Risk factors in long-term sequelae of central nervous system prophylaxis in successfully treated children with acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Seventy-two successfully treated patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia, all in first complete remission and all off therapy, who had received CNS prophylaxis (radiotherapy, 2,400 rad, plus intrathecal methotrexate), were studied by computed tomography (CT) of the brain, EEGs, and neurologic evaluations 3 to 9 years after the end of prophylaxis. Thirty-five patients showed CT brain scan abnormalities: intracranial calcifications (twelve); widening of the subarachnoid spaces (eight); isolated dilatation of ventricular spaces (three) and with frontal periventricular hypodensity (two); dilatation of ventricular and subarachnoid spaces (nine); and a hypodense area (one). Only 17 patients showed aspecific EEG abnormalities which were never linked to CT scan findings.

Density-dependent regulation of growth in somatic hybrids between normal Chinese hamster fibroblasts and V79-8 (G1-) cells.

The purpose of this work was to determine the relationship between the presence of a G1 period in the mitotic cycle and a cell's ability to respond to density-dependent regulation of growth (DDR). Somatic hybrids were obtained between normal fibroblasts from newborn Chinese hamsters, which show a strong response to DDR, and V79-8 Chinese hamster cells, which are insensitive to DDR. Two variant V79-8 sublines were used, one reported to lack a G1 period (G1-) and the other with a G1 period (G1+).

Laparoscopy in the diagnosis of primary carcinoma of the gallbladder. A study of 98 cases.

Ninety-eight cases of carcinoma of the gallbladder were studied by laparoscopy from 1968 to 1982. The gallbladder was completely explored in 48 patients. Hard white plaques of the gallbladder wall were noted in 30 patients.

[Ischemic cerebrovascular accidents in childhood. Problems of neuroradiological diagnosis].

The authors present 19 cases of stroke with subsequent hemiplegia in children from 5 months to 15 years of age. These cases are not strictly correlated with haematologic alterations. The aetiopathogenesis remains uncertain in the most of patients, in which predisposing causes are absent and angiographic pictures do not demonstrate anatomical lesions or occlusions of cerebral vessels.

Laparoscopic splenic biopsy.

The authors report their experiences with 1243 laparoscopic splenic biopsies performed between 1968 and 1982 at the Laparoscopy Center of the Regional Hospital in Padua. We may conclude that: The risk of laparoscopic splenic biopsy in minimal and fears regarding its performance are unjustified. The diagnostic value of splenic biopsy is evident if a comparison is made, in the different groups, between the percentage and the accuracy of the diagnoses made with the single macroscopic and the histological examinations, respectively.

[Dermatophytosis caused by Aphanoascus fulvescens].

Aphanoascus fulvescens was isolated from lesions resembling a dermatophyte infection in a 45-year-old woman who had used steroid cream for several months to treat a dermatosis of the neck. Treatment with griseofulvin and tolnaftate cured the lesions in 6 weeks. The microscopic characteristics of the isolate and its size differed slightly from those described by several other authors, and bore a closer resemblance to isolates previously described from Australia and New Guinea.

Risk factors for post-operative wound infection in cardiac surgery patients.

In a prospective study of 372 patients undergoing cardiac surgery, we evaluated the relative contribution of host factors and patient care variables to the risk of post-operative wound infection. Host factors studied were age, sex, country of origin, the diagnosis for which the operation was performed and, for coronary artery by-pass operations, the functional cardiac status according to modified New York Heart Association criteria. The performance of more than one operation during a single admission carried the highest risk for infection, followed by a coronary artery by-pass operation lasting for more than six hours or performed on patients 65 years or older.

[Cerebral changes shown by computed tomography in children with acute lymphatic leukemia after therapy].

The authors discuss the CT findings of the late brain damage by the radiochemotherapic treatment for the prophylaxis of meningeal leukemia in 50 patients, 1 divided by 15 years old. The more frequent CT findings are: enlargement of the subaracnoid spaces; ventricular dilatation; hypodensity of cerebral parenchima; calcifications. These findings correspond to two clinical and anatomo-pathological conditions: subacute leucoencephalopathy and mineralizing microangiopathy.

Genetic effects of chromium compounds.

Seven different test systems were utilized to investigate the genetic activity of chromium compounds: infidelity of DNA replication in vitro by DNA pol alpha from calf thymus, damage of DNA detected by alkaline elution in treated mammalian cells or in DNA purified and treated in vitro, DNA repair synthesis in mammalian cells in vitro detected by autoradiography or scintillation counting after labelling with [3H]dThd, gene mutations in the Salmonella typhimurium Ames test, gene mutations (6TG resistance) in cultured hamster cells, sister-chromatid exchanges in different rodent cell cultures, and transformation to anchorage-independent growth of hamster cells in vitro (soft-agar assay). Potassium dichromate and chromium chloride were used as water-soluble Cr(VI) and Cr(III) salts. Several reference mutagens (EMS, MMS, MMC, 4NQO) were included in the single tests as positive controls.

[Postasphyxia cerebral changes in the newborn infant. The significance of tomographic hypodensity].

The CT findings in 37 asphyctic newborns are presented, particularly concerning the hypodense lesions. 11 out of 27 term infants and 4 out of 10 preterm neonates had 2 or 3 serial scans, the last when they were 2-5 months old. In most of cases a long run normalization of former periventricular hypodensity has been observed, with normal clinical follow-up, 6 cases (2 preterm and 4 term neonates) had cortical hypodensity too: 2 of these revealed afterwards atrophy and hydrocephalus, 2 ventricular asymmetry and slight cortical spaces enlargement; in 1 case the cortical parietal hypodensity, formerly showed, was confirmed; 1 case finally was normal at three month scan.

CT and ACTH treatment in infantile spasms.

Computed tomography of 8 cases with West's syndrome before, during and after ACTH treatment are reported. The scans, performed at the third week of therapy, showed consistent widening of the sulci, cisterns and ventricles in all the patients. Of these, 2 patients underwent ICP monitoring which showed higher than normal values.

[Value and limits of C.T. scan in neurologics diseases in infancy and childhood (author's transl)].

The results obtained in 151 children who underwent C.T. scan at the Pediatric Department of the University of Padova are reported.

Selection of triparental somatic hybrids between mouse and Chinese hamster cell lines.

Triparental crosses were carried out between Chinese hamster and mouse cell lines, by using combinations of recessive and dominant markers. Evidence is provided that triparental somatic hybrids arose at relatively high frequencies in triselective media, after fusing with polyethylene glycol mixtures of three cell types carrying the appropriate resistance markers. The Karyotypes of these hybrids were consistent with their triparental origin.

Rhinoentomophthoromycosis: report of the first two cases observed in Costa Rica (Central America), and review of the literature.

The first two cases of rhinoentomophthoromycosis to be recognized in Costa Rica are reported. The first patient was a 32-year-old Caucasian male from the Pacific Coast, and the second, a 17-year-old Negro male from the Atlantic Coast. Both cases showed the typical involvement of the nasofacial skin with the formation of subcutaneous nodules.