Japanese Versus Non-Japanese Patients with Transient Ischemic Attack or Minor Stroke: Subanalysis of TIA registry.org

BackgroundTIAregistry.org is an international cohort of patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke within 7 days before enrollment in the registry. Main analyses of 1-year follow-up data have been reported.⁵ We conducted subanalysis on the baseline and 1-year follow-up data of Japanese patients.MethodsThe patients were classified into 2 groups based on Japanese ethnicity, Japanese (345) and non-Japanese (3238), and their baseline data and 1-year event rates were compared. We also determined risk factors and predictors of 1-year stroke.ResultsCurrent smoking, regular alcohol drinking, intracranial arterial stenosis, and small vessel occlusion; and hypertension, dyslipidemia, coronary artery disease, and extracranial arterial stenosis were more and less common among Japanese patients, respectively. Stroke risk was higher and TIA risk was lower at 1-year follow-up among Japanese patients. The baseline risk factors for recurrent stroke were diabetes, alcohol drinking, and large artery atherosclerosis. Independent predictors of 1-year stroke risk were prior congestive heart failure and alcohol consumption.ConclusionsThe two populations of patients featured differences in risk factors, stroke subtypes, and outcome events. Predictors of recurrent stroke among Japanese patients included congestive heart failure and regular alcohol drinking. Strategies to attenuate residual risk of stroke aside from adherence to current guidelines should take our Japanese-patient specific findings into account.     

Dynamic high-spatial-resolution MR imaging of invasive ductal carcinoma: influence of histological scirrhous component on MR descriptors.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the amount of scirrhous component in invasive ductal carcinoma and its MR characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 71 consecutive patients with invasive ductal carcinoma smaller than 25 mm (average, 16.6 mm) in diameter. The scirrhous component was defined as invasive foci in small clusters of cancer cells showing desmoplasia. Invasive ductal carcinoma was subclassified into 3 groups in accordance with the amount of the scirrhous component (scirrhous component degree; SCD): SCD I (scirrhous component less than 20%), SCD II (intermediate), and SCD III (more than 80%). Dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed using volumetric interpolated sequence. Prior to dynamic study, T2*-weighted first-pass perfusion images were obtained before, during, and after bolus injection of 0.1 mmol Gd-DTPA/kg. RESULTS: Twenty-eight lesions were classified as SCD I, 14 as SCD II, and 29 as SCD III. Mass margin and signal intensity loss in the perfusion study were significantly different among the 3 SCD groups (P<0.001). The kinetic patterns were significantly different among the 3 SCD groups (P=0.04), and between SCD I/II and SCD III (P=0.03). The presence of enhancing internal septations was significantly different between SCD I/II and SCD III carcinomas (P=0.05). Central enhancement was only observed in SCD I carcinoma (4%; 3/71). CONCLUSION: The histological predominance of the scirrhous component in invasive ductal carcinoma may be one explanation for the differences in morphologic and kinetic patterns on MR imaging.     

Osteoclastogenesis inhibitory factor exhibits hypocalcemic effects in normal mice and in hypercalcemic nude mice carrying tumors associated with humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy

Osteoclastogenesis inhibitory factor (OCIF) is a novel secreted protein that inhibits osteoclastogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we examined the effects of OCIF on serum calcium (Ca) concentrations in normal mice and in hypercalcemic nude mice carrying tumors associated with humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy. In normal mice, a single intraperitoneal injection of OCIF reduced serum Ca levels in a dose-dependent manner. Significant decrease in serum Ca (by 1.6 ± 0.3 mg/dL, n = 5) was observed 2 h after the injection of OCIF at 20 mg/kg and the hypocalcemic effect continued for up to 12 h. Serum phosphate (Pi) concentrations also decreased in response to OCIF. Urinary excretion of Ca, Pi, and creatinine did not change significantly after injection of OCIF or vehicle. In hypercalcemic, tumor-bearing nude mice, a single intraperitoneal injection of OCIF at 20 mg/kg resulted in a dramatic decrease in serum Ca (maximal decrease 2.8 ± 0.37 mg/dL, n = 11), which continued for up to 24 h. The results suggest that OCIF decreased serum Ca through its inhibitory effect on bone resorption. Furthermore, it is suggested that OCIF has therapeutic potential for the treatment of hypercalcemic conditions such as malignancy-associated hypercalcemia.     

Studies of the induction and maintenance of long-term graft acceptance by treatment with FK506 in heterotopic cardiac allotransplantation in rats

Immunosuppressive activities of the newly discovered FK506, isolated from Streptomyces tsukubaensis, were examined by using cardiac allotransplantation in the rat, and the mechanisms underlying induction and maintenance of FK506-induced long-term allograft survival were studied. Male rats of WKA (RT1k) and F344 (RT1lvl) strains were used as recipients and donors, respectively, and those of BN (RT1n) strain were used as third-party donors. Treatment with FK506, beginning from the day of allografting for 14, 10, or as few as 4 days, prolonged allograft survival significantly across the major histocompatibility barrier. The minimum doses for prolonging graft survival were 0.1 mg/kg/day by intramuscular treatment and 1.0 mg/kg/day by oral treatment. Treatment with FK506 at a dose of 0.32 mg/kg/day from day 4 until day 10 resulted in all the grafts surviving indefinitely and from days 5 to 10, half the grafts survived indefinitely, suggesting that the agent inhibited ongoing rejection. On the other hand, cyclosporine treatment at a dose of 20 mg/kg/day from day 2 did not prolong graft survival time statistically significantly. Induction of prolonged graft survival was not obtained by pretreatment of the prospective donor or recipient; prolonging effects were observed only when the agent was administered after allografting. Thus, the primary effect of the agent is exerted on responder lymphocytes reacting to the donor antigens in the induction phase of long-term graft acceptance. The mechanisms underlying the maintenance of long-term grafts were analyzed by testing the capacity of lymphocytes or serum of long-term graft-bearing rats to inhibit graft rejection in irradiated grafted hosts. Transfer of 2 x 10(8) lymphocytes from FK506-induced long-term F344 graft-bearing WKA rats resulted in indefinite survival of F344 heart allografts, but it did not prolong survival of third-party BN hearts. Transfer of 2.5 ml serum from long-term graft-bearing rats also prolonged graft survival of F344 hearts, but not BN hearts. These results suggest that donor strain-specific suppressor cells and humoral factor(s) are induced by treatment with FK506 in the presence of allografts, and that they play at least partial roles in the maintenance of long-term allograft acceptance.     

Correlation between scalp-recorded electroencephalographic and electrocorticographic activities during ictal period.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between scalp-recorded electroencephalographic (EEG) and electrocorticographic (ECoG) activities during ictal periods. METHODS: Simultaneous EEG and ECoG recordings with chronic subdural electrodes were performed in eight patients with partial epilepsy. RESULTS: In two cases where the ictal ECoG discharges originated in deep brain structures such as the hippocampus and interhemispheric surface of the frontal lobe, ictal discharges could not be detected on EEG until they expanded to the cortex of convexity. In four cases, the ictal onset zones were located in the lateral convexity. When synchronous or near synchronous ictal ECoG discharges with amplitudes of 200-2000muV were recorded on more than 8-15cm(2) of cortex, corresponding discharges were recorded on EEG in these four cases. However, in a case of frontal lobe epilepsy, asynchronous ictal ECoG discharges were recorded on 10 electrodes of convexity but no ictal EEG activity was recorded. Furthermore, in two frontal lobe epilepsy cases, ictal EEG discharges did not always reflect the ictal ECoG spike, but occasionally reflected slow background ECoG activity around the ictal discharges. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple factors such as the width of the cortical area involved, amplitude of ictal discharges and degree of synchronization of electrical potentials play important roles in the appearance of ictal EEG recordings, and the relationship between ictal EEG and ECoG is not straightforward.     

Use of small-bore silastic drains in general thoracic surgery.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of small-bore, silastic drains for patients undergoing general thoracic surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-five patients who received soft, small-bore, silastic drains were compared with 17 patients who received semi-rigid double lumen (DL) tubes retrospectively. RESULTS: The pain score was significantly lower in patients who received the silastic tubes in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) cases on postoperative days 5 and 6 , after continuous epidural analgesia had finished (P=0.018). No specific morbidity was seen in the patients who received silastic tubes. CONCLUSION: We considered that soft, small-bore silastic drains were just as effective as traditional DL tubes, but caused less pain especially in VATS cases.