Electroretinogram contact lens electrode with tri-color light-emitting diode

PURPOSE: This study was performed to evaluate a new electroretinogram (ERG) contact lens electrode containing four light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that are used for both stimulus and background light. METHODS: The luminance of each LED could be changed independently and used as stimulus light. Red, blue, bright white, and flickering ERGs were recorded in 12 normal subjects and two patients with progressive cone dystrophy. The long-duration light stimuli separated the on- and off-responses of the ERG. This equipment is not according to the ISCEV standard. RESULTS: The tri-color LED electrode contact lens can efficiently produce and record ERG responses. Off-responses were recordable separately from on-responses by lengthening the stimulus duration. CONCLUSION: This combined stimulus-electrode system is compact and portable. Combined with the portable amplifier and the recorder, the ERGs can be recorded easily in an operating room, at patients' bedside, and in remote locations away from clinics and hospitals.     

Successful surgical treatment of impending rupture of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm in an elderly patient with severe pulmonary emphysema

In a case of successful surgery for impending thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysmic rupture, an 83-year-old man with severe pulmonary emphysema was transferred to our hospital diagnosed with impending aneurysmic rupture. The aneurysm had been pointed out 2.5 years ago but surgical repair was not undertaken due to the patient’s severe pulmonary emphysema. After admission, computed tomography showed an enlarging saccular thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm. Emergency surgery was conducted because of severe pain below the left costal margin. We resected the wall of the saccular aortic aneurysm and reconstructed the aorta with an on-lay patch under femoro-femoral bypass and selective visceral organ perfusion. Tracheostomy provided respiratory care on the day following surgery. The patient was weaned from respiratory support 6 days after surgery. Postoperative aortography showed that the reconstructed thoracoabdominal aorta functioned satisfactorily. The patient remains in good health 18 months after surgery.     

Tracheopulmonary-subcutaneous fistula associated with anaerobic subcutaneous abscess on mechanical ventilator support in a patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy]

A 29-year-old Japanese man with Duchenne muscular dystrophy was placed on a mechanical ventilator support at 23 years of age and admitted to our hospital at 25 years of age. He had severe neck contracture deviated to the left side which resulted in dysphagia and microaspiration. At 29 years of age, he developed left lobar pneumonia accompanied by slight fever, back pain and a foul odor from the patient's sputum. Although the patient received broad spectrum antibiotics, pneumonia disseminated to the right lung. A week later, chest computed tomography was conducted which revealed tracheopulmonary-subcutaneous fistula, and a massive subcutaneous abscess with free air production. Drainage from the subcutaneous abscess was done through a chest tube; however, respiratory hypercapnia was not corrected and the patient died. From the culture of drained fluid, anaerobic bacteria including peptostreptococcus sp. were detected. This tracheopulmonary-subcutaneous fistula was thought to be caused by chronic microaspiration of mouth anaerobes, mechanical injury of the trachea under long term ventilator support, and decreased deep back muscle bulk with substitution of adipose tissue around the chest.     

Higher cerebral oxygen saturation may provide higher urinary output during continuous regional cerebral perfusion

Objective  

We examined the hypothesis that higher cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO₂) during RCP is correlated with urinary output.     

A tetrodotoxin-binding protein in the hemolymph of shore crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus: purification and properties.

The shore crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus hemolymph contains soluble proteins that bind tetrodotoxin (TTX) and are responsible for high resistance of the crab to TTX. The TTX-binding protein was purified from the hemolymph by ultrafiltration, lectin affinity chromatography and gel filtration HPLC. The purified protein gave only one band in native-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), confirming its homogeneity. Its molecular weight was estimated to be about 400k by gel filtration HPLC, while it was estimated to be about 82k under non-reducing conditions and about 72 and 82k under reducing conditions by SDS-PAGE, indicating that the TTX-binding protein was composed of at least two distinct subunits. The TTX-binding protein was an acidic glycoprotein with pI 3.5, abundant in Asp and Glu but absent in Trp, and contained 6% reducing sugar and 12% amino sugar. The protein selectively bound to TTX, with a neutralizing ability of 6.7 mouse unit TTX/mg protein, but not to paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins. However, its neutralizing activity was almost lost by treatments with enzymes (protease XIV, thermolysin, trypsin, amyloglucosidase and alpha-amylase) and denaturing agents (1% SDS, 1% dithiothreitol, 8 M urea and 6 M guanidine hydrochloride), suggesting the involvement of both proteinaceous and sugar moieties in the binding to TTX and the importance of the steric conformation of the TTX-binding protein.     

Detection and prognosis of alimentary tract cancers--mass screening

The limitation of detectability and curability in terms of current techniques (screening and details) were sought in otherwise healthy examinees. Not a few cancers were present in the alimentary tract, except for the stomach, in these otherwise healthy examinees who voluntarily underwent gastric cancer mass screening. The prognosis of alimentary tract cancers deteriorates in the descending, following order: colon cancer, stomach cancer, and esophageal cancer. The survival rate of primary liver cancer, cholecyst cancer, and pancreas cancer is extremely low. Unless new techniques are developed in these diagnoses, no improvement in the survival rate can be anticipated.     

Oscillatory potentials with repeated-flash electroretinography

Purpose  

To study the influence of retinal adaptation on oscillatory potential (OP) using repeated-flash electroretinography.     

Three Cases of Respiratory Dyskinesia

Abstract: We present here three cases of respiratory dyskinesia (RD). RD was observed with a video recording and other recordings were made of a respiratory airflow with a thermistor, and abdominal movement with a strain gauge. Neurological findings end CT scanning indicated marked organic changes in the brain in these 3 cases. RD was complicated with tardive dyskinesia of the tongue and lips, and the symptoms were aggravated during stress and absent during sleeping, which are the characteristic features of extrapyramidal symptoms. The symptoms of the three cases have improved by decreasing the dose of butyrophenone derivatives and discontinuing anti-parkinsonian drugs, which suggested that an intracerebral imbalance of DA and ACh may be the cause of RD.     

Laryngeal Injury and Pneumomediastinum Due to Minor Blunt Neck Trauma: Case Report

Background

Serious isolated laryngeal injuries are uncommon in children.