Sung-Pil Chung

Delayed postanoxic encephalopathy after carbon monoxide poisoning

Delayed postanoxic encephalopathy causes deterioration and relapse of cognitive ability and behavioural movement a few weeks after complete recovery from initial hypoxic injury. A case is reported of delayed postanoxic encephalopathy after carbon monoxide poisoning, which was diagnosed with diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging. The literature is also reviewed.

Ischemia-responsive protein (irp94) gene expression in neurons.

An increased expression of the ischemia-responsive protein gene (irp94) was detected in a Mongolian gerbil brain after an ischemic injury, particularly in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. In a rat phaeochromocytoma tumour cell line (PC12 cells), actinomycin D blocked the irp94 gene expression but cycloheximide did not. This indicates that irp94 gene expression is transcriptionally controlled. The half-life of irp94 mRNA was estimated to be approx. 5 h using 5,6-dichloro-1-β-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole (DRB). In addition, irp94 expression was enhanced by either endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-stress-inducible drugs or protease inhibitors. This suggests that irp94 gene expression is strongly associated with the unfolded protein response (UPR) in neurons

Emergency department experience of primary diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging for the patient with lacunar syndrome.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a particular magnetic resonance imaging technique known as primary diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) for patients with lacunar syndrome in the emergency department (ED). Methods: Patients with one of five classic lacunar syndromes underwent DWI as primary imaging modality. The DWI findings were classified into groups: (a) having a lesion with high signal intensity, (b) having a lesion with mixed signal intensity, and (c) unremarkable. The final clinical diagnoses were extracted from the patients’ medical records, and used as a reference standard. Results: Of 151 DWI images, 120 (79%) were interpreted as high signal lesions, 21 (14%) as mixed signal lesions, and 10 (7%) as unremarkable. All patients with high signal lesions or unremarkable findings were diagnosed with ischaemic stroke. The patients with mixed signal lesions were diagnosed with haemorrhagic stroke with an exception of one ischaemic stroke. Conclusion: Primary DWI is a feasible and useful neuroimaging tool for patients with lacunar syndrome in the ED.