Evaluation of the efficacy of supraglottoplasty in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome associated with severe laryngomalacia.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical and polysomnographic evolution of patients with severe laryngomalacia who underwent supraglottoplasty.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: University hospital.

Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 modulates vascular remodeling in vitro and in vivo.

Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1), a cellular adhesion molecule of the Ig superfamily, is associated with early stages of angiogenesis. In vitro, CEACAM1 regulates proliferation, migration, and differentiation of murine endothelial cells. To prove that CEACAM1 is functionally involved in the regulation of vascular remodeling in vivo, we analyzed 2 different genetic models: in Ceacam1-/- mice, the Ceacam1 gene was deleted systemically, and in CEACAM1(endo+) mice, CEACAM1 was overexpressed under the control of the endothelial cell-specific promoter of the Tie2 receptor tyrosine kinase.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Immune-mediated Neuropathies.

The chronic autoimmune neuropathies are a diverse group of disorders, whose diagnosis and classification is based on the clinical presentations and results of ancillary tests. In chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, controlled therapeutic trials demonstrated efficacy for intravenous gamma-globulins, corticosteroids, and plasmaphereis. In multifocal motor neuropathy, intravenous gamma-globulins have been shown to be effective.

Muon-pair production by atmospheric muons in CosmoALEPH.

Data from a dedicated cosmic ray run of the ALEPH detector were used in a study of muon trident production, i.e., muon pairs produced by muons.

Small-fiber neuropathy/neuronopathy associated with celiac disease: skin biopsy findings.

Background: Celiac disease (CD) is increasingly recognized in North America and is associated with a peripheral neuropathy.

Objective: To report the clinical characteristics and skin biopsy results in patients with CD and small-fiber neuropathy symptoms.

Design: Case series.

Multifocal acquired sensory and motor neuropathy: electrodiagnostic features.

The electrodiagnostic studies of 13 consecutive patients with multifocal sensory and motor neuropathy of unknown etiology were reviewed to determine whether they exhibit features of demyelination or axonal degeneration. The type and frequency of demyelinating features, fulfillment of electrodiagnostic criteria for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), and response to immunotherapy were noted. Of 13 patients, 11 had at least one electrodiagnostic feature of demyelination at presentation and 2 had none.

Brainstem hyperexcitability during cataplexy.

The exact cause of narcolepsy-cataplexy syndrome remains unclear; however, the recent discovery of hypocretin deficiency in the lateral hypothalamus of narcoleptic patients has increased our understanding of its etiology. The authors performed masseter reflex, tibial F response, and blink reflex excitability studies during and between attacks in a 66-year-old man with status cataplecticus. Masseter reflex and F responses were inhibited while the blink reflex R2 component was enhanced during attacks, suggesting either hyperexcitability or disinhibition of pontine and/or medullary interneurons but hypoexcitability of pontine and spinal motor neurons during cataplexy.

Effect of amplifier gain setting on distal motor latency in normal subjects and CTS patients.

Objective: To determine normative cutoffs and sensitivities for median distal latency (MDL), median-thenar to ulnar-thenar latency difference (TTLD), and median-thenar to ulnar-hypothenar latency difference (THLD) at various amplifier gains for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) electrodiagnosis. A prior study utilized only an amplifier gain of 0.2 mV/division.

Mechanisms underlying celiac disease and its neurologic manifestations.

The extra-intestinal manifestations of celiac disease (CD), including ataxia and peripheral neuropathy, are increasingly being recognized as the presenting symptoms of this autoimmune disease. Although there is a greater understanding of the pathogenesis of the intestinal lesions in CD the mechanisms behind the neurologic manifestations of CD have not been elucidated. In this article, the authors review the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind the histopathologic changes in the intestine, discuss the presentation and characteristics of neurologic manifestations of CD, review the data on the mechanisms behind these manifestations, and discuss the diagnosis and treatment of CD.

Peripheral neuropathy in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Peripheral neuropathy (PN) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients has been reported as individual cases or small series; however, its clinical and electrodiagnostic features have not been well characterized. We conducted a retrospective review of patients with PN and either Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). Eighteen patients with CD and 15 patients with UC were identified after other PN causes were excluded.

Characterization of neuropathies associated with elevated IgM serum levels.

Background: In contrast to the IgM monoclonal gammopathies the neuropathy associated with polyclonal IgM gammopathy has not been well characterized.

Objective: To characterize the neuropathy in patients with elevated serum IgM.

Design: Retrospective review.

Gene expression profiling in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.

Gene expression in archived frozen sural nerve biopsies of patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) was compared to that in vasculitic nerve biopsies (VAS) and to normal nerve (NN) by DNA microarray technology. Hierarchical clustering analysis demonstrated distinct gene expression patterns distinguishing these disease groups. Of particular interest were: (1) Tachykinin precursor 1, which may be involved in pain mediation; (2) Stearoyl-CoA-desaturase, which may be a marker for remyelination and (3) the Allograft Inflammatory Factor 1 (AIF-1), a modulator of immune response during macrophage activation.

Correlation of immunochemical detection of HPV L1 capsid protein in pap smears with regression of high-risk HPV positive mild/moderate dysplasia.

Objective: To immunostain Pap smears of high-risk (hr) HPV DNA-positive early squamous lesions for detecting HPV L1 protein.

Study Design: Routinely stained archival slides from 84 mild and moderate hrHPV DNA-positive dysplasias were immunostained using a panreactive HPV L1 antibody. Follow-up smears were taken from women with remission for a mean period of 22.

Neuropathy and cognitive impairment following vaccination with the OspA protein of Borrelia burgdorferi.

Neurological syndromes that follow vaccination or infection are often attributed to autoimmune mechanisms. We report six patients who developed neuropathy or cognitive impairment, within several days to 2 months, following vaccination with the OspA antigen of Borrelia burgdorferi. Two of the patients developed cognitive impairment, one chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), one multifocal motor neuropathy, one both cognitive impairment and CIDP, and one cognitive impairment and sensory axonal neuropathy.

Sensory CIDP presenting as cryptogenic sensory polyneuropathy.

The objective of this study was to report that patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) can present with a clinical picture of cryptogenic sensory neuropathy. Patients with distal sensory neuropathy and electrodiagnostic studies that are minimally abnormal or consistent with an axonal pathology are usually diagnosed as having cryptogenic sensory neuropathy if no cause for neuropathy can be found. Some of these patients, however, may have sensory CIDP.

Search for extraterrestrial point sources of neutrinos with AMANDA-II.

We present the results of a search for point sources of high-energy neutrinos in the northern hemisphere using AMANDA-II data collected in the year 2000. Included are flux limits on several active-galactic-nuclei blazars, microquasars, magnetars, and other candidate neutrino sources. A search for excesses above a random background of cosmic-ray-induced atmospheric neutrinos and misreconstructed downgoing cosmic-ray muons reveals no statistically significant neutrino point sources.

Neurologic complications of celiac disease.

Neurologic complications of celiac disease (CD) include ataxia and peripheral neuropathy, which can be the presenting symptoms and signs. Early diagnosis and intervention could prevent development of further neurologic and systemic complications. Questions remain regarding the prevalence of the neurologic complications, the pathophysiological mechanisms, and the effectiveness of therapy or response to a gluten-free diet.

Comparison of electrodiagnostic abnormalities and criteria in a cohort of patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.

Background: Current electrodiagnostic criteria for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) are research oriented favoring specificity over sensitivity. Application of such criteria in clinical practice may miss the diagnosis in potentially treatable patients.

Objectives: To analyze the electrophysiologic abnormalities in a cohort of patients with clinically defined CIDP, to compare these data with published electrodiagnostic criteria, and to identify a set of abnormalities that is shared by all patients with CIDP.

Limits on diffuse fluxes of high energy extraterrestrial neutrinos with the AMANDA-B10 detector.

Data from the AMANDA-B10 detector taken during the austral winter of 1997 have been searched for a diffuse flux of high energy extraterrestrial muon neutrinos. This search yielded no excess events above those expected from background atmospheric neutrinos, leading to upper limits on the extraterrestrial neutrino flux measured at the earth. For an assumed E-2 spectrum, a 90% classical confidence level upper limit has been placed at a level E2Phi(E)=8.