Percutaneous intraspinal navigation: feasibility study of a new and minimally invasive approach to the spinal cord and brain in cadavers.

We describe a percutaneous approach for cerebral surgical access. After lumbar puncture, the spinal subarachnoid space was traversed by using standard angiographic guidewire techniques until the introducer catheters were in the intracranial space. Under fluoroscopic guidance, the intracranial subarachnoid space was navigated, and the ventricular system entered.

Autologous stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma: improved survival in nonsecretory multiple myeloma but lack of influence of age, status at transplant, previous treatment and conditioning regimen. A single-centre experience in 127 patients.

High-dose therapy with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has become the treatment of choice for symptomatic eligible patients with multiple myeloma (MM). We report our centre experience and analyse retrospectively the prognostic influence of pretransplant characteristics and transplant modalities on response and survival. A total of 127 MM patients (median age: 55.

GénoPlante-Info (GPI): a collection of databases and bioinformatics resources for plant genomics.

Génoplante is a partnership program between public French institutes (INRA, CIRAD, IRD and CNRS) and private companies (Biogemma, Bayer CropScience and Bioplante) that aims at developing genome analysis programs for crop species (corn, wheat, rapeseed, sunflower and pea) and model plants (Arabidopsis and rice). The outputs of these programs form a wealth of information (genomic sequence, transcriptome, proteome, allelic variability, mapping and synteny, and mutation data) and tools (databases, interfaces, analysis software), that are being integrated and made public at the public bioinformatics resource centre of Génoplante: GénoPlante-Info (GPI). This continuous flood of data and tools is regularly updated and will grow continuously during the coming two years.

Should FDG PET be used to decide whether a patient with an abnormal mammogram or breast finding at physical examination should undergo biopsy?

Rationale And Objectives: The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the performance of fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) in the differential diagnosis of benign from malignant lesions among patients with abnormal mammograms or a palpable breast mass and to examine the effects of PET findings on patient care and health outcomes.

Materials And Methods: A search of the MEDLINE and CancerLit databases covered articles entered between January 1966 and March 2001. Thirteen articles met the selection criteria.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of monotherapy compared with combined androgen blockade for patients with advanced prostate carcinoma.

Background: The current systematic review and meta-analysis compared monotherapy and combined androgen blockade in the treatment of men with advanced prostate carcinoma. Outcomes of interest included overall, cancer specific, and progression-free survival; time to treatment failure; adverse events; and quality of life.

Methods: The literature search identified randomized trials comparing monotherapy (orchiectomy and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone [LHRH] agonists) with combination therapy using orchiectomy or a LHRH agonist plus a nonsteroidal or steroidal antiandrogen.

Immunofiltration as sample cleanup for the immunochemical detection of beta-agonists in urine.

Despite the ban of the European Union on use of drugs to improve animal growth, occasionally beta-agonist drugs are still found in samples from cattle. Over time, the specified limits for the detection of these illegal drugs have been lowered. To improve the immunochemical screening of urine samples to detect lower levels of several beta-agonists, immunofiltration (IF) was applied for sample cleanup in combination with a beta-agonist-ELISA.

Mechanisms of evolution in Rickettsia conorii and R. prowazekii.

Rickettsia conorii is an obligate intracellular bacterium that causes Mediterranean spotted fever in humans. We determined the 1,268,755-nucleotide complete genome sequence of R. conorii, containing 1374 open reading frames.

The complete genome sequence of the murine respiratory pathogen Mycoplasma pulmonis.

Mycoplasma pulmonis is a wall-less eubacterium belonging to the Mollicutes (trivial name, mycoplasmas) and responsible for murine respiratory diseases. The genome of strain UAB CTIP is composed of a single circular 963 879 bp chromosome with a G + C content of 26.6 mol%, i.

Progress in allogenic bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for multiple myeloma: a comparison between transplants performed 1983--93 and 1994--8 at European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation centres.

Out of 690 allogeneic matched sibling donor transplants for multiple myeloma reported to the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) registry, 334 were performed during the period 1983-93 (all with bone marrow) and 356 during 1994-98 [223 with bone marrow and 133 with peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs)]. The median overall survival was 10 months for patients transplanted during the earlier time period and 50 months for patients transplanted with hone marrow during the later period. The use of PBSCs was associated with earlier engraftment but no significant survival benefit compared to bone marrow transplants during the same time period.

Mental calculation in a prodigy is sustained by right prefrontal and medial temporal areas.

Calculating prodigies are individuals who are exceptional at quickly and accurately solving complex mental calculations. With positron emission tomography (PET), we investigated the neural bases of the cognitive abilities of an expert calculator and a group of non-experts, contrasting complex mental calculation to memory retrieval of arithmetic facts. We demonstrated that calculation expertise was not due to increased activity of processes that exist in non-experts; rather, the expert and the non-experts used different brain areas for calculation.

Paraproteinaemias: pathophysiology.

Paraproteinaemias may be associated with benign or malignant proliferations of lymphocytes or plasma cells, including multiple myeloma, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia. Primary amyloidosis may be associated with multiple myeloma and rarely with lymphoid malignancies, but most cases can be considered as a particular form of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, where the paraprotein causes damage by virtue of its amyloidogenic properties. This article discusses recent advances in understanding of the biology of multiple myeloma.

Perlecan, the major proteoglycan of basement membranes, is altered in patients with Schwartz-Jampel syndrome (chondrodystrophic myotonia).

Schwartz-Jampel syndrome (SJS1) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by permanent myotonia (prolonged failure of muscle relaxation) and skeletal dysplasia, resulting in reduced stature, kyphoscoliosis, bowing of the diaphyses and irregular epiphyses. Electromyographic investigations reveal repetitive muscle discharges, which may originate from both neurogenic and myogenic alterations. We previously localized the SJS1 locus to chromosome 1p34-p36.

Relative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of methods of androgen suppression in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

Objectives: With 184,500 new cases and 39,200 deaths anticipated in 1998, prostate cancer is second only to lung cancer in cancer mortality for men. This report is a systematic review of the evidence from randomized controlled trials on the relative effectiveness of alternative strategies for androgen suppression as treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Three key issues are addressed: (1) the relative effectiveness of the available methods for monotherapy (orchiectomy, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone [LHRH] agonists, and antiandrogens), (2) the effectiveness of combined androgen blockade compared to monotherapy, and (3) the effectiveness of immediate androgen suppression compared to androgen suppression deferred until clinical progression.

Number processing and calculation in a case of visual agnosia.

We describe the performance of a brain-damaged subject who suffered from visual agnosia leading to major difficulties in generating and exploiting visual representations from long-term memory. His performance in a physical judgement task in which he was required to answer questions about the visual shapes of Arabic numerals reflected his agnosic problems. However, he showed no impairment in usual number processing and calculation tasks.

CCNU (lomustine), idarubicin and dexamethasone (CIDEX): an effective oral regimen for the treatment of refractory or relapsed myeloma.

We report the results of a non-randomized pilot study of an oral regimen comprising CCNU (lomustine; 25 or 50 mg/m2 on day 1), idarubicin (4-demethoxydaunorubicin) (10 mg/m2 on days 1-3) and dexamethasone (10 mg b.d. on days 1-4) in patients with relapsed or refractory myeloma.

Maximal androgen blockade for advanced prostate cancer.

Objectives: This systematic review assessed the effect of maximal androgen blockade (MAB) on survival when compared to castration (medical or surgical) alone for patients with advanced prostate cancer.

Search Strategy: Randomized controlled trials were searched in general and specialized databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cancerlit, Cochrane Library, VA Cochrane Prostate Disease register) and by reviewing bibliographies.

Selection Criteria: All published randomized trials were eligible for inclusion provided they (1) randomized men with advanced prostate cancer to receive a non-steroidal anti-androgen (NSAA) medication in addition to castration (medical or surgical) or to castration alone, and (2) reported overall survival, progression-free survival, cancer-specific survival, and/or adverse events.

Single-therapy androgen suppression in men with advanced prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: To compare luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists with orchiectomy or diethylstilbestrol, and to compare antiandrogens with any of these three alternatives.

Data Sources: A search of the MEDLINE, Cancerlit, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases from 1966 to March 1998 and Current Contents to 24 August 1998 for articles comparing the outcomes of the specified treatments. The search was limited to studies on prostatic neoplasms in humans.

Spectrum of SPG4 mutations in autosomal dominant spastic paraplegia.

Autosomal dominant hereditary spastic paraplegia (AD-HSP) is a group of genetically heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorders characterized by pro- gressive spasticity of the lower limbs. Five AD-HSP loci have been mapped to chromosomes 14q, 2p, 15q, 8q and 12q. The SPG4 locus at 2p21-p22 has been shown to account for approximately 40% of all AD-HSP families.

Dural waisting as a sign of subarachnoid extension of cavernous carotid aneurysms: a follow-up case report.

Objective: Even when augmented by CT and MRI, it can be difficult on angiography to predict which intracavernous carotid artery aneurysms (ICCAA) have subarachnoid extension and therefore pose a higher risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Previously we reported a case of an ICCAA, which on angiogram had a focal tapering of the dome that we termed a "waist." At surgery this lesion was found to have subarachnoid extension.

Spastin, a new AAA protein, is altered in the most frequent form of autosomal dominant spastic paraplegia.

Autosomal dominant hereditary spastic paraplegia (AD-HSP) is a genetically heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive spasticity of the lower limbs. Among the four loci causing AD-HSP identified so far, the SPG4 locus at chromosome 2p2-1p22 has been shown to account for 40-50% of all AD-HSP families. Using a positional cloning strategy based on obtaining sequence of the entire SPG4 interval, we identified a candidate gene encoding a new member of the AAA protein family, which we named spastin.

A fine integrated map of the SPG4 locus excludes an expanded CAG repeat in chromosome 2p-linked autosomal dominant spastic paraplegia.

Autosomal dominant hereditary spastic paraplegia (AD-HSP) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder characterized by progressive spasticity of the lower limbs. A major locus (SPG4) causing AD-HSP in about 40% of the families was mapped to chromosome 2p. The analysis of six SPG4-linked AD-HSP families using the RED procedure previously showed the expansion of a CAG repeat in affected individuals.

Phenotypic and molecular analysis of six human cell lines derived from patients with plasma cell dyscrasia.

Cell lines RPMI 8226, JJN3, U266 B1, NCI-H929 (all EBV-) and ARH77 and HS-Sultan (both EBV+) have been extensively characterized in this study. EBV- lines expressed the phenotype (CD138-, CD19+, CD20+) whereas EBV+ were (CD138+, CD19-, CD20-). CD56 expression was restricted to EBV- cell lines, with the exception of U266 B1, whereas PCA-1 was strongly expressed on five of the six cell lines.