Use of BCG in high prevalence areas for HIV.

Recommendations state that, where the risk of tuberculosis is high, BCG should be administered to infants as early in life as possible, even if the mother is known to be HIV-infected. BCG should be withheld from individuals with symptomatic HIV infections. However, continuing reports from sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere of BCG complications in HIV-infected persons call for a re-assessment of current vaccination policies.

Decompressive craniectomy for cerebral infarction. An experimental study in rats.

Background And Purpose: Acute ischemia in the territory of the carotid artery can lead to massive cerebral edema with raised intracranial pressure and progression to coma and death due to uncal, cingulate, or tonsillar herniation. Thus far, only anecdotal experience with supratentorial ischemia treated by decompressive craniectomy has been reported; and there are no published experimental data dealing with this kind of therapy in acute supratentorial stroke. In this study, we present our results on the effect of decompressive craniectomy in an endovascular model of cerebral infarction in rats.

Early MR detection of experimentally induced cerebral ischemia using magnetic susceptibility contrast agents: comparison between gadopentetate dimeglumine and iron oxide particles.

Purpose: To evaluate early patterns of MR changes in a rat model of cerebral ischemia using the first pass of two magnetic susceptibility contrast agents.

Methods: One hours after endovascular middle cerebral artery occlusion, all animals were examined in an experimental MR unit. After bolus application of gadopentetate dimeglumine and, 10 minutes later, of iron oxide particles, the MR changes of the first pass of these contrast agents were followed using a T2*-weighted fast low-angle shot sequence.

Lipid A binding to neonatal and adult red blood cells.

Lipid A is responsible for the endotoxic activities of gram-negative bacteria. Binding of lipid A (50 micrograms/ml) to RBC was studied using a passive hemolysis test. RBC from adults, cord and venous RBC from full-term infants and RBC from preterm infants were studied.

Significance of haemorrhagic lacunes on MRI in patients with hypertensive cerebrovascular disease and intracerebral haemorrhage.

Our purpose was to determine the frequency and significance of haemorrhagic lacunes (HL) on MRI in patients with a history of, or at risk for intracerebral haemorrhage. We examined 72 patients with old spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) using T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo sequences. MRI studies of 137 consecutive patients with cerebrovascular disease but no known ICH were also reviewed.

Reactive hyperemia of skin microcirculation in septic neonates.

Reactive hyperemia after 1 min of arterial occlusion was studied in back, thigh and heel skin of 40 preterm and full-term neonates using laser Doppler flowmetry. Twelve infants had clinical signs of septicemia, but normal laboratory tests at the time of fluxmetry. However, CRP, leukocyte count and the ratio of immature to total neutrophils increased during the following days and septicemia was confirmed by positive blood cultures (septic group).

MRI monitoring of experimental cerebral ischaemia: comparison of two models.

In experimental stroke research one of the key questions is whether animals models truly reflect human disease. One important reason for modelling stroke is to produce tissue changes that can be used to validate the correlation between the results of advanced radiological imaging and pathology. The aim of this study was to compare two minimally invasive rat models of focal ischaemic stroke as to their ability to simulate clinical stroke reproducibly.

MRI in acute cerebral ischaemia: perfusion imaging with superparamagnetic iron oxide in a rat model.

An imaging technique capable of detecting ischaemic cerebral injury at an early stage could improve diagnosis in acute or transient cerebral ischaemia. We compared the ability of superparamagnetically contrast-enhanced MRI and conventional T2-weighted MRI to detect ischaemic injury early after unilateral occlusion of the middle cerebral artery in 12 male Wistar rats. Permanent vessel occlusion was achieved by a transvascular approach, which has the advantage of not requiring a craniectomy.

Extirpation of glioblastomas: MR and CT follow-up of residual tumor and regrowth patterns.

Purpose: To optimize the timing of CT and MR after glioblastoma resection and to define the pattern of tumor regrowth.

Subjects And Methods: Sixty-eight patients with glioblastoma were studied prospectively with CT and MR. The first postoperative scan was obtained between day 1 and day 5; follow-up scans were obtained bimonthly.

Urinary pyridinium crosslinks of collagen: specific markers of bone resorption in metabolic bone disease.

The hydroxypyridinium compounds pyridinoline and deoxypyridinoline are specific constituents of mature skeletal collagens. They are released into the circulation and excreted in the urine. Their measurement in urine is a sensitive index of the extent of ongoing bone resorption.

Effect of lipid A on the deformability, membrane rigidity and geometry of human adult red blood cells.

Lipid A is responsible for the activities of endotoxin and may cause circulatory failure and haemolysis. This study evaluated the effects of different lipid A concentrations on red blood cell (RBC) deformation (rheoscope), the aspiration pressure required to aspirate RBC into 3.3 microns pipettes, the membrane shear elastic modulus (i.

Periodic variations in skin perfusion in full-term and preterm neonates using laser Doppler technique.

In 37 full-term and preterm infants periodic oscillations of skin blood flux were studied by means of laser Doppler technique during the first week of life. The development of rhythmic oscillations of skin blood flux was similar in all infants. On the first postnatal day rhythmic oscillations were present in the heel skin of all full-term and preterm infants, but were rarely observed in the back and thigh skin.

In vitro reconstitution of hnRNP particles.

The assembly of hnRNP-like particles was studied by in vitro reconstitution, UV-crosslinking and CsCl-equilibrium centrifugation. Using total nuclear protein and RNA extracts from HeLa cells for RNP reconstitution, RNP particles sedimenting with the same buoyant density of p = 1.4 g/cm3 as 'native' 40 S core hnRNPs were obtained.

Synaptophysin and chromogranins/secretogranins--widespread constituents of distinct types of neuroendocrine vesicles and new tools in tumor diagnosis.

Normal and neoplastic neuroendocrine (NE) cells have been identified for many years by morphological criteria only. With the advent of immunocytochemistry, antibodies against NE-specific polypeptides have been used to identify NE cells that had been missed by conventional techniques, thus improving the diagnosis of NE cells. In this review article we discuss (i) the biochemical, cell biological and molecular biological data obtained so far for two major types of NE markers, synaptophysin, which is characteristic of the small "transparent-looking" neurosecretory vesicles, and the chromogranins/secretogranins, which are widespread constituents of the larger "dense-cored" secretory granules; (ii) the immunohistochemical data obtained for these marker proteins in normal and neoplastic human NE cells and tissues; and (iii) future possible developments involving these as well as other proteins that are associated with these two distinct secretory organelles of NE cells and may serve as potential markers in NE cell diagnosis.

Diagnostic value of the stereotactic approach to focal lesions in the deep brain of children and adolescents.

Since it is relatively harmless, stereotactic biopsy has become in recent years a useful method for the diagnostic assessment of lesions deep in the brain, which are not accessible to open surgery. With the aid of stereotaxis, focal lesions only a few millimeters in diameter can be approached in every location in the brain with high precision. Since stereotaxis does not require general anesthesia, or at most requires only a very shallow anesthesia, it can also be applied to young infants or persons of advanced age.