Medial medullary infarction: a role of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for stroke rehabilitation.

We report a patient with medial medullary infarction who could be diagnosed in an early stage, and we discuss the role of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for stroke rehabilitation. In the case of our patient, the infarction was difficult to diagnose because the patient had atypical features and a past history of head injury. Nonetheless, we could diagnose the medial medullary infarction easily using diffusion MRI within several hours of onset.

Nutritional support for head-injured patients.

Background: Head injury increases the body's metabolic responses, and therefore nutritional demands. Provision of an adequate supply of nutrients is associated with improved outcome. The best route for administering nutrition (parenterally (TPN) or enterally (EN)), and the best timing of administration (e.

Does reconstruction of posterior ligamentous complex with extensor musculature decrease axial symptoms after cervical laminoplasty?

Study Design: The authors retrospectively determined the prevalence of neck and shoulder symptoms (axial symptoms) after expansive laminoplasty with reattachment of spinous process and extensor musculature in patients with cervical myelopathy.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of both preoperative and postoperative axial symptoms of expansive laminoplasty when they occur after expansive laminoplasty.

Summary Of Background Data: Several clinical reports have noted that laminoplasty for cervical myelopathy produces positive clinical outcomes.

Indirect carotid cavernous fistula appeared after balloon embolization of direct CCF.

The authors describe a case of indirect carotid cavernous fistula (CCF) appearing five months after embolization for traumatic direct CCF, which was treated six months after the trauma. Long-term (six months) venous hypertension to the affected cavernous sinus due to direct CCF and cavernous sinus thrombosis following a balloon embolization were considered as an etiology of the de novo dural arteriovenous fistula. The recurrent symptoms of CCF are usually related to detached balloon disorder, but delayed recurrence may be caused by the de novo dural AVF, if the direct CCF was treated in the chronic state.

Very-high-flow injection rate for upper abdominal CT angiography.

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare a very-high-flow injection-rate method (group A) and a conventional injection-rate method (group B) for visualization of upper abdominal arteries by multidetector helical computed tomography (MDHCT).

Methods: The subjects were 240 patients suspected to have abdominal lesions. They were randomly assigned to group A (120 patients) and group B (120 patients).

Cellular fibronectin, but not collagens, disappears in the central posterior capsules during healing after lens extraction and IOL implantation in rabbits.

Purpose: To investigate the nature of capsular opacification after cataract-intraocular lens (IOL) surgery in rabbit eyes, we immunohistochemically located extracellular matrix components in lens capsules after the surgery using light microscopy. The study was conducted also to compare the extracellular matrix components in rabbit capsules with those previously reported in the human eye.

Methods: Twenty-seven eyes of 17 Japanese albino rabbits were lensectomized by phacoemulsification, and IOLs were implanted.

Effects of antioxidants on kidney disease.

Kidney mesangial cells (MCs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are closely related in terms of origin, microscopic anatomy, histochemistry, and contractility. This relationship suggests a similarity between kidney glomerular sclerosis and atherosclerosis. Vitamin E appears beneficial in the prevention and treatment of coronary disease and also inhibits the proliferation of VSMCs in vitro.

Epithelial repair: roles of extracellular matrix.

Purpose: To review studies of the roles of extracellular matrix (ECM) metabolism in corneal epithelium during wound repair. Methods. 1) Alterations in the structure and composition of epithelial basement membrane during corneal epithelial healing were examined histologically and immunohistochemically.

Acquisition of multidrug resistance in recurrent breast cancer demonstrated by the histoculture drug response assay.

Recurrent breast cancer has a very poor response rate to chemotherapy. To understand the degree of acquisition of multidrug resistance in recurrent disease, 24 recurrent breast tumors and 127 primary tumors were evaluated and compared for chemosensitivity in the histoculture drug response assay (HDRA). The evaluation rate was 98.

Apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells is induced by Fas ligand derived from monocytes/macrophage.

Fas and its ligand (FasL), are a receptor-ligand pair identified as promoting cell death in several tissues. Apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in human atherosclerotic plaque may contribute to weakening of the fibrous cap, ultimately resulting in plaque rupture. We investigated the ability of monocytes to induce apoptosis of cultured VSMCs through Fas/FasL pathway.

Hyperglycemia impairs antro-pyloric coordination and delays gastric emptying in conscious rats.

Delayed gastric emptying has been shown in diabetes. Although it has been proposed that hyperglycemia, and not only autonomic neuropathy, contributes to the pathogenesis of delayed gastric emptying, the inhibitory mechanism of hyperglycemia on gastric emptying remains unclear. We studied the effects of hyperglycemia per se on gastric emptying and postprandial gastric motility in conscious rats.

Histopathology of anterior lens capsules in vitrectomized eyes with tamponade by silicone oil.

Histopathologic examination and immunohistochemistry for collagen type V were performed on residual anterior lens capsules of vitrectomized eyes (2 patients) that had been tamponaded with silicone oil. Many spaces, presumably occupied by oil droplets, were observed in connective tissue accumulations beneath the capsules. Immunoreactivity in the extracellular matrix for collagen type V was most marked adjacent to these spaces.

Effects of antihypertensive agents on blood pressure during exercise.

The relationship between blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular morbidity has been appreciated for many years. Casual BP may not be representative of the pressure at other times. It is recognized that BP during exercise may be a more accurate predictor than casual BP.

Clinical results and problems of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting for extracranial internal carotid stenoses. Is the blocking balloon catheter system useful for prevention of distal embolism?

110 patients with extracranial ICA stenosis were treated by PTA or stenting. In 21 of 55 cases of only PTA and in 40 of 55 cases of stenting, we used our blocking balloon systems to prevent distal embolism. The morbidity and the mortality rates were 5.

Lumbar canal stenosis caused by hypertrophy of the posterior longitudinal ligament: case report.

Study Design: This is a case report of a patient with hypertrophy of the posterior longitudinal ligament (HPLL) in the lumbar spine, with assessment of operative treatment and a 10-year follow-up using magnetic resonance imaging.

Objectives: To report on the long-term outcome of a case of lumbar HPLL, to review the literature on case reports of HPLL, and to outline the pathology of HPLL in the lumbar spine.

Summary Of Background Data: There have been several reports of HPLL in the cervical spine and thoracic spine.

The use of sintered bone in spinal surgery.

The sintered bovine bone True Bone Ceramics (TBC) is one of the biomaterials based on calcium phosphate, an organized crystal of bone mineral and a biomaterial possessing a natural trabecular structure. We examined whether the sintered bovine bone can integrate with recipient bone and adjust to the strength of recipient bone for anterior spinal fusion in an animal model. Based on radiographic evaluation, manual palpation, biomechanical testing, and histological examination, spinal fusion with TBC resulted in a composition and structure similar to that of autograft (and to no implantation).

Myofascial flap without skin for intra-oral reconstruction. 2: Clinical studies.

Background: Based on the results of our animal experiment, we evaluated the clinical usefulness of myofascial graft materials in the reconstruction of intra-oral soft-tissue defects.

Methods: An axial-pattern or random-pattern myofascial flap was grafted to reconstruct oral soft-tissue defects caused by tumor resection in ten patients. A pectoralis major myofascial flap was employed in four patients, and a platysma myofascial flap was employed in six patients.

Myofascial flap without skin for intra-oral reconstruction. 1: Animal studies.

Background: Although myofascial flaps are already used clinically in intra-oral reconstruction, the source and process of epithelialization remain unclear.

Methods: The process of epithelialization of grafted myofascia in the oral cavity was investigated using the latissimus dorsi muscle of Wistar strain rats.

Results: The use of myofascial tissue to fill in defects may maintain the space by preventing shrinkage and contracture of the wound, and this myofascial tissue may induce regeneration of the mucosal epithelium.

Centrally administered neuropeptide Y delays gastric emptying via Y2 receptors in rats.

It has been shown that centrally administered neuropeptide Y (NPY) delays gastric emptying. To determine the receptor subtypes of NPY mediating the inhibitory effects on gastric emptying, effects of intracerebroventricular injection of NPY, [Leu31,Pro34]NPY (a Y1 agonist) and NPY-(3-36) (a Y2 agonist) on solid gastric emptying and postprandial antropyloric motility were studied in conscious rats. Intracerebroventricular injection of NPY and NPY-(3-36), but not [Leu31,Pro34] NPY, delayed solid gastric emptying in a dose-dependent manner (0.

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of serum platinum of gynecologic cancer patients treated with nedaplatin.

Nedaplatin (cis-diammine glycolate platinum) is one of the effective platinum agents for gynecologic carcinoma. In order to assess the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of serum platinum of gynecologic cancer patients treated with nedaplatin, we calculated 10 course AUCs (area under the curve) of the free and total platinum from blood samples of 4 patients. Peak serum platinum concentrations were dependent on infusion times.

Gene transfer by adenovirus in rabbit iris sphincter muscle.

The effect of insertion of an exogenous gene on smooth muscle function in rabbit iris sphincter muscle was investigated. An adenoviral vector encoding the bacterial LacZ gene (AdLacZ, 10(7) pfu) and viscoelastics were injected into the posterior chamber of eyes of albino rabbits. Three days after injection, the effects of acetylcholine (Ach), carbachol (Carb), substance P (SP) and electrical field stimuli on isolated iris sphincter were investigated using isometric tension-recording methods.

Duodenal erosions after eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection.

Background: There is interest in the development of GERD after Helicobacter pylori eradication. In contrast, the development of duodenal erosions after therapy has received scant attention. Patients were examined after eradication of H pylori infection to determine the frequency of post-therapy duodenal erosions (primary outcome) and whether there was a relation between development of duodenal and esophageal erosions.

Effects of antiinflammatory drugs on migration of the rabbit corneal epithelium.

Purpose: To evaluate and compare the effects of diclofenac sodium 0.1% and betamethasone phosphate 0.1% on corneal wound healing.

Interleukin-11 enhances cell survival of decidualized normal human endometrial stromal cells.

High expression of interleukin-11 (IL-11) and the IL-11 receptor alpha chain in developing decidual cells in mice has been reported, and mice lacking IL-11 receptor expression have been reported to show impaired implantation owing to defective decidualization. However, the direct effect of IL-11 on endometrial stromal cells has not been studied. In this study, we examined the direct effects of IL-11 on normal human endometrial stromal cells using an in vitro decidualization assay system.