Deep brain stimulation for essential tremor

We examined the effects and safety of deep brain stimulation (DBS) as a treatment for essential tremor (ET). Ten ET patients with disabling medication-refractory tremor underwent stereotactic implantation of a DBS lead in the left Vim thalamic nucleus and completed a 6-month follow-up. The Clinical Tremor Rating Scale and disability assessments were performed at baseline, 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-up. There were significant improvements in dressing, drinking, eating, bathing, and handwriting as reported by the subjects. Tremor severity, writing, pouring, and spiral and line drawing were significantly improved as rated by the examiner. Improvements persisted through the 6-month follow-up period. Although global disability significantly lessened in the group as a whole, one subject with hand-finger tremor accentuated by writing had no change in disability status. In this 6-month open-label study, DBS was effective and safe in reducing tremor and functional disability in ET.     

Urinary stone proteins: an update

The discovery of an organic component in kidney stones dates back to 1684. More than 150 years elapsed before the incrustation of this organic component, which is now called the matrix, was proposed as the mechanism of stone formation. The composition of the matrix remained largely unknown until the development of electron microscopy and the advances in biochemistry combined in the 1950's to usher in the modern era of renal stone matrix investigation. Composed mainly of selectively incorporated proteins generally characterized by high glutamic and aspartic acid content and the frequent occurrence of gamma-carboxyglutamic acid, the matrix displays a variable and complex composition and shares a few proteins in many stones. The embryonic stone may first appear in the renal tubules where it can acquire the blood and cell membrane proteins recently found by analysis of stone protein extracts. The combination of supersaturation, an appropriate environment, the availability of calcium binding proteins which may be abnormal, and the incorporation of proteins extracted from leukocytes and cell wall membranes may induce stone formation.     

Estimation and hypothesis testing of treatment effects in animal reproductive toxicology studies

Healy (1) and Dempster et al. (8) proposed statistical methods to evaluate the treatment effects in animal reproductive toxicology research. Both methods assume homogeneous variance for the dams and the pups, respectively, in all the treatment groups. In this paper, via mixed effect modeling, we propose a method to estimate the treatment effects allowing heterogeneous variances for the dams and the pups, respectively, in different treatment groups. Covariates will also be included in the model. A procedure to test the fixed effects is also discussed. An example from an animal reproductive toxicological study is used to illustrate the procedures.     

Purification of a tumoral marker recognized by monoclonal antibody Po66 and associated with human lung squamous cell carcinoma

This paper reports on the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) by cultured mononuclear adherent cells derived from bone marrow of 25 patients affected by myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) of different FAB subtypes. Mean production of GM-CSF was much lower than in controls, without significant differences among different subtypes. Mean production of TNF was similar in MDS patients and in controls, but noteworthy differences were observed between patients with RA, RAEB and RAEB-t and patients with RARS and CMML. Growth of bone marrow granulocyte macrophage and erythroid progenitors did not correlate with TNF and GM-CSF production, although in MDS subtypes with higher GM-CSF levels, colony growth was slightly higher than in subtypes with lower GM-CSF production.     

Instrumentation and techniques in equine fracture fixation

In recent years fracture fixation in the horse has changed significantly. New devices, mainly adapted from the human field, have been successfully introduced into large animal surgery. Examples of such implants include the DCS/DHS implant system, the self-tapping screw, the cannulated screw, and the pinless external fixator. However, new devices have also been developed exclusively for equine fracture management, including the interlocking intramedullary nail and the external skeletal fixation device. With these devices the surgeon has more options for repairing fractures in horses. Nevertheless, many problems are still unsolved. Indications exist that during the next few years new, exciting fracture fixation systems will be developed, providing further advancements in the quest for the ideal implant for horses. However, the development stages of these devices are such that mentioning the possibilities here is premature.     

Acute bilateral striatal necrosis in an infant: CT and MRI

We report a case of acute bilateral striatal necrosis in an infant. CT and MRI findings are described.