Prolonged lifespan in a spontaneously hypertensive rat (stroke prone) model following intravenous infusion of mesenchymal stem cells.

Intravenous infusion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has been reported to provide therapeutic efficacy via microvascular remodeling in a spontaneously hypertensive rat. In this study, we demonstrate that intravenous infusion of MSCs increased the survival rate in a spontaneously hypertensive (stroke prone) rat model in which organs including kidney, brain, heart and liver are damaged during aging due to spontaneous hypertension. Gene expression analysis indicated that infused MSCs activates transforming growth factor-β1-smad3/forkhead box O1 signaling pathway.

Intravenous infusion of mesenchymal stem cells improves impaired cognitive function in a cerebral small vessel disease model.

Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is not only a cause of vascular dementia (VD) but also a contributing factor to Alzheimer's disease (AD). The essential pathological feature of CSVD is the disruption of blood-brain barrier (BBB). Dysfunction of BBB due to degeneration of both endothelial cells and pericytes in capillaries leads to neuronal damage and progressive brain atrophy.

Biological relevance of tissue factor and IL-6 in arteriovenous malformations.

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are congenital abnormal vessels that shunt blood directly from the arterial to the venous system without a capillary bed. The underlying pathology of AVMs is not fully understood. The objective of the study was to determine the association between the expression patterns of tissue factor (TF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in AVMs with clinical and pathological findings.

Prediction model for 3-year rupture risk of unruptured cerebral aneurysms in Japanese patients.

Objective: To build a prediction model that estimates the 3-year rupture risk of unruptured saccular cerebral aneurysms.

Methods: Survival analysis was done using each aneurysm as the unit for analysis. Derivation data were from the Unruptured Cerebral Aneurysm Study (UCAS) in Japan.

The natural course of unruptured cerebral aneurysms in a Japanese cohort.

Background: The natural history of unruptured cerebral aneurysms has not been clearly defined.

Methods: From January 2001 through April 2004, we enrolled patients with newly identified, unruptured cerebral aneurysms in Japan. Information on the rupture of aneurysms, deaths, and the results of periodic follow-up examinations were recorded.

Internal trapping following proximal clipping for a ruptured partially thrombosed giant aneurysm of the vertebral artery--case report.

A 52-year-old woman presented with a partially thrombosed giant aneurysm of the vertebral artery (VA) manifesting as a 3-month history of left hemiparesis. She developed subarachnoid hemorrhage during hospitalization and underwent emergency surgery for surgical proximal clipping and ventricular drainage with decompressive suboccipital craniectomy. She underwent additional surgery for endovascular coil embolization of the aneurysm and the affected distal VA on the 7th postoperative day.

Reversible diffusion-weighted imaging changes in the splenium of the corpus callosum and internal capsule associated with hypoglycemia - case report - .

A 63-year-old man presented with hypoglycemia-induced hemiparesis manifesting as diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging changes in the splenium of the corpus callosum and internal capsule which disappeared after glucose administration. Clinicians should be aware that hypoglycemia can cause reversible splenium abnormalities on MR imaging, although the underlying mechanism still remains unclear, as this may be helpful in the differential diagnosis of hypoglycemia-induced hemiparesis and stroke.

Alteplase at 0.6 mg/kg for acute ischemic stroke within 3 hours of onset: Japan Alteplase Clinical Trial (J-ACT).

Background And Purpose: Based on previous studies comparing different recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) doses, we performed a clinical trial with 0.6 mg/kg, which is lower than the internationally approved dosage of 0.9 mg/kg, aiming to assess the efficacy and safety of alteplase in acute ischemic stroke for the Japanese.

Significant improvement of visual functions after removal of an intracranial giant optic nerve glioma revealing exophytic growth: case report.

Objective And Importance: Intracranial giant optic nerve gliomas, usually presumed as optic chiasmatic gliomas, are much less common. The architectural tumor form of optic nerve glioma without neurofibromatosis type 1 is usually the expansile-intraneural pattern. The exophytic optic nerve gliomas without neurofibromatosis type 1 are relatively uncommon.

Surgical management of the recurrence and regrowth of craniopharyngiomas.

Object: The authors performed a retrospective analysis of a consecutive series of craniopharyngiomas and their recurrences, which were managed with surgery alone.

Methods: In the past 20 years, 37 consecutive patients with craniopharyngiomas underwent surgery without adjuvant radiotherapy. During that period there was a consistent strategy that surgical management was the first choice of treatment whenever possible.

Risk of rupture associated with intact cerebral aneurysms in the Japanese population: a systematic review of the literature from Japan.

Object: Knowing the rate of rupture associated with unruptured cerebral aneurysms (UCAs) can help surgeons determine a case management strategy in patients harboring these lesions. According to large-scale cohort studies involving populations in North America and Europe, small unruptured aneurysms carry a very low risk of rupture. In Japan, however, there have been sporadic reports of higher rates of rupture.

Autologous transplantation of expanded neural precursor cells into the demyelinated monkey spinal cord.

The objective of this study was to establish if neural precursor cells could safely be developed from biopsy of the subventricular zone (SVZ) in the non-human primate (marmoset), and to determine their myelinating potential after autologous transplantation into a demyelinated lesion. Small amounts of tissue were safely collected from the subventricular-subependymal zone of the adult primate brain under ultrasonography without any neurological deficit. Neural precursor cells were isolated and expanded in the presence of mitogen in vitro.

A therapeutic window for intravenous administration of autologous bone marrow after cerebral ischemia in adult rats.

The primary objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that intravenous administration of autologous bone marrow cells could improve functional recovery after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 45 min in the rat and to determine specific time windows for efficacy. Mononuclear cells from autologous bone marrow were transfected with the LacZ reporter gene, and injected intravenously into rats at 3-72 h after induction of MCAO. Histological analysis of the ischemic lesion at 14 days after transplantation revealed reduced ischemic lesion volume.

Performance of bipolar forceps during coagulation and its dependence on the tip material: a quantitative experimental assay. Technical note.

The aim of this study was to measure objectively the adherence of burned tissue to bipolar forceps to evaluate the coagulation performance of forceps made of different types of metals. Coagulation performance of bipolar forceps made of gold, titanium, and stainless steel was determined by comparing the amount of protein in the adhered coagulum on the tips. The amount of adhered coagulum was significantly less on the gold-plated bipolar forceps than on those made of the other two materials.

Comparative analysis of remyelinating potential of focal and intravenous administration of autologous bone marrow cells into the rat demyelinated spinal cord.

The remyelinating potential of autologous bone marrow cells was studied after direct injection and following intravenous injection into rats with a demyelinated lesion in the spinal cord. Both focal and intravenous injections of acutely isolated mononuclear bone marrow cell fractions resulted in varying degrees of remyelination. Suspensions of bone marrow cells collected from the same rat were delivered at varied concentrations (10(2) to 10(5) for direct injection and 10(4) to 10(7) for i.

[111In-DTPA cisterno SPECT for the diagnosis of CSF rhinorrhea: case report].

The authors report on a patient with postoperative CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) leakage subsequent to transsphenoidal surgery where cisterno SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) demonstrated the precise location of a CSF fistula. Seven months after surgery, the patient suffered from CSF rhinorrhea and headache. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) revealed significant contrast on T1-weighted images resulting from measurements in the right sphenoid sinus, which were hyperintense relative to CSF.

Hypothermia with heparin-coated circuits and low dose systemic heparinization in neurosurgery.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety of profound hypothermic circulatory arrest with heparin-coated circuits and low dose systemic heparinization in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. Surgery for giant intracranial aneurysms not operable using standard neurosurgical techniques was performed in 8 patients. All patients were placed on cardiopulmonary bypass using the closed-chest technique, except for the first patient who underwent open-chest bypass.