Serous retinal detachment following glaucoma surgery.

The authors report the occurrence and clinical course of serous retinal detachment following glaucoma surgery in three patients. Serous detachment resolved in all patients spontaneously following treatment with oral and topical steroids.     

Proximal femoral focal deficiency: radiologic analysis of 49 cases

Proximal femoral focal deficiency, an uncommon congenital anomaly, necessitates early radiologic classification for surgical planning and treatment. Objective radiographic criteria, including femoral length index, acetabular depth index, acetabular angle index, and shape of the proximal femur were determined in 49 patients before cartilaginous ossification of the femoral capital epiphysis; final classification was based on follow-up radiographs or findings at arthrography or surgery. These parameters were analyzed to determine the accuracy and contributions of each in classification. Correct classification into one of three groups was possible in 86% of cases with use of three of the parameters: femoral length index, acetabular depth index, and shape of the proximal femur. The acetabular angle was found to contribute insignificantly to classification. Magnetic resonance imaging, used in only one case, depicted the nonossified cartilaginous femoral capital epiphysis, thus obviating the need for invasive diagnostic procedures and facilitating early classification.     

Effects of serotonergic and anticholinergic drugs in haloperidol-induced dystonia in Cebus monkeys

In rodents, serotonin (5-HT) antagonists counteract behavioral and biochemical effects of neuroleptic drugs. Therefore, we have studied the effect of different 5-HT drugs and one anticholinergic drug in acute dystonia in five cebus monkeys chronically treated with haloperidol. Acute dystonia induced by subcutaneous injections of haloperidol was slightly reduced by the 5-HT antagonist methysergide (4.0 mg/kg), while mianserin, ketanserin, and ritanserin (R 55 667; a new selective and potent 5-HT receptor blocker) had no effect. This was contrasted by the marked antidystonic effect of the anticholinergic drug biperiden (0.05-1.0 mg/kg). The 5-HT agonist citalopram, a specific 5-HT uptake inhibitor, had no significant effect. It is concluded that 5-HT antagonists have no useful effect in neuroleptic-induced dystonia.     

Squamous cell metaplasia of the bladder urothelium. A retrospective study of 36 patients.

In a retrospective study of 28 women and eight men with squamous cell metaplasia in different parts of the bladder, including the trigone, no histopathological differences were observed among the regions. All the five (female) patients with parakeratosis had a concomitant invasive bladder tumour. Thirty-eight% of all the patients had a simultaneous neoplastic tumour. The metaplastic lesions were investigated for keratin in 13 patients, and all were positive. In seven out of eight patients, the urothelium adjacent to the squamous cell metaplasia was also positive for keratin, indicating a direct transformation of the urothelium to squamous cell epithelium. The metaplastic cells were investigated for oestrogen receptors in five men and five women, and all were negative, suggesting no relationship between estrogens and squamous cell metaplasia of the bladder. Squamous cell metaplasia in the bladder is not considered a premalignant condition. However, metaplasia and neoplastic tumours are often associated with chronic tissue damage, and the presence of metaplasia may give a warning of conditions that can also cause cancer.     

Nimodipine treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage

In a pilot study of 6 patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by a ruptured intracranial (grade IV (Hunt and Hess) aneurysm the hemodynamics and plasma-nimodipine concentrations have been observed during a 3-week period of treatment. We found that 3 patients developed reversible hypotension during the nimodipine treatment and that the hypotension tendency could be related to the plasmanimodipine level and not to a more or less severe sensitivity to nimodipine.

Repeated measurements of blood pressure, plasma-nimodipine and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) are necessary for the purpose of obtaining the optimum treatment and for evaluating the effect of treatment.     

The effect of two lipophilic gamma-aminobutyric acid uptake blockers in CA1 of the rat hippocampal slice.

1. Drugs that increase inhibitory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system may be valuable tools in the treatment of seizures. Theoretically, substances that block the uptake of inhibitory transmitters such as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) into intracellular compartments should also increase inhibition and therefore have potential value as antiepileptic drugs. However, most of these substances penetrate the blood-brain barrier poorly and have therefore until now had limited value. NO-05-0328 and NO-05-0329 are two new lipophilic GABA uptake inhibitors that readily enter the CNS from the blood. 2. We have investigated the effect of these two uptake inhibitors on the responses to exogenous GABA and on GABA-mediated inhibitory synaptic potentials in pyramidal neurones of the CA1 region in the rat hippocampal slice. 3. We found that both drugs increased the amplitude and duration of responses to exogenous GABA. Furthermore, the inhibitory synaptic potentials increased in amplitude. This increase was seen in both early and late phases of the synaptic potentials. We conclude that NO-05-0328 and NO-05-0329, at least in vitro, are more effective than older GABA uptake inhibitors such as nipecotic acid and they therefore deserve consideration for clinical use.