Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C M Wu.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of external ear canal schwannoma in the English literature. Several detailed clinical and pathological features were demonstrated. We suggest that if a tender, encapsulated mass is found in the external ear canal, the diagnosis of schwannoma should be taken into consideration.
Cystic hygromas are congenital malformations of the lymphatic system appearing as single or multiloculated, fluid-filled cavities found mainly in the neck and axilla region. Antenatal ultrasound examination done in this case showed a suspicious giant cystic mass over the neck and chest area. At birth, the mass turned out to be a rare giant cystic hygroma measuring about 25cm x 26cm covering neck, anterior chest, axilla, proximal right upper limb, upper abdomen and upper back area. Because of some compromise to the infant's breathing, an emergency resection was done, and the infant tolerated the procedure well. Pathology report confirmed the diagnosis.
The gene encoding the valine-resistant and FAD-independent acetolactate synthase of Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated and expressed in Escherichia coli. The nucleotide sequence of this gene was determined and it exhibited an open reading frame of 1680 bp in length. In vivo expression of the acetolactate synthase-encoding gene in E. coli revealed a single 60-kDa protein which is consistent with the molecular weight calculated from the deduced amino acid sequence of the gene product. The gene product shares about 20-30% homology with the acetolactate synthases of E. coli, yeast and higher plants.
The dopamine D4 receptor structurally and pharmacologically resembles the dopamine D2 and D3 receptors. Clozapine, an atypical antipsychotic that is relatively free of the adverse effects of drug-induced parkinsonism and tardive dyskinesia, binds to the D4 receptor with an affinity 10 times higher than to the D2 and D3 receptors. This may explain clozapine's atypical properties. Here we report the existence of at least three polymorphic variations in the coding sequence of the human D4 receptor. A 48-base-pair sequence in the putative third cytoplasmic loop of this receptor exists either as a direct-repeat sequence (D4.2), as a fourfold repeat (D4.4) or as a sevenfold repeat (D4.7). Two more variant alleles were detected in humans. Expression of the complementary DNA for the three cloned receptor variants showed different properties for the long form (D4.7) and the shorter forms (D4.2, D4.4) with respect to clozapine and spiperone binding. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a receptor in the catecholamine receptor family that displays polymorphic variation in the human population. Such variation among humans may underlie individual differences in susceptibility to neuropsychiatric disease and in responsiveness to antipsychotic medication.
In skeletal muscles from rats treated with germanium for 23 weeks, there were numerous ragged-red fibers and cytochrome-c oxidase (COX)-deficient fibers. Biochemically, germanium reduced the enzyme activities in the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Rotenone-sensitive NADH-cytochrome-c reductase as well as COX activities were markedly reduced, while succinate-cytochrome-c reductase was less severely, but significantly, affected. The histopathological findings in these muscles were similar to those seen in patients with mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, suggesting that germanium-induced myopathy may be a useful experimental model. Coenzyme Q10 administration appeared to be ineffective in preventing this experimental myopathy.
The authors describe a patient with a cervical cystic mass present for 14 years which proved to be a cystic metastasis from a papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland. This is probably the first case report of a long-term lateral cervical cyst caused by an occult thyroid carcinoma.
This study was designed to examine the descriptive epidemiology of head injuries in an urban population in the Taiwan area, Taipei City, during the period from July 1, 1987 to June 30, 1988. Clinical records reviewed included emergency room (ER) charts, inpatient charts of 19 major hospitals, death registration forms and medical examiners' reports in this city. A formulated definition was used to identify patients with head injuries. A total of 4,692 cases were collected, which included 4,319 hospital inpatients and 373 non-hospital deaths. The average incidence rate for head injury was 180/100,000 per year, 246/100,000 for males and 111/100,000 for females. The highest incidence rate was observed in the elderly group followed by the age group of 20-29 years. Sixty eight percent of the head injuries were caused by traffic accidents, 59.7 percent of which were involved in motorcycle rides. This rate was higher than those in any western reports. Among the 10-39 age group, the head injuries caused by traffic accidents were mainly due to motorcycle accidents. However, most of the children and the elderly who were injured were either pedestrians or bicycle riders. The average mortality rate was 23/100,000 per year, 34/100,000 for males and 12/100,000 for females. Initially the Glasgow Coma Scale was used in assessing the severity of head injuries. Seventy-two percent of the cases were considered mild, and 28 percent moderate to severe in degree, including 609 deaths.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Heterotopic ossification is the formation of ectopic bone in soft tissue, and has been reported as a rare complication in pediatric burn patients. At our hospital, two 86% body surface area burn patients developed heterotopic ossification in the shoulder, elbows, distal femur, proximal tibia, fibula, and ribs approximately four months after the burn injury. These two rare and unusual cases are presented documenting the clinical involvement, radiological studies, laboratory data, as well as treatment of their heterotopic ossification. Discussion will focus on the incidence, diagnosis, pathophysiology, and treatment of heterotopic ossification in burn patients and how this information relates to the specific diagnosis and management of the complication of heterotopic ossification in the burn child.
An unstable corpectomy porcine spinal model was created for the testing of anterior spinal fixators including: Kaneda device (KD), combination of Polster-Brinckmann prosthesis and Zielke implant (PBZ), and a new prototype device (CH). These spinal implants were examined in a one above/one below corpectomy model to determine the relative stiffness of each construct and the deformation of the adjacent discs under loading. The results indicated that the relative torsion and flexion stiffness were higher for the tested spines fixed with KD and CH. However, the relative compression stiffness of the tested spines was the same for all devices. The rigidity of the spinal constructs, which were measured around the corpectomy region showed the same tendency as above. However, the stiffness of CH and KD constructs were significantly higher than that of the PBZ construct under flexion and torsion. The difference in deformation of the upper and lower adjacent discs was not obvious among the intact spine and the spinal constructs with different devices. Clinical relevances: The corpectomy model represents a "worst case" scenario of spinal instability. In many conditions, spinal reconstructive surgery can restore axial compressive, torsional, and flexural rigidity to normal levels. These experimental conclusions apply to acute restoration of stability, rather than to rigidity after long-term cyclical loading. These three anterior fixators extended to only one cephalad level and one caudal level beyond the corpectomy defect. The new prototype device (CH) has a stability to the Kaneda device. The superior mechanical strength and simpler operative procedure of the new device provide for a potential clinical advantage in restoration of unstable spinal conditions.
Two siblings in a family--a 5-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl--suffered from progressive headache and gait disturbance in an interval of 1 year, consecutively. Neurologic manifestations were papilledema and truncal ataxia. Both of their computed tomography scans showed a large, well-enhanced tumor located in the cerebellar vermis with secondary hydrocephalus. Both had surgical resection followed by craniospinal irradiation and then chemotherapy. The pathologic findings confirmed the diagnosis of medulloblastomas. The family pedigree disclosed some other cancer in close relatives. These findings suggested a possible role of heredity in the oncogenesis of this tumor. To our knowledge, our cases are the seventh report of familial medulloblastoma occurring in nontwin siblings in the world.
Immunohistochemical techniques were employed to study the distribution of serotonin (5-HT) immunoreactive neurons in the brainstem of the hamster, guinea pig, rabbit and rat. 5-HT neurons were principally found to be concentrated in the midline raphe nuclei, particularly, the raphe pallidus, raphe obscurus, raphe magnus, raphe median, raphe pontis and raphe dorsalis nuclei. Characteristically, these cell bodies are displayed in bands or wing-like patterns which extend laterally from the raphe into reticular formations. The formations often appear to blend with the catecholamine system. They are particularly evident in the brainstems of the rabbit and hamster which contain wider and more lateral extensions of the serotonergic (5-HT) neurons than those observed in the brainstems of the rat and guinea pig. The widespread distribution of 5-HT immunoreacted cell bodies in the brainstem shows that there are significant prospects of 5-HT in neuronal activities.
Tritiated labeled materials, [3H]proline and [3H]fucose, were used as tracers of the visual pathway by injection into the right eve of the red belly squirrel, After a designated survival period, the animals were sacrificed, and the brains were removed and processed using standard autoradiographic procedures. Sections were then examined under a microscope and some subcortical nuclei including the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), dorsal and ventral lateral geniculate nuclei(dLGN and vLGN), three optic accessory nuclei (i.e., the medial, lateral and dorsal terminal nuclei - MTN, LTN and DTN), the nuclei of the pretectal area(PTN) and the superior colliculus(SC) in the subcortical regions were marked by labeled isotopes. Radioactive materials were found in the pulvinar nucleus(Pul), parabigeminal nucleus(PB) and dorsal lateral pontine gray(DLP). Some nuclei among the targets of retinal projection in the red belly squirrel received their projection bilaterally while others only did contralaterally. In addition, layered structures of the SC and LGN were clearly demonstrated in the brain of the red belly squirrel. Some differences in the optic system between the red belly squirrel and its near relative, the grey squirrel of North American, and other mammals are discussed.
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