24-hour blood pressure control after single daily doses of nivaldipine in patients with essential hypertension.

In an open monocentric phase II study, 20 inpatients with hypertension were treated with a single daily dose of nilvadipine for 3 weeks after a 1-week placebo washout phase. The initial dose in all patients was 8 mg/day p.o.

[Fascioliasis--a contribution to the differential diagnosis of focal liver processes].

The case of a 60 years old patient with a rare parasitosis, fascioliasis hepatica, is presented. The clinical, parasitologic, radiologic and histologic findings are discussed with reference to the literature. The diagnosis was established by examination of the faeces of the patient.

Altered distribution of myosin isoenzymes in the cardiomyopathic Syrian hamster (BIO 8.262).

Myosin of the ventricular myocardium of the cardiomyopathic Syrian hamster and of control animals was analysed using non-dissociating pyrophosphate electrophoresis. Three different myosin isoenzymes exhibiting different Ca2+ activated ATPase activities were demonstrated in the ventricular myocardium of the Syrian hamster. As shown by peptide mapping, ventricular myosin isoenzymes differ in their heavy chain composition.

Development of necrosis and its sequelae in the myocardium of polymyopathic hamsters (BIO 8262). An electron microscopic study.

Beginning about 30 days after birth, polymyopathic Syrian hamsters of the strain BIO 8262 develop calcifying myocardial necrosis. In the final stage the resorptive granulation tissue is followed by scars with multi-nucleated giant cells containing huge amorphous calcium plaques. The ultrastructural findings reveal the importance of myocardial mitochondria as starting points for calcification.

[The importance of early diagnosis of Wegener's granulomatosis: a typical problem case for the otolaryngologist (author's transl)].

Although the etiology and pathogenesis of Wegener's granulomatosis is still obscure, the pathological process is assumed to belong to the group of immunologic diseases. Destructive lesions commonly appear in the midface, particularly in the nose, and are seen microscopically as necrotizing vasculitis. We report a 19 year old woman with undetected disease who was finally diagnosed by repeated biopsies through collaboration between an otolaryngologist and a pathologist.

[Therapy of orthostatic dysregulation. Comparative studies on anti-hypotensive sympathomimetics with a tilt-table test].

In 7 patients suffering from orthostatic hypotension the early behaviour of arterial mean blood pressure was studied in the tilting table experiment under influence of etilefrine, norfenefrine, gepefrine (D-(+)-1-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-2-aminopropan-(2R, 3R)-hydrogentartrat) and of its I-isomere. Significant improvement of early orthostatic disregulation of the arterial pressure could be only observed under gepefrine. Amelioration seems to be induced by sensitization of the pressoreceptors.

The cardiomyopathy of the Syrian hamster (strain BIO 8262)--hypertrophic or dystrophic?

Chemical as well as cytophotometric studies were carried out on myocardium of cardiomyopathic hamsters of strain BIO 8262 and of healthy control hamsters of strain CLAC. Our interest was to find out whether the cardiomyopathic hamsters suffer from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or not. The heart muscle mass was only slightly increased in the older cardiomyopathic hamsters when compared with the controls.

Electrocardiographic changes in cardiomyopathic Syrian hamsters (strain BIO 8262).

Under ether anesthesia electrocardiograms were derived from Syrian hamsters (strain BIO 8262) suffering from cardiomyopathy and muscular dystrophy. In addition, ventricular weights and body weight were determined. Young hamsters -- not yet showing morphological signs of the cardiomyopathy with the exception of possible left ventricular hypertrophy -- demonstrated only a longer ventricular activation time than normal hamsters.

The influence of triamterene on isoproterenol-induced and spontaneous myocardial calcium uptake in cardiomyopathic hamsters.

In this study the influence of 2,4,7-triamino-6-phenylpteridine (triamterene) on isoproterenol-induced myocardial accumulation of calcium in cardiomyopathic hamsters in the prenecrotic phase of their disease was investigated (acute experiments). When triamterene is administered in increasing doses simultaneously with the standard dose of 1 mg/kg isoproterenol, a dose-dependent decrease in the isoproterenol-induced calcium accumulation can be observed. A dose of 60 mg/kg triamterene is fully effective in preventing the isoproterenol-provoked myocardial calcium accumulation.

Skeletal muscle regeneration in myopathic hamsters of strain BIO 8262.

Skeletal muscle regeneration was studied in polymyopathic hamsters of the strain BIO 8262 by autoradiography. Flash labeling with 3H-thymidine revealed high labeling indices of mononuclear cells in areas with muscle cell necroses and low labeling of "interstitial cells". However, no labeled nuclei were present in myotubes.

[Characteristic electrolyte changes in the hereditary myopathy and cardiomyopathy of the Syrian golden hamster (strain BIO 8262) (author's transl)].

In hamsters of differing ages suffering from a hereditary myopathy and cardiomyopathy (strain BIO 8262), the electrolytes sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium in serum, and several tissues were compared with appropriate controls. The determinations of the electrolytes were performed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. An enormous accumulation of calcium in the necrotizing heart and skeletal muscle was the noticeable feature besides pronounced elevation of the sodium content in the myopathic skeletal muscle.