Ureteral obstruction caused by L-asparaginase-induced pancreatitis in a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

L-asparaginase, an effective antileukemia and antilymphoma agent, is toxic to many organ systems. We report a case of ureteral obstruction caused by L-asparaginase via the inflammatory complication of acute pancreatitis. The patient was an 11-year-old boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Six days after completing a 4-week induction therapy containing 9 doses of L-asparaginase, severe left abdominal pain developed. Abdominal computed tomography showed phlegmon formation anterior to the pancreatic head and in the left posterior pararenal space. The strands of inflammatory soft tissues encased the upper third of the left ureter, causing left hydroureter and left hydronephrosis. The ureteral obstruction resolved after insertion of a double-J catheter that remained in place for 66 days. This case suggests that L-asparaginase may play a role in the pathogenesis of ureteral obstruction in children receiving chemotherapy.     

Rupture of a submitral ventricular aneurysm into the left atrium diagnosed by transesophageal echocardiography.

Submitral ventricular aneurysm is a thoroughly studied pathology but is not well known due to its rarity. Clinically, it is manifested by symptoms and signs of heart failure, mitral regurgitation and/or ventricular arrhythmias, and may be associated with thromboembolic phenomena and myocardial ischemia due to compression of the coronary arteries by the aneurysm. A rare complication of this type of aneurysm is rupture into the left atrium. Transthoracic echocardiography plays an important role in the definitive diagnosis of this pathology, although the role of transesophageal echocardiography in the evaluation of these patients is less known. We report a case of a submitral ventricular aneurysm complicated by rupture into the left atrium, which was diagnosed by transesophageal echocardiography.     

Signal-to-noise ratio effects in quantitative cerebral perfusion using dynamic susceptibility contrast agents.

Theoretical and simulation evidence is presented in support of the idea that the optimal manner of determining blood flow from MR perfusion studies is not necessarily obtained by setting experimental conditions to maximize either the arterial input or the measured tissue concentration level for a particular echo time (TE). The noise power in the contrast concentration curve is associated with its peak because of the nonlinear relationship between the contrast concentration and MR signal intensity curves. The optimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), SNR(C), for a particular contrast concentration curve can be obtained when the experimental concentration level and TE are adjusted to produce an MR intensity curve whose signal loss is 63% of the precontrast MR signal intensity. It is demonstrated that the stability of the singular valued decomposition (SVD) deconvolution approach to determine blood flow parameters is increased when the tissue curve maximum signal loss is in the range of 40-80%. The accuracy and stability of the SVD-determined blood flow parameters are affected by deviations from these optimum conditions in a manner that depends on the mean transit time (MTT) associated with the residue function. It is recommended that the experimental TE value be set so that neither the tissue nor the arterial curves are placed a region of rapidly deteriorating SNR(C).     

Functional magnetic resonance imaging based on changes in vascular space occupancy.

During brain activation, local control of oxygen delivery is facilitated through microvascular dilatation and constriction. A new functional MRI (fMRI) methodology is reported that is sensitive to these microvascular adjustments. This contrast is accomplished by eliminating the blood signal in a manner that is independent of blood oxygenation and flow. As a consequence, changes in cerebral blood volume (CBV) can be assessed through changes in the remaining extravascular water signal (i.e., that of parenchymal tissue) without need for exogenous contrast agents or any other invasive procedures. The feasibility of this vascular space occupancy (VASO)-dependent functional MRI (fMRI) approach is demonstrated for visual stimulation, breath-hold (hypercapnia), and hyperventilation (hypocapnia). During visual stimulation and breath-hold, the VASO signal shows an inverse correlation with the stimulus paradigm, consistent with local vasodilatation. This effect is reversed during hyperventilation. Comparison of the hemodynamic responses of VASO-fMRI, cerebral blood flow (CBF)-based fMRI, and blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI indicates both arteriolar and venular temporal characteristics in VASO. The effect of changes in water exchange rate and partial volume contamination with CSF were calculated to be negligible. At the commonly-used fMRI resolution of 3.75 x 3.75 x 5 mm(3), the contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR) of VASO-fMRI was comparable to that of CBF-based fMRI, but a factor of 3 lower than for BOLD-fMRI. Arguments supporting a better gray matter localization for the VASO-fMRI approach compared to BOLD are provided.     

Alterations of G-protein Coupling Function in Phosphoinositide Signalling Pathways of Rat Hippocampus by Ischaemic Brain Injury

The activation of membrane-associated phospholipase C is rapidly and transiently induced in the central nervous system by a variety of stimuli. Ischaemic brain injury is one of the situations that leads to a dramatic increase in polyphosphoinositide (PPI) turnover. In this study, stimulation of PPI hydrolysis by glutamate (500 μM) was measured in hippocampal slices from rats up to 21 days after an ischaemic insult of 30 min. Ischaemia was induced using the four-vessel occlusion method. PPI hydrolysis elicited by glutamate was significantly increased in the slices prepared from ischaemic rats 24 h after reperfusion, the accumulation of inositol phosphates (InsP_s) and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP₃) was 614±74% ( n = 8) and 182±11% ( n = 9) of the basal level respectively. This potentiation was also observed 21 days after ischaemia. Hyper-responsiveness to glutamate was also accompanied by an increase in AIF⁻₄-stimulated formation of [³H]inositol phosphates. In addition, global ischaemia did not change either high-affinity [³H]glutamate binding in hippocampal membranes or the stimulation of PPI hydrolysis by carbachol or noradrenaline in hippocampal slices. The present results suggest that the increased responsiveness to glutamate is the result, at least in part, of functional changes at the G-protein level, and may contribute to the pathophysiology of ischaemic brain injury or to the regenerative phenomena that accompany ischaemic damage.     

城乡学龄前儿童视觉运动整合发育比较分析

为了探讨城乡学龄前儿童视觉运动整合发育的特点,本文采用视觉运动整合发育测试(VMI)对597名城乡集体及散居学龄前儿童进行测查。结果显示:3岁段各组VMI得分比较无差异,而其它年龄段均显示散居儿童低于集体儿童(P相似文献   

Line10肝癌腹水上清的免疫抑制作用

本文研究指出，Ｌｉｎｅ１０肝癌腹水上清具有一定的免疫抑制作用，可致巨噬细胞形态改变并降低其吞噬功能，还可使ＢＡＬＢ／ｃ小鼠的白细胞数量下降。应用Ｏｕｃｈｔｅｒｌｏｎｙ法证明Ｌｉｎｅ１０肝癌腹水上清中存在ｌｉｎｅ１０肝癌细胞的抗原成分。     

白细胞介素—2新的功能位点及其中枢镇痛作用

白细胞介素－２（ＩＬ－２）不仅是重要的免疫调节因子，而且还具有重要的中枢调节作用。本实验以钾离子透入引起大鼠甩尾反应为指标，发现侧脑室注射ＩＬ—２能显著提高动物痛阈，并能被纳洛酮所阻断，表示ＩＬ－２的中枢镇痛作用可能与阿片受体有关。利用基因定位突变技术获得的无免疫活性ＩＬ－２实查体仍具有中枢镇痛作用，表明ＩＬ—２分子上发挥镇痛和免疫调节作用的功能位点是相互独立的。纳洛酮能够阻断ＩＬ—２的中枢镇痛作用，而不能影响ＩＬ—２增殖ＣＴＬＬ－２细胞的作用，提示ＩＬ－２发挥镇痛和免疫调节作用可能通过不同的受体途径。ＩＬ－２分子中第４５位Ｔｙｒ残基突变为Ｖａｌ后，虽仍保留了免疫活性，但丧失了镇痛功能，表示４５位Ｔｙｒ残基是ＩＬ—２发挥中枢镇痛功能的关键残基之一。我们推测ＩＬ—２的镇痛功能位点可能在ＩＬ—２分子中第４５位Ｔｙｒ残基附近区域。     

血清MUC1粘蛋白IRMA及其初步临床应用

建立有效的ＭＵＣ１粘蛋白免疫放射分析法（ＩＲＭＡ），并初步用于乳腺肿瘤的诊断。利用纯化的ＭＵＣ１及其多抗，建立ＭＵＣ１双抗夹心ＩＲＭＡ法，对５５例健康女性、１１例乳腺良性肿瘤、２７例乳腺癌及２８例乳腺癌术后患者进行血清ＭＵＣ１的测定。结果：血清ＭＵＣ１ＩＲＭＡ的灵敏度为０７４ｋＵ／Ｌ；健康女性、乳腺良性肿瘤、乳腺癌及乳腺癌术后患者血清ＭＵＣ１的平均含量分别为７２３±３６７、１７８０±１０５６、３００４±２３８４和３１８４±２４７９ｋＵ／Ｌ；正常值上限为１３５４ｋＵ／Ｌ，假阳性率为１８２％；乳腺肿瘤患者血清ＭＵＣ１水平较健康女性明显提高；乳腺癌患者血清ＭＵＣ１水平高于乳腺良性肿瘤患者，但两者的阳性率（７７８７％和７２７０％）差异无显著性（χ２＝０１５４，Ｐ＞００５）；乳腺癌与乳腺癌术后患者血清ＭＵＣ１水平差异无显著性（ｔ＝－０２２，Ｐ＞００５）。ＭＵＣ１血清水平与肿瘤恶性程度成正相关，对于乳腺癌的诊断具有重要参考价值。