Antipsychotic and Prophylactic Effects of Acetazolamide (Diamox) on Atypical Psychosis

Abstract: We investigated the antipsychotic and prophylactic effects of acetazolamide (Diamox) on atypical psychosis. Acetazolamide was given to 30 patients: Type I, puberal periodic psychosis, a psychosis whose onset occurs during the period of puberty and which appears repetitively with psychosis-like condition at about the same interval as the menstrual cycle (6 cases); Type II, a) presenile atypical psychosis which initially appears in patients in their 20s or 30s accompanied by manic-depressive cycles and shows acute confusional and dreamy states in the presenile period, incurable cases (7), b) atypical psychosis, in the narrow sense, cases which show acute hallucination, delusion, confusional and dreamy states accompanied by affective symptoms (8 cases); Type III, repetitively the atypical manic and depressive states, and atypical manic-depressive psychosis, and transient changes in consciousness, refractory cases (2); Type IV, atypical schizophrenia, which is considered to be schizophrenia but shows the abnormalities in electroencephalogram and emotional disorders (7 cases). Among these cases, some extent of the therapeutic effects of acetazolamide (500–1,000 mg/day) was obtained in about 70%. The high therapeutic effects were particularly observed in Types I, II and III. It was less effective against atypical schizophrenia. Acetazolamide showed the effectiveness in 10 cases out of 13 cases to which lithium carbonate and carbamazepine were ineffective. The high therapeutic effects of acetazolamide were shown in the cases whose symptoms were aggravated at the interval of the menstrual cycle. No correlation was observed between the electroencephalographic abnormalities and the therapeutic effects. In addition, the prophylactic effects of acetazolamide on the periodic crisis were observed in 9 cases. From these results, acetazolamide was considered to have the antipsychotic and prophylactic effects on atypical psychosis. Since side effects due to acetazolamide were rarely observed, the present drug was considered to have a high safety margin.     

Treatment of carcinoma of the gallbladder in Japan

Clinical records of 2567 patients (1717 female and 850 male) with primary carcinoma of the gallbladder in Japan, during the past 19 years, were collected by questionnaires sent out to the main 100 surgical institutes in Japan. Eighty-seven per cent of the patients were over fifty years of age. Gallstones were found in 58.8% of 1496 patients. About 50% of the patients with gallstones had cholesterol group stones. Of the 2269 patients who underwent surgical interventions, radical operations were performed in 467 patients (20.6%). Of the 467 patients, a correct preoperative diagnosis was made in only 77 patients (16.3%). Patients in Nevin's Stages I and II, whose lesions had been confined to the muscle layer, showed a good survival rate with only simple cholecystectomy or extended cholecystectomy, while the patients in Stages III, IV and V, whose lesions had spread beyond the muscle layer, showed poor results even with more aggressive surgical approaches. The poor prognosis of the lesions in Stages III, IV and V might be due to inappropriate aggressive procedures. For the lesions involving all the layers of the gallbladder wall, radical resection, such as extended cholecystectomy plus pancreatoduodenectomy, or extended right lobectomy plus pancreatoduodenectomy, might be recommended. Presented at the 13th Congress of the Japanese Gastroenterological Society, Kumamoto, Japan 1980, by Dr. I. Yokoyama, the Chairman of the Congress.     

An attempt to detect cell surface antigens in cultured human brain tumors by mixed hemadsorption test

Summary The mixed hemadsorption test using rabbit anti-human glioma serum was applied to investigate cell surface antigens of nervous tissue tumors, nonnervous tissue tumors, epithelial and mesenchymal cells. Gliomas, neurinomas, and fetal brain cells exhibited a strongly positive reaction. Meningioma, a metastatic brain tumor originated from the lung and HeLa cells exhibited a moderately positive reaction. No positive reaction was detected in human skin or dural fibroblasts, or in kidney cells even at a high concentration of rabbit anti-human glioma serum.     

Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains sensitive to inorganic mercury

From a cross of two strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, both of which had the same (wild type or normal) level of resistance to inorganic mercury, segregants having three distinguishable resistance levels, normal, sensitive and semi-sensitive, were obtained. Genetic analyses of the parents and the progeny indicated that the levels of inorganic mercury sensitivity were determined by three distinct loci, HGS1, HGS2 and MSM1. The recessive allele of the HGS1 locus, hgs1-1, and the codominant allele of the HGS2 locus, HGS2-1, were necessary for the sensitive phenotypes, and alleles in the MSM1 locus, MSM1-1 and msm1-2, were responsible for the different sensitivity levels. In short, the strains of genotypes hgs1-1 HGS2-1 msm1-2 and hgs1-1 HGS2-1 MSM1-1 were sensitive and semi-sensitive, respectively, while the strains of all other genotypes were normal. Although the hgs1-1 allele was identified as the aro7-1 mutation which confers deficiency of tyrosine and phenylalanine, mutations such as aro1B (deficiency of tyrosine, phenylalanine and tryptophan) and tyr1 (deficiency of tyrosine) had similar effects as aro7-1 on inorganic mercury sensitivity. From these results we conclude that the HGS2-1 allele causes inorganic mercury sensitivity when the cells are defective in the tyrosine biosynthesis. In fact, addition of tyrosine to the growth medium containing inorganic mercury resulted in increase of colony forming ability of the sensitive strains.     

Ascending Colon Stenosis:A Rare Presentation of Perforated Appendicitis

Abstract : Described is a 49-year-old Japanese male who developed an ascending colon stenosis secondary to perforated appendicitis. The patient was examined at our hospital because of an abdominal pain and the presence of a firm mass in the right flank. A barium enema and colonoscopic examination revealed an ascending colon stenosis with multiple nodular elevations. On laparotomy, an inflammatory mass, originating from a ruptured appendix, was found adhered to the cecum and the ascending colon. Thus, a right hemicolectomy was performed. Microscopic examination revealed a periappendiceal abscess with marked submucosal fibrosis and lymphoid hyperplasia of the ascending colon and cecum. Large intestinal stenosis is a rare complication of appendicitis, and there have been only a few reported cases involving the ascending and sigmoid colon, and the rectum. In these cases, however, the polypoid lesions as seen in our case have never been described. In reviewing the literature, we found only two other cases in which a coarse or a polypoid lesion, similar to our case, was noted in the cecum, though the mucosal change was localized and luminal stenosis did not occur. Thus, when a patient with an ascending colon stenosis is encountered, a possibility of periappendiceal abscess must be kept in mind.     

Diabetes-associated retinal nerve fiber damage evaluated with scanning laser polarimetry

PURPOSE: To evaluate retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in patients with diabetes mellitus compared with age-matched normal control subjects, to assess the correlation between the RNFL thickness and the severity of retinopathy, and to investigate whether diabetes mellitus is a potential source of abnormal results in glaucoma screening or evaluation with scanning laser polarimetry (SLP). DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of normal and diabetic eyes. METHODS: setting: Institutional clinical study. patients: One hundred twenty-eight subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 50 age-matched normal control subjects without glaucoma or glaucoma-suspect. All patients underwent imaging with SLP and repeatable automated perimetry. Subjects with diabetes mellitus were classified into four stages on the basis of the severity of retinopathy that was assessed by dilated funduscopic examination, high-quality fundus color photography, and fluorescein angiography. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The SLP (GDx VCC software, version 5.5.0) parameters. RESULTS: The RNFL thickness in patients with diabetes mellitus was reduced significantly compared with age-matched normal control eyes (P < .01). Moreover, all RNFL thickness parameters of the GDx VCC software decreased significantly as an exacerbation of diabetic retinopathy (P = .0019, P = .0045, P = .0010 for temporal-superior-nasal-inferior-temporal (TSNIT) average, superior average, inferior average, respectively). The nerve fiber indicator also increased significantly (P < .0001), despite an absence of glaucomatous optic nerve damages. CONCLUSION: The RNFL thickness in type 2 diabetes mellitus, which was measured by GDx VCC software, significantly decreased with the severity of diabetic retinopathy. The presence of diabetes mellitus can be a source of false-positive results and overestimation of glaucomatous optic neuropathy when eyes are screened with GDx VCC software.     

An evaluation of mass screening for breast cancer

In Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, 41,922 women (26,669 in actual number) were subjected to mass screening with physical examination from 1970–1977. In 42 including 10 of so-called “interval cancer”, breast cancer was detected. Those with breast cancer detected by mass screening were in the earlier stage of the discase as compared to those diagnosed through regular medical care at our out-patient clinic during the same period. Procedures such as inspection and palpation are readily carried out and early occurrences of breast cancer can be detected.     

Randomized trial of dietary fiber and Lactobacillus casei administration for prevention of colorectal tumors

The epidemiologic evidence that dietary fiber protects against colorectal cancer is equivocal. No large-scale clinical study of the administration of Lactobacillus casei has been reported. We examined whether dietary fiber and L. casei prevented the occurrence of colorectal tumors. Subjects were 398 men and women presently free from tumor who had had at least 2 colorectal tumors removed. Subjects were randomly assigned to 4 groups administered wheat bran, L. casei, both or neither. The primary end point was the presence or absence of new colorectal tumor(s) diagnosed by colonoscopy after 2 and 4 years. Among 380 subjects who completed the study, 95, 96, 96 and 93 were assigned to the wheat bran, L. casei, both and no treatment groups, respectively. Multivariate adjusted ORs for occurrence of tumors were 1.31 (95% CI 0.87-1.98) in the wheat bran group and 0.76 (0.50-1.15) in the L. casei group compared to the control group. There was a significantly higher number of large tumors after 4 years in the wheat bran group. The occurrence rate of tumors with a grade of moderate atypia or higher was significantly lower in the group administered L. casei. No significant difference in the development of new colorectal tumors was observed with administration of either wheat bran or L. casei. However, our results suggest that L. casei prevented atypia of colorectal tumors.     

Differences in pulmonary function before vs. 1 year after hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy for small peripheral lung tumors

PURPOSE: To evaluate long-term pulmonary toxicity of stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) by pulmonary function tests (PFTs) performed before and after SRT for small peripheral lung tumors. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 17 lesions in 15 patients with small peripheral lung tumors, who underwent SRT between February 2000 and April 2003, were included in this study. Twelve patients had primary lung cancer, and 3 patients had metastatic lung cancer. Primary lung cancer was T1-2N0M0 in all cases. Smoking history was assessed by the Brinkman index (number of cigarettes smoked per day multiplied by number of years of smoking). Prescribed radiation doses at the 80% isodose line were 40-60 Gy in 5-8 fractions. PFTs were performed immediately before SRT and 1 year after SRT. Test parameters included total lung capacity (TLC), vital capacity (VC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1.0), and diffusing capacity of lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO). PFT changes were evaluated in relation to patient- and treatment-related factors, including age, the Brinkman index, internal target volume, the percentages of lung volume irradiated with >15, 20, 25, and 30 Gy (V15, V20, V25, and V30, respectively), and mean lung dose. RESULTS: There were no significant changes in TLC, VC, or FEV1.0 before vs. after SRT. The mean percent change from baseline in DLCO was significantly increased by 128.2%. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed a correlation between DLCO and the Brinkman index. CONCLUSIONS: One year after SRT as compared with before SRT, there were no declines in TLC, VC, and FEV1.0. DLCO improved in patients who had been heavy smokers before SRT, suggesting a correlation between DLCO and smoking cessation. SRT seems to be tolerable in view of long-term lung function.