Supra-aortic arterial stenoses: management with Palmaz balloon-expandable intraluminal stents.

Purpose: The authors report on the use of Palmaz balloon-expandable intraluminal metallic stents to supplement conventional balloon angioplasty and to primarily treat a variety of supra-aortic arterial atherosclerotic lesions manifested by claudication or embolic phenomena.

Patients And Methods: Results from a series of seven patients are reported. Five patients received stents following percutaneous balloon angioplasty (PTA): four patients received five stents for suboptimal initial result of PTA and one patient received one stent for early restenosis following successful PTA.

CT and MR of neurofibromatosis of the bladder.

Neurofibromatosis of the genitourinary system is rare. We present the CT and MR findings of neurofibromas of the bladder in three patients with von Recklinghausen disease (neurofibromatosis, Type 1). In one case, genitourinary involvement was the primary presentation of the disease.

Effects of neurotransmitter release on mucosal transport in guinea pig ileum.

Scorpion venom (Leiurus quinquestriatus), a substance that evokes neurotransmitter release by depolarizing neurons, was used to activate enteric neurons in short-circuited guinea pig ileum. Scorpion venom increased transmural potential difference and short-circuit current, and this response was similar to the increase that occurred after electrical stimulation of enteric neurons. The stimulus- or venom-evoked response in short-circuit current was abolished by tetrodotoxin.

Effects of neuronal stimulation on mucosal transport in guinea pig ileum.

The effects of electrical stimulation of enteric nerves on mucosal transport parameters were determined in short-circuited flat sheets of guinea pig ileum. Rectangular bipolar stimulus pulses with a duration of 0.5 ms were applied continuously across Ag-AgCl foil electrodes positioned in parallel with the plane of the tissue.