U. Sandbank

The prognostic significance of glial fibrillary acidic protein staining in medulloblastoma

Histologic and immunohistochemical properties of 53 medulloblastomas were analyzed with regard to clinical features and survival rate. No correlation was found between survival rate and histologic features of the tumor, such as desmoplastic reaction, number of mitoses, hemorrhages, necrosis, endothelial proliferation, glomerular arrangement, calcifications, rosettes, or oligodendroglial cells. However 82% of the patients with positive glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) staining in numerous tumor cells survived more than 5 years; only 30% survived that long if their tumor cells were GFAP negative (P = 0.0093). This significant difference was not related to the mode of therapeutic protocol used. The authors suggest that GFAP staining may be a useful prognostic tool in medulloblastoma.

Muscle hypertrophy with neuropathy

A patient with insidious onset of weakness, muscle atrophy and true hypertrophy, and sustained spasms is described. The spasms, initially mistaken to be myotonic, were shown electromyographically to result from sustained activity of the muscle fibres. An additional clinical manifestation verified myographically, was impaired reciprocal inhibition. Also, the patient had thick peripheral nerves and very slow motor (but normal sensory) nerve conduction. Histologic examination of sural nerve biopsy revealed large vacuoles within Schwann cells containing unidentified material, as well as onion-bulb formations. The possibility of a metabolic error resulting in storage of an abnormal material within Schwann cells is assumed.

The effects of hornet venom sac extract on the electrical activity of the cat brain.

Abstract A method for testing minute quantities of extracts of hornet venom sacs by injection into the vertebral artery of cats is described. Neurotoxic effects of venom sacs manifested by isoelectric EEG and by depression of respiratory centre, appeared prior to cardiovascular manifestations. Injection into the carotid artery necessitated 100 times large amounts of venom and a longer time elapsed before results similar to those after intravertebral injection were obtained. The cardiovascular manifestations preceded the cerebral effect using intracarotid injection. The active fraction seems to be proteinaceous, has antigenic properties and does not cross a dialysis membrane. Incubation of venom with antivenin serum prepared by immunization of a goat caused inactivation of the neurotoxic and hemolytic effects of the venom sac extract.

Hepatic cirrhosis with post-shunt myelopathy

Abstract Three patients with cirrhosis hepatis who developed myelopathy following shunt operations are reported. The neurological manifestations are described, and the pathological findings in 2 cases are discussed with particular reference to the corticospinal tract involvement which they showed. The literature relating to hepatic myelopathy and its connection with shunt operations is reviewed. Including our 3 cases, 28 patients with hepatic myelopathy have been reported to date.

Acute pancreatitis in rats: a 31P nuclear magnetic resonance study.

High resolution 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to evaluate the severity of acute pancreatitis in rats. Experimental pancreatitis was induced by intraparenchymal injection of 10% sodium taurocholate. pancreases were removed at various time periods and the NMR spectrum of the whole organ was recorded. Metabolic changes taking place during the progression of the disease were measured and correlated with the pathologic changes. Gradual depletion of the high energy compounds, adenosine triphosphate and phosphocreatine, was observed. The NMR spectral changes paralleled the extension of the pathologic lesions and were found to constitute a reliable indicator of the severity of acute pancreatitis. It is suggested that high resolution NMR may be used to evaluate the pathogenesis and therapy of various forms of experimental pancreatitis.

Permanent tetraplegia as a consequence of tetanus neonatorum: Evidence for widespread lower motor neuron damage

It is generally believed that no permanent neurological damage is found among survivors of tetanus neonatorum. Newborns dying shortly after the onset of tetanus also lack significant neurological abnormalities. In adults a variety of neuromuscular lesions have been reported; however, a uniform pathological picture is absent. We report a case of a newborn with severe tetanus in whom striking evidence of anterior horn neuronal damage was documented, causing permanent nonprogressive tetraplegia. We suggest that the mechanism responsible for this lesion involves the retrograde axoplasmic flow of tetanus toxin reaching the spinal cord via nerve endings in the infected umbilical cord stump.

A lesion of muscle transverse tubular system by oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis) venom: electron microscopic and histological study

Abstract Light microscopic examination of frog sartorius muscle incubated in a hornet venom-Ringer solution reveals vacuoles across the muscle fibers, usually evenly spaced. After more than 10–15 min incubation most of the muscle filaments are divided by enlarged vacuoles into strips of myofilaments. Electron microscopic study reveals the T-tubules and the terminal cisterns to be very greatly extended, giving the whole myofilament system a disrupted appearance. The possible reasons for these changes produced by the hornet venom are discussed.

Effect of Echis coloratus venom on brain vessels

Abstract The effect of Echis coloratus venom on the brain capillaries of the mouse was studied electron-microscopically using horseradish peroxidase as a tracer. The envenomation resulted in breakdown of the blood-brain barrier manifested by leakage of the peroxidase through the capillary wall. The peroxidase penetrated both by endothelial pinocytosis and through opened tight junctions between the endothelial cells. The envenomated mice showed hemorrhages and intravascular fibrin clots in the lungs and kidneys but not in the brain.

Ataxic form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease Its relation to subacute spongiform encephalopathy

Abstract A 43-year-old man showed a progressive ataxia, myoclonic movements, rigidity and hypertonia with mental deterioration which led to his death after 8 months. Pathological findings showed a spongy state of the occipital lobes, neuronal degeneration and gliosis of the cortex with gliosis of the midbrain reticular formation. The laminar distribution of the cortical lesions, the lesions in the hippocampal gyrus and the possibility of an anoxic episode just before the onset of the disease suggest a possible relationship between Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and subacute spongiform encephalopathy.

Fluorescein staining of guinea-pig lymphocytes induced byEchis colorata venom

Les lymphocytes de cobayes inoculés avec du venin de serpentEchis colorata, additionné de fluorescéinc, acquièrent une forte fluorescence. Le même effet du venin est observé avec des lymphocytes traités in vitro. Les fractions protéolytiques du venin sont responsables de ce phénomène, alors que la phospholipasc est sans effet.