Calcium entry blocker: Treatment in acute pain in cluster headache patients

15 chronic cluster headache patients in whom pain was induced by nitroglycerin received acute intravenous treatment with a calcium entry blocker. At the time of peak pain we noted a sudden decrease after the Verapamil injection. The mechanism by which the calcium entry blocker afforded relief is unlikely to have been vasodilatation in patients whose blood vessels had just been dilated by nitroglycerin. A more probable mechanism is blockade of the release of the pain-inducing neurotransmitters. The vasodilatation phase is not a primary factor in the onset of pain.

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Sommario Sono stati studiati 15 soggetti affetti da Cluster cronica inducendo loro la crisi dolorosa con Trinitrina, trattandoli poi con calcio antagonista (Verapamil) per via endovenosa. Al momento dell'apice del dolore, valutato dal paziente con un analogo visivo, la somministrazione di Verapamil endovena, determina una rapida estinzione del dolore. L'azione efficace del Ca-antagonista non può sicuramente essere rapportata alla vasodilatazione poiché la crisi dolorosa insorge già in una fase di vasodilatazione per l'azione della Trinitina. Il meccanismo d'azione più probabile è il blocco del release di neurotrasmettitori inducenti l'attacco doloroso. Si sottolinea che la vasodilatazione non è il fattore primario dell'induzione del dolore.

     

［5－（4－甲脒－苄基）－2，4－二氧代－咪唑烷－3－基］－乙酰基－L－天冬氨酰－L－缬氨酸的合成

根据由精氨酸－甘氨酸－天冬氨酸组成的肽能抑制血小板聚集的机制，设计并合成了［５－（４－甲脒－苄基）－２，４－二氧代－咪唑烷－３－基］－乙酰基－Ｌ－天冬氨酰－Ｌ－缬氨酸（９）。生物试验结果表明：（９）抑制血小板聚集作用最强，其活性以ＩＣ＿（５０）值相比，强于类似物。     

卵巢浆液性肿瘤几种形态测量指标的比较

应用体视学方法对卵巢浆液性肿瘤进行研究，从定量的角度对卵巢良性、交界性及恶性肿瘤的五项指标进行比较，包括（１）细胞核长短轴之比；（２）结缔组织间质与上皮细胞体积密度之比；（３）细胞核与细胞浆体积密度之比（核浆比）；（４）细胞核平均直径；（５）乳头的上皮厚度。结果表明恶性肿瘤核浆体积密度比明显高于交界性及良性肿瘤（ｐ＜０．０１）；恶性肿瘤结缔组织间质与上皮细胞体积密度之比明显小于交界性及良性肿瘤（Ｐ＜０．０１）。     

Milgram and Tuskegee—Paradigm Research Projects in Bioethics

This paper discusses the use of the Milgram obedience experiments and the Tuskegee syphilis study in the bioethical literature. The two studies are presented and a variety of uses of them identified and discussed. It is argued that the use of these studies as paradigms of problematic research relies on a reduction of their complexity. What is discussed is thus often constructions of these studies that are closer to hypothetical examples than to the real studies.     

Occipital horn syndrome: report of a patient and review of the literature

We report an 18-year-old boy with occipital horn syndrome and we review the 20 cases previously published with this syndrome. The distinctive features common to all patients were unusual facial appearance, skeletal abnormalities, chronic diarrhea and genitourinary abnormalities. The skeletal abnormalities included occipital horns, short, broad clavicles, deformed radii, ulnae, and humeri, narrowing of the rib cage, undercalci-fied long bones with thin cortical walls and coxa valga. Occipital horn syndrome is inherited in an X-linked recessive fashion. Our analysis indicates that occipital horn syndrome is associated with a recognizable characteristic phenotype.     

腰椎间盘膨出CT诊断标准的探讨

在经椎间盘中心平面的ＣＴ扫描图像上，对下腰段８２个正常椎间盘（男４９个，女３３个）及相应平面后方之硬胶囊、椎管的矢径、横径和面积进行了测量，并用指数形式来表示前、后二者间各项指标的比例关系。通过与４０个（男２７个、女１３个）膨出椎间盘的比较分析，发现硬膜囊面积／椎间盘面积、硬膜囊矢径／椎间盘矢径及椎管矢径／椎间盘矢径等三个指数在椎间盘膨出的诊断中最有价值。     

The Cardiac Pacemaker Current if

Pacemaker Current if. Since the hyperpolarization-activated current, if, was originally associated with the diastolic depolarization phase of action potential in the sinoatrial (SA) node in 1979, its central role in the generation and control of pacemaker activity has become increasingly clear through a series of experimental findings, some of which have substantially modified the pre-existing theories of cardiac pacemaking and its modulation by the autonomic transmitters. Thus, the pacemaker current of Purkinje fibers, formerly described as a deactivating pure potassium (K) current, was found to be in fact, like the nodal if, inward and activating on hyperpolarization. Furthermore, in SA node cells, as well as mediating rhythm acceleration induced by catecholamines, if was found to underlie the slowing effect of low acetylcholine (ACh) concentrations, in contrast with the generally accepted hypothesis that activation of a K conductance is the main process responsible for cardiac slowing. A final, atypical property of if recently demonstrated concerns the activating action exerted on if by intracellular cAMP. Unlike that on other voltage-gated, cAMP-modulated cardiac channels, this action is independent of phosphorylation and involves a direct binding of cAMP to if channels. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 3, pp. 334–344, August 1992)