in 8 normal subjects (non-smokers) and 46 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The patients were divided into 2 groups according to the degree of airway obstruction (group I; specific airway conductance (SGaw) greater than 0.1 (n = 18), group II; SGaw less than 0.1 (n = 28)). TGV was measured with a pressure-type body plethysmograph (BP). NF was 2.00 +/- 0.43 Hz (mean +/- SD) in control subjects, 1.92 +/- 0.78 Hz in group I, and 1.39 +/- 0.59 Hz in group II, respectively, indicating lower NF in the patients with severe airway obstruction. In control subjects and group I, the differences between TGV at NF and at 0.5-1.0 Hz (TGVNF-TGV1.0) were -0.01 +/- 0.07L, and -0.06 +/- 0.16L, respectively, and cheek support did not alter the difference. On the other hand, in group II, the difference was slightly larger than other groups in spite of the lower NF, and this overestimation was abolished by cheek support (0.13 +/- 0.25L-----0.06 +/- 0.27L, p less than 0.05). These results suggest that, in patients with severe airway obstruction, TGVNF may be overestimated even if NF is relatively low. This overestimation may be mainly due to the extrathoracic airway compliance including the cheek.     

A New Instrument for Immobilization and Hemostasis During Minimally Invasive Direct Coronary Artery Bypass ("MIDCAB doughnut"): Experimental Study

A bstract A new instrument for the immobilization and hemostasis of an anastomotic site is described for use during minimally invasive off-pump direct coronary artery bypass (MID-CAB). The mechanism is based on air suction of the heart surface. The instrument is unique in that it can avoid direct temporary of the distal end of the coronary artery to control bleeding. With this instrument, anastomosis of left intemal thoracic artery to left anterior descending artery (LAD) was successfully performed on three pigs. Additionally, in six patients the LAD could be stably and securely immobilized in the beating heart by the present instrument. The instrument is hereinafter referred as "MIDCAB doughnut," which can make an operative field motionless and bloodless without distal snaring.     

Histometric analysis of the distal pancreas in pancreatic head cancer

To clarify the histological status of the pancreas tail after pancreatoduodenectomy (PD), fibrosis, islets of Langerhans, and A, B, and D cells were examined histometrically in surgical cases of pancreatic cancer. The same investigations were also performed during an autopsy examination of the pancreas tail of survivors of surgery who had received either PD or total pancreatectomy with segmental autotransplantation (SAT). In the surgical cases, fibrosis and the islet percentage compared with nonpancreatic cancer cases were significantly higher while the B cell ratio was significantly lower. In addition, in pancreatic cancer patients, the fibrosis and islet ratio in the group with a blocked pancreatic duct were higher while the B cell ratio was lower than in the group with an open pancreatic duct. A direct relationship between the islet ratio and the degree of fibrosis, and an inverse relationship between the B cell ratio and the degree of fibrosis, were thus found. From the autopsy cases, the fibrosis progressed and the islet ratio increased following PD, but after SAT only the islet ratio increased compared to the time of surgery. The progression of fibrosis after PD thus suggests the presence of some problems in both the surgical method and postoperative management.