Antibodies to brain proteins in paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration

A 68-year-old man had subacute cerebellar degeneration and a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Using an immunoblotting method, we found serum antibodies to rat cerebral 250-kd and 110-kd and cerebellar 110-kd acidic cytoplasmic proteins. The antibodies did not react unless the antigens were prepared soon after death with protease inhibitors. Two hundred fifty-kd and 110-kd proteins are minor components of soluble cytoplasmic proteins of the brain. The molecular weights differed from other soluble brain-specific proteins already characterized.     

Use of Glycopeptidolipid Core Antigen for Serodiagnosis of Mycobacterium avium Complex Pulmonary Disease in Immunocompetent Patients

We report the development of a serodiagnostic method for Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) disease with an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) with the MAC-specific glycopeptidolipid (GPL) core as the antigen. In this study, we confirmed by EIA that the GPL core antibody was in the sera of immunocompetent patients with MAC disease. The EIA for quantifying the GPL core antibody was evaluated as a clinical tool for serodiagnosis of pulmonary MAC disease. A significant increase in GPL core antibodies (immunoglobulins G, A, and M) was detected in sera of patients with MAC pulmonary diseases when they were compared to patients who were colonized with MAC, patients with Mycobacterium kansasii disease or tuberculosis, and healthy subjects. The sensitivities and specificities of the GPL core-based EIA for diagnosis of MAC pulmonary disease were 72.6% and 92.2%, respectively, for IgG, 92.5% and 95.1%, respectively, for IgA, and 78.3% and 91.0%, respectively, for IgM. The best sensitivity and specificity were obtained by measuring immunoglobulin A antibodies against GPL core antigen. The level of GPL core antibodies reflected disease activity, since it decreased in cured MAC patients who had responded to chemotherapy. Measurement of serum antibodies against GPL core is useful for both diagnosis and assessment of disease activity in MAC disease of the lung.     

Granular cell tumors of the breast: A report of two cases

Granular cell tumors (GCT) are rare neoplasms, and only 173 cases of benign GCT of the breast have been documented. We report herein the cases of two patients with this tumor and discuss the methods of diagnosis and treatment. The first patient was a 60-year-old woman who presented with a firm ill-defined mass in her left breast. Mammography showed a dense shadow with spicula and skin thickness, and ultrasonography revealed a hypoechoic mass with an irregular border. Radical mastectomy was performed under the wrong preoperative diagnosis of breast cancer. The second patient was a 31-year-old woman who presented with an elastic-hard mass in her left breast. Mammography showed a well-demarcated dense mass, and ultrasonography revealed a well-defined hypoechoic mass with a large depth-width ratio. Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) showed a large number of histiocytic cells with abundant granular cytoplasm. An excisional biopsy was performed, and histological examination confirmed a diagnosis of GCT. GCT is benign, but often misdiagnosed as breast cancer both clinically and radiologically. Therefore, histological examination is essential for making a correct diagnosis, while FNAC is also useful. Local resection is still the treatment of choice, and surgeons should do their utmost to avoid performing needless radical mastectomy.     

Fetal cardiac screening by three- and four-dimensional ultrasound

Objective. The objective of our paper is to show that the spatio-temporal image correlation (STIC) and tomographic ultrasound imaging (TUI) is very convenient and helpful for the fetal screening of complex congenital heart defects (CHD).

Methods. Ultrasound examinations were performed using a Voluson 730 EXPERT or PRO system (GE Medical system, Kretztechnik, Zipf, Austria), and the transabdominal probe (RAB 4-8 MHz or 1-5 MHz) was used to acquire the STIC volumes. Various complex CHD including heterotaxia, ventricular septal defect (VSD), atrio-ventricular septal defect (AVSD), tetralogy of fallot (TOF), transposition of great artery (TGA), hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) were examined between 20 weeks and 35 weeks. After routine cardiac screening and examination by two-dimensional ultrasound, three- and four-dimensional ultrasound were performed by gray-scaled and color flow mapping. After the examination detailed analysis of CHD were performed by STIC and TUI.

Results. In the case of heterotaxia, STIC and TUI was useful for the detection of stomach and cardiac apex in the different slices. In the case of VSD and AVSD, they were useful for the exact determination of septal defect location. In the cases of TOF, TGA and HLHS, they were helpful for observation of outflow tract and exact diagnosis.

Conclusion. In the screening of complex CHD including heterotaxia, VSD, AVSD, TOF, TGA and HLHS, STIC is very useful and powerful tool.     

EFFECTS OF ACUTE SUPERIOR CERVICAL GANGLIONECTOMY ON CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW AND METABOLISM IN STROKE-PRONE SPONTANEOUSLY HYPERTENSIVE RATS SUBJECTED TO CEREBRAL ISCHAEMIA

1. The effects of acute bilateral superior cervical ganglionectomy on cerebral blood flow and metabolism were investigated in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRsp), before and during cerebral ischaemia. 2. The resting cerebral blood flow was comparable between the control and denervated animals. 3. There was no significant difference in cerebral blood flow or concentration of tissue energy metabolites (adenosine triphosphate [ATP], lactate and pyruvate) between the sham-operated control and denervated animals during ischaemia. 4. The results suggest that sympathetic innervation of cerebral vessels originating from superior cervical ganglia may not play a major role in the progression of cerebral ischaemia in SHRsp.     

The effects of 4-aminopyridine on focal nerve conduction block

In order to test whether 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), a potassium channel blocker, may be of therapeutic value in demyelinating neuropathies, a focal tibial nerve conduction block with demyelination was produced in adult rats by an intraneural microinjection of potassium tellurite. Onset and recovery of the lesion were monitored by evoked compound muscle action potentials (CMAP) activated from the proximal and distal nerve one day before and 1, 4, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after the injection. Intraperitoneal 4-AP (2 mg/kg) or buffered saline were injected prior to the potassium tellurite and 6 days per week for 28 days. The data show that 4-AP is tolerated, it does not prevent conduction block, and only has a modest effect on increasing its recovery from day 4 to 7 (91 % increase in CMAP ratio compared with control of 35%). Recovery is similar by day 28 in 4-AP treated or untreated animals. These results suggest that 4-AP will have limited use in the therapy of subacute demyelinating neuropathies.