Uptake of iodine-123 MIBG by pheochromocytomas, paragangliomas, and neuroblastomas: a histopathological comparison

The percentage uptake of [123I]metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) by tumors of the paraganglion system is compared with the number of neurosecretory granules (assessed by both light and electron microscopy) in the subsequently resected tumors in six patients. Iodine-123 MIBG was injected intravenously; the tumor uptake of [123I]MIBG varied between 0.001% and 0.14% of the injected dose per gram of tumor tissue at 22 hr. The number of neurosecretory granules in tissue sections was scored on a scale of I-III. A direct proportional correlation was found between the percentage uptake of [123I]MIBG by the tumor and the number of neurosecretory granules in the tissue sections but not with plasma or urinary catecholamines. This technique for imaging reflects the storage status of the tumor better than plasma and urinary catecholamine measurements.     

Alveolar hydatid disease of the liver: Brief review and spectrum of adjacent organ invasion

The purpose of this study is to show the spectrum of adjacent organ invasion and to make a brief review of hepatic alveolar hydatid disease (AHD), using CT and MR imaging. We retrospectively reviewed CT and MR images of three patients with various adjacent organ invasions surgically and histologically proven to be AHD. Local invasion to right kidney and adrenal, right hemidiaphragm and lung were detected in one patient, right adrenal in another patient and gall bladder, duodenum, gastric wall and pancreas invasion in the other. AHD may rarely extend to the gall bladder, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, right adrenal and kidney, diaphragm, pleura and lung. The extension of the disease outside the liver is usually encountered in patients with large, peripherally located masses in the advanced stage of the disease.     

Fractures of the lateral process of the talus

This study is a retrospective review of nine patients who sustained isolated fractures of the lateral process of the talus. The majority were caused by inversion or a combination of inversion and dorsiflexion of the foot. Following a review of the literature and anatomical dissections the authors recommend a classification based on anterior-posterior tomography of the talus, into intra- and extra-articular fractures.     

Psychological treatment of phobic anxiety associated with adjuvant chemotherapy

A 50-year-old patient with breast cancer was about to withdraw from her adjuvant chemotherapy regimen because of a long-standing phobia about being injected, which had been compounded by anxieties that were associated with the severe side-effects of adjuvant chemotherapy. She experienced a conditioned nausea response to hospital and medical situations. A psychological programme that incorporated relaxation training, systematic desensitization by way of the patient's visual imagination and videotape modelling, allowed her to complete the course of chemotherapy and to feel less anxious in hospital and medical settings.     

Deprivation of form vision suppresses diurnal cycling of retinal levels of leu-enkephalin

Deprivation of form vision by the fitting of translucent occluders suppressed the diurnal cycling of enkephalinergic amacrine cells (the ENSLI amacrine cells), in the chicken. Daily periods of normal vision or enforcing temporal contrast using strobe lighting appeared to restore normal functioning of the ENSLI cells. These results suggest that the ENSLI cells are involved in retinal circuits that assess the quality of the visual image and control eye growth.     

The pharmacology of recombinant GABAA receptors containing bovine alpha 1, beta 1, gamma 2L sub-units stably transfected into mouse fibroblast L-cells.

1. Responses to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) were evoked in mouse fibroblast L-cells stably transfected with bovine, alpha 1, beta 1, gamma 2L sub-units of the GABAA receptor. Expression was stimulated via a steroid-inducible promoter system. 2. In near symmetrical intracellular and extracellular chloride concentrations, GABA evoked inward currents at negative holding potentials that reversed at +5 mV and displayed slight outward rectification. Concentration-response curves were fitted well by the logistic equation. GABA had a pEC50 = 5.1 +/- 0.1 and the curves had a slope of 1.9 +/- 0.1. 3. Responses to GABA were antagonized by bicuculline, picrotoxin and penicillin. The action of bicuculline was competitive (pA2 = 6.4) whilst the block by picrotoxin was uncompetitive and strongly agonist-dependent. 4. Benzodiazepine receptor agonists potentiated responses to 3 microM GABA. The rank order of potency was FG 8205 > flunitrazepam > zolpidem > C1218872. FG 8205 and C1218872 produced markedly lower maximal potentiations with efficacies 0.4 and 0.6 x that of flunitrazepam, respectively. The potencies of zolpidem and C1218872 observed are in agreement with the BZ1 type pharmacology of this sub-unit combination. The potentiation of GABA by flunitrazepam was antagonized by flumazenil with a Ki of 3.8 nM. 5. GABA responses were potentiated in the presence of pentobarbitone and alphaxalone. The response was also noticeably broadened by these compounds due to a decrease in the response decay rate. Concentrations of pentobarbitone of 100 microM and above evoked an inward current in the absence of GABA. Alphaxalone up to 10 microM did not evoke a direct response.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)