Hepatic encephalopathy secondary to porto-systemic shunt satisfactorily treated with interventionist radiology

Hepatic encephalopathy is a reversible state of altered cognition that may occur in patients with acute or chronic liver disease or porto-systemic shunt, and in which known neurological or psychiatric signs may develop. Nitrogenated substances from intestinal digestion reach the brain without being cleared by their passage through the liver due to the presence of porto-systemic shunt. We report two cases of patients with porto-systemic shunt diagnosed with recurrent chronic hepatic encephalopathy refractory to conventional medical treatment. They were satisfactorily treated with shunt embolization using interventionist radiology techniques.     

Spinal MRI in vacuolar myelopathy, and correlation with histopathological findings

We correlated MRI features with histopathological findings in an HIV-positive patient with vacuolar myelopathy. On MRI symmetrical nonenhancing high-signal areas in the posterior columns on T2-weighted images result from extensive vacuolation visible on histological sections. Received: 18 November 1997 Accepted: 23 March 1997     

RA-spezifische Autoantikörper gegen ein 68k-Antigen

Zusammenfassung Die Diagnostik vieler rheumatischer Systemerkrankungen wird heute durch den Nachweis von Autoantik?rpern unterstützt und erleichtert. Für die Serodiagnostik der Rheumatoiden Arthritis (RA) stehen nur die doch wenig spezifischen Rheumafaktoren zur Verfügung. Mit dem Ziel, neue krankheitsspezifische Autoantik?rper nachzuweisen, erfolgte eine besondere Proteinaufarbeitung aus Synovialisbiopsien und anderen Geweben. Western Blots der gewonnenen Proteine wurden eingesetzt, um Seren von RA-Patienten und solchen mit anderen rheumatischen Erkrankungen zu untersuchen. Die signifikanteste Immunreaktion von RA-Patienten richtete sich gegen ein 68k-Antigen, welches vermutlich ubiquit?r exprimiert wird, da es nicht nur in Synovialis, sondern in allen weiteren untersuchten Humangeweben und HeLa-Zellen nachgewiesen werden konnte. Der isoelektrische Punkt liegt bei 5,1, das Protein ist O-glykosyliert und im endoplasmatischen Retikulum und/oder Cytoplasma lokalisiert. Antik?rper gegen dieses 68k-Antigen waren bei 110 von 167 RA-Patienten nachzuweisen, was einer Sensitivit?t von 66% entspricht. Ihr Vorkommen war unabh?ngig vom Rheumafaktornachweis, da sie auch bei 7 von 12 seronegativen RA-Patienten zu finden waren, dagegen nur bei einem Patienten aus einer Kontrollgruppe von 98 Patienten mit anderen rheumatologischen Krankheitsbildern, bei einem von 22 HIV-Patienten und überhaupt nicht bei 55 Gesunden. Daraus resultiert eine RA-Spezifit?t für diesen Antik?rper von 99%. Wegen der auff?lligen Krankheitsspezifit?t der anti-68k-Antik?rper liegt es nahe, nach korrespondierenden autoreaktiven T-Zellen zu suchen, um die Rolle dieser neuen Autoreaktivit?t in dem Pathomechanismus der RA zu analysieren. Eingegangen: 20. Mai 1996 Akzeptiert: 13. Februar 1997     

Isolated and combined effects of prolonged exposures to noise and whole-body vibration on hearing,vision and strain

Summary This study was carried out in order: (1) to examine the effects of isolated and combined prolonged exposures to noise and whole-body vibration on hearing, vision and subjectively experienced strain, and (2) to check the combined effects with repeated exposures. Six male subjects were exposed twice to noise (N) at 92 dBA, whole-body vibration (V) in the Z-axis at 4 Hz and 1.0 ms^–2 rms, and noise and vibration (NV) for 90 min with each condition. Temporary threshold shifts of hearing (TTS) and their integrals (ITTS) were measured at 4, 6, 10, and 12 kHz. Visual acuity was examined by means of a very sensitive test. Cross-modality matching (CMM) of the handgrip force was used to judge the subjectively experienced strain. NV induced a clear tendency of higher TTS and ITTS than N, with several significant differences most pronounced at 10 kHz. With repeated exposures, the effect of NV decreased, while the reactions to N and V remained unchanged. The individual reactions to NV differed. The influence of the duration of exposures on vision depended on the condition; N caused time-dependent changes, whereas V did not. CMM-data increased with the duration of the exposure during V and NV. N was generally judged to be more straining than V; NV caused higher strain than V during the first 30 min of exposure only. Correlations between different effects suggest certain links between them. Additionally, less motivation — daily obtained by a questionnaire — often correlated with higher ITTS during N and NV. The results also illustrate the combined effects on the individual susceptibility, repetition of exposure, the kind of response, and, possibly, the actual psychic state.Abbreviations CMM cross-modality matching - MVC maximum voluntary contraction force - N exposure condition: noise level 92dBA, no whole-body vibration - NV exposure condition: combined exposure to noise with a level of 92 dBA and wholebody vibration with 4 Hz, 1 ms^–2 rms - V exposure condition: whole-body vibration with 4 Hz, 1 ms^–2 rms - TTS temporary threshold shift - ITTS integral of temporary threshold shift - WBV whole-body vibration in the common sense This work was done in the Temporary International Research Team on Combined Effects of Noise and Vibration of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance of the Socialist Countries. The authors gratefully acknowledge the help and assistance of L.-M. Brumm, Y. Bening, M. Godau, G. Weber, and R. Vizcaino.     

Effect of amiodarone on signal-averaged and long-term ECG]

This prospective study examined the influence of long-term amiodarone therapy on the parameters of the signal-averaged ECG and their relation to simultaneously derived Holter monitoring data. For this purpose, 23 patients with angiographically confirmed dilated cardiomyopathy or coronary heart disease and high-grade ventricular arrhythmias, in whom an average of four class I antiarrhythmic drugs had proven ineffective, were stabilized on amiodarone. Before the beginning of therapy, as well as after 2 months and, subsequently, every 3 months, a resting ECG, a signal-averaged ECG by Simson's method, and Holter monitoring were performed. Compared to the initial measurement, we found a significant increase in the duration of the total filtered QRS complex from an average of 114 +/- 24 ms to 127 +/- 35 ms, while the change in voltage did not reach the significance level. The incidence of late potentials remained largely constant under amiodarone; 10 patients showed a constant late potential, 12 patients had no late potential, and one patient with coronary heart disease developed a new late potential. In the long-term follow-up, we ascertained a relatively high responder rate under amiodarone between 41% and 81%. No relation could be detected between the results of the signal-averaged ECG and those of 24-h Holter monitoring.     

Lupus vasculitis

Anatomical studies have demonstrated the high incidence of vasculitis in SLE, the appearances of which are variable and non-specific, ranging from necrotizing angiitis which is undistinguishable from periarteritis nodosa, to scarring lesions. Micro-angiitis is easily demonstrated in skin lesions and is also encountered to varying degrees in CNS, renal, cardiac, pulmonary and gastrointestinal localisations. Disease of large vessels is more rare and sometimes causes gangrene of the limbs. In SLE, vasculitis should be distinguished from thrombosis related to lupus anticoagulant and from atherosclerosis favoured by chronic steroid therapy but perhaps initiated by vascular deposits of immune complexes during the acute inflammatory stage. The treatment of lupic angiitis is mainly based on steroid therapy. The results are variable, probably due to the fibrous nature of some of the vascular lesions.     

Realizing the full potential of immunotoxins

When conjugated with antibodies that bind selectively to tumor cells, natural toxins from plants and bacteria represent a potentially powerful form of cancer therapy. Over the last several years, much thought and research effort has been devoted to optimizing the specificity and activity of these hybrid molecules. Here we review some of the insights that have come from detailed analyses of the so-called "first-generation immunotoxins," and discuss how these insights have prompted ideas for more effective design of "second-generation immunotoxins."     

Activation of influenza A viruses by trypsin treatment.

A comparative analysis has been carried out on the infectivity of virus of several influenza A strains grown in different host systems. Strains A/swine/Shope/31 (Hsw1N1), A/PR/8/34 (HON1), A/FM/1 (H1N1), A/Singapore/1/57 (H2N2), A/equine/Miami/1/63 (Heq2Neq2), and A/chick/Germany/49 (Hav2Neq1) exhibit host-dependent differences in infectivity. Virions grown in embryonated eggs and cultures of chorioallantoic membrane cells are highly infectious, whereas virions grown in cultures of chick embryo cells have a low infectivity that significantly increases after treatment in vitro with trypsin. In contrast, fowl plague viruses do not show host-dependent variations in infectivity. Virions grown in all host systems tested are highly infectious, and the infectivity of virions grown in chick embryo cells cannot be enhanced by trypsin treatment.The activation of virus particles appears to be based on the cleavage of hemagglutinin glycoprotein HA. This concept is supported by the following observations: (i) In virions of low infectivity only uncleaved glycoprotein HA can be detected. Virions of high infectivity exhibit complete or at least partial cleavage of the hemagglutinin. (ii) The activation of virions by trypsin treatment is always paralleled by cleavage of HA. (iii) Cleavage of HA is the only effect which can be detected after trypsin treatment. The neuraminidase is neither inactivated nor removed from the virion. (iv) Studies on recombinants of virus N and fowl plague virus (Rostock) show that host-dependent variation of infectivity and activation by trypsin, features specific for parent virus N, are found only with recombinant N(H)-FPV/Ro(N) but not with recombinant FPV/Ro(H)-N(N).Efficient plaque formation and serial passages are possible only if highly infectious particles are formed in a given host system. Thus, all strains analyzed undergo, in the absence of trypsin, successive growth cycles in eggs and chorioallantoic membrane cells and form plaques in chorioallantoic membrane cells. In contrast, in chick embryo cells only viruses containing the fowl plague virus hemagglutinin produce plaques and replicate under multiple cycle conditions without the addition of trypsin.The data show that cleavage of HA is not a precondition for virus assembly and hemagglutinating activity, but that it is necessary for infectivity. These findings are compatible with the hypothesis that, in addition to its role in adsorption, the hemagglutinin has another function in the infection process and cleavage is required for this function.