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Biomedical subjects

M Kurachi

Publications and source records attributed to M Kurachi.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Recurrence of intrahepatic stones after an end-to-side choledochojejunostomy.

The risk factors for the recurrence of intrahepatic stones after an end-to-side choledochojejunostomy were investigated, along with the outcome following the treatment of such stones. Thirty-two patients with intrahepatic stones underwent an end-to-side choledochojejunostomy, and a complete lithotomy was achieved in 26 of them. The follow-up which ranged from 5-19 years after surgery revealed that eight patients developed a recurrence of intrahepatic stones, and their clinical and cholangiographic findings were thus reviewed. Recurrent stones were associated with onset of symptoms at a younger age and were predominantly located in the intrahepatic bile ducts. Recurrence was also associated with severe intrahepatic bile duct dilatation. Six of the eight patients developed recurrent stones more than 5 years after a complete lithotomy. One of these patients died of liver cirrhosis while two died of acute obstructive suppurative cholangitis. Five patients underwent cholangioscopic lithotomy through the jejunostomy for their recurrent stones, and a complete lithotomy was accomplished in three of them. These findings indicate the necessity of performing a hepatectomy in such patients whenever possible, and also emphasize the need for a long-term follow-up after a complete lithotomy with an end-to-side choledochojejunostomy. In addition, any recurrent stones should be treated promptly by a cholangioscopic lithotomy through a jejunostomy.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Limited visual search on the WAIS Picture Completion test in patients with schizophrenia.

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale was examined in 39 patients with schizophrenia, the visual cognitive task of Picture Completion showing the most impairment. In order to clarify the role of eye movements in Picture Completion, searching eye movements in 12 schizophrenic patients and 12 normal controls were recorded using an infrared eye-mark recorder. Schizophrenic patients as a group showed fewer eye fixations, and shorter total length of scan path than normal controls during the last 10 s of exposure to the picture. However, the patients who responded correctly, did so with a similar number of fixations and similar length of total scan path to those of normal controls. The patients who failed in the task took a significantly longer time for the first survey of the picture than the successful patients and normal controls. The less efficient strategy of visual search seen in the patients who failed might be a manifestation of poor reality testing and be related to frontal lobe dysfunction.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Evaluation and interpretation of symptom structures in patients with schizophrenia.

Seventy Japanese DSM-III-R schizophrenic patients were assessed for 30 clinical symptoms using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) of Kay et al. Principal component analysis was applied to the full item set of this scale and disclosed 5 orthogonal independent symptom groups: negative, hostile/excited, thought-disordered, delusional/hallucinatory and depressive components. Our results provided further support of the contention that more than 2 (i.e., positive and negative) dimensions are required to account for structures of the schizophrenic symptoms.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Left superior temporal blood flow increases in schizophrenic and schizophreniform patients with auditory hallucination: a longitudinal case study using 123I-IMP SPECT.

Serial assessments of regional cerebral blood flow were performed using 123I-IMP SPECT in two schizophrenic and three schizophreniform patients with persistent auditory hallucination. The initial SPECT study in the period with prominent auditory hallucination revealed an increased accumulation of 123I-IMP in the left superior temporal area which corresponded to the auditory association cortex. In the follow-up SPECT study performed after clinical improvement, the distribution of 123I-IMP had normalized. One of the case with schizophrenia showed a similar increased uptake of 123I-IMP in the left superior temporal area in the third SPECT scan performed when a psychotic relapse with auditory hallucination occurred. MRI scans in two of the five patients demonstrated reduced volume of the temporal lobes. These findings suggest that the auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia may be involved in functional hyperactivity in the left superior temporal cortex which might be based partly on structural abnormalities in the temporal lobes.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Comparison of the effect of zopiclone and brotizolam on sleep EEG by quantitative evaluation in healthy young women.

We studied the effect of brotizolam (BRO) (0.25 mg) and zopiclone (ZPC) (7.5 mg) on the sleep electroencephalograms (EEG) of seven healthy young women (ages 20-21 years). In addition to conventional sleep scoring, we performed spectral analysis of EEG wave forms using the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) method. Four weeks following two consecutive polysomnographic recordings with placebo administration (for baseline data), polysomnography with BRO or ZPC administration was performed on the subjects who were then crossed over to polysomnography with ZPC or BRO, respectively, 1 week later. Total rapid eye movement (REM) time was decreased on the ZPC and BRO nights and REM latency was prolonged on the ZPC night compared with baseline (BL) night. Other parameters, however, were not significantly different between the drug nights and the BL night. There were also no differences in standard scoring results between both drug nights. FFT analysis revealed significant differences in total power density percentage and mean power density percentage in both nonrapid eye movement (NREM) and REM sleep between ZPC and BRO nights and between both drug nights compared to the BL night. Total power density and mean power density per epoch showed significant decreases in the theta band (6.0-8.0 Hz) and sigma band (12.0-14.0 Hz) on the ZPC night versus the BRO night or BL night during specific NREM periods. The results of this study corroborate previous reports that suggest computer-aided quantitative electroencephalography aids in differentiating specific effects of hypnotics and other central-nervous-system-acting agents on the sleep EEG.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Changes in local cerebral glucose utilization and dopamine metabolism in the rat brain following acute administration of haloperidol.

The effects of acute administration of haloperidol on local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU) in 26 discrete regions of the rat brain were examined by the quantitative autoradiographic [14C] 2-deoxy-D-glucose technique and compared with the changes in dopamine (DA) metabolism in 13 brain regions examined by a high performance liquid chromatographic assay. A moderate dose (0.25 mg/kg) of acute haloperidol significantly reduced LCGU in a few brain regions; a high dose (1.0 mg/kg) reduced LCGU in 11 regions including the prefrontal cortex, thalamus and other subcortical structures, but not in the caudate putamen or accumbens nucleus. However, the levels of DA metabolite in the caudate-putamen, accumbens nucleus, prefrontal cortex, and medial thalamus were strikingly elevated with both doses of haloperidol. Thus, the changes in LCGU did not parallel presynaptic DA metabolism in terms of direction or distribution, and they might represent mainly the activities of postsynaptic sites.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Differential effects of tight and loose 2-hour restraint stress on extracellular concentrations of dopamine in nucleus accumbens and anteromedial frontal cortex.

Changes in the extracellular dopamine (DA) concentrations were examined in the nucleus accumbens (NAS) and anteromedial frontal cortex (AMFCx) during either 2-hr loose or tight restraint stress by means of a microdialysis method. Loose restraint induced significant 100% and 30% increases in DA release in the AMFCx and NAS, respectively, and the increased DA levels returned to the control values despite continued stress. Tight restraint induced an almost constant 100-130% increase during stressing in the AMFCx and a 30% reduction in the NAS. Transient increases in DA release were observed in both regions soon after the cessation of loose, but not tight, restraint.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Agreement of visual scoring of sleep stages among many laboratories in Japan: effect of a supplementary definition of slow wave on scoring of slow wave sleep.

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the agreement of visual scoring of all-night polysomnographic recordings among many scores from different laboratories. Ten scorers including the author from different laboratories in Japan scored the same paper recordings of two young male subjects. We calculated the agreement rate for each stage using an epoch by epoch analysis. In both records, the agreement rates for stages 2 and R were high; on the contrary, those for stages 3 and 4 were low. After adding a supplementary definition of high voltage slow wave in deep sleep, we scored the first NREM period of another subject. The mean agreement rate for stage 3 among 10 scorers was significantly higher than those of the two former subjects. However, the agreement for stage 4 did not change so much. This result demonstrates that there is much interrater (laboratory) variability of visual scoring, especially in slow wave sleep. When the result of automatic scoring is compared to that of the visual scoring to evaluate the reliability of automatic scoring, these findings must be considered.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Complete remission of neuroleptic-induced Meige's syndrome by botulinum toxin treatment: a case report.

A botulinum A toxin injection has beneficial effects on patients suffering from facial and cervical spastic disorders. However, its effect almost completely disappears within three months. We have reported a case of a 23-year-old schizophrenic patient with severe neuroleptic-induced Meige's syndrome in whom botulinum toxin treatment exerted a marked effect which lasted more than 15 months after the final injection of botulinum toxin in spite of continuous neuroleptic medication. It is concluded that botulinum can be recommended as a treatment of choice in neuroleptic-induced Meige's syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Scanning eye movements in schizophrenic patients. Relationship to clinical symptoms and regional cerebral blood flow using 123I-IMP SPECT.

Eye movements during the Benton Visual Retention Test were examined using an eye-mark recorder in 32 schizophrenic patients and 32 normal controls. The patients had significantly fewer eye fixations, longer mean duration of fixation and shorter length of mean scan path than the controls. In the patients, these eye movement parameters were significantly correlated with the negative symptom score but not with the positive symptom score on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. These parameters had a significant correlation with the composite score on the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS). In particular, they were highly correlated with avolition-apathy and affective flattening or blunting scores on SANS subscales. Thus, examination of scanning eye movements seemed to be a good objective index of negative symptoms. Secondly, regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was examined using N-isopropyl-p-[123I]iodoamphetamine (123I-IMP) and single photon emission computer tomography in 17 of 32 patients. With regard to the relationship between the eye movement parameters and rCBF, the mean duration of fixation was negatively correlated with 123I-IMP uptake in the left superior frontal area and left basal ganglia. The mean length of the scan path was correlated with uptake in the left superior frontal area. These findings suggest that the characteristic eye movements of schizophrenic patients are likely to be related with dysfunction of the frontal-basal ganglia neural circuit.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Left hypofrontality correlates with blunted affect in schizophrenia.

Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during the resting state was measured using the 133Xe inhalation technique in 39 patients diagnosed as having schizophrenic disorder according to the DSM-III criteria and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. All the patients were receiving neuroleptic medication. The bilateral hemispheric mean flow values in the schizophrenic patients decreased significantly and the relative flow distribution reduced significantly only in the left frontal region compared to the controls. The lower the left frontal blood flow in schizophrenics, the more pronounced were the negative symptoms including blunted affect, avolition-apathy and inattention. These results suggest that the negative symptoms in schizophrenics are related to left frontal lobe dysfunction.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Antiepileptic effects of MK-801, a noncompetitive NMDA-receptor antagonist, in the low-frequency kindling model of epilepsy.

We assessed the acute effect of MK-801 (0.05-0.7 mg/kg), a noncompetitive NMDA-receptor antagonist, on hippocampus-kindled seizures induced with low-frequency (2 Hz) electrical stimulations. MK-801 dose-dependently increased the seizure threshold (PNT, the number of stimulating pulses required for the triggering of epileptic after discharge), whereas most of the previous studies which assessed the effect of MK-801 on kindled seizures could not detect the elevation of seizure threshold by MK-801. In addition MK-801 decreased the severity of induced seizures at low doses at which previous studies could not detect the antiepileptic effect of MK-801, suggesting that the low-frequency kindling technique might be a more sensitive and reliable model of epilepsy than the conventional high-frequency kindling technique.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Two types of neuroplasticities in the kindling phenomenon.

We stimulated the dorsal hippocampus of the rat with 2 Hz electrical stimulation to induce kindling seizures. As we reported previously using cats, pulse-number threshold (PNT), the number of stimulating-pulses required for the triggering of epileptic afterdischarge, decreased profoundly in the initial stage of the kindling process and the behavioral seizure stage (BSS) developed in the later stage. After the completion of kindling, a 4 week interval elevated PNT significantly compared to the value at the completion of kindling, whereas BSS showed no regression. These results suggest that there are two types of neuroplasticities which are independent of each other in the kindling phenomenon, one is the early-short type which is involved in the susceptibility of epileptic focus in hippocampus and the other is the late-long type which is involved in the full propagation of kindled seizures to the extra-limbic area.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Clinicopathological studies on solid and cystic tumors of the pancreas.

Three cases of pancreatic tumor in two females (case 1, case 3) and one male (case 2) were reported. Macroscopically cases 1 and 3, which were surrounded by a thick fibrous capsule, developed toward the outside of the pancreas and the cut surface showed mainly cystic degenerative areas filled with necrotic and hemorrhagic materials. In contrast with these two cases, case 2 was buried in the pancreatic tissue and the cut surface showed cystic degenerative areas in its center with a thick fibrous capsule and tumor cell nests invading beyond the capsule to the parenchyma of the pancreas. Microscopically each tumor was identical. The solid areas on the periphery were composed of sheets of polygonal uniform cells subdivided by delicate fibrovascular stalks. Near the degenerative areas, tumor cells lay on a delicate fibrovascular core in one or two layers, with pseudopapillary patterns. Mitotic figures were very rare. All three cases demonstrated immunoreactivity for alpha-1-antitrypsin, but not for islet hormones, tumor markers nor neuron-specific enolase. Although electronmicroscopically, zymogen granules were detected in cases 2 and 3, and annulate lamellae in cases 1 and 3, ductal cell character features were not so developed. From the above, these tumors were diagnosed as solid and cystic tumors of the pancreas. Furthermore, it was suggested that they differentiated in the direction of acinar cells.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Effects of chronic treatment with haloperidol and methamphetamine on hippocampal kindled seizures in the cat.

We assessed the effects of chronic treatment with haloperidol (0.5-2 mg/kg/day, p.o., 17 days) and methamphetamine (1-2 mg/kg/day, p.o., 17 days; 4 mg/kg/day, p.o. 9 days) on hippocampal kindled seizures using a kindling procedure with low-frequency (about 3 Hz) electrical stimulation in cats. The number of stimulating pulses required to trigger epileptic afterdischarge (pulse-number threshold, PNT) was considered an indicator of seizure threshold. Haloperidol, 0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg, reduced the duration of epileptic afterdischarge (afterdischarge duration, ADD) without affecting PNT, and 2.0 mg/kg strongly reduced PNT and ADD. Methamphetamine, 2.0 mg/kg, reduced PNT and ADD, and 4.0 mg/kg preferentially reduced PNT. The effects of the two drugs on hippocampal kindled seizures were found to be partially opposite to those on amygdala kindled seizures, suggesting the different response of these limbic structures to dopamine receptor manipulation.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Effects of clomipramine on the concentrations of catecholamines, indoleamines and their metabolites in 11 rat brain regions.

The effects of clomipramine (CMP) treatment on the brain concentrations of catecholamines, indoleamines and their metabolites were evaluated in 11 rat brain regions. An acute CMP treatment (15 mg/kg) reduced only the 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5HIAA) concentrations in all regions. A long-term CMP treatment (14 days, 10 mg/kg/day) decreased the concentrations of dopamine (DA), 5-hydroxytryptamine and 5HIAA in the mesencephalon, and increased the DA concentrations in the hippocampus. In comparison with the values for the long-term treated rats, an acute injection of CMP (15 mg/kg) after a long-term treatment increased the norepinephrine concentrations in the hypothalamus and amygdala, and the concentrations of DA, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid in the basal ganglia. On the other hand, it failed to decrease the 5HIAA concentrations in the basal ganglia, frontal cortex, hypothalamus, cerebellum, pons + medulla oblongata, and mesencephalon.

Animals↗