An epidemiological study of the incidence of abnormal pregnancy in areas heavily contaminated with methylmercury.

To determine the relationship between abnormal pregnancy in humans and methylmercury contamination, a retrospective study was conducted on women in two heavily contaminated areas, Modo (area M) and Akasaki (area A). Abnormal pregnancy was defined as fetal death, i.e.

Psychophysical sensory examination in individuals with a history of methylmercury exposure.

Paresthesias are the first symptom that people report following toxic doses of methylmercury. The authors conducted a psychophysical study of tactile sensation to evaluate the somatosensory abilities of subjects living in a methylmercury-polluted area around Minamata City, Japan. The authors examined control subjects and methylmercury-exposed subjects with and without numbness.

Unsuspected extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma simulating ovarian tumor.

We report on a case of an extraadrenal pheochromocytoma simulating an ovarian tumor. Before intervention, the patient exhibited no symptoms suggestive of pheochromocytoma. Nevertheless, during surgery she experienced marked blood pressure fluctuations, and an unsuspected extraadrenal pheochromocytoma was diagnosed.

Initial and postoperative hyponatremia associated with pituitary adenoma: a case report.

This 67 year-old man experienced 3 episodes of symptomatic hyponatraemia. Radiological examination revealed a sellar lesion and the tumour was removed via the transsphenoidal route. Thereafter, he simultaneously developed intractable diabetes insipidus and serious hyponatraemia with persistent natriuresis.

Extraordinarily high eosinophilia and elevated serum interleukin-5 level observed in a patient infected with Paragonimus westermani.

Objective: Although eosinophilia is one of the typical clinical features of some helminth infections, the degree of eosinophilia in helminthiasis is usually 10% to 30% with a total white blood cell count of 10,000 to 20,000/mm3. Here we report a case of extraordinarily high eosinophilia (91%; absolute eosinophil count, 84,000/mm3) caused by Paragonimus westermani infection. To determine the mechanisms of eosinophilia, the levels of several eosinophilopoietic cytokines in the patient's sera were measured during the course of treatment.

Isolated oculomotor nerve palsy following midbrain infarction.

A 62 year-old male patient presented with isolated oculomotor nerve palsy following a small infarction of the medial ventral midbrain, documented by magnetic resonance imaging. There was a 12-year history of hypertension, but no diabetes mellitus. Angiography revealed atherosclerosis of the paramedian mesencephalic arteries.