Masumi Yoshioka

Cytogenetic studies in twenty human brain tumors: Association of no. 22 chromosome abnormalities with tumors of the brain

Abstract The chromosomes were analyzed in cells from twenty cases of primary brain tumors cultured for short periods. There were nine cases with chromosome abnormalities; eight of these showed an abnormality involving a No. 22 chromosome. Three cases each of pituitary adenoma and craniopharyngioma showed no chromosome abnormalities. In five of the seven cases of meningioma studied, hypodiploid clones caused by the loss of 1 to 4 chromosomes were observed. Detailed analysis of the missing chromosomes, revealed the loss of a No. 22 chromosome, an aberration specific for meningioma. Two astrocytomas and a case of oligoden-droblastoma also showed an abnormal No. 22 chromosome. The possible significance of the association of No. 22 chromosome abnormalities with tumors of the brain is discussed in the light of findings, obtained to-date, in the field of tumor cytogenetics.

Reading of ideograms and phonograms in Japanese patients after partial commissurotomy

Abstract The reading of three Japanese patients who had undergone section of the splenium of the corpus callosum for pineal tumours was examined by the tachistoscopic technique. Oral reading of isolated words and their comprehension (matching of words to pictures) in the left visual half-field were found to be impaired 1 yr post-operatively both for ideograms and for phonograms. Two or three years after operation, retests indicated that the deficit (unilateral alexia) was comparatively restricted to the reading of phonograms. It is argued that unilateral alexia is not due to a disorder in the visual perception of words.

Unilateral agraphia after section of the posterior half of the truncus of the corpus callosum

Abstract A Japanese patient who had undergone section of the posterior half of the truncus of the corpus callosum in the process of removing an arteriovenous malformation was examined with a battery of special tests. He showed agraphia only with the left hand (unilateral agraphia). The agraphia was more prominent for the words written in Kana characters (phonograms) than for the words written in Kanji characters (ideograms). The patient showed neither unilateral apraxia, nor tactile alexia, nor tactile anomia.

Chromosome studies in 70 brain tumors with special attention to sex chromosome loss and single autosomal trisomy

Chromosome analysis was performed on 70 brain tumors. Thirty-six tumors showed clonal karyotypes characterized by many autosomal abnormalities; 20 meningiomas revealed monosomy 22 as a consistent abnormality, and 12 gliomas showed various abnormalities frequently involving chromosomes 3, 7, and 22. Of the remaining 34 tumors, 24 had normal karyotypes and 10 had clonal cells with loss and/or an extra sex chromosome with single trisomy of chromosomes 3, 6, 7, or 14. Sex chromosome aneuploidy was mostly due to loss of the Y or an X chromosome and was observed in 25 tumors, usually together with autosomal abnormalities. In these tumors the average frequency of cells with sex chromosome aneuploidy was 52%, with a range from 12% to 100%. Loss of the Y was found significantly more frequently in tumors of aged patients. Chromosome analysis in materials subcultured for a long period showed a tendency for cellular selection in which clonal cells with many autosomal abnormalities disappeared rapidly and karyotypes having loss or an extra sex chromosome and/or trisomy 7 were present in an increasing proportion with advance of cell generations in vitro. We infer that the cells having loss of one sex chromosome or trisomy 7 have a proliferative advantage. And that cells bearing only these abnormalities may exist in normal brain tissue more abundantly than in any other body tissue. The possibility of tissue-specific aneuploid mosaicism in the normal tissue would allow an alternative interpretation for simple autosomal trisomy in solid tumors.

Ganglioside Composition and Its Relation to Clinical Data in Brain Tumors

The ganglioside composition of 15 cases of meningioma, 15 cases of astrocytoma, 5 cases of neurinoma, 4 cases of ependymoma, 3 cases of metastatic brain tumor and 1 case each of mixed glioma, oligodendroglioma, medulloblastoma, embryonal carcinoma, and cultured glioma cell line were analyzed by thin-layer chromatography. The GM2, GD3, and GD2 content of the tumors was determined using specific monoclonal antibodies (MAb). Cases were grouped according to the difference in ganglioside pattern and various clinical features. In meningiomas and astrocytomas, GM3 and GD3 were the major gangliosides. The tumor content of the rather simple gangliosides (GM3, GM2, GD3, GD2) increased or was almost equal to that of normal tissue (leptomeninges tissue in the case of meningiomas, and brain tissue in the case of astrocytomas), while the tumor content of complex gangliosides (GM1, GD1a, GT1a, GT1b) decreased as compared with normal tissue. The GM3 content of meningiomas increased in middle-aged patients, who comprised the majority of the patients with these tumors. The GD2 content decreased in middle-aged patients with initial symptoms of meningioma within a year. The GM3 content of astrocytomas decreased in patients who underwent radiotherapy. The amount of GM3 and GD3 increased in small tumors. GM3 may be related to the early proliferative stage. The ganglioside patterns of brain tumors are shown in this study to differ according to clinical features and also to be changeable in their clinical courses.

Visual processes in a hemialexic patient with posterior callosal section.

A patient with surgical section of the splenium and, probably, the posterior end of the truncus of the corpus callosum was studied 9-13 yr after the operation. His reading aloud, reading comprehension and word-matching abilities were moderately disturbed only in the left hemifield. These three disturbances were equally disturbed. The disturbances were not the result of visual disturbances such as tachistoscopic hemiamblyopia or tachistoscopic hemineglect since Landolts ring matching was intact in the left hemifield as well as in the right. The disturbances were also not due to the disturbance of tachistoscopic word perception since the patient correctly performed same-different judgment of pairs of words in each hemifield. In his reading aloud and reading comprehension disturbances, ideogram words were less impaired than phonogram words, even when the number of letters in the words was the same. His picture naming ability was not disturbed in each hemifield.

Étude sur le syndrome de disconnexion visuo-linguale après la transection du splénium du corps calleux ☆: Troubles de la verbalisation des informations visuelles dans l'hémisphère mineur

Abstract According to the methods proposed by Gazzaniga et al. (1965, 1967), various visual-language associative functions were examined in 3 patients who had undergone the transection of the splenium of the corpus callosum for a pineal operation. Case 1 presented partial disturbance in reading aloud and also in colour naming in the left visual field with intact object naming capacity. Case 2 presented disturbances in reading aloud and in colour naming as well as partial object naming difficulty in the left visual field. Similar tests for Case 3 revealed disturbances in reading aloud and mild colour naming difficulty in the left visual field. His colour naming disturbance could be observed only by bilateral colour presentation tests, and the results of the unilateral colour presentation tests were normal. Visual matching tests revealed that the perception of, or the recognition of visual information in the left visual field were well preserved in spite of the inability to describe the information verbally. Present investigations did not support the view of Gazzaniga et al. (1967, 1971) that the right hemisphere can understand the meaning of written words. In the colour naming tests of bilateral simultaneous presentation, visual extinction-like phenomena were observed in the left visual field. Visual matching tests by bilateral simultaneous colour presentation revealed, however, that colour perception or recognition is perfectly preserved in both visual fields in spite of the apparent colour neglect in the left visual field.

Recovery from hemialexia

Hemialexia is believed to be caused by the lesion of the splenium of the corpus callosum. However, no previous reports conclusively demonstrated that the hemialexic had the splenial lesion. A right-handed male with hemialexia who was presumed to have the splenium sectioned for a partial removal of a pineal tumor was examined with magnetic resonance imaging. The sagittal and coronal imagings clearly showed that his splenium was not present. The hemialexic had partially recovered at 9 years after the onset. The patient was 76% correct in Japanese phonogram words and 92% correct in ideogram words in an interfield same-different judgment, that is, judging whether 2 one-letter words, one in the left hemifield and the other in the right, were the same or different. Consequently, the possible mechanism for the recovery is that the transfer of visual word information from the right hemisphere to the left has been partially achieved by commissural fibers other than those of the splenium. Information from phonogram words in the right hemisphere is probably less transferred to the left hemisphere than that from ideogram words. The results also suggested that when the transfer of word information in the right hemisphere to the left is interfered with, the left hemisphere tends to mistake the same pair of words for the different pair.

Ultrasound Guided Endoscopic Neurosurgery—New Surgical Instrument and Technique

For minimal invasive endoscopic neurosurgery, a mini-caliber endoscope equipped with a useful working channel and its guidance system is basically essential. We developed the device for ultrasound guided endoscopic neurosurgery. A minicaliber fiberscope with an outer diameter of 3.4 mm equipped with 2.5 mm of working channel for forceps, suction, and coagulation probe was developed. A 5 MHz phase arrayed 12 mm ultrasound probe was used as guidance system. A fixation device for the mini-caliber fiberscope and ultrasound probe was also constructed. The surgical procedure is very simple, and can be performed through a 2 cm burr hole. Real-time and a directly visualized image might provide more safety and reliability during brain surgery.

Application of Superfine Fiberscope for Endovasculoscopy, Ventriculoscopy, and Myeloscopy

In the past three years, we have used a superfine fiberscope for endovasculoscopy, ventriculoscopy, and myeloscopy. Flexible superfine fiberscope, 0.75 mm in outer diameter, could visualize various intravascular findings. In in-vivo canine experiment, sequential changes of thrombus produced by endothelial abrasion by needle or balloon in the canine carotid artery can be clearly seen. And thrombolysis by focal arterial injection of tissue plasminogen activator was sequentially observed. In the clinical study, we could evaluate the stenotic lesions of the subclavian and vertebral arteries before and after balloon angioplasty. During ventriculoscopy, a 2 mm of mini-caliber fiberscope was introduced under ultrasound monitoring, and provided clear visualization of intraventricular tumours. In myeloscopy, draining veins of arteriovenous malformations and nerve roots of the cauda equina could be clearly seen by flexible fiberscope. From these results, it can be said that the superfine fiberscope provides clear and useful visualizations of the interior of vessels, ventricles, and the intrathecal area of the spinal canal. The new applications of this superfine fiberscope for minimally invasive neurosurgery may bring about a marked improvement of therapeutic results.