A pilot study of standardized treatment in geriatric bipolar disorder.

Objective: The authors sought to determine the feasibility of treating elderly adults with bipolar disorder under standardized-treatment conditions.

Methods: Thirty-one patients age 60 and older with bipolar disorder were treated in standardized pathways. Mood state was checked at each study visit with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression-17 item (Ham-D-17) and the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS).

Effective cytokine gene therapy against an intracranial glioma using a retrovirally transduced IL-4 plus HSVtk tumor vaccine.

To explore the potential for molecular immunotherapies in the treatment of malignant gliomas, we evaluated the efficacy of subcutaneous tumor cell vaccines in the treatment of intracranial 9L tumors, using 9L gliosarcoma cell lines stably transduced with the murine interleukin-4 cDNA (9L-IL4), the herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase cDNA (9L-Tk) or both (9L-IL4-Tk). The expression of multiple genes from a single transcript was achieved by incorporating internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) cassettes in the retroviral constructs. Subcutaneous immunization of rats with nonirradiated 9L-IL4 cells or 9L-IL4-Tk cells followed by treatment with ganciclovir (GCV) completely protected the animals from a subsequent intracranial challenge with wild-type 9L cells.

Current status of genetic discoveries in migraine: familial hemiplegic migraine and beyond.

Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) has been related to mutations in a brain calcium channel gene among Chr19p linked FHM families. Subsequent genetic Studies in different FHM families showed that additional causative genes must reside in other regions of the genome, including the long arm of Chromosome 1. Parallel discoveries in mouse mutants involving ion channel genes have also accelerated our understanding of the spectrum and functional significance of the CNS-related ion channel disorders.

Therapeutic targets in late-life psychoses: review of concepts and critical issues.

Psychoses in late life are a diagnostic challenge because of disagreement over how these entities should be classified. The main diagnostic categories of late-life psychoses include dementia with psychotic symptoms, late-onset schizophrenia, delusional disorder, early-onset psychotic disorders extending through late life, late-onset mood disorders, psychotic disorders caused by medical conditions or medications, and delirium. First onset of psychotic symptoms in late life is commonly associated with identifiable structural brain abnormalities and reflects underlying brain pathology.

The influence of high-frequency jet ventilation with varying cardiac-cycle specific synchronization on cardiac output in ARDS.

Background: Previous studies have shown "beat-to-beat" variation in systemic BP with high-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV). However, it is not clear if such changes are paralleled by changes in cardiac output.

Objective: To characterize the effect of HFJV near or equal to the heart rate (HR) on beat-to-beat cardiac output in an adult human subject with ARDS.

Bipolar disorder associated with primary generalised epilepsy.

A patient with bipolar disorder and primary generalised epilepsy, and a family history of psychiatric illness and epilepsy, is described. The episodic psychiatric symptoms were temporally correlated with epileptic discharges and absence seizures observed during repeated EEGs.

Quantification of regurgitant flow through bileaflet heart valve prostheses: theoretical and in vitro studies.

A theoretical treatment using turbulent jet theory has yielded a new equation for predicting regurgitant flow through bileaflet heart valve prostheses, the most commonly implanted mechanical valve design. Previously reported techniques assuming an axisymmetric jet are not applicable to the slot-like orifices presented in these valves. The equations were therefore rederived in the context of the prosthetic valve geometry.

Risk factors for stroke as predictors of platelet membrane fluidity in Alzheimer's disease.

We have previously reported that increased platelet membrane fluidity identifies a subgroup of patients with Alzheimer's disease who have distinct clinical features including an earlier age of symptomatic onset, a more rapidly progressive cognitive decline, and a decreased prevalence of focal electroencephalographic findings. In the current study, these patients also exhibited a decreased prevalence of risk factors for stroke compared with patients who had normal platelet membrane fluidity. Our findings suggest that the platelet membrane abnormality describes a clinical subgroup of patients with Alzheimer's disease who are less likely to have coexisting cerebrovascular disease than the remaining patients who meet clinical consensus criteria for probable Alzheimer's disease.

Results of microvascular decompression of the eighth nerve as treatment for disabling positional vertigo.

A total of 41 patients who underwent microvascular decompression to relieve disabling positional vertigo in one 12-month period were studied. At follow-up examinations 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 years after the operation, 30 patients had total relief of their symptoms or were considerably improved, to the point that they could resume normal work or other activities in which they were not able to engage before the operation. Two of the 41 patients had mild improvement, and the final 9 patients had no change in their symptoms.

Rheumatoid factors determined by fluorescence immunoassay: comparison with qualitative and quantitative methods.

Fluorescence immunoassay (FIA), a relatively new technique for measuring rheumatoid factors (RF), is automated, quantitative, and calibrated against the Centers for Disease Control reference material for RF. We studied the FIA method in relation to a panel of RF methods, both qualitative [latex (LA) and sheep cell agglutination (SSCA)], and quantitative [nephelometry and enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA)]. Regression analysis revealed a highly significant correlation between FIA and either LA (r = 0.

A Visual Analogue Scale technique to measure global vigor and affect.

This article describes an easily administered Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) technique that can be used to detect changes in mood and subjective activation. The method yields two summary measures: Global Vigor (GV) and Global Affect (GA), each ranging in value from 0 to 100. The instrument was administered about six times per day in 38 healthy control and 6 depressed patients participating in temporal isolation studies.