A retrospective study on the use of oral morphine in cancer pain

The authors report a retrospective study of 390 cancer pain patients tested with oral morphine during a four-month period. Initial pain scores were reduced to one half after one week of treatment and then maintained throughout the study period. Mean daily dosages of morphine were lower in those patients 65 years and older. No significant changes in performance in relation to therapy were noted except for an increase in hours of sleep. An accurate titration of dosage and continued control of side effects are the main requirements of this method of administration. The presence of side effects and the cause of interruption of treatment are reported.     

Localization of parathyroid enlargement: experience with technetium-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile and thallium-201 scintigraphy,ultrasonography and computed tomography

Technetium-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI), like thallium-201, has recently been introduced as a myocardial perfusion agent and is now also showing very promising results in parathyroid scintigrapy. The results of ²⁰¹Tl/^99mTc-pertechnetate and ^99mTc-MIBI/^99mTc-pertechnetate subtraction scintigraphy, ultrasonography and computed tomography are presented in a series of 43 patients operated on for hyperparathyroidism. All four imaging modalities were confirmed to be reliable, scintigraphy being the most accurate. Sensitivities ranged from 81% to 95%, that of ^99mTc-MIBI being the highest. Moreover this tracer, which has more favourable physical and also biochemical properties, yielded images of superior quality. This allowed localization of the lesion by visual inspection only in as many as 86% of the patients with positive ^99mTc-MIBI/^99mTc-pertechnetate subtraction scintigraphy. We believe that the higher sensitivity, superior image quality and lower cost of ^99mTc-MIBI imaging will make ^99mTc-MIBI the new radiopharmaceutical of choice for parathyroid scintigraphy (when one takes into account the stability of labelling with large activities it is possible to perform three or four cardiac studies together with one parathyroid scintigraphic examination using one lyophililzed vial).     

Myocardial protection in adult cardiac surgery: current options and future challenges

Current techniques of myocardial protection are evolving with the use of less conventional modalities of cardioplegia and have reduced the morbidity and mortality of cardiac operations. Blood cardioplegic solutions appear superior to cold cardioplegia in terms of myocardial protection and adjuncts as glutamate/aspartate enhancement, antioxidant supplementation, nitric oxide donors and maintenance of calcium homeostasis seem effective. In the near future, further experimental and clinical investigations about pharmacological preconditioning, sodium–hydrogen exchangers inhibition and gene therapy need to be addressed to well define their potential role in the improvement of current techniques of myocardial protection that are suboptimal in high-risk clinical settings.     

Bilateral complete discoid medial meniscus combined with posterior cyst formation

Bilateral discoid medial menisci is an extremely rare condition of the knee and it can be associated to other pathological findings, including anterior portion cyst formation. We report on the clinical features, radiographic findings, treatment and results of one patient who presented a bilateral medial discoid meniscus combined with posterior portion cyst of the left knee. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first case of bilateral medial discoid meniscus associated with posterior portion cyst formation.     

Increased external tibial torsion in Osgood-Schlatter disease

We studied the relationship between Osgood-Schlatter disease and torsional abnormalities of the lower limb in 21 boys with this condition and 20 age- and sex-matched controls. 3 groups of knees (20 control knees, 21 symptomatic and 21 asymptomatic or less symptomatic knees) were subjected to clinical, radiographic and CT evaluation. We found no statistically significant differences between patients and controls, as regards femoral anteversion, patellar congruence angle, patellar tilt angle and anterior tibial tuberosity-trochlear groove distance, but the condylomalleolar angle and tibial torsion angle were greater in patients. We found no differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic or less symptomatic knees in any of the parameters. All the symptomatic knees were on the side preferentially involved in jumping and sprinting. This increase in external tibial torsion may play a role as a predisposing mechanical factor in the onset of Osgood-Schlatter disease in male athletes.     

Drugs of abuse and abuse of drugs in sportsmen: the role of in vitro models to study effects and mechanisms

A particular field of analytical chemistry applied to forensic toxicology is represented by the anti-doping analysis, where biological samples (urine and in some instances blood) collected, either “in competition” or “out of competition”, from athletes ruled for national/international sport federations, are analyzed to detect the putative use of prohibited substances and methods. Together with the official anti-doping activity to test the athletes (i.e. who engages in competitive sport) for the non-physiological enhancement of sport performance, it is mandatory to activate a new strategy of doping control, that should necessarily comprise a deep and exhaustive toxicological evaluation of the entire spectrum of doping substances and methods. An outline of the present status and of the future trends of the antidoping research is here presented, showing that most of the new tasks could greatly benefit from an approach based on in vitro methods, ranging from specific toxicity studies to the possible detection of new forms of doping.     

Strategy and timing of peripheral nerve surgery

The authors review the latest theories of peripheral nerve regeneration and repair. They present their research on nerve regeneration including the alterations in the mother cell body, and in the distal part of the axon, and the time required to reach the best production of amino acids for cytoskeleton reconstruction. Other research of particular interest which is presented regards the chemotactic arrangement of motor and sensory axons inside a vein. This research has shown that the axons are able to find their way to the appropriate (sensory or motor) distal endoneural tubes.Adoption phenomena are also presented.The discussion of surgery includes the type (suture, glueing, grafts, tubulization) and the time of surgical repair. Timing and repair strategies are related to the site of the lesion (which can require that a greater or smaller amount of cytoskeleton be reconstructed), the type of the injury, the state of surrounding tissues, the age of the patients, injuries to muscles, tendons, bones, vessels and skin. A scheme of strategy is proposed.     

Inflammation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis spinal cord and brain is mediated by activated macrophages, mast cells and T cells.

Recent studies have shown inflammatory markers in affected neural tissues of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. We examined immunocytochemically spinal cord tissues of six patients with ALS, two with corticospinal tract degeneration secondary to cerebral infarcts and three control subjects without neuropathologic abnormalities. ALS spinal cords had dense macrophage infiltration (one log greater than control spinal cords) involving the white and gray matter, with heaviest infiltration of lateral and ventral columns and, in one patient, prefrontal gyrus and the occipital lobes of the brain. Macrophages in ALS spinal cord showed strong expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) (one log greater than control tissues) and inducible nitric oxide synthase. In the gray matter, macrophages surrounded and appeared to phagocytize neurons (NeuN-positive) that appeared to be dying. Vessels showed damage to the tight junction protein ZO-1 in relation to perivascular CD40 receptor-positive macrophages and CD40 ligand-positive T lymphocytes. ALS spinal cords, but not control cords, were sparsely infiltrated with mast cells. In control cases with corticospinal tract degeneration following hemispheric cerebral infarction, macrophage infiltration of the white matter was COX-2-negative and restricted to lateral and anterior corticospinal tracts. Our data suggest that inflammation in ALS spinal cord and cortex is based on innate immune responses by macrophages and mast cells and adaptive immune responses by T cells.     

Early increase of oxidative stress and soluble CD40L in children with hypercholesterolemia.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to analyze the behavior of oxidative stress and its interplay with CD40L, a protein that is implicated in atherosclerosis, in hypercholesterolemic children. BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress has been suggested to play a major role in premature atherosclerosis. METHODS: Forty-one children with hypercholesterolemia (mean age 9.28 +/- 0.5 years) and 40 children with normocholesterolemia (mean age 9.02 +/- 0.69 years) were matched for gender and age. Within each group, children were classified as having or not having a family history of cardiovascular disease. Serum levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), a marker of oxidative stress, and plasma levels of soluble CD40L (sCD40L) were measured in each child. In a subgroup of children with high (n = 8) or normal (n = 8) levels of serum cholesterol, platelet p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase phosphorylation, a protein involved in the activation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase, was determined. RESULTS: Children with hypercholesterolemia had higher values of 8-OHdG and sCD40L compared with control subjects (0.55 +/- 0.06 ng/ml vs. 0.21 +/- 0.02 ng/ml, p < 0.001 and 0.55 +/- 0.04 ng/ml vs. 0.19 +/- 0.03 ng/ml, p < 0.001, respectively). A significant correlation between 8-OHdG and sCD40L was observed in children with high (r = 0.676, p < 0.001) or normal (r = 0.878, p < 0.001) levels of cholesterol. Children with a family history of cardiovascular disease tended to have higher values of 8-OHdG and sCD40L, but the difference was not significant. Analysis of platelet p38 MAP kinase showed that it was phosphorylated more in children with hypercholesterolemia compared with control subjects (36.8 +/- 5.8 AU vs. 8.0 +/- 4.5 AU, p < 0.001 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Children with hypercholesterolemia have an early increase of oxidative stress that may be responsible for up-regulation of CD40L and potentially predispose to premature atherosclerosis.