[Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis].

The literature on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis from the years 1995/96 is reviewed including the topics of the World Congress of Neurology in Buenos Aires in September 1997. The problems of a) changed criteria of diagnosis and course of SLA after the time of the first definitions by classical neurological authors, b) the concepts concerning the aetiology and mechanisms of the disease, c) the present studies on drugs and their tentative clinical applications are discussed.

Embryonal carcinoma of the pineal gland with yolk sac tumor differentiation. A case report.

Twenty three old male patient was diagnosed as a pineal gland tumor and was operated in neurosurgical ward. He died four weeks later due to pneumonia and respiratory failure. Clinical diagnosis was based on computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance image (MRI) examination.

[A case of fatal hemolytic-uremic syndrome with central nervous system manifestations].

Twelve years old girl who died from haemolytic uraemic syndrome (hus) on post mortem neuropathological examination showed cerebral purpura and demyelination focus with glial-mesenchymal reaction. The problem with factor is responsible for cerebral lesions, direct allergic reaction causing hus or uraemia in consequence of acute renal failure but also activating allergic processes, is discussed.

Vascular malformations associated with other congenital anomalies of the central nervous system: coexistence and possible causal relations.

Two cases of vascular malformations coexisting with other congenital defects of the central nervous system (CNS) are presented here. The first patient was a 14-year-old girl mentally retarded who demonstrated seizures and balance disturbances with onset in early infancy. The neuropathological examination revealed vascular malformations in the pons, diastematomyelia (triple central canal) in the sacral spinal cord and palleocerebellar granular layer dysplasia.

[A case of coexistence of meningioma with intracranial aneurysm in a patient with ruptured aortal aneurysm].

Fifty-three-year-old woman was admitted to hospital with tetraplegia symptoms and died two hours later. Clinical diagnosis was: cerebral stroke, hypertension in anamnesis. Postmortem examination showed ruptured dissecting aneurysm of thoracic and abdominal segment of aorta, meningioma of right pontocerebellar angle and saccular aneurysm of left inferior, posterior cerebellar artery.

[Arteriovenous malformation as the most frequent form of cerebral vascular dysplasias].

The purpose of the study was a survey of autopsy and biopsy material from 27 cases of cerebral vascular malformations for establishing the occurrence of various forms of these lesions in relation to that reported from other centres. It was tried also to check in the light of the morphological analysis of our cases the theory of vascular malformation development put forward by Kaplan et al (1961). The material comprised 4 cases of telangiectasia, 11 arteriovenous malformations, 7 cavernous haemangiomas and 5 mixed cavernomas with arteriovenous malformation.

[Intravenous treatment with streptokinase of acute myocardial infarction. II. Effect of patency of the artery supplying the infarction area on the infarction size and post-infarction impairement of left-ventricular function].

153 patients with a first acute myocardial infarction underwent the study. 90 of them received 1.000.

[Effect of chemotherapy for neoplasms on the central nervous system in children].

Lesions to the central nervous system were studied in twenty children, aged 1-12 years decreased because of neoplastic disease of internal organs and treated with cytostatics. The young age of the patients allowed to attribute the observed changes to this disease. Several damaging factors occurring during its course were analysed.

[Intravenous streptokinase treatment of acute myocardial infarction. I. Effect of the treatment on the course of infarction and the patency of the artery supplying the infarction area].

128 consecutive patients with a first myocardial infarction, admitted within 4 hours after the onset of an angina pain, were divided into two groups according to the history of the peptic ulcer. Group I (with a negative history, n = 72) received intravenously 1,000,000 units of streptokinase followed by intravenous heparin infusion for 5-7 days. Group II (with a positive history, n = 56) was the control one.

[Neuropathologic analysis of 8 undiagnosed cases of cerebral cysticercosis].

The presented material comprised 17 cases observed in four Warsaw hospitals in a period of 20 years. Nine patients with the pseudotumour syndrome were diagnosed correctly and referred to neurosurgical services. The remaining eight cases died in neurological hospital departments with the following clinical diagnoses: cerebral stroke 3, subarachnoid haemorrhage 1, comatose state preceded by dementia 1, chronic meningoencephalitis 1, status epilepticus 2 cases postmortem investigations demonstrated cerebral cysticercosis in all cases.

Ultracytochemical evidence for endothelial channel-lysosome connections in mouse brain following blood-brain barrier changes.

An investigation designed to define relationships between endothelial channels and lysosomes was conducted in the mammalian brain microvasculature. Microvessels from normal and mechanically injured mouse brains were studied ultracytochemically for: (1) transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) protein tracer through endothelial channels, and (2) for acid phosphatase (AcP) activity as an enzymatic marker of lysosomes. Following traumatic brain injury for 1 week with 2 h circulation of intravenously injected HRP, selected brain slices were processed for ultrastructural localization of either HRP, AcP, or for both reactions together within the same tissue slices.