Effect of hyperosmolar mannitol on convection-enhanced delivery into the rat brain stem.

Introduction: Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) can safely achieve high local infusate concentrations within the rat brain stem with predictable distribution volumes. The authors investigated the effects of co-infusion or systemic administration of hyperosmolar mannitol on distribution parameters for infusions into the rat brain stem.

Methods: Fifteen rats underwent stereotactic cannula placement into the pontine nucleus oralis (PnO) followed by infusions at a constant rate to a total volume of 1 microl.

Stalking, threatening, and harassing behavior by psychiatric patients toward clinicians.

The authors surveyed hospital staff to determine how often they had been the target of stalking, threatening, or harassing behavior (STHB) by patients, what strategies they had used to manage the behavior, and their evaluation of various interventions. A written survey about STHB by patients was sent to all clinical staff (N = 82) of the adult inpatient psychiatric service of an urban university hospital. Clinicians who had been the target of such behavior were interviewed about their experiences.

Identification of sport fish consumption patterns in families of recreational anglers through factor analysis.

This paper reports on the identification of sport fish consumption patterns in angler families through the factor analysis technique. New York State recreational anglers and their spouses or partners were surveyed in 1991 about their consumption of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie sport fish. Respondents were surveyed again in 1997 to report the number of sport fish consumed by their children aged 5-10 years.

Pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles from Au + Au collisions at the maximum RHIC energy, square root[s(NN)] = 200 GeV.

We present charged-particle multiplicities as a function of pseudorapidity and collision centrality for the 197Au+197Au reaction at square root[s(NN)] = 200 GeV. For the 5% most central events we obtain dN(ch)/deta/(eta = 0) = 625+/-55 and N(ch)/(-4.7< or =eta < or =4.

Convection-enhanced delivery into the rat brainstem.

Object: Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) can be used safely to achieve high local infusate concentrations within the brain and spinal cord. The use of CED in the brainstem has not been previously reported and may offer an alternative method for treating diffuse pontine gliomas. In the present study the authors tested CED within the rat brainstem to assess its safety and establish distribution parameters.

Neonatal cleft lip and cleft palate repair.

Facial clefting is one of the most common birth defects and having a child born with this defect can be a devastating experience for parents and family members. Until recently, repair of cleft lip and palate deformities was deferred until the infant had reached 10 weeks of age, 10 pounds in weight, and a hemoglobin level of 10 gm per 100 mL. This criteria eliminated neonates 28 days of age or younger from the possibility of early repair.

Psychosocial adaptation of middle childhood boys with hypospadias after genital surgery.

Objective: To compare the psychosocial adaptation of boys with hypospadias after genital surgery to a community sample.

Methods: Boys (6 to 10 years) with a history of hypospadias repair (n = 175) were compared with a community sample (n = 333) in a postal questionnaire survey using the Child Behavior Checklist.

Results: Few significant differences between cases and controls emerged.

Information processing of an acquaintance rape scenario among high- and low-dissociating college women.

To assess the impact of dissociation on information processing, 66 college women with high and low levels of trait dissociation were studied with regard to how they unitized videotape segments of an acquaintance rape scenario (actual assault not shown) and a nonthreatening control scenario. Unitization is a paradigm that measures how actively people process stimuli by recording how many times they press a button to indicate that they have seen a significant or meaningful event. Trait dissociation was negatively correlated with participants' unitization of the acquaintance rape videotape, unitization was positively correlated with danger cue identification, and state dissociation was negatively correlated with dangerousness ratings.

Spontaneous intraparenchymal hemorrhage in full-term neonates.

Objective: Spontaneous intraparenchymal hemorrhage is extremely rare in full-term newborns. Reports to date have been limited to descriptions of individual cases, small groups within larger studies of intracranial hemorrhage, and one series of four patients. Structural lesions are rarely identified, and the majority of patients described have been managed without surgical intervention.

MIB-1 staining index of pediatric meningiomas.

Objective: For adult meningiomas, the staining index (SI) for the anti-Ki-67 monoclonal antibody MIB-1 is well correlated with histological atypia and tumor recurrence. MIB-1 SIs for meningiomas in the pediatric population have not been previously reported. Meningiomas tend to be more histologically aggressive and to recur more frequently in children, compared with adults.

Endoscopic biopsy for tumors of the third ventricle.

Twelve patients underwent endoscopic biopsy of a tumor involving the third ventricle. Nine patients had no significant medical history while 3 had a history of cancer. Unique characteristics of each case dictated the optimal surgical technique.

Perceived versus measured height. Which is the stronger predictor of psychosocial functioning?

The relationship between perceptions versus measured height and children's psychosocial adaptation in a sample of medically referred youth with short stature was investigated. All children referred for a growth evaluation to one regional pediatric endocrinology clinic received a psychosocial screening assessment as a routine component of their initial visit. Data were collected for patients ages 4-18 years (n = 620) with heights ranging from -4.

Sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcomas involving the neuraxis: report of three cases.

Objective And Importance: Sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma (SEF) is a rare mesenchymal neoplasm composed of rounded, vimentin-immunoreactive tumor cells disposed in nests and cords within a hyalinized collagenous matrix. Most examples arise in the deep skeletal muscles of adults. The cases recorded to date have been characterized by protracted clinical evolutions with a tendency for stubborn local recurrence, followed by late metastasis.

Ommaya reservoirs for the treatment of leptomeningeal metastases.

Objective: Ommaya reservoirs are frequently used to deliver intraventricular chemotherapy in cancer patients with leptomeningeal metastases. We review techniques of catheter placement and complication avoidance.

Methods: Between January 1995 and June 1998, Ommaya reservoirs were placed in 107 patients for the treatment or prophylaxis of leptomeningeal metastases at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Growth hormone therapy in childhood-onset growth hormone deficiency: adult anthropometric and psychological outcomes.

The current adult heights of hypopituitary children treated with recombinant human growth hormone (rGH) now range between -1.5 and -0.7 height standard deviations (Ht SDS) of control populations.

Hemifacial spasm caused by a pilocytic astrocytoma of the fourth ventricle.

An 11-year-old male in whom hemifacial spasm was the presenting sign of a pilocytic astrocytoma within the fourth ventricle is reported. The child's hemifacial spasm decreased substantially after resection of the tumor. Hemifacial spasm is largely a disease of adults and only rarely is attributed to brain tumors.

Perception of family functioning and depressive symptomatology in individuals with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.

This study investigated the relationship between the perception of family functioning and depressive symptomatology in individuals with eating disorders (EDs). Subjects were evaluated by diagnostic clinical interview using DSM-III-R criteria for EDs, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Lifetime Version (SADS-L), and two self-report measures, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Family Assessment Device (FAD). A significant association was found between self-reported depressive symptomatology and perceived poor family functioning.

Endoscopic-guided proximal catheter placement in treatment of posterior fossa cysts.

Purpose: Treatment of posterior fossa cysts by cystoperitoneal shunting may be complicated by a malpositioned proximal catheter located within the brainstem or cerebellum causing acute shunt malfunction or neurological deficits. We propose that proximal catheter placement from a posterior fossa approach aided by a malleable endoscope may prevent malposition and its complications.

Methods: We present 4 procedures we performed on 3 patients with posterior fossa cysts using a posterior fossa approach.

Symptomatic spinal epidural lipomatosis after local epidural corticosteroid injections: case report.

Objective And Importance: Spinal epidural lipomatosis, which causes symptomatic compression of neural elements, is a well known but uncommon complication of Cushing's syndrome. Spinal epidural lipomatosis has been reported frequently in association with chronic systemic corticosteroid therapy, but thus far only one case has been attributed to local epidural corticosteroid injections.

Clinical Presentation: We report another case of symptomatic spinal epidural lipomatosis after epidural corticosteroid injections.

IL-12-Independent costimulation pathways for interferon-gamma production in familial disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex infection.

We have described previously a family with an apparent genetic susceptibility to disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex infection and an underlying defect in IL-12 regulation leading to abnormally low interferon-gamma production. Their T cells appear to act normally when in the presence of normal accessory cells. Cell-to-cell contact was necessary for normal monocytes to complement the familial patient monocyte defect, suggesting the familial defect in interferon-gamma costimulation involves pathways requiring cell surface molecule interactions.

Peer relationships and quality of life.

Measures of peer relationships during childhood have been shown to be reliable predictors of several indicators of functioning during adulthood. Within each of these areas of functioning, children who have troubled peer relationships are more likely to show signs of distress than are other children. In addition, experiences with peers appear to provide a context for the development of many fundamental human capacities (e.

Dissociation, posttraumatic symptomatology, and sexual revictimization: a prospective examination of mediator and moderator effects.

Using prospective data gathered from a sample of 323 college women over a 10-week academic quarter, the present study examined whether dissociation and posttraumatic symptomatology mediate or moderate sexual revictimization. Results indicated that posttraumatic symptomatology, but not dissociation, moderated the link between previous and subsequent sexual victimization. Neither posttraumatic symptomatology nor dissociation mediated revictimization.

The relationship between confidence and accuracy in clinical assessment of psychiatric patients' potential for violence.

The authors studied the relationship between confidence and accuracy in clinical assessments of psychiatric patients' short-term risk of violence. At the time of entry to the hospital, physicians (N = 78) estimated the probability that each of 317 patients would physically attack other people during the first week of psychiatric hospitalization. The clinicians also indicated the degree of confidence they had in their estimates of violence potential.