Thiamylal antagonizes the inhibitory effects of dorsal column stimulation on dorsal horn activities in humans.

In humans, peripheral somatosensory information converges upon dorsal horn neurons in the spinal cord, which can be recorded from the dorsal epidural space as spinal cord potentials (SCPs) following segmental dorsal root stimulation (SS) employing epidural catheter electrodes. Antidromic action potentials and descending inhibition from the dorsolateral funiculus may contribute to SCPs following dorsal column stimulation (DCS). Effects of thiamylal (2.

A new approach for observing cerebral cisterns and ventricles via a percutaneous lumbosacral route by using fine, flexible fiberscopes.

Object: To establish a new method for the diagnosis of central nervous system diseases, the authors visualized the cerebral cisterns and ventricles via a percutaneous lumbosacral route by using newly developed fine, flexible fiberscopes.

Methods: Fine, flexible fiberscopes, 0.9 and 1.

Differential responses of porcine anterior spinal and middle cerebral arteries to carbon dioxide and pH.

Objective: Dysfunction of the anterior spinal arteries (ASAs) may induce paresis or paraplegia after thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm or spine surgery. However, there have been no reports of the effects of CO2 and pH on ASAs. Information on these effects on ASAs might contribute to the perioperative management or critical care of spinal cord function.

Pain relief by transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation with bidirectional modulated sine waves in patients with chronic back pain: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled study.

Objectives.  Newly developed bidirectional modulated sine waves (BMW) might provide some derived benefit to patients with low back pain. Pain relief by transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) with BMWs was tested.

The role of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in pain: a review.

There is accumulating evidence to implicate the importance of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors to the induction and maintenance of central sensitization during pain states. However, NMDA receptors may also mediate peripheral sensitization and visceral pain. NMDA receptors are composed of NR1, NR2 (A, B, C, and D), and NR3 (A and B) subunits, which determine the functional properties of native NMDA receptors.

Diagnosis of spinal disease with ultrafine flexible fiberscopes in patients with chronic pain.

Study Design: Spinal epidural and subarachnoid spaces were observed with the newly developed fine flexible fiberscopes in 55 patients with chronic pain.

Objectives: To evaluate the fiberscopes as diagnostic tools for spinal canal disease.

Summary Of Background Data: Fine flexible fiberscopes make it possible to visualize the entire length of the spinal subarachnoid space without major complications, and they may be of value for the diagnosis of certain spinal canal diseases.

The effects of isoflurane on conditioned inhibition by dorsal column stimulation.

Unlabelled: Spinal dorsal column stimulation (DCS) modulates sensory transmission, including pain, at the dorsal horn of the cord. However, the mechanisms of DCS modulatory actions and the effects of anesthetics on these mechanisms remain to be investigated. We studied the effects of isoflurane (1.

Different expression patterns of Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, and Bax proteins after sublethal forebrain ischemia in C57Black/Crj6 mouse striatum.

Background And Purpose: Ischemic injury in neurons can be strongly reduced by a preceding sublethal ischemic episode, of which the mechanism is poorly understood. Although changes in the expression of apoptosis-related proteins (Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, and Bax) have been considered to be crucially important in ischemic injury, the roles these proteins play in ischemic preconditioning induced by sublethal forebrain ischemia have not been elucidated. Therefore, we investigated the transcription and expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, and Bax in striatum of mice subjected to sublethal forebrain ischemia and lethal ischemia, with or without ischemic preconditioning.

Ischemic preconditioning is capable of inducing mitochondrial tolerance in the rat brain.

Background: Preconditioning to ischemia is a phenomenon whereby a brief episode of sublethal ischemia and other nonlethal stressors produce protection against a subsequent detrimental ischemic insult. As mitochondrial dysfunction is related to necrotic and apoptotic neuronal death after cerebral ischemia, the authors examined if ischemic preconditioning is capable of inducing mitochondrial tolerance.

Methods: Forebrain ischemia was induced by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion with simultaneous hypotension for 8 min in Wistar rats (275-300 g).

[Continuous epidural analgesia with intensive monitoring of cardiovascular system for vaginal delivery in a patient with Marfan's syndrome].

We report here the management of labor for a 33-year-old woman with Marfan's syndrome. She was diagnosed as Marfan's syndrome at the age of 5 and experienced corrective surgery for abdominal aortic aneurysm at 28 years of age. As there was no progression of cardiovascular lesion, she was allowed to be pregnant.

Beneficial effect of a prone position for patients with hypoxemia after transthoracic esophagectomy.

Objective: Although the prone position has been reported to improve arterial oxygenation in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, there have been no reports on its efficacy in patients with hypoxemia after transthoracic esophagectomy with three-field lymphadenectomy. This study was undertaken to assess the efficacy of the prone position on hypoxemia after three-field lymphadenectomy for thoracic esophageal carcinoma.

Design: Prospective randomized clinical study.

Propofol enhances GABA(A) receptor-mediated presynaptic inhibition in human spinal cord.

Although the function of somatodendritic GABAA receptors is augmented by propofol, it is not known whether presynaptic GABAA receptor function is similarly affected. In the present study, we examined the action of propofol on the second positive wave (P2 component) of segmental spinal cord evoked potentials (seg SCEPs), which is believed to reflect GABAA receptor-mediated presynaptic inhibition of primary afferent terminals and can be recorded from spinal epidural space in man. In all seven patients tested while undergoing scoliosis surgery, a clinical dose of propofol (1 mg//kg, i.

The effects of thiopental and propofol on cell swelling induced by oxygen/glucose deprivation in the CA1 pyramidal cell layer of rat hippocampal slices.

Unlabelled: Cellular swelling has been implicated as an early process after cerebral ischemia. We compared the effects of two commonly used IV anesthetics, thiopental and propofol, on hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cell swelling induced by oxygen/glucose deprivation (OGD) in vitro. Experiments were performed in rat hippocampal slices.

Baclofen inhibits more effectively C-afferent than Adelta-afferent glutamatergic transmission in substantia gelatinosa neurons of adult rat spinal cord slices.

Although intrathecal administration of baclofen, a selective GABA(B)-receptor agonist, is known to have an antinociceptive effect on various pain models, the role of presynaptic GABA(B) receptors in antinociception is not well characterized. In the present study, the action of baclofen on primary afferent-evoked glutamatergic excitatory transmission was examined in substantia gelatinosa (SG) neurons of an adult rat spinal cord slice with an attached dorsal root, prepared from the lumbar segment, by use of the blind whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Under the condition where a postsynaptic action of baclofen was inhibited, baclofen (1 microM) reduced the amplitudes of excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs; V(H)=-70 mV) which were monosynaptically evoked by stimulating primary-afferent C- and/or Adelta-fibers and which were remarkably depressed by CNQX (10 microM).

Effects of continuous epidural block on motor nerve conduction velocity in patients with lower spine disorders.

Thirty-one patients with severe low back pain were treated by continuous epidural block for 18±3 (mean±SEM) days. Motor nerve conduction velocity (MCV) of the common peroneal nerve was measured before and after the treatment. After the treatment, the visual analogue scale score (VAS) and straight leg-raising (SLR) test were markedly reduced (P<0.

PAG stimulation does not affect primary antibody responses in rats.

Adult male rats, which had electrodes chronically implanted in the periaqueductal gray (PAG), were immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBCs). The number of direct and indirect plaque-forming cells (PFCs) in the group receiving PAG stimulation after immunization did not differ significantly from that in the unstimulated group. Thus, the results indicate that short-term PAG stimulation does not suppress antibody-producing activity in the rat.

Effects of morphine of human spinal cord and peripheral nervous activities.

The depressant effects of morphine on the evoked electrospinogram (EESG), evoked electromyogram (EEMG) and nerve action potential (NAP) were studied in surgical patients. The EESG was recorded with an epidural electrode in the posterior epidural space in the lumbar enlargement. A clinical dose of morphine (1 mg/kg) depressed the amplitude of all components (P1, N1, P2) of the EESG, elicited by both weak and strong stimuli to the tibial nerve.