Radiation dose reduction during hysterosalpingography: an application of scanning-beam digital radiography

Hysterosalpingography was performed in 31 patients by means of a low-dose scanning-beam digital radiographic system. The technique permits adequate evaluation of gynecologic abnormalities while allowing significant reduction in radiation: 2.4-mR (6.1 X 10(-7) C/kg) exposure to the skin and 0.7-mrad (7 X 10(-6) Gy) mean dose to the ovaries per image obtained. Sixteen patients demonstrated readily recognizable and documented abnormalities, corroborated by laparoscopy, laparotomy, or other supportive evidence.     

Influence of complement on sperm motility

Isolated sperm from normo-, oligo- and astheno-spermic men were incubated for 20 h in medium supplemented with 8% heat-inactivated or untreated human serum, and in medium with heated or untreated serum deficient in complement factor C3. Before and after incubation, sperm motility was assessed by means of a computer-assisted semen analyser. The results did not show significant differences between the motility of sperm incubated in heated or untreated serum. It is concluded that heating of homologous serum is not necessary for preserving sperm motility and in some cases may even be disadvantageous.     

Rekonstruktion nach Unterschenkelfehlheilung

Trauma und Berufskrankheit - Fehlheilungen am diaphysären Unterschenkel lassen sich im Einzelnen folgendermaßen charakterisieren: · Infekt, oberflächlich/tief, ·...     

Sever-L'Episcopo transfers in obstetrical palsy: a retrospective review of twenty cases

Since 1963, 25 patients have undergone Sever-L'Episcopo transfers for obstetrical birth palsy at the St. Louis Unit of the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children. A follow-up of 2-6 years was possible with a retrospective review of 16 patients. Substantial improvement in shoulder external rotation as well as subjective functional improvement was obtained by all patients. Three transient and one permanent axillary nerve palsies resulting from this procedure are reported.     

Epidemiology and clinical manifestation of HIV infection in Northern Zaire

1275 patients were evaluated for HIV-1+2 seroprevalence and its association with clinical symptoms of HIV infection. Of 667 apparently healthy subjects, 8.2% had anti-HIV-1 antibodies. In 465 patients with clinical signs of AIDS, 39.4% were seropositive. 143 patients with miscellaneous symptoms had positive predictive values for HIV infection between 67% (vaginal ulcerations) and 20% (profound pyogenic abscesses). The WHO definition for AIDS had a specificity of 78.3%, a sensitivity of 72.2% and a predictive value of 61.6%.     

Image-directed percutaneous biopsies with a biopsy gun

Core tissue for histologic study is believed by many pathologists to be more diagnostic than material from needle aspiration. Recently, a biopsy "gun" has been introduced, which simplifies core biopsies. With this device, 182 biopsies of multiple anatomic sites were performed with ultrasonic, computed tomographic, and fluoroscopic guidance and 18-gauge needles. High-quality histopathologic specimens were obtained in 177 of the biopsies, and diagnostic target tissue was obtained in 167. Only three significant complications occurred: one bleeding complication that required transfusion and two cases of pneumothorax that necessitated placement of chest tubes. The biopsy gun eliminated the disjointed movements of conventional "skinny" needle biopsies, and none of the samples demonstrated significant "crush" artifact or obscuring blood, problems that are commonly associated with manual biopsy techniques. Patient discomfort was decreased with this system compared with that of manual biopsies, and the total procedure time was reduced. Because of these distinct advantages, the authors now use the biopsy gun exclusively for all percutaneous biopsies and recommend that other institutions consider the use of this biopsy method.     

Xenografting of fetal pig ventral mesencephalon corrects motor asymmetry in the rat model of Parkinson's disease

Summary A suspension of cells from embryonic day 21 fetal pig ventral mesencephalon was transplanted into the striatum of 20 immunosuppressed rats with 6-hydroxydopamine-induced lesions of the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway. Of these rats, 15 showed reduction of amphetamine-induced ipsilateral rotation by 9 weeks and complete reversal of rotation by 14–17 weeks. Animals maintained stable reversal of rotations (contralateral direction) until cessation of Cyclosporin A (CyA) treatment at 15–20 weeks. Within 4–9 weeks after CyA removal, these rats showed exclusively ipsilateral rotations during behavioral testing which were comparable to pre-transplant levels, suggesting that the grafts were rejected upon cessation of CyA treatment. Rats were sacrificed and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemistry was performed at several time points, both on and off CyA, to examine a possible correlation between the degree of rotational behavior and the number of TH- positive surviving grafted cells. Staining showed large numbers (230–12,329) of TH-positive surviving cells in animals displaying a high degree of rotational correction (1.6 to -9.6 net ipsilateral rotations/min) after cessation of CyA treatment. Two control groups, those transplanted with nonneuronal cells from the pig ventral mesencephalon (n=5) and those receiving only daily CyA injections (n=4) showed no significant reduction of net ipsilateral rotations throughout the experiment. No TH-positive surviving cells were seen in the one non-neuronal transplant analyzed. This data demonstrates long-term retention of xenografted tissue with immunosuppression and its concomitant restoration of normal motor behavior in the rat model of Parkinson's disease.