Retroperitoneal rhabdomyosarcoma revealed by acute kidney failure in children. Report of a case

Retroperitoneal sarcomas are rare tumors representing 0.1% to 0.2% of all malignant tumors. They are usually revealed by an abdominal mass (33%), possibly associated with pain (41%). Edema of the lower limbs is reported in 10% of cases. Acute renal failure with anuria by bilateral ureteral compression, associated with invasion of the inferior vena cava has not been previously reported.     

The use of lyophilized plasma as a reference sample for determining factor VIII]

The activity of lyophilized Soviet reference plasma Factor VIII was measured by a single-stage Papayan and Khrolova's method. This factor is referent in respect of the prothrombin complex factors, stored for 18-43.5 months. Factor VIII activity was found to be within 55-135 percent. Differences in the values of antihemophilic globulin activities obtained in parallel studies in different days may be explained by the fact that the native control was not standard. The results are promising as regards the possibility of using lyophilized donor reference plasma as a reference reagent for estimation of Factor VIII activity.     

Febrile seizures

A door-to-door survey was carried out to screen a community of 14,010 people (Parsis living in colonies in Bombay, India) for possible neurological diseases. High school graduates, social workers, and a medical student administered a screening questionnaire that, in a pilot study, had a high sensitivity for identifying febrile seizures in children under the age of 14 years. Neurologists used defined diagnostic criteria to evaluate individuals positive on the screening survey. There were 1,581 children under the age of 14 years. Twenty-eight children (19 boys, 9 girls) suffered from febrile seizures (17.7/1,000 population). The present prevalence study is the first from India and suggests that, contrary to expectation, the frequency of febrile seizures may be no different in developing and developed countries.     

Sciatic neuritis as initial symptom of spontaneous clostridial myonecrosis.

A 21-year-old woman is reported with aplastic anaemia, who presented with pain in the leg. Rapid loss of sciatic nerve function followed. MRI showed irregular streaks of low intensity in the muscles of the pelvic region. A diagnosis of sciatic neuritis as initial symptom of clostridial myonecrosis was made.     

Measurement of maximum variability within event related potentials in schizophrenia.

One limitation of averaging individual late component event related potential (ERP) responses is that a single average ERP cannot reflect the variability of responses from epoch to epoch. In this article, we describe a method to quantify this variability and determine if any part of the overall ERP reflects a maximum variance through the use of response variance curves. We then apply this method to one disorder, schizophrenia, in which variability of information processing is hypothesized to underlie aspects of the symptomatology. Response variance curves in a group of unmedicated schizophrenic patients reveal systematic differences, maximal between 190 and 250 ms, compared with those in a group of medicated schizophrenic patients and normal control subjects.     

Studies on the properties of some peripheral MAO inhibitors

1. Studies were carried out on three monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, two of which, debrisoquine and para- hydroxyphenelzine, are purported to be peripheral inhibitors and one, phenelzine, is a peripherally acting inhibitor, which has been included for comparitive purposes. 2. All three showed varying degrees of specificity towards MAO type A. 3. The action of debrisoquine was very rapid as was that of para- hydroxyphenelzine. 4. The inhibition caused by debrisoquine was competitive and reversible, while that caused by both phenelzine and para- hydroxyphenelzine was irreversible. 5. The inhibition caused by debrisoquine appeared to be unaffected by the pH of the medium.     

Mode of onset of simple phobia subtypes: further evidence of heterogeneity

Previous research has demonstrated heterogeneity of the simple phobia diagnostic category. As a further test of the notion of heterogeneity of the DSM-III-R simple phobia diagnostic category, mode of onset was examined in a sample of simple phobic outpatients. Patients were separated into one of four subtypes: animal or insect, blood and injury, situational, and choking-vomit phobias. Careful study yielded five distinct mode-of-onset categories. Two researchers independently determined the mode of onset for the patients studied: direct trauma, spontaneous, vicarious learning, gradual, and lifelong. Significant mode of onset differences were observed across groups. Situational phobics reported a preponderance of spontaneous onsets as compared to the other groups studied. These results offer further evidence of the heterogeneity of the simple phobia diagnostic category and also support the contention that situational simple phobias are closely related to agoraphobia.     

Experience with using balloon dilatation of the coronary arteries

The paper presents the analysis of balloon dilations of the coronary arteries in 18 patients with ischemic heart disease. A multimodality clinical examination of the patients involving provocative tests and echocardiography is recommended to be performed both preoperatively and postoperatively.     

Development of intracellular calcium responses to depolarization and to kainate and N-methyl-D-aspartate in cultured mouse hippocampal neurons.

We have investigated the initial appearance of voltage-gated Ca channels and kainate- and NMDA-type glutamate receptors in cultured embryonic mouse hippocampal neurons. The Ca-dependent fluorescence change of the dye fura-2 was used as a sensitive assay for the presence of functional channels and receptors. Expression of functional NMDA receptors was observed on some hippocampal neurons as early as E14. By the equivalent of E15-16, 40-50% of cells responded to Ko-depolarization (50 mM), indicating the presence of functional voltage-gated Ca channels, approximately 20% of cells responded to kainate (50 microM), and just under 20% responded to NMDA (50 microM; in the presence of glycine and strychnine). By the equivalent of the end of the embryonic period 70-80% of cells responded to all 3 stimuli. As approximately 20% of cells in these cultures are glia, these data indicate that by the time of birth close to 100% of neurons express functioning kainate and NMDA receptors, and voltage-gated Ca channels. Increases in [Ca2+]i in embryonic neurons after application of NMDA were sensitive to APV and to external Mg, as are responses in mature neurons. The IC50 for block by external Mg of the [Ca2+]i increase induced by NMDA was 130 microM, and there was a slight positive correlation between the amplitude of the response to NMDA and sensitivity to external Mg.