Cat-301 immunoreactivity in the lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex of the strabismic amblyopic cat

Purpose: It was investigated whether alterations in neuronal structure and function occasioned by strabismic amblyopia also may be reflected in alterations in the expression on Y type neurons of a Cat-301 antibody sensitive antigen in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and cortex of our cat model of strabismic amblyopia. Methods/Results: The percentage of positively labelled cells was reduced in LGN laminae that received input from the deviated eye in strabismic amblyopic cats compared with normal cats. In the strabismic cortex, the density of immunopositive neurons was significantly reduced compared with normal, the effect being most pronounced in layer IV Conclusions: Despite previous physiological recordings indicating a decrease in X-cell associated acuity in strabismic amblyopia, the present findings imply that the changes in the early visual experience occasioned by strabismus also produce specific molecular changes in theY neuronal class.     

Aortopulmonary window with patent ductus arteriosus and interrupted aortic arch: A case report

Indian Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery -     

Peribursal fat plane of the shoulder: anatomic study and clinical experience

A comprehensive anatomic and radiographic analysis of the peribursal fat plane in 12 cadavers confirmed that the fat plane seen on radiographs represents extrasynovial fat lining the subacromial bursa and documented the anatomic relations of the bursa. A three-part retrospective clinical evaluation of rotator cuff tears, calcific tendinitis, and rheumatoid arthritis was performed. Two osteoradiologists blindly graded the appearance of the peribursal fat plane with the shoulder in external versus internal rotation in 21 patients with arthrographically intact rotator cuffs and 21 patients with disrupted rotator cuffs. The peribursal fat plane was seen better with disrupted rotator cuffs. The peribursal fat plane was seen better with the shoulder in internal rotation and was seen in 60% of control subjects but only 21% of patients with rotator cuff tears. Partial or complete obliteration of this fat plane is a sensitive (79%) but less specific (60%) indicator of rotator cuff tears. Obliteration of the peribursal fat plane by inflammatory processes in adjacent tissues, including calcific tendinitis and rheumatoid arthritis, occurred with a high frequency.     

The Cathlocator: A novel non-radiological method for the localization of enteral tubes

Safe placement of nasogastric tubes requires reliable positioning of the tip of the tube within the stomach. Radiology and aspiration are currently used to confirm tube position, but suffer from significant problems of cost and efficacy, respectively. We have developed a novel method to locate the position of a catheter tip within the body, using the detection of a low energy electromagnetic field generated in a coil located in the catheter with an external hand-held unit (Cathlocator). In vitro, the unit detected the distance of the coil from the detector with an accuracy of 0.1 cm over a range of 4–12 cm. In vivo studies were performed in 11 healthy volunteers using a purpose-built manometric assembly that incorporated the signal generating coil in its tip. In all subjects the Cathlocator showed the position of the signal generating coil to be cranial to the xiphisternum when manometric and transmucosal potential difference criteria showed it to be located above the lower oesophageal sphincter. When the coil was within the stomach, the Cathlocator identified its position within the epigastric, umbilical and left hypochondrial regions of the abdomen. The distance of the coil from the surface was significantly greater when in the duodenum mean (±s.e.m. 7.6±0.3 cm; P<0.001) and oesophagus (8.6±0.2 cm; P<0.002) than the stomach (5.0±0.4 cm). In one subject studied twice there was a close correlation between the location and depth measured by the device on each occasion. The Cathlocator is a novel non-radiological device that has the potential to be useful in the placement of gastrointestinal catheters.     

Tumor vascular signals in renal masses: detection with Doppler US

The vascularity of 49 renal masses (26 malignant and 23 benign lesions) was investigated with duplex Doppler ultrasound. Doppler signals obtained at the margins of renal masses were defined as "tumor signals" when the Doppler-shifted frequency of the lesion exceeded the frequency shift in the ipsilateral main renal artery. These exceeded 2.5 kHz with a 3-MHz insonating frequency. Among the 26 renal masses that subsequently proved to be malignant, tumor signals were obtained in 15 of 18 (83%) untreated renal cell carcinomas, in three of four Wilms tumors, and in two patients with metastases to the kidney, but not in the one patient with lymphoma. None of the 23 benign renal masses demonstrated tumor signals. Tumor vascularity in malignant lesions gives rise to abnormal, high-velocity, Doppler-shifted signals that can help in the differential diagnosis of renal masses.     

Blinded, Externally Controlled Multicenter Evaluation of Light Microscopy and PCR for Detection of Microsporidia in Stool Specimens

The quality parameters for the detection of microsporidia in identical sets of 50 stool samples were determined for six laboratories where technicians used light microscopy and for six laboratories where technicians used PCR. The average overall sensitivities were 67% (89% for patient samples only) for the PCR laboratories and 54% (80% for patient samples only) for the light microscopy laboratories. Specificities were 98 and 95%, respectively. Differences in results were most apparent between the individual laboratories rather than between the two major methods used.     

Identification of microsporidia in stool specimens by using PCR and restriction endonucleases.

We report the development of a PCR-based assay for the detection of microsporidia in clinical specimens. A single primer pair complementary to conserved sequences of the small-subunit rRNA enabled amplification of DNA from the four major microsporidian pathogens of humans: Encephalitozoon cuniculi, Encephalitozoon hellem, Enterocytozoon bieneusi, and Septata intestinalis. The extraction method allowed PCR amplification of E. bieneusi and S. intestinalis DNA from sodium hypochlorite-treated stool specimens. Differentiation of the microsporidian gastrointestinal pathogens E. bieneusi and S. intestinalis could be accomplished by restriction endonuclease digestion of PCR products using PstI and HaeIII.