Chronic optic nerve compression. An experimental study.

Chronic progressive compression of the optic nerve in the cat was produced by an inflatable silicon rubber balloon implanted in the orbit. Within the first week the predominant pathological change was demyelination. Both partially and completely demyelinated fibres were seen at all stages of the experiments but by the fifth week some axons had been remyelinated by oligodendrocytes despite the continued presence of the balloon.

Cerebrospinal fluid in multiple sclerosis: relationships between immunoglobulins, leucocytes and clinical features.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 120 patients with multiple sclerosis was analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, as well as routine laboratory microscopy and assays of total protein and immunoglobulin G (IgG). Negative correlations were found between leucocyte counts and patient age, duration of disease and time from last clinical relapse. There was a positive correlation between the leucocyte count and amount of gammaglobulin.

The measurement of depression: enhancing the predictive validity of the Beck Depression Inventory.

Investigated whether the predictive validity of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) could be enhanced by having Ss complete the BDI under regular vs. a 6-week projected response set. Six hundred students participated in the initial screening phase, in which they were administered the BDI under both standard and projected instructional sets.

Some treatment-withholding implications of no-code orders in an academic hospital.

To identify treatment-withholding intentions for 56 VA medicine inpatients who received a no-code order, 31 resident physicians who wrote the orders completed a checklist on which they indicated the interventions they intended to withhold from each patient. Review of patients' charts indicated that 24 (43%) contained no documentation of treatment limitation plans beyond the no-code order. To identify the general interpretations of no-code orders, "cross-covering" physicians indicated on a questionnaire the likelihood that they would withhold specific interventions from patients they were covering who had received a no-code order.

Multiple sclerosis presenting with progressive visual failure.

Progressive visual failure as the presenting feature of multiple sclerosis is described in five patients. The clinical features did not permit a distinction from visual loss due to compression. The finding of oligoclonal bands in the CSF at presentation is a useful pointer to the diagnosis, but is not specific and full investigation to exclude treatable causes of visual loss is essential.

Bilateral optic neuritis. A long-term follow-up.

We have endeavoured to determine the fate of the adults and children presenting with bilateral optic neuritis who were reported by Hierons and Lyle (1959) and Meadows (1969). We have follow-up information from a variety of sources on 31 of the 34 adults for up to thirty-seven years, and on 17 of 19 children after up to thirty-two years. Three adult cases were excluded after review.

Molecular structure of 5,10-dimethoxybenzo[j]fluoranthene.

The molecular and crystal structure of the synthetic 5,10-dimethoxy derivative of the carcinogen benzo[j]fluoranthene has been determined by direct methods from X-ray diffractometric data and refined to an R index 0.041 over 2788 independent reflections. The benzo ring is inclined at approximately 3 degrees to the almost planar fluoranthene moiety (carbon atoms have r.

Dopaminergic inhibition of adenylate cyclase correlates with high affinity agonist binding to anterior pituitary D2 dopamine receptors.

Dopamine (DA) and the dopaminergic agonists n-propylnorapomorphine (NPA), 2-amino-6,7-dihydroxytetrahydronaphthalene (ADTN) and apomorphine (APO) inhibit forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in a dose-dependent fashion by more than 40% in membrane preparations of the porcine anterior pituitary gland. These agonists exhibit apparent dissociation constants that follow an expected dopaminergic order of potency (NPA greater than ADTN greater than or equal to APO greater than DA). The inhibition is dependent on guanine nucleotides and is reversible by dopaminergic antagonists (spiroperidol greater than (+)-butaclamol much greater than (-)-butaclamol).

Deficient learning and memory in early and middle phases of multiple sclerosis.

Forty-three patients with multiple sclerosis showed disturbances in short-term memory, learning, and delayed recall which were associated with years of active disease (average was 4.5 years), age, presence of flareup, but not steroid/ACTH treatment. Unrecognised memory loss might be prevalent early in the natural history of multiple sclerosis and deserves neuropsychological assessment.

Endotoxin shock: prevented by naloxone in intact but not hypophysectomized rats.

Previous studies established that naloxone reverses hypotension in endotoxin, hemorrhagic, and spinal shock. We studied endotoxin shock in hypophysectomized (Hx) rats, which have little circulating beta-endorphin. Hx or intact rats received surgically implanted jugular catheters for drug injection and aortic catheters for arterial blood pressure (MAP) recording.

Epidemiology of no-code orders in an academic hospital.

Relatively little is known about the circumstances in which decisions not to resuscitate, documented by no-code orders, are made. By review of medical records and interviews with house staff officers, we studied all medical service patients for whom no-code orders were written and those patients who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) between October and December 1980 in the Portland Veterans Administration Medical Center. Among 1,780 patients admitted, 56 (3.

Angiotensin biosynthesis and concentrations in brain of normotensive and hypertensive rats.

We report here on the extraction and characterization of angiotensin I (ANG I) and angiotensin II (ANG II) from the brain of rats. High pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) with different mobile phases combined with specific radioimmunoassays (RIA) proved to be a powerful tool for peptide characterization in biological samples; (Ile5)-ANG I, (Ile5)-ANG II and (Ile5)-ANG III could clearly be identified in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), incubated in vivo and in vitro with renin, in total brain extracts, as well as in hypothalamus (HT), medulla oblongata (MO), cerebellum (CER) and cortex (CO). Angiotensin cleaved from CSF angiotensinogen and angiotensin extracted from brain showed retention times identical to those of plasma angiotensin and synthetic standard peptides, indicating that their amino acid sequence is probably identical.

Contact tracing in hepatitis B infection.

In an epidemiological study of patients diagnosed as having hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection during a 12 month period in a London health district, 98 (67%) of 144 index cases and 146 (67%) of 218 of their named contacts were interviewed. The problems and benefits of using conventional contact tracing techniques in the management of this infection are discussed. Named contacts in stable relationships were more easily traced than young homosexuals with frequent anonymous contacts, and drug addicts.

Relaxin production and release after hysterectomy in the pig.

Relaxin secretion by luteal tissue and into peripheral blood was examined in relation to changes in the fine structure of aging porcine corpora lutea. Sequential bleedings every sixth day reveal a similar increase in serum relaxin concentrations from days 6-114 in hysterectomized and pregnant gifts. The span of the estrous cycle is about 21 days, and the length of pregnancy is about 115 days in pigs.

Multiple sclerosis: the present position.

The advances of the past decade particularly in the application of evoked potential techniques and electrophoresis of CSF proteins have improved the accuracy of early diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. The geographical distribution of the disease, the effect of migration on prevalence, and the existence of clusters suggest that an environmental factor is involved in the aetiology; it is probably infective. Family and twin studies provide evidence for a genetic contribution which is probably multifactorial and related to immune regulation.