Lymph node micrometastases of cutaneous melanoma: increased sensitivity of molecular diagnosis in comparison to immunohistochemistry.

The presence of regional lymph node metastases is one of the most significant prognostic factors for predicting survival in patients with clinical stage I or II cutaneous melanoma. For accurate staging of the primary tumor a sensitive technique is required to detect occult nodal micrometastases. This prospective diagnostic study was designed to evaluate the incidence of nodal micrometastases using nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for tyrosinase in comparison to immunohistochemical examination.

[Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: hemodynamic effects of selective pulmonary artery DSA with nonionic contrast media].

Purpose: This study evaluates the effects of pulmonary bolus injection of nonionic contrast medium on pulmonary artery pressure and resistance in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Methods: In 39 patients (age 52 +/- 15) haemodynamic measurements were performed during bolus injection of nonionic contrast medium in a control group (I), in moderately severe (II) and severe pulmonary hypertension (III).

Results: Initial inspiratory arrest caused significant pressure increase in all groups prior to bolus injection (delta PAsyst: 7.

Detection of coronary artery calcifications predicting coronary heart disease: comparison of fluoroscopy and spiral CT.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical relevance of coronary artery calcifications detected by spiral CT, congruence with fluoroscopy (FS) and coronary angiography, and comparison with studies reporting on application of double-helical CT and ultrafast CT. Forty patients underwent spiral CT (2-mm slice thickness, table feed 3 mm/s), coronary angiography, and FS (performed in the usual manner). Stenosis and calcifications were evaluated semiquantitatively.

[A new method for imaging ventilation-distribution with 3Helium in magnetic resonance tomography].

Background: Conventional 1H-MRI of the lung is restricted by susceptibility effects and low proton density: Recently, imaging of lung ventilation in MRI has become feasible using hyperpolarised inert gases with a spin of I = 1/2, such as 3He and 129Xe, as inhalative "contrast agents". New technical developments, preclinical and clinical application of this method are described.

Materials And Methods: With optical laser pumping high polarisation rates can be achieved, resulting in a high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N).

Dynamic phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy in arterial occlusive disease: effects of vascular therapy on spectroscopic results.

Rationale And Objectives: The aim of the authors' prospective study was to explore therapy-induced changes of muscular metabolism in arterial occlusive disease (AOD).

Materials: Before and after vascular therapy, respectively, 31 patients with AOD were examined by dynamic phosphorus-31 (31P) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 1.5 T; in the magnet, the quadriceps muscle was stressed by an isometric and an isotonic form of exercise until exhaustion, respectively.

Bone marrow scintigraphy with technetium-99m anti-NCA-95 to monitor therapy in malignant osteopetrosis.

We report a case of a 2-mo-old girl with malignant osteopetrosis. Conventional radiological investigations of the skull and left hand showed the characteristic pattern of generalized sclerosis. Bone marrow immunoscintigraphy with 99mTc-labeled antibodies against nonspecific cross-reactive antigen (NCA) 95 was performed before and after bone marrow transplantation.

Pulmonary nodules: detection with low-dose vs conventional-dose spiral CT.

The purpose of the study was the evaluation of low-dose spiral CT in the detection and assessment of contours of pulmonary nodules. In a prospective investigation 71 consecutive chest CT examinations were acquired both at 30 and 200 mA. Films were interpreted independently by two radiologists.

[Low-field MR arthrography of the shoulder: early results using an open 0.2T MR system].

Purpose: To assess the practicability and image quality of doing MR arthrography of the shoulder using a 0.2T system.

Patients And Method: 60 patients (24 with chronic instability, 36 with impingement syndrome) were examined in an open 0.

Fear of intimacy and attachment among rape survivors.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate attachment and fear of intimacy among rape survivors. As previous research has documented that several domains of functioning are affected by the experience of rape, it was hypothesized that the survivors may have difficulties with attachment and intimacy. Subjects were selected from an undergraduate general psychology class on the basis of responses to a questionnaire on sexual experiences.

[Histotomography studies of direct radiogenic dental enamel changes].

Objective: The volume of literature on radiation-induced caries is still inconsistent as regards the state of the art. Our histotomographic studies have shown direct radiogenic effects on the dentoenamel junction (atrophy of the odontoblast processes). Whether there are direct effects of radiation on dental enamel is not yet known.

[Diagnostic imaging of benign and malignant liver tumors: computerized tomography or magnetic resonance tomography?].

A reliable preoperative detection and characterization of all liver lesions is necessary for the clarification of the operability of a patient. In patients, who are considered as good candidates for a partial liver resection, a double spiral-CT with an oral bowel opacification and an intravenous contrast medium administration is recommended. In those patients, who continue to be candidates for partial liver resection after CT, a CT arterioportography with arterial and portalvenous liver enhancement should be performed as the present gold standard of preoperative liver diagnostics.

[Effect of oxygen inhalation on hemodynamics in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension].

Purpose: This study evaluates the haemodynamic effects of oxygen inhalation on pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Method: In 47 patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension haemodynamic parameters were measured before and after oxygen inhalation.

Results: In moderately severe and severe pulmonary hypertension oxygen inhalation significantly reduced mean pulmonary artery pressure by about 11.

Mutations in hamster single-strand break repair gene XRCC1 causing defective DNA repair.

The molecular basis for the DNA repair dysfunction observed in mutant Chinese hamster ovary cell lines of X-ray repair cross complementing group 1 (XRCC1) is unknown and the exact role of the XRCC1 protein remains unclear. To help clarify the role of the XRCC1 gene we analyzed four mutant cell lines of this complementation group and a revertant cell line for XRCC1 protein content and for sequence alterations in the XRCC1 coding region. Immunoblot analysis of cellular extracts indicated that each of four mutant lines was lacking XRCC1 protein, whereas the repair-proficient revertant line derived from one of these mutants contained a normal level of XRCC1.

[CT-angiography in carotid stenosis].

Purpose: Prospective evaluation of the accuracy of CT angiography (CTA) with different postprocessing for extracranial carotid artery in comparison with DSA.

Method: One hundred patients were studied with standardized CTA. For postprocessing, MPR, MIP, and 3D reconstruction based on segmentation with upper and lower threshold were used.

Superior labrum and labral-bicipital complex: MR imaging with pathologic-anatomic and histologic correlation.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze the anatomic relationship between the superior labrum, the superior glenoid rim, the superior glenohumeral ligament, and the long head of the biceps tendon.

Materials And Methods: Seventeen cadaveric shoulder specimens underwent axial, oblique coronal, and oblique sagittal MR imaging on a 1.5-T imager.

Caspase-mediated proteolysis during apoptosis: insights from apoptotic neutrophils.

Apoptosis is initiated by activation of caspases (interleukin 1beta-converting enzyme homologues), which cause coordinated cleavage of several death substrates that function in structural or homeostatic pathways. The relationship between substrate cleavage and apoptosis is not yet known, nor is it clear whether cleavage of specific substrates is a critical requirement for apoptosis. The human neutrophil provides novel insights into the roles of proteolysis of specific substrates during apoptosis, since only a subset of caspase substrates are present in mature neutrophils.

Cross-talk between transcriptional regulation by thyroid hormone and myogenin: new aspects of the Ca2+-dependent expression of the fast-type sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase.

We have previously demonstrated an interaction between the major determinants of skeletal muscle phenotype by showing that continuous contractile activity represses the thyroid hormone (3,3', 5-tri-iodothyronine; T3)-dependent transcriptional activity of fast-type sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic-reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA1), a characteristic of the fast phenotype. Both the free cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and the myogenic determination factors MyoD and myogenin have been implicated as mediators of the effect of contractile activity on skeletal muscle phenotype. Using L6 cells we have shown that an increase in the steady-state [Ca2+]i above the resting level of 120 nM indeed can mimic the effect of contractile activity on T3-dependent SERCA1 expression.

[New evidence for the etiology of so-called radiation caries. Proof for directed radiogenic damage od the enamel-dentin junction].

Aim: In spite of a great number of relevant studies the etiology of radiation induced caries still is discussed in controversy: The assumption of direct radiation induced lesions in the hard tissue is in contrast to an indirect pathogenesis mediated via radio-xerostomia.

Methods: A systematic study is presented, comparing teeth with a manifest radiation caries (group 1, about 60 Gy, long interval to the extraction) and clinically caries free teeth (group 2, about 30 Gy, short interval) with tooth specimens after an experimental enoral (in situ) irradiation (60 Gy, group 3) and after in vitro irradiation (500 to 2,500 Gy, group 4). 60Co was the irradiation source.

Identification of a novel human RAD51 homolog, RAD51B.

The highly conserved Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD51 protein functions in both mitotic and meiotic homologous recombination and in double-strand break repair. Screening of the public cDNA sequence database for RAD51-like genes led to the identification of a partial sequence from a breast tissue library present in the I.M.

[CT angiography in arterial occlusive disease: comparison of 3 rendering techniques].

Purpose: To evaluate different rendering techniques of CT data for the assessment of long vessel segments in peripheral vascular occlusive disease.

Material And Methods: 40 CT angiograms (aortoiliac: n = 20, leg arteries: n = 20) were viewed using three different rendering techniques: 1, maximum intensity projection (MIP); 2, volume rendering (VR); 3, shaded surface display (SSD). CT angiograms were obtained in 6 or 8 projections.

Dynamic phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy in arterial occlusive disease. Correlation with clinical and angiographic findings and comparison with healthy volunteers.

Rationale And Objectives: The aim of this prospective study was to explore muscular metabolism in arterial occlusive disease (AOD) by dynamic phosphorus-31 (31P) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).

Methods: The authors examined 56 patients with AOD. Acquisition of up to 60 consecutive phosphorus spectra of the quadriceps muscle was done by "time series" in 36 seconds each.

Early detection of pneumonia in febrile neutropenic patients: use of thin-section CT.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of thin-section CT for early detection of pneumonia in neutropenic patients with an unknown site of infection and normal or nonspecific findings on chest radiographs.

Subjects And Methods: Eighty-seven patients with febrile neutropenia that persisted for more than 2 days despite empiric antibiotic treatment underwent 146 prospective examinations. If findings on chest radiographs were normal (n = 126) or nonspecific (n = 20), thin-section CT (1-mm collimation, 10-mm increment) was done.

G-Protein-coupled receptors and Fcgamma-receptors mediate activation of Akt/protein kinase B in human phagocytes.

Activation of the serine/threonine kinase Akt, also called protein kinase B (PKB), was investigated in human neutrophils. Stimulation of the cells with the chemoattractant fMet-Leu-Phe or the chemokines IL-8 and GROalpha leads to the rapid and transient activation of PKB. Maximum PKB activation correlates with the well documented kinetics of respiratory burst and exocytosis.

CT angiography versus intraarterial digital subtraction angiography for assessment of aortoiliac occlusive disease.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of CT angiography (CTA) with a single helical acquisition for assessment of stenoses and occlusions of the iliac arteries.

Subjects And Methods: In our prospective study, intraarterial digital subtraction angiography and IV CTA were performed from the suprarenal aorta to below the femoral bifurcation in 30 patients with vascular occlusive disease. Maximum-intensity-projection images in multiple views were also obtained.