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Biomedical subjects

H Carton

Publications and source records attributed to H Carton.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

[Ambulatory myelography using iohexol (Omnipaque): methods and results].

Outpatient myelography with iohexol (Omnipaque) was performed in 150 patients. Side effects were noted in 28 patients (19%), with only 3 (2%) major complaints. It concerned 2 patients with severe and prolonged headache and one patient with seizures. Side effects were not more frequent in outpatient myelography than in reported series of hospitalized patients. The frequency of side effects was significantly lower with the use of iohexol than in comparable studies with metrizamide. Headache was the most frequent side effect, followed by an increase or exacerbation of ischiatiform pain, nausea and vomiting. Side effects were slightly more frequent in cervical myelography than in lumbar myelography and were not related to underlying pathology. It is concluded that outpatient myelography is feasable for as far as iohexol is used and patient surveillance is carefully organized.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Human retroviruses HTLV-I, HIV-1, and HIV-2 and neurological diseases in some equatorial areas of Africa.

HTLV-I is associated with tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) in the Caribbean area and with certain chronic myelopathies termed HAM (HTLV-I-associated myelopathy) in Japan. In order to investigate the situation in Africa, we tested for HTLV-I, but also for HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies, 94 patients with epidemic spastic paraparesis (ESP) from Zaire and Tanzania, 26 cases of sporadic spastic paraparesis (SSP) and 21 cases of tropical ataxic neuropathy (TAN), both from Ivory Coast, and 319 unselected neurological patients from Ivory Coast, Congo, and Tanzania. While none of the 94 ESP cases nor any of the 21 TAN patients exhibited antibodies to any retrovirus, 4 of the 26 sporadic spastic paraparesis patients had high HTLV-I antibodies in their sera and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Three of those were clinically and immunologically identical to TSP, as observed in persons from the Caribbean region, and the fourth case, a poorly explored chronic pyramidal syndrome, could also represent a TSP. Only one of these four cases originally had HIV-1 antibodies. Among the 319 unselected patients, only 5 (1.6%) had HTLV-I antibodies, but 32 (10%) had HIV-1 antibodies and 14 (4.4%) had HIV-2 antibodies, with a number of combined infections, indicating that retroviruses represent potentially important etiological agents for African neurological diseases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

[Innervation density in the stroma and the muscular tunica in biopsies of the normal and pathologic bladder].

Twenty-eight open urinary bladder biopsies were stained using a peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique for S100 to demonstrate the innervation pattern in three different patient groups. The nerve profiles in the subepithelial stroma and in the musculosa were counted and compared. There was a definite correlation between nerve density in both layers. Examination of superficial bladder biopsies is reliable in the assessment of the innervation pattern of neurogenic and non-neurogenic bladder disorders.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

Enhancement of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in mice by antibodies against IFN-gamma.

Acute experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) was induced in C57BL/6J and SJL/J mice by injection of isologous spinal cord homogenate given in conjunction with Bordetella pertussis and Freund's adjuvant. SJL/J mice showed a highly aggressive and 100% lethal form of the disease; C57BL/6J mice were much less susceptible as they had low morbidity rates (20 to 40%), low disease scores, and mostly no mortality. Treatment of these low susceptibility mice with neutralizing mAb against IFN-gamma caused an increase in morbidity rates as well as significant mortality (up to 80%). Similar antibody treatment did not affect the course of the disease in the high susceptibility SJL/J mice. However, treatment of these mice with IFN-gamma resulted in reduced morbidity and mortality. A similar but less pronounced inhibition of the disease in SJL/J mice could be obtained by administration of IFN-alpha/beta or by acute infection with lactate dehydrogenase virus. The results indicate that endogenous as well as exogenous IFN can exert a down-regulating effect on the development of EAE. They also indicate that endogenous IFN-gamma is produced during the development of EAE and plays a disease-limiting role.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed1988

Painful muscle spasms complicating algodystrophy: central or peripheral disease?

A 21 year old female patient developed Südeck's atrophy of the right foot secondary to a chronic Achilles tendinitis. The condition was complicated by the occurrence of painful muscle spasms in the right leg and incontinence of urine. The spasms had characteristics of both a tonic ambulatory foot response and a spinal flexor reflex. The movements disappeared during sleep. Regional anaesthesia of the right leg made the spasms disappear both in and outside the region of anaesthesia. Backaveraging of the EEG showed the involuntary spasms to be preceded by a cortical potential similar to a readiness potential, indicating a cortical potential similar to a readiness potential, indicating a cortical component in the pathophysiology of the muscle spasms complicating Südeck's atrophy.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Histochemical assessment of the intrinsic innervation of the normal urinary bladder.

In order to assess the normal intrinsic innervation pattern, an enzyme histochemical acetylcholinesterase and two immunohistochemical (S100 protein and neurofilaments) stainings were done on 38 normal urinary bladder specimens. The nerve density was calculated as a mean number of nerve fibers counted per high power field. S100 staining after adequate fixation proved to be similar to the acetylcholinesterase technique, avoids freezing manipulation, is easier to read and permits normal conventional histological examination. Neuropathology of bladder biopsies is an easily available diagnostic method in current neurourological practice.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1988

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptidergic innervation of human urinary bladder in normal and pathological conditions.

Urinary bladder biopsies from 31 multiple sclerosis patients, 9 diabetics, 5 patients after transtrigonal phenolization and 20 control patients were stained for acetylcholinesterase, S100 and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP). The VIP immunoreactivity was not decreased in all neuropathic bladders and its depletion was not related to cholinergic depletion. There was no correlation between bladder over- or underactivity and VIP content. VIP can act as a modulator of detrusor function in normal conditions. The significance of its depletion in neurogenic bladders needs further elaboration.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1988

Endoscopic biopsies for quantitative nerve density evaluation of the urinary bladder.

Nerve density in the lamina propria from endoscopic and open bladder biopsies is compared in normal and pathologic urinary bladders. A semiquantitative appreciation of nerve density is obtained by counting the fibers in a number of high power fields after S100 staining. Nerve density scoring on endoscopic biopsies is reliable and reproducible and can be applied in the assessment of neurogenic and nonneurogenic bladder disorders.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1988

Diabetic cystopathy: neuropathological examination of urinary bladder biopsies.

Neuropathological examination of bladder biopsies was done on 14 patients with severe insulin-dependent adult-onset diabetes and compared with the acetylcholinesterase and S100 staining of 38 control specimens. A decrease in acetylcholinesterase activity, due to axonal degeneration was found in all cases. An increase in S100 positivity was found in the majority and is due to Schwann cell proliferation as a regeneration attempt after demyelination or axonal degeneration. When acetylcholinesterase activity decreases and an S100 density increase is found in a patient with diabetes, this combination is highly suggestive of thorough diabetic cystopathy amenable to early symptomatic treatment.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1986

Pain in multiple sclerosis patients. A prospective study using the Mc Gill Pain Questionnaire.

The frequency distribution of pain complaints and its relation with disability are determined in 83 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. According to their origin, these pain complaints were divided into tendinoskeletal, neurogenic and psychogenic pains. The Mc Gill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) was administered to these pain patients and appeared to be a good instrument to evaluate their pain. Furthermore, the descriptive value of the MPQ enables us to differentiate three different pain patterns in the neurogenic pain group: persistent pain, painful tonic spasms and paroxysmal pain.

Disability Evaluation↗
PubMed1986

Epidemic spastic paraparesis in Bandundu (Zaire).

Epidemiological findings of twenty sporadic cases of epidemic spastic paraparesis (buka-buka) in three areas of Bandundu (Zaire) are reported. These findings suggest the involvement of an infectious agent and do not support the hypothesis of a dietary cyanide intoxication, which has been advanced to explain the outbreak of a very similar disease (Mantakassa) in Mozambique.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Influence of prostaglandin E2 and indomethacin on interferon-gamma production by cultured peripheral blood leukocytes of multiple sclerosis patients and healthy donors.

The addition of indomethacin to concanavalin A (Con A)-induced cultures of human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) caused an increase in interferon response, regardless of whether the PBLs were derived from multiple sclerosis (MS) patients or from control donors. Specifically the response rates increased from 71 to 100% in controls and from 24 to 53% in MS patient-derived cultures. The amounts of interferon produced also increased in both groups by 0.8 log U/ml. However, interferon yields of nonresponsive cultures becoming interferon-producing only after indomethacin treatment remained relatively low. In control cultures, maximal increases of interferon production were obtained with doses of 0.05 to 0.1 microgram/ml indomethacin; for MS patients higher doses were needed--0.1 to 0.5 microgram/ml. Conversely, a relatively low dose (0.05 microgram/ml) of exogenous prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) was able to inhibit interferon production completely in MS patient-derived cultures, whereas in control cultures higher doses were needed (0.1 to 1.0 microgram/ml). Analysis of endogenous PGE2 levels in the PBL cultures revealed that PGE2 production was similar in nonresponder MS cultures and responder control cultures but that MS leukocytes were more sensitive to the inhibitory effect of PGE2 on interferon production. We conclude that in a minor percentage of MS patient-derived PBL cultures, the deficiency in interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production can be (partially) overcome by treatment of the cells with indomethacin. However, in the major part of nonresponder MS cultures, indomethacin has no effect, indicating that the PG system is not the major cause for the defective interferon response in MS.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Early onset myophosphorylase deficiency (Mc Ardle's disease) with absence of myophosphorylase protein on SDS electrophoresis. The role of the ischemic forearm test.

The authors present a case report of early onset myophosphorylase deficiency (Mc Ardle's disease) with absence of myophosphorylase protein on SDS-electrophoresis. The different varieties of myophosphorylase deficiency and the clinical investigations which may lead to the diagnosis are reviewed. In particular, the relevance and possible dangers of an ischemic forearm exercise test and the suggestion of using a needle biopsy as a preliminary screening in similar cases of metabolic myopathies are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Leu-3+ lymphocytes account for increased CSF cellularity.

Inflammatory conditions of the central nervous system (CNS) are often marked by an increase in lymphocyte number in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). In order to determine if changes in CSF cell numbers can alter T-lymphocyte subset composition in CSF or in blood, cell surface markers were evaluated in 25 CSF and paired blood samples from a variety of neurologically affected patients. T-cell subset levels in peripheral blood did not reflect subset levels in paired CSF samples. However, CSF samples with elevated cell numbers (greater than 3 cells/mm3) had significantly increased levels of Leu-3+ T-cells (P less than 0.001), but not Leu-2+ T-cells relative to CSF samples with low cell counts. These data suggest a selective increase in the Leu-3+ T-lymphocyte subset in CSFs with increased cellularity in patients with acute neurologic signs.

Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte↗
PubMed1985

Interferon-gamma production by peripheral blood leucocytes from patients with multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases.

Peripheral blood leucocyte (PBL) cultures of patients with meningoencephalitis, myasthenia gravis, Alzheimer's dementia, Huntington's chorea as well as patients who were recovering from cerebrovascular accidents or from craniotomy for brain tumours, all had defective interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) responses to stimulation with concanavalin A (Con A) and phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), similar to those already described for PBL cultures of patients with multiple sclerosis. Specifically, cultures from a significant percentage of the patients failed to produce IFN after stimulation with either of the two mitogens. The yields from those cultures that did respond were not significantly lower than those from cultures of healthy blood donors. With increased doses of Con A, the cerebrovascular accident, meningo-encephalitis and MS groups kept their low response frequencies, while the other groups, i.e., myasthenia gravis, Alzheimer's dementia, Huntington's chorea and post-craniotomy, developed an increased response frequency. A good concordance was found between responsiveness to Con A and PHA. With pokeweed mitogen (PWM) as an inducer, no reduction in response frequencies or IFN yields were seen in any of the patient groups. Also, in general, yields were higher with PWM than with Con A.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1984

Interferon production by cultured peripheral leucocytes of MS patients.

Peripheral blood leucocytes from multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and from normal individuals were tested for their interferon (IFN) producing capacity after stimulation in vitro with various lectins and viruses. The lectins, Con A, PHA and PWM, induced IFN-gamma. In a kinetic study, the response to Con A revealed itself as an all or none event: the number of responding cultures increased with increasing mitogen dose, but the IFN yield in responding cultures did not differ significantly between dose levels. Thus, any patient or donor could easily be rated as a responder or non-responder. About 1/2 of the MS patients were found to be non-responders if Con A or PHA were used as stimuli. Ninety per cent of the normal donors on the other hand were responders. With PWM as a stimulus 100% of both the MS patients and normal donor groups were found to be responders. Also, with PWM very small doses were sufficient to obtain a 100% response rate among tested cultures, and IFN production persisted for 5 days, while with Con A or PHA it was arrested after 2-3 days. The results indicate that the MS associated lesion is not the absence of functional impairment of all IFN-gamma producing cells, but in only a fraction of them or in an accessory cell population required for the response to Con A and PHA but not to PWM. Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) both induced IFN-alpha. With NDV as the inducer response rates were 100% and yields were high irrespective of whether the cells were derived from patients or control donors. In contrast, with VSV as the inducer lower response rates were found in cultures from MS patients than in those from controls.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Clinical parameters and intrathecal IgG synthesis as prognostic features in multiple sclerosis. Part I.

In a search for early prognostic features in multiple sclerosis, the progression rate was calculated in 200 consecutive multiple sclerosis patients who had had a lumbar puncture, and correlated with age at onset, type of disease course, the patient's sex, as well as with indices of blood-brain barrier breakdown and intrathecal IgG synthesis. The present study demonstrates that age at onset plays a role in determining whether the disease will be remitting-relapsing or chronic progressive. Age at onset is also a factor determining the rate of progression of the remitting-relapsing form, but is without influence on the progression of the chronic progressive form. A chronic progressive disease course per se (independent of age at onset) is also associated with a more rapid deterioration. The patient's sex does not appear to be a differentiating factor. Only inconsistent correlations were found between IgG index or number of oligoclonal bands in the CSF and disease progression.

Adolescent↗