Mitral valve prolapse in craniofacial skeletal deformities.

Mitral valve prolapse is a manifestation of a diffuse connective tissue disorder resulting from mesenchymal dysplasia, and it may have an increased association with orthognathic craniofacial deformities. Since craniofacial deformities also result from mesenchymal dysplasias, there may be a causal relationship between them and mitral valve prolapse. Mitral valve prolapse is reviewed briefly in relation to the embryologic development of the facial skeleton.

Malignant hyperthermia in a patient receiving nitrous oxide.

A patient who had malignant hyperthermia that apparently was triggered by nitrous oxide anesthesia even though he was premedicated with dantrolene sodium was successfully managed on a separate occasion using dantrolene without nitrous oxide.

Rearrangement of neuronal responses in the trigeminal system of the rat following peripheral nerve section.

The infraorbital nerve was cut in either neonatal (on day 0) or adult (day 60) rats and the peripheral regeneration prevented. After 60 days either anatomical or electrophysiological techniques were used to study the peripheral nerve, trigeminal nucleus and somatosensory cortex. In neonatally sectioned animals the number of myelinated fibres surviving, at 60 days, in the peripheral nerve proximal to the lesion was 11% compared with 100% survival after adult nerve section.

Acupuncture in the prophylactic treatment of migraine headaches: pilot study.

This study was planned as a pilot study to determine to what extent acupuncture might help in severe cases of migraine and, if possible, to see whether the mechanism was endorphin mediated. The study was carried out on 16 subjects who had severe and regular migraine for more than five years (mean duration 24 years). The study lasted eight months and was divided into four blocks of two months each: pre-treatment, treatment block I, treatment block II, and post-treatment.

The peripheral and central changes resulting from cutting or crushing the afferent nerve supply to the whiskers.

In neonatal rats, crushing or cutting the infraorbital nerve, the sensory nerve supply to the whiskers, has been found to prevent cortical barrel formation. However, both procedures are followed by regeneration of one-third to one-half of the nerve fibres and reinnervation of the whiskers. By counting fibres in individual whisker follicle nerves, it has been shown that 29-67% (mean 45%) of the myelinated fibres regenerate to the whiskers after a crush compared to 24-56% (mean 39%) after a cut.

The efficacy of acupuncture as an aid to stopping smoking.

The present study examines the usefulness of acupuncture as an aid to stopping smoking. Results from 405 subjects show acupuncture can help between 5 and 15 percent of the population to stop smoking for at least six months. Using chronically implanted press needles, previously reported 'effective' auricular acupuncture points for smoking cessation are shown to be no better than 'placebo' auricular points.

Whiskers and barrels: irreversible induction, or ipsilateral maintenance?

Section of the maxillary nerve on post-natal day 3 prevents the formation of barrels in the contralateral sensory cortex, whereas on day 4 the barrels are secure and remain so indefinitely after section of the nerve. The latter result has now been found to be true even if the ipsilateral nerve is cut as well. Thus barrels are irreversibly induced on day 4 by some influence that ascends the contralateral maxillary nerve, and their continued existence after contralateral nerve section is not due to a maintaining influence from the ipsilateral nerve.

The effect of destroying the whisker follicles in mice on the sensory nerve, the thalamocortical radiation and cortical barrel development.

Electrolytic destruction of whisker follicles in mice on the day of birth has been found to cause degeneration in the sensory nerve fibres supplying the follicles. The severity of the degeneration has been assessed in animals between 2 and 20 days old by counting the total number of myelinated fibres in the maxillary nerves on both normal and lesioned sides. The degeneration is apparent after 2 days and by 20 days the nerve on the lesioned side contains only 38% of the normal fibre content.

Normal nerve fibers in the barrel region of developing and adult mouse cortex.

The pattern of normal nerve fibers associated with barrel-shaped structures in the somatosensory cortex of both young and adult mice, has been studied using a reduced silver method. In adult animals, the "barrel" sides and septa can be seen to contain densely packed bundles of nerve fibers running vertically between layers III and V. In parasagittal sections, these fibers appear as very dark bands between adjacent barrels, while in tangenital sections the fibers, cut in cross-section, appear as rings of dark spots concentrated around the barrel edges.

Responses in the rat thalamus to whisker movements produced by motor nerve stimulation.

1. The effect of electrical stimulation of the motor nerve supplying the whiskers on the activity of single cells in the vibrissal region of the ventrobasal complex of the thalamus has been studied in rats under urethane anaesthesia.2.

The responses of cells in the rat thalamus to mechanical movements of the whiskers.

1. The responses of single cells to mechanical movements of individual whiskers have been recorded from the ventro-basal complex of the thalamus, in rats under urethane or barbiturate anaesthesia.2.

Somatotopic organization of vibrissal responses in the ventro-basal complex of the rat thalamus.

1. The region of the ventro-basal complex (VB) of the thalamus responding to movements of the whiskers has been mapped electrophysiologically in rats under either urethane or barbiturate anaesthesia.2.