CT-Scanning of the cochlea in Pendred's syndrome*

The inner ears of 5 adult patients with Pendred's syndrome were investigated using a Siemens SOMATOM DRG. Five normal hearing adults participated in the investigation as a control group. The CT-scanning comprised 10-15 consecutive scans of the cochlea. The CT evaluation was performed using both a special bone setting and a soft tissue setting. The cochlear content was quantitatively evaluated by drawing an irregular region of interest on the bone pictures. The region of interest was then transferred to the soft tissue pictures by means of the standard program of the CT-scanner. The resulting mean values of attenuation expressed in Hounsfield Units were significantly lower in the Pendred cochleas was demonstrated in all patients with Pendred's syndrome. The lower values of attenuation of the cochlea in Pendred's syndrome reflect the rudimentarily developed infra-cochlear osseous structures in this disease. We conclude that CT-scanning of the cochlea using this procedure is reliable enough to replace the conventional axial-pyramidal tomography when a Mondini cochlea is suspected.     

Selected Trace Elements and Proteins in Serum of Apparently Healthy Newborn Infants of Mothers Who Smoked during Pregnancy

ABSTRACT. The serum concentrations of selected trace elements and proteins in cord blood from 17 new-bom infants whose mothers were habitual smokers were compared with values from 22 infants of non-smoking mothers. All the mothers were healthy with normal pregnancies and deliveries. Cigarette smoke exposure was verified by determinations of nicotine, cotinine and thiocyanate concentrations in cord blood. Infants of smoking mothers had a slightly lower mean birth weight (3490±430 g) than control infants (3780±460 g). Infants of smokers had lower serum iron ( p =0.05) and prealbumin ( p ≤0.05), but higher serum copper ( p ≤0.05) and ceruloplasmin ( p ≤0.01) levels than the controls. Infants of smoking mothers tended to have higher levels of the acute-phase reactants alpha-₂-macroglobulin and orosomucoid, but lower levels of albumin, transferrin and retinol-binding-protein, although differences were not statistically significant.     

Yersuche über mikrochemische Reaktionen.

• 1 Die fällende Wirkung von Sulfosalizylsäure und Lanthannitrat auf Eiweiss, Nucleinsäure und Eiweiss-Nucleinsäuregemische bei verschiedenen Wasserstoffionenkonzentrationen wurde quantitativ untersucht. Es wurde gezeigt, dass, während Eiweiss von Sulfosalizylsäure, Nucleinsäure von Lanthannitrat (aber nicht umgekehrt) gefällt wurden, Eiweiss-Nucleinsäure-Gemische mit beiden Reagentien Fällungen gaben.
• 2 Mit gepufferten Lösungen von Sulfosalizylsäure und Lathannitrat konnte gezeigt werden, dass rote Blutkörperchen von Eidechsen in einem gewissen Funktionsstadium, das möglicherweise mit der Zellteilung zu tun hat, eiweissfreie oder sehr eiweissarme Zellkerne hatten, während die Zellkerne der eigentlichen Zellteilungsprozesse stark eiweisshaltig waren.

     

Craniofacial growth in bone marrow transplant recipients treated with growth hormone after total body irradiation

Abstract— The effect of growth hormone (GH) treatment on craniofacial development was studied in five children exhibiting growth retardation following bone marrow transplantation. Linear and angular measurements were made on lateral radiographic cephalograms taken prior to the start of GH treatment and after an average treatment time of 1.2 yr. The results showed that the mean growth increments of mandibular length in the GH treated children, exceeded the corresponding values of the control group by 150% during the period of investigation. It is suggested that this dimensional increase in the patients was due to GH stimulation on the chondral growth process in the mandibular condyles.     

Aspects of mastication with bridges on osseointegrated implants

Sixteen edentulous patients were examined before and 2 months after rehabilitation with fixed bridges supported by fixtures in the mandible. Data were collected regarding bite force, chewing efficiency, chewing movements and self-estimated chewing ability. The results after rehabilitation indicated that patients with an obvious improvement of chewing efficiency showed a greater increase of the mean bite force parameters than patients with unchanged chewing efficiency. However, it was not possible to find any definite pattern of differences between the groups of patients, based on the chewing efficiency index after rehabilitation. Furthermore, after rehabilitation the test group revealed a positive correlation between the duration of the occlusion phase and bite force values, negative correlations between bite force “as when chewing” and closing velocity and between duration of the occlusion phase and opening mandibular velocity and displacement, respectively.