Characteristics of cytomegalovirus enterocolitis in patients with or without inflammatory bowel diseases

Objectives: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease is more common in immunocompromised patients but may occur in people with normal immune function. In addition, CMV enterocolitis can aggravate inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), but there was little knowledge of differences in clinical and endoscopic features of CMV enterocolitis between patients with IBD and without IBD. The aim of this study was to determine the difference in clinical implication in CMV enterocolitis between the IBD patients and non-IBD patients.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of 82 patients with CMV enterocolitis based on the pathologic findings at two tertiary referral hospitals from 2003 to 2013. Clinical and endoscopic characteristics and clinical course were analyzed according to the presence of IBD.

Results: Of the 82 patients, 25 (30.5%) had IBD and 57 (69.5%) did not have IBD. Hematochezia was more common in IBD patients (84.0% vs. 35.1%; p = .001), but fever and positive CMV antigenemia were more common in non-IBD patients (50.9% vs. 12.0%; p = .001; 54.4% vs. 28.0; p = .027). Endoscopic findings showed more ulcer with inflammation in IBD patients (68.0% vs. 35.2%; p = .005). Sixty-four patients were treated with antiviral agents and 12 patients who did not receive antiviral agents recovered spontaneously. All naturally healed patients were in normal immune status.

Conclusions: Hematochezia is more common in IBD patients and fever/CMV antigenemia is more common in patients without IBD. In patients without IBD, the natural resolution of CMV enterocolitis is expected at least in normal immune function.     

High-performance thin H:SiON OLED encapsulation layer deposited by PECVD at low temperature

Highly moisture permeation resistive and transparent single layer thin films for the encapsulation of hydrogenated silicon oxynitrides (H:SiON) were deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using silane (SiH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), ammonia (NH₃), and hydrogen (H₂) at 100 °C for applications to a top-emission organic light-emitting diode (TEOLED). Addition of H₂ into the PECVD process of SiON film deposition afforded the hydrogenated SiON film, which showed not only improved optical properties such as transmittance and reflectance but also better barrier property to water permeation than PECVD SiON and even SiN_x. The H:SiON film with thickness of only 80 nm exhibited water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) lower than 5 × 10⁻⁵ g per m² per day in the test conditions of 38 °C and 100% humidity, where this WVTR is the measurement limit of the MOCON equipment. An additional coating of UV curable polymer enabled the H:SiON films to be flexible and to have very stable barrier property lower than 5 × 10⁻⁵ g per m² per day even after a number of 10k times bending tests at a curvature radius of 1R. The mild H:SiON film process improved the electrical properties of top-emission OLEDs without generating any dark spots. Furthermore, single H:SiON films having high water vapor barrier could maintain the original illumination features of TEOLED longer than 720 hours. These excellent properties of the H:SiON thin films originated from the structural changes of the SiON material by the introduction of hydrogen.

High-performance H:SiON single layer thin film encapsulation (TFE) was deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method. To control the characteristics of the SiON thin films, hydrogen gas was introduced during PECVD process.     

Lumbar Epidural Varix Causing Radicular Pain: A Case Report and Differential Diagnosis of Lumbar Cystic Lesions

Lumbar epidural varices are a rare cause of radicular pain mimicking lumbar disc herniation or other cyst-like masses including sequestrated disc herniation, facet joint synovial cyst, or perineural cyst. We report a case of a 36-year-old woman presenting with lumbar radicular pain caused by a lumbar epidural varix. Lumbar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a cystic lesion in the ventral epidural space posterior to the right L4 body. Surgery was conducted and histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of an epidural varix. Lumbar epidural varices and other lumbar cystic lesions can commonly cause radicular pain. Physicians will benefit from increased awareness of epidural varices as a cause of lumbosacral radicular pain and the associated radiologic findings supporting differential diagnosis. In particular, careful interpretation of MRI scans may help ensure proper diagnosis of an epidural varix versus other cystic lesions.

Feasibility of a single-beat prospective ECG-gated cardiac CT for comprehensive evaluation of aortic valve disease using a 256-detector row wide-volume CT scanner: an initial experience

The aim of our study was to investigate the feasibility of single-beat prospective electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated cardiac computed tomography (CT) using a 256-detector row wide-volume CT scanner for functional and anatomical evaluation of the aortic valve (AV) and coronary arteries in patients with AV disease. A total of 50 patients who underwent cardiac CT scan with a wide-volume 256-detector row CT scanner for the evaluation of AV and aorta were retrospectively enrolled. Cardiac CT was performed using the prospective ECG-gated acquisition mode, and AV image quality was analyzed using a four-point grading system. Severity of aortic stenosis (AS) and aortic regurgitation (AR) were assessed by CT and correlated to that assessed by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) based on kappa statistics (κ). Estimated radiation exposure was assessed. Among 50 patients, 44 underwent cardiac CT with single-beat acquisition. The median image quality score of AV was 3.0 on the systolic phase and 4.0 on the diastolic phase. Severity of AS and AR by CT showed moderate agreement with TTE. The mean effective radiation dose was 3.75?±?1.43 mSv for CT angiography. Using 256-detector row wide-volume CT, the single-beat cardiac CT is feasible for evaluation of AV disease and the coronary arteries, with acceptable image quality and a low radiation dose of 3.75 mSv.     

Sonographic diagnosis of neuritis ossificans of the median nerve

We report the sonographic appearance of a rare case of neuritis ossificans of the median nerve at the wrist, which appeared as a hyperechoic lesion around the nerve. Diagnosis was confirmed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).     

Isolation and characterization of beta 1-adrenergic receptors from adult, rat cardiac myocytes

The beta-receptors were isolated from rat cardiac myocytes and characterized. Isolated myocytes were prepared from adult rat hearts and characterized for viability. Membrane proteins were solubilized from myocytes with 1% Triton X-102. The solubilized membrane proteins were fractionated by DEAE-Sephacel ion exchange column chromatography. Two major protein peaks were obtained. The second protein peak sample was found to contain beta-receptors to which 125I-15-(4'-azido-3'-iodobenzyl)-carazolol (125I-ABC) was specifically bound. This sample was labeled covalently with 125I-ABC by UV irradiation. The radiolabeled sample was applied to a Sepharose CL-6B gel column. Two radiolabeled protein peaks, one with a molecular weight of approximately 570,000 and the other with a molecular weight of approximately 95,000 were found. When the 570,000-dalton complex was subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) under reducing conditions, it was dissociated into a component with a molecular weight of 66,000. The 95,000-dalton complex was dissociated into a 58,000-dalton component upon SDS-PAGE under reducing conditions. An excess amount of isoproterenol and propranolol decreased photolabeling of the beta-receptors with 125I-ABC by 60% and 40%, respectively.     

A Review of Neuroimaging Studies in Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD)

Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) is a functional vestibular disease characterized by persistent dizziness, unsteadiness, and/or non-spinning vertigo, and is the most common vestibular syndrome in young adults. A stiffened postural control strategy, shift to reliance on visual over vestibular information, and hypervigilance to the environment have been suggested as possible pathophysiological mechanisms of PPPD. However, the exact mechanisms remain unclear. Recently, neuroimaging studies using magnetic resonance imaging and single photon emission computed tomography have provided pivotal insights into the pathophysiology of PPPD. The aim of this review was to evaluate and summarize the existing data on neuroimaging studies in PPPD. In summary, these studies fairly consistently reported decreased brain structure, function, and connectivity among the areas involved in multisensory vestibular processing and spatial cognition, and increased function and connectivity in the visual processing areas in patients with PPPD. The detected brain changes might reflect maladaptive and compensatory mechanisms including dysfunctional integration of multisensory vestibular information and visual dependence. Notably, various factors including personality traits (i.e., neuroticism), psychiatric comorbidities (i.e., anxiety and depression), and triggering factors (i.e., peripheral vestibular lesions) seem to modulate brain functional activity and connectivity patterns, possibly accounting for some differences across the results. Future studies should carefully control for these confounding effects in order to draw firm conclusions.