Two rare cases of small intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with marked hypervascularity are reported. Dynamic computed tomographic and magnetic resonance images of the two cases revealed strong enhancement of the whole tumor on the early phase and prolonged enhancement on the late and delayed phases. In both cases, the tumors turned out to be well-differentiated tubular cholangiocarcinoma that contained a large number of tumor cells and few interstitial fibrous tissues. These results suggest that some intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma should be differentiated from other hypervascular hepatic tumors, especially hepatocellular carcinoma, and that prolonged enhancement of the tumor on late and delayed phases of dynamic images could be of diagnostic value.

Bile Duct Neoplasms↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of diabetic sera on the conversion of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) to prostaglandin I3 by cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells.

The effects of sera from diabetic patients and healthy donors on the synthesis of prostaglandin I2 (PGI2) and PGI3 in vitro were studied in confluent bovine aortic endothelial cells cultured with EPA. The products 6-keto-PGF1 alpha and delta 17-6-keto-PGF1 alpha were measured by GC/SIM as markers of PGI2 and PGI3 formation in growth medium after 60 min of incubation. PGI2 and PGI3 synthesis with 10% diabetic sera were less than with sera from healthy donors (p < 0.05). However, the total prostacyclin production (PGI2 and PGI3) in the cell cultures incubated with 10 microM EPA and 10% diabetic sera approximated that of the cultures incubated with the sera of healthy donors without EPA. These results suggest that the diabetic sera inhibits PGI2 and PGI3 synthesis in the cultured endothelial cells, and that EPA intake may reduce the complications of diabetes mellitus, such as microangiopathy and vaso-occlusive diseases, and enhances the production of PGI3 which seems to exert a strong anti-aggregatory effect.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Hearing impairment in two boys with Cornelia de Lange syndrome.

We analyzed brainstem auditory evoked potentials in 2 boys with Cornelia de Lange syndrome. One patient showed no responses with 100 dB hearing level (HL) stimuli. The other showed a normal latency of wave I, a normal I-V interpeak latency with 80 dB HL stimuli, and an elevated threshold of wave V (40 dB HL). It is likely that these abnormal findings reflect the presence of sensorineural hearing impairment.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Optic nerve hypoplasia with hypopituitarism and an arachnoid cyst.

We describe a 5-month-old boy with bilateral optic nerve hypoplasia associated with visual impairment, growth hormone deficiency and an arachnoid cyst in the right temporal lobe on MRI. Optic nerve hypoplasia is sometimes associated with agenesis of the septum pellucidum, commonly known as septo-optic dysplasia, and/or hypopituitarism. There have been a few reports about its association with other abnormalities of the central nervous system, but none about that with an arachnoid cyst.

Arachnoid Cysts↗