In vivo H MRS of human gallbladder bile in understanding the pathophysiology of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC): Immune-mediated disease versus bile acid-induced injury.

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) has been considered to be either an "autoimmune disease" or a "bile acid-induced injury." In vitro MRS studies on PSC patients have limitations due to the contamination of bile with contrast agent (commonly administered during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) and/or the use of patient cohorts with other diseases as controls. The objective of this study was to quantify biliary metabolites using in vivo H MRS and gain insight into the pathogenesis of PSC.

Electromagnetic fields in the treatment of chronic lower back pain in patients with degenerative disc disease.

Aim: To examine the effects of low-amplitude, low frequency electromagnetic field therapy (EMF) therapy in patients with persistent chronic lower back pain associated with degenerative disc disease.

Design: Double-blind, randomized and placebo controlled.

Intervention: EMF using a medical device resonator; control group underwent same procedures, except the device was turned off.

Comparison of spatial working memory in children with prenatal alcohol exposure and those diagnosed with ADHD; A functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: Alcohol related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) falls under the umbrella of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), but individuals do not demonstrate the facial characteristics associated with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), making diagnosis difficult. While attentional problems in ARND are similar to those found in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the underlying impairment in attention pathways may be different.

Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of a working memory (1-back) task of 63 children, 10 to 14 years old, diagnosed with ARND and ADHD, as well as typically developing (TD) controls, was conducted at 3 T.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of facial information processing in children with autistic disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and typically developing controls.

The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the neural activation patterns of children diagnosed with autistic disorder (AD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and typically developing controls (TCs) in response to a task involving evaluation of facial expressions. Substantially greater functional activity was noted in TCs compared to both subjects diagnosed with AD and ADHD. Consistent with previous studies, differences in functional activation of the amygdala, fusiform gyrus, cerebellum, mesolimbic, and temporal lobe cortical regions of the brain during a task evaluating facial expressions were noted in AD compared to TCs.

Functional evaluation of hidden figures object analysis in children with autistic disorder.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during performance of a hidden figures task (HFT) was used to compare differences in brain function in children diagnosed with autism disorder (AD) compared to children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and typical controls (TC). Overall greater functional MRI activity was observed in the two control groups compared to children with AD. Laterality differences were also evident, with AD subjects preferentially showing activity in the right medial temporal region while controls tended to activate the left medial temporal cortex.

QASI, an international quality management system for CD4 T-cell enumeration focused to make a global difference.

Background: A significant worldwide mobilization effort to treat people with HIV disease began in 2003. Most guidelines for initiating antiretroviral therapy require reliable and reproducible CD4 T-cell counting. Therefore, any effort that improves global availability of quality managed assessment schemes for CD4 T-cell enumeration is a positive achievement for the clinical management of AIDS on a worldwide scale.

Alternate antegrade/retrograde perfusion: an effective technique to preserve hypertrophied hearts during valvular surgery.

Objective: Continuous antegrade perfusion (AP) may interfere with surgical precision. Continuous retrograde perfusion (RP), on the other hand, cannot sustain the empty-beating hypertrophied hearts. Therefore, alternate antegrade/retrograde perfusion (A(A/R)P) may be a rational technique to preserve the hypertrophied hearts.

Increased pressure during retrograde cerebral perfusion provides better preservation of the Na+, K+-ATPase activity.

This study was carried out to determine if increased perfusion pressure during retrograde cerebral perfusion (RCP) provides better preservation of the brain Na+, K+-ATPase activity. Twenty pigs were subjected to anesthesia alone (control group, n=5), hypothermic circulatory arrest (HCA) (HCA group, n = 5), HCA+RCP at perfusion pressures of 24-29 mmHg (Low-pressure group, n=5), or HCA+RCP at perfusion pressures of 34-40 mmHg (High-pressure group, n = 5). The brain was harvested for the measurement of tissue Na+, K+-ATPase activity.

Is maintenance of cerebral hypothermia the principal mechanism by which retrograde cerebral perfusion provides better brain protection than hypothermic circulatory arrest? A study in a porcine model.

Objective: Retrograde cerebral perfusion (RCP) provides better brain protection than hypothermic circulatory arrest (HCA) alone. The mechanism by which RCP improves brain protection during circulatory arrest remains unknown. The purpose of the study in pigs was to determine if RCP improves brain protection mainly as a result of its ability to maintain cerebral hypothermia.

Functional MRI involving painful stimulation of the ankle and the effect of physiotherapy joint mobilization.

We examined whether cerebral activation due to secondary hyperalgesia resulting from intrajoint capsaicin injection could be detected using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in alpha-chloralose anesthetized rats. We also examined whether we could detect analgesic changes in the central nervous system response to pain as a result of physiotherapy joint manipulation. Robust activation of areas of the brain known to be associated with the processing of pain, namely the anterior cingulate (bilateral), frontal cortex (bilateral) and sensory motor cortex (contralateral), was found in all animals following injection of 25 microl of capsaicin (128 microg/ml in 7.

Retrograde cardioplegia.

Objective: This study was undertaken to compare the efficacy of retrograde cardioplegia for myocardial perfusion with that of antegrade cardioplegia at the same flow rate.

Methods: Colored microspheres were used in rat hearts to assess the capillary flow of cardioplegia solution. Myocardial perfusion was evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging in pig hearts.

Increased pressure during retrograde cerebral perfusion in an acute porcine model improves brain tissue perfusion without increase in tissue edema.

Background: There is a significant lack of scientific data to support the clinically accepted view that 25 to 30 mm Hg is the maximum safe perfusion pressure during retrograde cerebral perfusion (RCP). This study was designed to investigate whether perfusion pressure greater than 30 mm Hg during RCP is beneficial to the brain during prolonged HCA in an acute porcine model.

Methods: Sixteen pigs underwent 120 minutes of circulatory arrest in conjunction with RCP at a perfusion pressure of either 23 to 29 mm Hg (group L, n = 8) or 34 to 40 mm Hg (group H, n = 8) at 15 degrees C, followed by 60 minutes of normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass.

Cortical mapping of visceral pain in patients with GI disorders using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Objective: We sought to identify central loci that activate in response to visceral stimuli (stool and pain). We had a particular interest in observing the anterior cingulate gyrus and frontal cortex in normals and in patients with intestinal disease, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Methods: Subjects underwent rectal balloon distention to a sensation of stool and to a sensation of pain while undergoing blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging.