[Aortic input impedance in ventricular septal defect].

Aortic input impedance and hydraulic power were measured in patients with ventricular septal defect (VSD). Aortic input impedance consists of the characteristic impedance (index of aortic distensibility) and the terminal impedance (index of peripheral resistance) which represent the left ventricular hydraulic load. The external left ventricular hydraulic power consists of steady power which transmits blood to the peripheral vasculature and pulsatile power which is converted into heat energy.

Chronic herpes simplex encephalitis with somnambulism: CT, MR and SPECT findings.

A 64-year-old male with herpes simplex encephalitis had shown somnambulism and memory disturbance for nine months before consciousness disturbance appeared. Brain CT, MR and SPECT revealed lesions in the right temporal lobe. The atypical clinical course of this patient, including chronicity and focal symptom, is discussed.

Carmofur-induced organic mental disorders.

Organic mental disorder was observed in a 29-year-old female in the prognostic period after the onset of carmofur-induced leukoencephalopathy. Symptoms such as euphoria, emotional lability and puerile attitude noted in the patient were diagnosed as organic personality syndrome according to the criteria defined in the DSM-III-R. It is referred to as a frontal lobe syndrome.

Enlargement of the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle in schizophrenic patients: chronological and morphometrical studies.

The anterior horn and lateral ventricular sizes of the brain CT were selected for measurement and comparison between 47 schizophrenic patients and 48 neurotic cases, which constituted the control subjects. The ventricular brain ratio (VBR) and the linear ratio (LR 1-6) in multiple age groups were calculated, analyzed and compared using the Student's t test, the two-way ANOVA and Bonferroni's methods. It was found that the VBR of the anterior horn and modified bicaudate cerebroventricular index of the teenage schizophrenics were significantly greater than those of the teenage controls (p less than 0.

[Virological studies of the virus shedding pattern of natural measles].

Using a novel, highly sensitive cell culture system, B95a cells, I investigated the virus shedding of measles virus (MV) of 47 cases with natural measles. MV was isolated from both peripheral blood leukocytes and respiratory secretions up to 6 days from the onset of the rash. By fractionation of blood, MV was isolated from lymphocytes and monocytes up to 6 days from the onset of the rash, however it disappeared rapidly within 48 hours from the plasma.

GABA-gated chloride ion influx in brains of epileptic El mice.

GABA-gated chloride ion influx was measured in brain "microsac" preparations of epileptic El mice. There was significantly greater sensitivity to GABA in stimulated El mice (which had 14-18 convulsions induced at weekly intervals) than in unstimulated El mice (which had not experienced convulsions) or ddY mice. GABA-gated chloride ion influx was significantly decreased 20 min after a single convulsion, and returned to the preconvulsion level 60 min after a convulsion.

Decreased benzodiazepine receptor binding in epileptic El mice: a quantitative autoradiographic study.

Benzodiazepine receptors and subtypes were examined in El mice and normal ddY mice with a quantitative autoradiographic technique. Specific [3H]flunitrazepam binding in stimulated El mice, which had experienced repeated convulsions, was significantly lower in the cortex and hippocampus than in ddY mice and unstimulated El mice. In the amygdala, specific [3H]flunitrazepam binding in stimulated El mice was lower than in ddY mice.

Neuropsychiatric disturbances in a patient with a nonmosaic isodicentric (X) (q21.32) chromosome.

A 41-year-old female patient with mental retardation and generalized epileptic seizure had a nonmosaic idic (X) (pter-q21.32::q21.32-pter) chromosome in peripheral lymphocytes and bone marrow cells.

[Study of neuromuscular transmission with evoked electromyography--10. Comparison of the responses during partial blockade by bungarotoxin and non-depolarizing relaxants].

Effects of alpha-bungarotoxin (alpha BuTX) on muscle compound action potentials (CAPs) which were elicited from gastrocnemius muscle by sciatic nerve stimulation in cats were studied, and the results were compared with those of non-depolarizing relaxants including d-tubocurarine, pancuronium and vecuronium. The amplitude of CAP by the second member of the paired stimuli (test response) was compared with that evoked by the first component (conditioning response). The interval between the two components of the paired stimuli (the pair interval) was increased stepwise from 7 to 1,000 msec and a curve (recovery curve, RC) was obtained by relating the changes in pair interval to the difference in amplitude of the test and conditioning responses.

Cerebral and abdominal arterial hemodynamics in preterm infants with patent ductus arteriosus.

Using Doppler echocardiography we evaluated the effect of ductal shunt flow on the cerebral and abdominal arterial blood flow in 25 preterm infants. Eligible for inclusion in this study were healthy preterm newborn infants. They were divided into two groups based on their gestational age: group A, 33-36 weeks (15 infants) and group B, 28-32 weeks (10 infants).

NMDA-sensitive L-[3H]glutamate binding in cerebral cortex of El mice.

NMDA-sensitive L-[3H]glutamate binding was examined in the brains of El mice, a genetic animal model of epilepsy, and in ddY mice. In whole brain, Scatchard analysis showed that both stimulated and unstimulated El mice had significantly lower Bmax values for binding than did ddY mice. In regional studies, the binding of NMDA-sensitive L-[3H]glutamate was significantly less in the cerebral cortex of both stimulated and unstimulated El mice than in that of ddY mice.

ACTH therapy in infantile spasms: relationship between dose of ACTH and initial effect or long-term prognosis.

The relationship between the dose of ACTH and the initial effect was investigated in 41 children with infantile spasms. More than 0.015 mg (0.

Automated enzymatic measurement of adenosine deaminase isoenzyme activities in serum.

We developed a simple, rapid, and automated method for simultaneous measurement of adenosine deaminase (ADA, EC 3.5.4.

Effects of aerial spraying of insecticides on nontarget macrobenthos in a mountain stream.

The effects of aerial spraying of an insecticide were investigated in a mountain stream using a drift net. The concentration of fenitrothion (organophosphorus insecticide) in the river water increased to ca. 20 micrograms liter-1 3 hr after the spraying and decreased exponentially to half the peak value after 2 hr.

Criss-cross heart evaluated by colour Doppler echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Two-dimensional colour Doppler echocardiography was performed on a 1-month-old male infant with criss-cross heart, double outlet right ventricle, ventricular septum defect and pulmonary stenosis. Complex structural abnormalities were suspected after two-dimensional echocardiography (2-D echo) and confirmed by colour Doppler and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We stress that the blood streams in the ventricular inflow tracts revealed by colour Doppler and the spatial relationships of the cardiac segments disclosed by MRI are essential to make an accurate non-invasive diagnosis of this complex malformation.

Eye movements in acute, chronic, and remitted schizophrenics.

Eye movements in 10 acute schizophrenics, 50 chronic schizophrenics, 20 remitted schizophrenics, 25 methamphetamine psychotics, 21 temporal lobe epileptics with left-sided spike focus (l-focus), 12 temporal lobe epileptics with right-sided spike focus (r-focus), and 50 normal controls were examined with an eye mark recorder while they viewed geometric figures. The eye movements while viewing an original "S"-shaped figure for 15 sec were analyzed. Each schizophrenic group and methamphetamine psychotics had significantly less eye fixations than the normal controls and temporal lobe epileptics (r-focus and l-focus).

Echocardiographic spectrum of double inlet ventricle: evaluation of the interventricular communication.

To determine the spectrum and associated anomalies of double inlet ventricle (single ventricle), echocardiographic data of 50 patients with double inlet ventricle were reviewed and compared with the data obtained by cardiac catheterization, cardiac surgery and autopsy. Standard echocardiographic planes were used to determine the cardiac anatomy and the size of the interventricular communication. Double inlet by way of two perforate valves was found in 44 patients.

Involvement of the noradrenergic system in the seizures of epileptic El mice.

We studied the role of the noradrenergic system in the seizures of epileptic El mice. To this end, the anticonvulsant activity of adrenergic drugs was tested with a scoring method, and the binding of [3H]dihydroalprenolol, [3H]prazosin and [3H]yohimbine was evaluated in whole brains and various brain regions from stimulated and unstimulated El mice, and their maternal ddy mice. The seizures of El mice were inhibited by noradrenaline, phenylephrine, oxymetazoline, clonidine and yohimbine in a dose-dependent manner.

[Prevalence of anti-human parvovirus antibody in pregnant women].

Human parvovirus B19 (B19) has been shown to be associated with erythema infectiosum. Recently, it was reported that when a pregnant woman is infected with B19, the fetus in her uterus sometimes becomes hydropic and results in a stillbirth. But no epidemiologic study of pregnant women in Japan has been performed yet.

[Variations in blood cholinesterase activity and exposure to chlorpyrifos in termite-control workers].

Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate insecticide, has often been used as a termite-control agent since the advent of regulatory measures against the use of chlordanes in September 1986. A current concern is hazards such as organophosphorus poisoning among termite-control workers. In this study, the blood cholinesterase activity, the number of hours engaged in termite-control work, general conditions, and various test values were examined regularly in eight workers at a termite-control office.

Solitary interruption of the aortic arch with stenotic origin of the left subclavian artery in 45, XO/46, XY/47, XYY mosaicism.

A four-year-old boy whose karyotype was 45, XO/46, XY/47, XYY mosaicism was diagnosed as having interruption of the aortic arch without ventricular septal defect or patent ductus arteriosus, complicated by stenotic origin of the left subclavian artery, which resembled coarctation of the aorta hemodynamically. Solitary interruption of the aortic arch is a very rare anomaly.

Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy (MELAS) with mental disorder. CT, MRI and SPECT findings.

A case of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy (MELAS) with mental disorder is reported. The SPECT study using 123I-iodoamphetamine (IMP) and MRI study revealed abnormality in the left parieto-occipital areas without abnormality in the brain CT or brain scintigram. These findings suggest a localized dysfunction of the brain capillary endothelium in association with the cerebral involvement of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy.

A clinical case of Klinefelter's syndrome with various psychiatric symptoms.

We present here a clinical case of Klinefelter's syndrome with various psychiatric symptoms. A 60-year-old male showed delusions of persecution, poisoning, and reference, auditory, visual and somatic hallucinations, depressive state and memory disturbance. These clinical symptoms except for memory disturbance were the characteristic clinical features of psychiatric symptoms in some cases of Klinefelter's syndrome reported so far.