Anomalous Origin of the Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery: Diagnoses and Surgical Results in 12 Pediatric Patients

Anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) is a rare congenital condition. It responds well to early diagnosis and treatment, but otherwise the prognosis is poor. We present our case series of 12 patients (mean age, 2 ± 2.58 yr; age range, 2 mo–8 yr), emphasizing the diagnostic process and discussing our surgical results. The diagnosis of ALCAPA should be suspected in infants who have dilated cardiomyopathy with electrocardiographic changes that suggest ischemia, and in older children who have isolated mitral regurgitation. When clinical suspicion is high, the results of 2-dimensional echocardiography combined with color-flow Doppler studies in expert hands can establish the diagnosis, thus avoiding angiography in critically ill infants. The treatment of choice in our patients was transfer and reimplantation of the left coronary artery onto the ascending aorta. There were 2 deaths: both were infants in extremis who underwent emergency surgery. An older child with severe ventricular dysfunction was given mechanical ventricular assistance and then heart transplantation. As of this report, all 10 survivors remained well and asymptomatic.     

Cerebral autoregulation is preserved in multiple system atrophy: A transcranial Doppler study.

Patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) present large changes in blood pressure (BP) due to autonomic disturbances. We analyzed how this change may influence dynamic cerebral autoregulation (DCA). Simultaneous recordings of arterial BP (Finapres) and middle cerebral artery (MCA) blood flow velocity (BFV) (transcranial Doppler) were performed in 10 patients with MSA (61 +/- 12 yr of age) and 12 healthy volunteers (61 +/- 11 yr of age): cerebral BFV response to oscillations in mean BP was studied in the supine position by cross-spectral analysis of mean BP and mean MCA BFV. The DCA was also studied during the decrease in BP the first seconds when standing up from a sitting position by the assessment of the cerebrovascular resistance index (CR; mean BP/mean MCA BFV ratio). The MCA BFV/BP cross-spectral analysis showed a phase for the mid-frequency band (0.07-0.2 Hz) significantly larger in MSA, suggesting more active autoregulation in response to larger changes in BP. Changes in CR reflecting the rate of autoregulation, when standing did not differ between the two groups. These data suggest that dynamic cerebral autoregulation is preserved in MSA.     

Freezing of gait in postmortem-confirmed atypical parkinsonism.

The frequency and pathophysiology of freezing of gait (FoG) in atypical parkinsonism is unknown. We analysed the frequency of FoG in postmortem-confirmed atypical parkinsonian disorders (APD) comprising corticobasal degeneration (CBD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Sixty-six patients with pathologically confirmed APD (CBD, n = 13; DLB, n = 14; MSA, n = 15; PSP, n = 24) formed the basis for a multicenter clinicopathological study. Clinical features at first and last clinical visit were abstracted from patient records on standardized forms following strict instructions. At the first visit (median 36 months after symptom onset), 24% of APD had FoG (CBD, 8%; DLB, 21%; PSP, 25%; MSA, 40%). Logistic regression analysis showed a significant association of FoG and urinary incontinence (P = 0.04) at first visit. At last visit, 47% of APD had FoG (CBD, 25%; PSP, 53%; DLB, 54%; MSA, 54%). Clinicopathological correlation based on routine postmortem examination failed to identify a consistent neuropathological substrate of FoG. This study demonstrates that (1) FoG is common in APD, and (2) urinary incontinence is significantly associated with FoG in these disorders. Whether FoG and urinary incontinence share similar neuropathological substrates remains to be determined by future studies.     

Health-related quality of life assessed before and during chemotherapy predicts for survival in multiple myeloma

Measurement of health-related quality of life was integrated into a randomized trial (NMSG 4/90) comparing melphalan/prednisone to melphalan/prednisone + interferon α-2b in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. One of the aims of the study was to assess the prognostic significance of quality-of-life scores, using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Univariate analysis showed a highly significant association with survival from the start of therapy for physical functioning as well as role and cognitive functioning, global quality of life, fatigue and pain. In multivariate analysis, physical functioning and W.H.O. performance status were independent prognostic factors ( P values=0.001 for both) when analysed in a Cox regression model with the somatic variables β-2 microglobulin, skeletal disease and age. The best prediction for survival from the start of therapy was obtained by combining the β-2 microglobulin and physical functioning scores in a variable consisting of three risk factor levels with an estimated median survival of 17, 29 and 49 months, respectively. At a 12 months landmark analysis, the relative risk for patients with physical functioning score 0–20 v 80–100 was 5.63 (99% CI 2.76–11.49), whereas the relative risk for patients without an objective response to chemotherapy compared to those with at least a minor response was 2.32 (99% CI 1.44–3.74). Quality-of-life assessment may be an independent and valuable addition to the known prognostic factors in multiple myeloma.     

Multiple regression analysis of twin data obtained from selected samples

The multiple regression analysis of twin data in which a cotwin's score is predicted from that of a proband (the member of a twin pair selected because of a deviant score) and the coefficient of relationship provides a powerful test of genetic etiology (DeFries and Fulker: Behav Genet 15:467-473, 1985). Moreover, when an augmented model containing an interaction term is fitted to the same data set, direct estimates of heritability (h2) and the proportion of variance owing to shared environmental influences (c2) are also obtained. In the present paper, the expected partial regression coefficients estimated from these models are derived, and the flexibility of the general approach is illustrated. An extended model is formulated for the analysis of data from combined samples of affected and control twin pairs that yields tests for differential h2 and c2 in the two groups as well as pooled estimates of these parameters. The application of these models is illustrated by an analysis of data from reading-disabled and control twin pairs. Because of the ease, flexibility, and utility of the multiple regression analysis of twin data, it is an appealing alternative to more traditional model-fitting approaches.     

The role of infection and vaccination in the genesis of optic neuritis and multiple sclerosis in children

This article describes the association between previous infection and/or vaccination and the development of optic neuritis (ON) in 18 children. Ten of these children subsequently developed clinically definite multiple sclerosis (MS), while in 8 patients a clinically definite etiology could not be confirmed. Vaccination preceded the first ON attack in 6 patients, all but one of whom subsequently developed MS. It also preceded subsequent demyelinating events in 6 patients. Ten of the patients had a bacterial or viral infection within the 2 weeks prior to the first symptoms of ON. Intrathecal antibody synthesis against 2 or more viruses could be shown in 5 out of 8 patients studied; 5 out of 6 patients had oligoclonal antibodies in CSF and 12 out of 16 patients a high IgG index. Neither intrathecal antibody synthesis against 2 or more viruses nor elevated IgG indexes could be found in the control patients. Measles and mumps occurred at a significantly later age in the children who subsequently developed MS than in the control children, and these patients had significantly more events that might have impaired the blood-brain barrier than the controls. These results indicate that immunological events leading to MS may be triggered during childhood. Vaccination and infection often precede ON in childhood. Intrathecal viral antibody production can occur already in childhood at the time of the first symptoms of MS.     

Four primary malignant tumors, including malignant melanoma and malignant lymphoma, in the same adult patient

We report an 80-year-old Japanese male with four primary malignant tumors: malignant melanoma, prostatic cancer, malignant lymphoma, and renal cell carcinoma, which occurred in that respective order. The combination of malignant melanoma and malignant lymphoma is rare. The patient was treated with BCG after an operation for malignant melanoma. He was also treated with cobalt 60 irradiation after an operation for prostatic cancer. We also discuss other reports of multiple malignant tumors and suggest some possible causes of this patient's primary malignant tumors.     

B cells as a target of immune modulation

B cells have recently been identified as an integral component of the immune system; they play a part in autoimmunity through antigen presentation, antibody secretion, and complement activation. Animal models of multiple sclerosis (MS) suggest that myelin destruction is partly mediated through B cell activation (and plasmablasts). MS patients with evidence of B cell involvement, as compared to those without, tend to have a worse prognosis. Finally, the significant decrease in new gadolinium-enhancing lesions, new T2 lesions, and relapses in MS patients treated with rituximab (a monoclonal antibody against CD20 on B cells) leads us to the conclusion that B cells play an important role in MS and that immune modulation of these cells may ameliorate the disease. This article will explore the role of B cells in MS and the rationale for the development of B cell–targeted therapeutics. MS is an immune-mediated disease that affects over 2 million people worldwide and is the number one cause of disability in young patients. Most therapeutic targets have focused on T cells; however, recently, the focus has shifted to the role of B cells in the pathogenesis of MS and the potential of B cells as a therapeutic target.     

Simultaneous versus sequential optimal design for pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic models with FO and FOCE considerations

We consider nested multiple response models which are used extensively in the area of pharmacometrics. Given the conditional nature of such models, differences in predicted responses are a consequence of different assumptions about how the models interact. As such, sequential versus simultaneous and First Order (FO) versus First Order Conditional Estimation (FOCE) techniques have been explored in the literature where it was found that the sequential and FO approaches can produce biased results. It is therefore of interest to determine any design consequences between the various methods and approximations. As optimal design for nonlinear mixed effects models is dependent upon initial parameter estimates and an approximation to the expected Fisher information matrix, it is necessary to incorporate any influence of nonlinearity (or parameter-effects curvature) into our exploration. Hence, sequential versus simultaneous design with FO and FOCE considerations are compared under low, typical and high degrees of nonlinearity. Additionally, predicted standard errors of parameters are also compared to empirical estimates formed via a simulation/estimation study in NONMEM. Initially, design theory for nested multiple response models is developed and approaches mentioned above are investigated by considering a pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic model found in the literature. We consider design for situations where all responses are continuous and extend this methodology to the case where a response may be a discrete random variable. In particular, for a binary response pharmacodynamic model, it is conjectured that such responses will offer little information about all parameters and hence a sequential optimization, in the form of product design optimality, may yield near optimal designs.