Agonist-antagonist mechanics of the descendent and ascendent segments of the ventricular myocardial band]

In this article the macroscopic structure of the ventricular myocardium is described, which is configurated as a band along which four segments can be distinguished. Such band traces a helicoids with two spiral turns in the space, in its trajectory from the pulmonary artery root to the aortic root, delimits both ventricular cavities. Our interest in achieving the knowledge of the coherent relationship between that anatomical fact and cardiac mechanics, which necessarily exist between the form and the function of any organ, has led us to perform some experimental approaches which show that the volume decrease of the ventricular cavities takes place, simultaneously with the descent of the base, thanks to the agonist contraction of the descending segment of the band, previously stretched out in a rectilinear way. Meanwhile, the volume increase takes place, simultaneously with the ascent of the base, as a consequence of the antagonist contraction of the ascendent segment of the band, previously extended in a curvilinear way.     

Toxic epidermal necrolysis after topical intranasal application of mupirocin.

We describe a case of toxic epidermal necrolysis after intranasal application of mupirocin in a 76-year-old woman. The drug was given for eradication of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.     

Cognitive function across manic or hypomanic, depressed, and euthymic states in bipolar disorder

OBJECTIVE: The study aims were to address neuropsychological functioning across different states of bipolar illness and to determine relationships among clinical features, neuropsychological performance, and psychosocial functioning. METHOD: Several domains of cognitive function were examined in 30 depressed bipolar patients (DSM-IV criteria for major depression, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score > or = 17), 34 manic or hypomanic bipolar patients (DSM-IV criteria for manic or hypomanic episode, Young Mania Rating Scale score > or = 12), and 44 euthymic bipolar patients (6 months of remission, Hamilton depression scale score < or = 8, and Young Mania Rating Scale score < or = 6). The comparison group consisted of 30 healthy subjects without history of neurological or psychiatric disorders. A neuropsychological battery assessed executive function, attention, and verbal and visual memory. RESULTS: The three groups showed cognitive dysfunction in verbal memory and frontal executive tasks in relation to the comparison group. Low neuropsychological performance was associated with poor functional outcome. Impairment of verbal memory was related to the duration of illness and the numbers of previous manic episodes, hospitalizations, and suicide attempts. CONCLUSIONS: A poorer performance was observed in all bipolar groups regarding executive function and verbal memory in relation to the healthy comparison subjects. These cognitive difficulties, especially related to verbal memory, may help explain the impairment regarding daily functioning, even during remission. Further studies should focus on testing, whether optimizing prophylactic pharmacological treatment and psychoeducation might reduce cognitive impairment, and whether bipolar patients would benefit from neuropsychological rehabilitation in order to reduce the impact of cognitive impairment in their overall functioning.     

Evaluation of Hypoxic Tissue Dynamics with 18F-FMISO PET in a Rat Model of Permanent Cerebral Ischemia

Purpose

[¹⁸F]Fluoromisonidazole (¹⁸F-FMISO) is a nitroimidazole derivative that has been proposed as a positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracer to detect hypoxic tissue in vivo. This compound accumulates in hypoxic but viable tissue and may be a good candidate for evaluating the ischemic penumbra. We evaluated the time course of ¹⁸F-FMISO uptake using PET in a rat model of permanent cerebral ischemia and the correlation with histological changes.

Procedures

Rats (n?=?14) were subjected to permanent ischemia by intraluminal occlusion of the middle cerebral artery in order to assess by PET the uptake of ¹⁸F-FMISO at various times over 24 h following ischemia. The PET results were compared to histological changes with Nissl and 2,3,5 triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining.

Results

Elevated uptake of ¹⁸F-FMISO was detected in the infarcted area up to 8 h after occlusion but was no longer detected at 24 h, a time point coincident with pan necrosis of the tissue.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that salvageable tissue persists for up to 8 h in this rat model of brain ischemia. We propose ¹⁸F-FMISO PET as a tool for evaluating the ischemic penumbra after cerebral ischemia.     

Trasplante de progenitores hematopoyéticos con intensidad reducida en enfermedades genéticas. Experiencia del grupo GETMON (Grupo Español de Trasplante de Médula Ósea en Niños)

Introduction

Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) involves implanting cellular elements capable of generating a new and healthy haematopoietic system. Reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) consists of an immunosuppressive treatment to facilitate a progressive implant with lower morbidity. This type of conditioning can also lead to myelosuppression, which is potentially reversible over time.Reduced intensity conditioning enables HSCT to be performed on patients with genetic diseases for whom added comorbidity is undesirable due to the high doses of chemotherapy that accompanies conventional myeloablative regimens.