[Structure and therapy of compulsive neurosis].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to H Lang.
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Transluminal coronary angioplasty (TCA) was introduced in 1977 for dilatation of coronary stenoses. From October 1977 to December 1984 1087 procedures have been performed in Frankfurt. The mean success rate was 77% with an increase from 58% to 84% since 1977. Recurrences were seen within the first year in 15% of the patients, which could be treated successfully in a high percentage with a second TCA. Emergency bypass operations were necessary in 5.2%. Four patients (fatality rate 0.37%) died as consequence of the intervention. Within few years TCA has become an established procedure for myocardial revascularisation, with a high success rate. Major progress has been possible in the last few years due to technical developments, which are still going on. They may lead to further improvement of the results and enlargement of the indication for TCA.
Obsessive-compulsive phenomena are ubiquitous. Therefore onesided nosological categorization, e.g. viewing obsessive compulsive phenomena as variants of psychosis, seems inappropriate. After discussing these problems of definition, the clinical presentation and relative importance of obsessive-compulsive phenomena in neurosis, psychosis and psychosomatic disorders will be investigated. It will be shown, that the respective obsessive-compulsive syndromes share in common an auto-protective "function", i.e. obsessive-compulsive phenomena can be regarded as a counterregulative attempt of the individual to stabilize unstable structures. That the obsessive-compulsive phenomena tend themselves to have a highly pathological quality, is the reverse of this coping behavior.
UV-induced structural alterations of chromatin were studied by means of CD, electron microscopic, and gel electrophoretic measurements. The results indicate that chromatin undergoes serious structural changes after irradiation even at very low fluences. In the low fluence range the structural transitions from the higher ordered chromatin structure to the unfolded state occur without detectable changes in the content of histone H1 and of the core histones. Histone H1 disappears only at fluences above 10 kJ/m2. Furthermore, DNA in chromatin is much more sensitive against UV-irradiation and shows a higher degree of strand scission relative to free DNA. While fragmentation in free DNA occurs at fluences above 15 kJ/m2, it occurs even at 5.5 kJ/m2 in the case of chromatin. The biological meaning of the observed UV-induced structural alterations of chromatin is discussed.
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We describe optimized conditions for isolation of relaxed mutants of bacteria with 4-thiouridine-containing tRNAs. The results presented here imply that besides the knowledge of the action spectra for near UV-induced growth inhibition of stringent and relaxed cells the fluence--fluence rate dependence of growth inhibition is an essential factor for optimizing the enrichment of relaxed mutants. We investigated systematically the dependence of growth inhibition of both stringent and relaxed strains of E. coli on the wavelength lambda, on the fluence F and on the fluence rate I within the ranges lambda = 301-365 nm, F = 0-48 kJ X m-2 and I = 0-60 W X m-2. The optimized conditions for selection of relaxed mutants of E. coli are lambda = 334 nm, F = 48 kJ X m-2 and I = 60 W X m-2. These optimized parameters determined for E. coli may be used in general to select relaxed mutants of other bacterial species by combining the turbidostat technique with near UV irradiation (Riesenberg et al. 1983).
Granulocyte elastase in complex with its main inhibitor in plasma, i.e. alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor, was quantitatively determined by incubating the sample with solid-phase fixed antibodies against elastase first and reacting then with alkaline phosphatase-labelled antibodies against alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor. In normal plasma a level of 97.5 +/- 25.8 micrograms elastase/1 (mean +/- s.d., n = 43) was found, whereas moderately to markedly increased plasma concentrations were demonstrated in a variety of patients with inflammatory diseases like septicemia or rheumatoid arthritis.
We studied 23 epileptic outpatients to assess carbamazepine and phenytoin therapy effects on the peripheral nerve conduction velocity, the electromyogram, and the EEG background activity. Immediately before and 3, 5, 11, 22 months after beginning treatment with 300-800 mg carbamazepine or 200-400 mg phenytoin, the patients were examined with electroneuromyographic and quantified EEG tests. Carbamazepine, phenytoin, folate, and vitamin B12 serum concentration were simultaneously monitored. Clinical signs of intoxication or polyneuropathy were not observed. The mean serum concentrations were 29 mumol/l for carbamazepine and 43 mumol/l for phenytoin. There was little evidence that anticonvulsants' serum concentration at these levels are related to changes in the electroneuromyographic tests or the alpha rhythm.
The stapedius reflex (SR), its adaptation and the brainstem auditory evoked potential (ABR) were recorded in a group of 53 multiple sclerosis patients. All cases were classified as definite according to Schumacher's criteria, and their grade of disability in Hyllested's system was 1-4: no cases of the gravest (grades 5 and 6) disability were included in the series. The peripheral hearing (pure-tone audiogram and speech threshold) was normal in 44 and slightly impaired in 8 cases. SR was abnormal in 6 (11%) and borderline in 11 (21%), whereas the ABR was considered abnormal in 21 (40%) patients. Deviant SR and ABR findings had only slight or no correlation to clinical data. Intercorrelation between SR and ABR abnormality was better but not implicit and a few cases with deviant ABR showed normal SR: The frequency of abnormal and borderline SR findings was clearly higher in bilateral than in unilateral ABR abnormality. Subclassification of ABR into an upper and a lower type of pathology did not correlate with SR abnormality.
Twenty-eight patients with chronic obstructive lung disease with a reversible component were treated with either 40 micrograms of ipratropium bromide (IB) or 1.5 mg of metaproterenol (MP) by a metered dose inhaler four times a day in a double-blind randomized fashion. The treatment was continued for 3 months and pulmonary function tests and clinical evaluation were made on days, 1, 30, 45, 60, and 90. IB produced significantly greater bronchodilatation between one and three hours compared with MP. Furthermore, patients receiving IB showed no decline in effectiveness over 3 months, in contrast to MP which showed some evidence of development of drug tolerance within the same period. No side effects were noted. It is concluded that the anti-cholinergic agent IB is a more effective bronchodilator at the doses used in the above group of patients, both acutely and over a long-term period.
A solid phase, enzyme-linked immunoassay is described for the quantitative determination of the complex of human granulocyte elastase (EC 3.4.21.37) with alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor. The assay employs antibody-coated test tubes and it is suitable for routine use in clinical chemistry laboratories. Data for sample stability and test characteristics are given. A reference range of 20-180 micrograms/l elastase in plasma was determined. The diagnostic significance of granulocyte elastase levels in plasma in inflammatory diseases is discussed.
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In a 28-year-old female patient a diagnosis of Budd-Chiari syndrome was established post partum on the basis of characteristic ultrasonographic findings. The results permit establishment of the syndrome in the early phase of the disease. Early diagnosis of hepatic vein occlusion is particularly important because directed therapeutic regimes may lead to revascularisation of hepatic veins and may thus prevent liver cell necrosis and subsequent hepatic failure.
It was the aim of the workshop to summarize present knowledge of the variant creatine kinases in human blood. Discussion was centered on the nature, measurement, and clinical significance of these variants. On the basis of the presented results, the different creatine kinase variants can be classified as follows: Normal size variants (80000 Daltons). These originate from postsynthetic modifications of the three dimeric isoenzymes creatine kinase-MM, MB or BB. The M subunit can be transformed by a serum constituent and these modifications result in at least three different creatine kinase-MM and two creatine kinase-MB variants, which still show catalytic activity. The mechanism of the postsynthetic alterations of creatine kinase-BB seems to be more complex: In vitro incubation of this isoenzyme even in a non-serum matrix changes its electrophoretic mobility and decreases activity. In vivo there is evidence that on the one hand intact creatine kinase-BB molecules are directly removed from the circulation. On the other hand, however, inactive creatine kinase-BB-protein is reported to occur in serum. Variants with higher molecular weights (greater than 200000 Daltons). These are termed macro creatine kinases. Macro creatine kinase type 1 comprises the immunoglobulin-bound creatine kinase isoenzymes. Of these immune complexes, IgG-linked creatine kinase-BB is well known and has been described in detail, whereas the occurrence of creatine kinase-MM-containing macro creatine kinases is still questionable. Macro creatine kinase type 1 is found in the blood of about 2% of all hospitalized patients. It occurs mainly in elderly women, but it is not known whether it has any special clinical significance. Macro creatine kinase type 2 is the term for an oligomeric form of mitochondrial creatine kinase released after breakdown of mitochondria in liver, heart and some tumours. After treatment with urea this oligomeric form is converted into a normal sized, dimeric creatine kinase-MiMi. Macro creatine kinase type 2 is found exclusively in seriously ill patients, and may occur in more than 3% of all hospitalized patients. This classification of the creatine kinase variants seems logical, since it takes into account the nature of the creatine kinase variants, and it permits the classification of all atypical creatine kinases described in the literature. As quantification and differentiation now become possible, further experimental and clinical investigations should provide the information necessary for a better understanding of the physiology and pathobiochemistry of these multiple forms of creatine kinase.
The loss of amino acids and the protein spectrum in the dialysate during continuous peritoneal dialysis were evaluated in 6 patients with normal kidney function in the context of a study on psoriasis therapy. On the 10th day the protein loss was lower than on the 1st day of therapy. The total loss of amino acids was only 0.6 g/day with a dialysate volume of 6 1/24 h and was thus lower than the losses quoted in the literature for an exchange volume of 10 1/24 h. As a whole the loss of amino acids apparently plays only a subordinate role as an influencing factor on protein metabolism in continuous peritoneal dialysis.