Edward N. Brandt, Jr., M.D

We present the profile of risk factors, etiologic and clinical data of 2,000 consecutive patients with first-ever-in-a-lifetime stroke (cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage), admitted to the Ege University Hospital between January 1, 1991, and September 31, 1995. This hospital-based registry is the first systematic epidemiologic report on the stroke profile of Turkish people The Ege University Stroke Unit is the only tertiary medical care facility which is organized for patients with different stroke subtypes in Izmir, Turkey. A prospective hospital-based registry using systematic computer coding of data of all stroke patients has been used since January 1991. All patients were evaluated by clinical examination, CT and/or MRI, color duplex and specific cardiac investigations. They were followed up for at least 6 months. The mean age was 62.3 +/- 12 years, and 44.4% were females. Ischemic stroke was found in 77%, primary intracerebral hemorrhage in 19% and subarachnoid hemorrhage in 4%. The major risk factor of ischemic stroke was hypertension (63%), followed by hypercholesterolemia (37%), diabetes mellitus (35%), ischemic heart disease (23%), atrial fibrillation (20%) and smoking (17%). The main cause of primary intracerebral hemorrhage was hypertension (88%), and the principal localization was the thalamus (38%), followed by putamen (28%), lobar(16%), pons(6%), cerebellar(4%), primary intraventricular hemorrhage (4%) and multiple hemorrhages (2%). The over- all 30-day case-fatality rate was 19.7% and the higher mortality rate was found in patients with primary intracerebral hemorrhage (29%) than in those with ischemic stroke (17%). The Ege Stroke Registry allows to estimate the stroke-related problems in patients admitted to a stroke unit and to evaluate the risk factors, etiology and clinical manifestations of stroke in Turkey.     

Margaret S. Mahler, M.D.: In memoriam.

Remembers the late Margaret S. Mahler, a central figure on the world stage of psychoanalysis who was concerned with symbiosis and separation-individuation in mother child interactions. The author discusses two qualities of Mahler's thinking: creative ignorance and impassioned study of microscopic detail. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In memoriam John R Casely-Smith, D. Sc., M.D. (h.c.)

BACKGROUND: After curvilinear capsulorhexis in cataract surgery often a double-ring shape of the remaining capsular margins can be observed. In order to better understand this phenomenon we performed a histological study of excised capsules after continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis. METHODS: Ten anterior capsular specimens from cases with double-ring structure of the capsular margins after continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis (D-group) were examined light microscopically and compared with 10 normal cases (N-group) and 10 cases with pseudoexfoliation (P-group). Three cases from each group were also examined electron microscopically. RESULTS: A characteristic step formation in the capsular edges and in addition horizontal capsular splits in the border zone between the zonular lamella of the anterior capsule and the capsule proper could be demonstrated histologically in the D-group. CONCLUSIONS: There seems to be a weak point of the capsular tissue in the border zone between zonular lamella of the lens and the capsule proper. The superficial splits that we found histologically in this region might be a precursor or forme fruste of true exfoliation. The outward-directed traction force exerted by the zonular fibers seems to lead to further disruption in this weakened layer of the lens capsule during capsulorhexis, producing a double-ring contour of the capsular margins.     

Arthur Allen Ward, Jr., M.D. 1916-1997

Our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms controlling the glucose response in yeast has advanced in the past year. Two transporter-like proteins have been shown to function as glucose sensors in a pathway for glucose induction of transporter genes. Our understanding of the glucose repression mechanism has been augmented by studies of the Snf1 protein kinase, the Mig1 repressor, and the role of Snf1 in inhibiting Mig1 and regulating activators. DNA microarrays have been used to assess glucose-regulated gene expression.