Local fibrinolysis for superior mesenteric artery thromboembolism

A 66-year-old man with atrial fibrillation was referred soon after developing left lower limb and abdominal pain with rectal bleeding. An immediate flush aortogram showed embolic occlusion of the left distal superficial femoral artery and superior mesenteric artery (SMA), 3 cm from its ostium. Recombinant tissue plasminogen activitor (rtPA) 40 mg was selectively in stilled in the SMA in two boluses. Abdominal symptoms resolved within 48 h, and complete recanalization of the SMA was shown on angiography. Exploratory laparotomy after 72 h showed a normal small bowel and right colon, and was completed by femoropopliteal embolectomy. Six months later, the patient remained asymptomatic.     

Sonography of focal liver changes. Practical indications for differential diagnosis]

This article reviews the sonomorphologic features of malignant and benign focal liver lesions. Common methodological sources of diagnostic errors, features which benign and malignant findings have in common as well as the limitations of the method and further diagnostic procedures are described.     

Shared executive dysfunctions in unaffected relatives of patients with autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Executive dysfunctions have been studied as a potential endophenotype associated with the genetic basis of autism. Given that recent findings from clinical and molecular genetic studies suggest that autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) could share a common pattern of heritability, we assessed executive functions as a possible common cognitive endophenotype in unaffected family members of individuals with either autism or OCD. METHODS: Five tests assessing executive functions (Tower of London, verbal fluency, design fluency, trail making and association fluency) were proposed to 58 unaffected first-degree relatives (parents and siblings) of probands with autism and 64 unaffected first-degree relatives of OCD patients. Results were compared with those of 47 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and level of education. RESULTS: In the Tower of London test, both groups of unaffected relatives showed significantly lower scores and longer response times compared with controls. No differences were observed between autism and OCD relatives and healthy controls in the four other tasks (verbal fluency, design fluency, trail making test and association fluency). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show the existence of executive dysfunction in the unaffected first-degree relatives of probands with OCD, similar to those observed in the relatives of patients with autism. These results support and extend previous cognitive studies on probands indicating executive dysfunctions in autism and OCD. Planning and working memory processes could thus represent a common cognitive endophenotype in autism and OCD that could help in the identification of genes conferring vulnerability to these disorders.     

No association between DUP25 and anxiety disorders.

Gratacos et al. [2001: Cell 106:367-379] described an interstitial duplication dup(15)q24q26 (DUP25) in patients with anxiety disorders; this duplication was found in approximately 90% of patients and in 7% of controls. In order to determine if DUP25 is present in additional individuals susceptible to panic attacks, we tested 44 patients with anxiety disorders, using probes 251c23 and 216c14 mapping in the 15q24 and 15q26 region. We have not detected any DUP25. Our results suggest that DUP25 is not common in people with anxiety disorders in the population tested here.     

Role of the nuclear matrix in adenovirus maturation

The nuclear matrix has been implicated in several important cellular processes. In this paper, we investigate the role of the nuclear matrix in adenovirus type 2 assembly. Electron microscopic examination of nuclear matrices isolated from adenovirus infected Hep-2 cells clearly reveals that late in the lytic cycle, adenovirus capsids are intimately associated with the nuclear matrix. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the viral core polypeptides V, PVII and 11 kDa were enriched in the nuclear matrix fraction. After a 3 h chase period a constant high ratio of PVII to VII prevailed in the nuclear matrix suggesting that mostly young virions and viral cores are bound to this structure. Most of the virus maturation endoproteinase activity co-purified with the nuclear matrix and the data suggest that the enzyme may be released from fragile young virions or assembly intermediates. Together these experiments suggest that the nuclear matrix is the site of adenovirus assembly and that mature virions may be released from the matrix by the viral endoproteinase.     

Comparison between clinical Cobb angles and measurements performed on vertebral bodies, pedicle centroids and spinous processes

GOAL: Evaluate the relations between the clinical Cobb angle measured on radiographic images and the computerized Cobb angles measured on curves passing through: 1) the vertebral body centroids, 2) the pedicle centroids and 3) the spinous process tips, in the frontal plane, the sagittal plane and the plane of maximum curvature. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A bi-planar radiographic technique was used to reconstruct in 3D the spine geometry for 39 adolescent girls having double-curved idiopathic scoliosis. The Cobb angles were measured clinically on the radiographs and were computed on the 3 curves. RESULTS: Every relation was found significant and their determination coefficient (R2) was between 0.38 and 0.98. Linear relations were established between clinical and computerized angles. Angles measured on the curve passing through the pedicle centroid correlated best with clinical indices. CONCLUSIONS: The computerized measurements of Cobb angles from 3D models can be used with confidence and are interchangeable, provided the appropriate conversion factor is used.     

Fetal echocardiography during the 2nd half of pregnancy. Biometry and functional approach

Fetal cardiac biometry was conducted in the TM mode, after real time anatomical outlining of the plane of the four cardiac cavities, on 48 recordings of supposedly normal pregnancies of 23 to 39 weeks of amenorrhoea. Ten measurements were made for each patient, in an immediately subvalvular plane perpendicular to the septum (dimensions of the two ventricular cavities, of the wall of the two ventricles, and of the septum, in diastole and systole respectively). Functional results derived from this data showed that the difference between diastolic and systolic values for ventricular diameters increased with term, the ratio of the diastolic diameter of the right ventricle (RV) to that of the left ventricle (LV) was a constant: 1.23 +/- 0.12, and the size of the RV was always superior to that of the LV (+ + +). Alson noted was that percentage shortening of the LV was superior to that of the RV, and mean percentage thickenings of the RV and septum were inferior to that of the LV. A further observation was that interpretation of the kinetic of the septum requires precise knowledge of the plane of the section in relation to "the pivot point".