Hippocampal pyramidal cells and aging in the human: a quantitative study of neuronal loss in sectors CA1 to CA4.

A number of investigators have proposed that hippocampal pathology contributes to the memory impairment seen in normal aging. The published morphometric studies of aging-associated quantitative changes in pyramidal cells in human hippocampus have yielded somewhat inconsistent results. We measured the volume, pyramidal cell density, and neuronal and nuclear cross-sectional areas in sectors CA1 through CA4 in right and left hippocampi from the brains of 23 normal subjects (age range 4 to 98 years) in the Yakovlev Collection.

Cerebellar pathology in schizophrenia? A neuronometric study.

We have reviewed clinical, neuroradiological, and neuropathological studies of cerebellar pathology in schizophrenia. The literature suggests that a proportion of schizophrenic patients may have possible cerebellar pathology, but the specificity and exact nature of any such pathology are open to question. We conducted a neuronometric study of principal efferent neurons in cerebella from the brains of 23 leucotomized schizophrenic patients, 23 leucotomized controls, and 37 normal controls in the Yakovlev Collection.

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in transplant renal artery stenosis: experience and review of the literature.

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) was performed in five instances of renal transplant artery stenosis (RTAS) in four patients. Hypertension was present in all cases and improved after angioplasty together with reduction in medicine requirements. Abnormal renal function in four instances also improved after PTA.

[Perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis (single or multiple dose) in elective colorectal surgery. A randomized study].

In a randomized trial in 60 patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery the efficiency of intravenous antibiotic short time prophylaxis was determined. We compared single dose application with multiple dose prophylaxis for 24 h. The substance used was cefotaxime.

Efficacy of topical antibiotic therapy in acute conjunctivitis in children.

We studied 102 children aged 1 month to 18 years in a randomized, double-blind trial designed to determine both the natural history of bacterial conjunctivitis and whether topical antibiotic therapy is beneficial. Affected eyes were treated four times a day for 7 days with drug (polymyxin-bacitracin ophthalmic ointment) or placebo. Eighty-four patients had proved bacterial conjunctivitis (Haemophilus influenzae 61, Streptococcus pneumoniae 22, both one); 66 of these received only topical therapy.

Diazepam for catatonia.

Intravenous diazepam rapidly relieved catatonic immobility in two schizophrenic patients, and oral diazepam maintained this therapeutic effect. Diazepam may be an immediately available and effective treatment for some patients with life-threatening catatonic disorders.

[Case report on the administration of diuretics during pregnancy].

Diuretics potentiate existing hypovolaemia and hämoconcentration in patients suffering from toxemia of pregnancy. This effect also applies to the fetus. A case is presented of an intrauterine spontaneous thrombosis in the inferior vena cava and its tributaries in a fetus with resulting perinatal death during long-term diuretic therapy because of edema in the mother in the third trimester.

[Osteosarcoma of the larynx].

A case of osteosarcoma of the soft tissues of the larynx of a 65 years old man is presented. Adequate surgical excision of the tumour was impossible because the patient had advanced cerebral and coronary vascular disease. Radiation therapy produced no remission of the tumour.

Infections after pleuro-pulmonary surgery.

The incidence and causes of infectious complications after pleuro-pulmonary surgery occurring in our institution before 1968, from 1968 to 1975, and from 1978 to 1979 are compared. Soft tissue infections occurring in the operative region, in the pleural cavity and in the remaining lung tissue are assessed separately. From these data it is concluded, that infections of soft tissue have markedly decreased from 7 to 2% while secondary wound healing without purulent infection has fallen from 21% to 5%.