Liver tumors: comparison of MR imaging with Gd-EOB-DTPA and Gd-DTPA.

Purpose: To compare the usefulness of gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) and gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) in the diagnosis of focal liver lesions.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-one patients with focal liver lesions underwent T2- and T1-weighted spin-echo magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and fast low-angle shot two-dimensional MR imaging before, during, and after intravenous administration of three different doses of Gd-EOB-DTPA (12.5, 25, and 50 mumol per kilogram body weight).

Three-dimensional endorectal ultrasonography for staging of obstructing rectal cancer.

Purpose: Preoperative staging of advanced carcinoma of the rectum by conventional endorectal ultrasonography is often impossible because of the presence of obstruction, which does not allow passage of the endoprobe. In a prospective study, we investigated the value of three-dimensional endorectal ultrasonography for staging of obstructing rectal cancer. This technique permits examination of obstructing rectal tumors because scan planes can be chosen deliberately within a scanned volume.

A new method for double immunolabelling with primary antibodies from identical species.

There are several double immunolabelling methods but each has its drawbacks. More often than not, antibodies with the required specificities are available in only one species and their use normally produces false labels due to cross-reactivity. We describe a new and reliable technique for staining with primary antibodies from the same species, that can even be employed on tissues of the donor species.

Diagnosis of endolymphatic hydrops by low-frequency masking.

Low-frequency masking is a new method for the diagnosis of endolymphatic hydrops. A short acoustic stimulus and a low-frequency masker tone are applied to the same ear in an adjustable phase relationship. We recorded phase-dependent masked thresholds from normal-hearing subjects, and patients with Ménière's disease and sensory hearing loss without vertigo.

EGF-R and PCNA expression in ovarian carcinomas--correlation with classic prognostic factors.

Expression of the epidermal growth factor-receptor (EGF-R) and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was immunohistochemically studied in 75 ovarian cancer samples using formalin-fixed, parafin-embedded tissue. Correlations between these factors and conventional histomorphologic factors were investigated. 44 (58.

3-D ultrasound for the evaluation of malignant disease.

In the last few years there has been increasing interest in the development of 3-D display in medical imaging techniques. 3-D imaging is capable of enhancing the anatomic information of the images. This technique facilitates the localization of normal and pathologic structures and the understanding of spatial relationships.

Palliative endoscopic therapy of rectal carcinoma.

Curative surgery is not feasible in a considerable proportion of patients with rectal cancer because of extensive local spread or metastatic disease. However, most of these patients require palliative treatment to improve the symptoms of the disease, e.g.

Otorhinolaryngological complications of progressive facial hemiatrophy (Romberg's disease).

Progressive facial hemiatrophy (PFH) is characterized by slowly progressive atrophy of subcutaneous tissue. Bone, muscles, nerves, the eye, and the brain may be affected by atrophy. Four patients suffering from various otorhinolaryngological complications of PFH or Romberg's disease are reported.

Pathophysiologic role of contact activation in bleeding followed by thromboembolic complications after implantation of a ventricular assist device.

The time period after implantation of a ventricular assist device in patients with end-stage heart disease is complicated by hemorrhage in the early postoperative period and by thromboembolism in the later course. To investigate the pathophysiologic role of contact activation in 12 bridging patients (10 patients with a paracorporeal Berlin Heart [Berlin Heart GmbH, Berlin, Germany], 2 patients with an intracorporeal Novacor system [Novacor N100; Baxter, Oakland, CA]), hemostatic parameters were determined until heart transplantation or at least up to the 51st postoperative day. The following were observed: 1) In the early postoperative period, until day 15, levels of contact factors XI, XII, and prekallikrein were below normal, whereas levels of plasmin-a2-antiplasmin (PAP) complexes were elevated.

Beta 2-integrins in different forms of urticaria.

As urticarial lesions involve tissue invasion by inflammatory cells, and as beta 2-integrins play a central part in adhesion of leucocytes to endothelia, allowing their migration into the tissues, we have explored the distribution and sequential expression of these molecules in tissue sections from different forms of urticaria. Prick test weals (of 10 min duration) to common inhalant allergens showed only a minor increase of CD18, whereas in a case of cold urticaria CD11b and CD18 molecules were increasingly upregulated within the first 30 min after elicitation of the lesions. Skin test sites in delayed pressure urticaria, and urticarial lesions (> 6 h duration) of acute and chronic recurrent urticaria also showed marked upregulation of CD11b and CD18, and to a lesser extent of CD11a, but this did not strongly correlate with the intensity of the mixed cellular infiltrate.

Subcutaneous granuloma annulare of the eyelid. A case report.

A rare case of subcutaneous granuloma annulare of the eyelid is reported. A diabetic patient developed a unilateral periorbital tumorous mass. Biopsy revealed subcutaneous palisading granuloma.

Masking and pitch shift of tone bursts and clicks by low-frequency tones.

From experiments in animals and investigations in humans it is known that the normally phase-dependent masking of a short stimulus by a low-frequency continuous tone does not occur in the case of endolymphatic hydrops. The recording of the masked threshold of short tone stimuli in a loud tone of 30 Hz is to be evaluated for the clinical diagnostics of Ménière's disease. To this purpose, the main parameters of the measurements (type, frequency, duration of the stimulus, and intensity of the masker) and their effect of phase-dependent masking and pitch-shift are investigated.

MR diagnosis of head and neck tumors: comparison of contrast enhancement with triple-dose gadodiamide and standard-dose gadopentetate dimeglumine in the same patients.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the relative values of MR images obtained with a triple dose of gadodiamide and MR images obtained with the standard dose of gadopentetate dimeglumine for the detection and determination of the extent of tumors of the head and neck.

Materials And Methods: Forty-two patients with benign and malignant tumors of the head and neck were examined with contrast-enhanced MR imaging in a comparison of a triple dose of gadodiamide (0.3 mmol per kilogram body weight) and a standard dose (0.

Hyperostosis in meningiomas: MR findings in patients with recurrent meningioma of the sphenoid wings.

Purpose: We used MR imaging to analyze retrospectively the pattern of hyperostosis occurring concomitantly with recurrent sphenoid wing meningiomas.

Methods: Bone involvement was compared in 12 corresponding CT and MR studies of 10 female patients with sphenoid wing meningiomas recurrence after earlier surgical treatment. Four of these had histologically confirmed meningiomatous infiltration of the bone.

Skull base tumors: gadodiamide injection--enhanced MR imaging--drop-out effect in the early enhancement pattern of paragangliomas versus different tumors.

A phase III trial was conducted in 40 patients with known or suspected skull base tumors to evaluate the safety and efficacy of high-dose gadodiamide injection for use as a paramagnetic contrast medium in conventional and dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Contrast material enhancement was assessed dynamically with use of a gradient-recalled sequence. The time-intensity curve of selected regions of interest showed a reproducible dropout effect in the form of a dip in the curve during the early enhancement of the sigmoid sinus and jugular bulb; the same phenomenon was observed in all glomus tumors of the skull base, regardless of size or location.

Demonstration of the high-affinity IgE receptor (Fc epsilon RI) on Langerhans cells of oral mucosa.

Langerhans cells in the skin have recently been shown to bind IgE molecules via a high-affinity IgE receptor. Using two specific antibodies, 29C6 and 6F7, against the alpha-chain of the high-affinity IgE receptor, we here demonstrate that Langerhans cells express this receptor in oral mucosa. A specific antibody, Tü1, against the low-affinity IgE receptor showed only low expression of this receptor.

Expression of the high affinity IgE-receptor on human Langerhans' cells. Elucidating the role of epidermal IgE in atopic eczema.

Epidermal Langerhans' cells have previously been shown to bear IgE molecules, particularly in atopic dermatitis skin. Using two highly specific antibodies against the antibody-binding chain of the high affinity IgE-receptor, 29C6 and 6F7, we here provide evidence that Langerhans' cells express this receptor in both normal skin (foreskin) and in lesional skin of patients with atopic and stasis eczema. A specific antibody against the low affinity IgE-receptor, Tü1, showed only a low expression of this receptor.

Human choriogonadotropin (hCG) and placental lactogen (hPL) inhibit interleukin-2 (IL-2) and increase interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), -6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) expression in monocyte cell cultures.

The effect of the human trophoblast hormones chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and placental lactogen (hPL) on the expression of cytokines in peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures was followed under a variety of culture conditions, (a) phytohemagglutinin stimulated cells (PHA-MSC), (b) allogenic mixed cells (AMC) and (c) spontaneously proliferating cells (SPC). A dose dependent enhanced release of IL-6, IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha by hCG and hPL was observed under all culture conditions. However, an inhibitory effect on the IL-2 release was seen in PHA-MSC by hPL and in AMC by hPL and hCG.

Diagnosis of nasal allergy to the house dust mite.

Twenty-five patients with perennial rhinitis and a positive skin prick test (SPT) for Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dp) and Dermatophagoides farinae (Df) were submitted to nasal provocation and the radioimmunosorbent test (RAST) for specific IgE-antibodies. We found a significant correlation in the reaction to both allergen extracts for all parameters examined. In addition, there was a significant correlation among the SPT, the RAST and the nasal provocation for Dp and between the SPT and the RAST for Df.