Multiple cerebral hydatid disease: case report with magnetic resonance imaging study.

A case of multiple hydatid cysts of the brain is reported. Computed tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging scanning revealed a thick and calcified pericystium. These findings allowed appropriate surgical planning, with a marked recovery of the neurological deficits and absence of relapse in the follow-up period.     

Oral session 1: General neurology

Oral session 1: General neurology     

T stages of tumors of the tongue and floor of the mouth: correlation between MR with gadopentetate dimeglumine and pathologic data.

PURPOSETo define MR accuracy in the evaluation of the T stages of tumors of the tongue and floor of the mouth.METHODSFifty-two patients affected by squamous cell carcinoma were studied with a superconductive system at 1.5 T. The study was performed with spin-echo T1- and T2-weighted images before contrast and short spin-echo T1-weighted and gradient-echo sequences after gadopentetate dimeglumine administration. The results obtained with MR were compared with pathologic data.RESULTSGood correlation of T stages (TNM system) was obtained in 45 of 52 cases. MR did not show four superficial lesions. In one case, infiltration of the cortical bone of the mandible was not demonstrated (MR, T2; pathologic, T4), and in another the lesion was classified as T2 instead of T3, as it was pathologically. One lesion was classified as T4 on MR because of infiltration of the alveolar ridge but was classified as T2 at surgery. In 46 patients who underwent surgery, the accuracy of MR was excellent for predicting the relationship of tumor to midline and oral floor musculature. The results obtained with gadopentetate dimeglumine were better than those obtained in noncontrast studies in 32 (62%) of 53 cases.CONCLUSIONMR showed high accuracy in the study of tumors of the tongue and floor of the mouth.     

Longitudinally orientated smooth muscle cells in rabbit arteries

Intima formation in vessels, spontaneous or experimentally induced, is generally characterized by the presence of longitudinally orientated smooth muscle cells (LSMC). During an experiment of neo-intima induction in carotid arteries in rabbits, by application of a nonconstrictive silastic cuff, a study was performed to investigate the presence of LSMC in the systemic and pulmonary circulations, in both elastic and muscular arteries. Three patterns could be distinguished: intimai cushions in muscular arteries, single or small groups of LSMC in the intima in elastic and larger muscular arteries, and intra-medially located layers or columns of LSMC in the aorta, the pulmonary artery, at the bifurcation of the aorta and around orifices of branches. In order to understand this peculiar orientation a biomechanical approach was used: this showed that near the lumen the circumferential stress is 4.5 times higher than the longitudinal. Because the cell surface of the smooth muscle cells exposed to this stress per unit vessel length is much less in the longitudinal than in the circular direction we conclude that the LSMC align in the direction which allows them to cope most effectively with the mechanical stresses.     

Antigen-specific T cell suppression by human CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells

Anergic/suppressive CD4+CD25+ T cells have been proposed to play an important role in the maintenance of peripheral tolerance. Here we demonstrate that in humans these cells suppress proliferation to self antigens, but also to dietary and foreign antigens. The suppressive CD4+CD25+ T cells display a broad usage of the T cell receptor Vbeta repertoire,suggesting that they recognize a wide variety of antigens. They reside in the primed/memory CD4+CD45RO+CD45RB(low) subset and have short telomeres, indicating that these cells have the phenotype of highly differentiated CD4+ T cells that have experienced repeated episodes of antigen-specific stimulation in vivo. This suggests that anergic/suppressive CD4+CD25+ T cells may be generated in the periphery as a consequence of repeated antigenic encounter. This is supported by the observation that highly differentiated CD4+T cells can be induced to become anergic/suppressive when stimulated by antigen presented by non-professional antigen-presenting cells. We suggest that besides being generated in the thymus, CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells may also be generated in the periphery. This would provide a mechanism for the generation of regulatory cells that induce tolerance to a wide array of antigens that may not be encountered in the thymus.     

Predicting Emotional Response to Unsuccessful Fertility Treatment: A Prospective Study

The predictive value of a comprehensive model with personality characteristics, stressor related cognitions, coping and social support was tested in a sample of 187 nonpregnant women. The emotional response to the unsuccessful treatment was predicted out of vulnerability factors assessed before the start of the treatment. The results indicated the importance of neuroticism as a vulnerability factor in emotional response to a severe stressor. They also underlined the importance of helplessness and marital dissatisfaction as additional risk factors, and acceptance and perceived social support as additional protective factors, in the development of anxiety and depression after a failed fertility treatment. From clinical point of view, these results suggest fertility-related cognitions and social support should receive attention when counselling women undergoing IVF or ICSI treatment.     

Inhibition of diamine oxidase by antihistaminic agents and related drugs

Various drugs were tested as inhibitors of diamine oxidase on the basis of chemical relationships to the enzyme substrates.It was found that serotonine tryptamine and phenformin are good competitive inhibitors while cimetidine and pheniprazine are non-competitive inhibitors. Other antihistaminic drugs like promethazine are less powerful inhibitors.     

Variations of somatotype in elderly Sardinians.

Somatotyping is an effective technique for the study of anthropometric variations and body composition in elderly subjects, even though it has not often been used in this field. The present study was conducted on a sample of 280 healthy Sardinians (134 men and 146 women) of age 60-89 years, subdivided into three age classes (60-69 years; 70-79 years; and 80-89 years). Somatotypes were computed according to Carter and Heath (Somatotyping-Development and Applications. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press; 1990). The results show a dominance of the endo- and mesomorphic components in the elderly subjects, with less development of ectomorphy than in younger individuals. In a comparison with other populations, our sample shows strong development of endomorphy and especially of mesomorphy, while ectomorphy values are generally low. Age-related variations are significant in both sexes and consist in a progressive reduction of the endomorphic component, particularly in the 80-89-year class (endomorphy in the three age classes: 6.4, 6.1, and 5.3 in men; 8.1, 7.8, and 6.8 in women). The mesomorphic component is characterized by stability (age variations: 6.4, 6.4, and 5.9 in men; 6.3, 6.4, and 6.3 in women) and the ectomorphic component by a slight increase (age variations: 0.5, 0.6, and 0.8 in men; 0.4, 0.3, and 0.5 in women). Sex differences are significant and especially large for the endomorphic component, with generally higher values in women. The sexual dimorphism tends to decrease with age. The results are discussed with regard to the biology of aging, with emphasis on the potential application of somatotype to studies of the elderly population.     

Autologous bone marrow transplantation for acute leukemia using transplant chemopurified with metabolite of oxazaphosphorines (ASTA Z 7557, INN mafosfamide)

Summary The contamination of autologous marrow with clonogenic tumor cells has been the main argument against ABMT in acute leukemia.In a preclinical study we evaluated an active cyclophosphamide derivative named ASTA Z 7557. We observed that the toxic effect of this drug on CFU-GM growth was dependent on nucleated cell concentration as well as on red blood cell contamination. The potency of the drug was in close relationship with the incubation temperature.The growth of leukemic CFU was inhibited with an ASTA Z dose higher than 30 g/ml. In our system, beyond 40 g/ml more than 95% of committed stem cells are destroyed.Fifteen patients had autotransplant because of AML for 10 patients and because of ALL for 5 patients (4 patients were grafted in relapse and 11 patients in remission).We demonstrated that the marrow take was possible although the inoculum is CFU-GM depleted.Five of the 10 AML patients are alive and remain disease-free at 45 +, 65 +, 190 +, 345+ and 570 + days from ABMT without any maintenance treatment. Four of the 5 ALL patients are alive, three of them in complete remission (404+, 110+, 250+ days).The number of patients reported in this clinical study was relatively small and more cases should be evaluated to be conclusive. Nevertheless the feasibility of chemopurified ABMT was demonstrated.