Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to W Arnold.
The directional hearing of 20 healthy test persons, all with normal hearing abilities, was tested using a special self constructed equipment. Under the repeated influence of an optokinetic stimulation (rotating light beams on a semicircular screen in a completely darkened room) no statistically significant deviation of the directional hearing reactions could be detected.
The current state of electronmicroscopy in research and clinical applications in otorhinolaryngology is reviewed. The recognition of cytoarchitectonic relationships by means of transmission electronmicroscopy, tracer studies and freeze fracture technique provides functionally interesting findings on the sensory epithelium and the permeability barriers of the inner ear. Knowledge of the fine structure of the animal and human ear also facilitates the understanding of the pathomechanism of the inner ear. Experimental and clinical findings of seromucotympanon are also described, as well as the morphology of normal and diseased respiratory mucosa. A viral origin for laryngeal papilloma is clearly confirmed. New findings in the pathohistology of otosclerosis are described. Finally, the use of electronmicroscopy in the diagnosis of ENT tumours is considered. The demonstration of pathognomonic cell organelles is useful not only in the diagnosis of rare tumours, e.g. esthesioneuroblastoma or carcinoid. The epithelial origin of anaplastic tumours can also be shown or excluded. Electronmicroscopy also offers important clues in the case of neck metastases from an unknown primary tumour.
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Investigations on 50 high school students showed that this group had been using the "Walkman" only 1.5 h. per day during the last 14 months. A comparison of the audiometric results obtained with these 50 "Walkman" users, with those of 20 age-related non-"Walkman" users, showed no statistically significant differences. The investigation further revealed that to avoid hearing loss, an upper threshold level of 93 dB (A) should not be exceeded for a daily "Walkman" user time of two hours.
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We have examined the possibility of transplanting syngeneic and xenogeneic tumor material below the renal capsule of normal, immunocompetent mice as a chemotherapeutic test model. Whereas the Lewis lung carcinoma in the syngeneic system was appropriated for the 6-day-test, only 56% of spontaneous C3H mammary carcinomas showed an increase in the size of the transplanted material. An individual sensitivity to the cytostatic agents as an expression of biological variability could be detected for primary C3H mammary carcinomas. Both, xenogeneic lines of human origin, established in nude mice, and fresh resection material from the clinic showed on the normal, immunocompetent mouse no time-dependent, reproducible growth of the transplanted material in control animals. However, growth is considered as a precondition for estimating the effect of therapy. The normal, immunocompetent mouse was in our experiments not suitable for application of the renal capsule assay in the 6-day-test as a recipient for xenogeneic transplantation.
The establishment of a spontaneously transformed tumorigenic human fibrosarcoma line derived from the ovary of a breast cancer patient (NO-15) is described. This tumor cell line has been characterized by tumor growth in nude mice. The cells form colonies without the usually recommended agar technique and are sensitive to cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum(II) (cis-DDP), daunorubicin (DR) and bleomycin (BLM), three well-known chemotherapeutic agents. The cells were incubated in the presence of drugs using three different methods. These agents proved to be noncytotoxic to monolayers treated for three hours. Conversely dose-dependent cytotoxicity was seen in suspension cultures treated for three hours. Optimal correlation between the three methods for the evaluation of cytotoxicity was seen in monolayers exposed to these agents for 24 hours. The results of three different methods to evaluate drug efficacy (number of colonies, growth rate and 3H-thymidine incorporation) were in good correlation. The incorporation of the radiolabeled tracer into cellular DNA is advantageous for its rapidity and quantitative reproducibility.
The prognosis of bile duct cancer is still poor. Curative surgical therapy is possible in only 10%-20% of cases. Palliative effects of chemotherapy and radiation are small. Newer palliative techniques like iridium 192 wire radiation or hepatic artery infusion of chemotherapeutic agents seem to be more effective. Another new form of palliative local chemotherapy, intrabiliary application of 5-fluorouracil, is described. A 67-year-old woman with an adenocarcinoma of the left and common hepatic ducts received symptomatic therapy by an external biliary drainage for 20 months. In the following 3 weeks the amount of drained bile diminished and finally stopped, while icterus occurred. Catheter cholangiography showed a right catheter position, the known obstruction of the common hepatic duct and the left bile duct, and a diffuse right-sided peripheral bile duct occlusion, regarded as multifocal tumor spreading. Intraductal application of 5-fluorouracil via the PTCD tube, 125-375 mg twice a week, effected a rising bile secretion after a few days, to a final volume of 1,000 ml/day. An X-ray control 34 days after start of the therapy showed a nearly complete reopening of the formerly occluded peripheral bile duct system and a filiform reopening of the common hepatic duct with sufficient flowing off into the common bile duct and the duodenum. Certain side effects of this therapy were not noticed. After successful reopening of malignant bile tract occlusion, other palliative therapeutic techniques like internal bile drainage or iridium 192 wire radiation can be applied.
Certain epithelia of the human inner ear and human endolymphatic sac display somatostatin and/or somatostatin-like immunoreactivity. Histologic sections from 13 human temporal bones and from 15 endolymphatic sacs were studied using the unlabeled antibody peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique. The somatostatin and/or somatostatin-like immunoreactive cells were located exclusively in the covering epithelium of the spiral prominence and in the epithelium of the intermediate and rugosal part of the endolymphatic sac. In the epithelium of the spiral prominence and endolymphatic sac, secretory granules of the same size and appearance as those of intestinal or pancreatic somatostatin-producing cells were demonstrated ultrastructurally. The findings are consistent with a local exocrine, paracrine, and/or endocrine system of the inner ear.
The hemoglobin of the European marmot Marmota marmota marmota has been found to consist of only one component. In this work, we are presenting its primary structure. The globin chains have been separated by high performance liquid chromatography and the sequences have been determined by automated Edman degradation of the chains and their tryptic peptides, as well as of the peptide obtained by acid hydrolysis of the Asp-Pro bond in the beta-chains. In the alpha-chains we have found 13 and in the beta-chains 34 exchanges compared with the human alpha- and beta-chains, respectively. The amino acids which are substituted in the alpha-chains are not involved in any contacts, whereas in the beta-chains, one exchange involves a heme contact, two alpha 1/beta 1- and one alpha 1/beta 2-contacts. The functional and evolutionary aspects of these findings are discussed.
Experiments concerning the kinetics and bio-distribution of 57Co-Bleomycin in three different lines of the squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity in a nude-mouse model yielded a more than tenfold higher concentration after a single intratumoral (i.t.) application of an aqueous solution of 57Co-labelled Bleomycin in spite of a remarkable radioactivity-wash in the tumor up to 48 hours post applicationem, compared to the intravenous (i.v.) injection. For the investigation of the radiopharmacon within the tumor we used the macro-autoradiographic method. The xenografts have been removed and cut (5 micrograms) 1;5; 24, and 48 hours after the Bleomycin administration, respectively. These preparations have been covered with an autoradiographic film and exposed for about three weeks. After this an inhomogenous distribution of the radioactive nuclide was produced within the tumor, and a particularly high activity-concentration could be demonstrated in the necrotic tumor areas. The results obtained from the animal experiments have been corroborated by a pilot-study consisting of i.t. Bleomycin application in nine patients with a carcinoma of the oral mucosa.
Submucosal injections of teflon paste (suspension of teflon in glycerin) are used for therapy of ENT diseases. Little is known about the fate of the injected teflon particles. Is teflon phagocytosed and removed? Teflon paste was injected into the peritoneum of mice. After 48 days, we have found many teflon particles in peritoneal macrophages, in microphages and macrophages of regional lymph nodes and the spleen, and in Kupffer cells of the liver. We assume that phagocytosis and removal of the injected teflon particles occur in the patient, too. The particles are indigestible and, therefore, may block the phagocytic system. Phagocytes containing teflon induce local inflammation and fibrosis. Conclusive information about late effects is not available.
In this paper three families are reported with members who had hereditary bone dysplasia that was originally described by Arnold in one family. We provide further information about that family and suggest that the diagnosis of the malignant change should be changed from fibrosarcoma to malignant fibrous histiocytoma. A thorough search of the literature has failed to reveal any conditions, either hereditary or acquired, that are similar. The major feature of the dysplasia is diaphyseal medullary stenosis of bone with overlying cortical-bone thickening, and the propensity to malignant transformation and fractures with minimum trauma is emphasized. The tumors in seven, and possibly eight, of the nine patients in whom a malignant lesion developed were originally classified as fibrosarcoma and proved to be markedly aggressive. The hereditary pattern appears to be autosomal dominant. The clinical manifestations of a malignant lesion occur generally in the second to the fifth decades of life.
Velofacial hypoplasia (VFH) is particularly characterised by severe open nasalising with palate-throat insufficiency due to an abridged palatal velum. The cause of this disorder is unknown. Submucosal cleft palates (SMG), which may cause similar signs, are considered to be caused genetically, or acquired during pregnancy as an impedimental malformation. We compared histologically and histomorphometrically the palatal velums of patients with VFH and SMG, with normal specimens. In VFH and SMG, the muscle fibres of the palatal velums feature pathological variations of their diameters; moreover, these specimens contain more fibrous than muscle tissue compared with the controls. These changes do not indicate clearly either a neuropathogenic or a myopathogenic or other pathogenesis. However, the similarities of the clinical, histological and histomorphometric findings do indicate a common formal pathogenesis. Anamnestic examinations of the pregnancies (particularly of the first trimenon) of mothers of patients with VFH may reveal further findings supporting our assumption.
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The influence of adenoidectomy, myringotomy and lavage of the middle ear was studied in children suffering from secretory otitis. The children were controlled by audiograms and tympanograms over a one-year period of time. 89 percent of all children showed normal values one year following surgery, 11 percent had still high negative middle ear pressures and conductive hearing loss. We think that these children only are candidates for ventilating tubes (grommets).
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