Analysis of 14 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) prior to and during the first year after parathyroid surgery disclosed that the operation was associated with rapid reductions of intact serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) and total serum and ionized plasma calcium values. A decreased urinary calcium excretion, a gradual elevation of renal calcium reabsorption, a transient reduction of serum calcitriol, and a late increase in 25-hydroxycholecalciferol values were also noted. Dynamic tests of parathyroid function by EDTA infusion and an oral calcium load revealed a sigmoidal relationship between serum PTH and calcium levels, and that parathyroid surgery induced considerable changes in both the position and slope of the dose-response curve. It was also apparent that PTH release was submaximally stimulated event at periods of hypocalcemia. The findings substantiate that adjustments of PTH release to acute alterations of serum calcium occur along the prevailing dose-response relationship, while stimuli being maintained for longer periods of time induce compensatory shifts in the position and slope of this curve. It is further suggested that unknown factors with PTH-like function may participate in the calcium regulation after surgery for primary HPT.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Electrocution accident with three-week survival].

A 55-year-old man was found unconscious with ventricular fibrillations at his working place near a power press. CPR was successful. After three weeks of intensive care the patient died of ischemic brain damage. The first suspected diagnosis of myocardial infarction was revised when typical current marks were detected on both palms. At the working place the top of a lubricating grease container was found to be energized due to a technical damage: There is a round, multiple-pole plug mounted upon the container top the proper orientation of which is coded by a set of five plastic nipples. All the nipples had been abraded by longlasting mechanical stress, so that the plug could be connected in a variety of possible orientations. In actual fact, the incorrect orientation caused a voltage of up to 240 V to the container top.

Accidents, Occupational↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Pleomorphic ("dedifferentiated") chondrosarcoma. Report of a case initially examined by fine needle aspiration biopsy.

Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy of a predominantly radiolucent, destructive lesion of the right distal femoral metaphysis of a 69-year-old man produced smears containing spindle-shaped cells with cytologic features consistent with a malignant fibrous histiocytoma. This initial diagnosis was supported by immunoperoxidase staining, which was strongly positive for vimentin and alpha-1-antichymotrypsin, focally positive for S-100 protein and negative for desmin, muscle-specific actin, keratin, carcinoembryonic antigen and epithelial membrane antigen. Subsequent surgical resection revealed a lesion with a predominance of malignant fibrous histiocytoma-type regions; however, focal microscopic areas contained a low-to-medium-grade cartilaginous component. The final diagnosis rendered was thus pleomorphic or so-called "dedifferentiated" chondrosarcoma. This rare lesion should be included in the differential diagnosis of malignant spindle-cell lesions of bone assessed by FNA biopsy.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

How to construct and move a cat's neck.

Extensive information has been accumulated over the past several years about the head-neck sensory-motor system, in particular that relating to cats. Using still x-ray and cineradiographic analysis, the skeletal geometry of head-neck posture in three dimensions--when an animal is resting, actively orienting, or locomoting--is described. From these descriptions, cervical, vertebral, and craniocervical joint biomechanics for all three rotational dimensions are quantified. These behavioral data on muscle and skeletal movements have been incorporated in a biomechanical, functional anatomical model of the head-neck movement system. Individual as well as groups of neck muscles have been measured in detail and their kinematics determined. The role of a number of these muscles will be described for several reflex and voluntary behavioral contexts, including muscle co-contractions. Having established how each movement is accomplished, the neuronal sensory-motor reflex basis of head-neck system stabilization in space is addressed. The vestibular system is largely responsible for acquisition and maintenance of upright posture. The bilateral semicircular canals (horizontal, anterior, posterior) and otoliths (sacculus, utriculus) feed information differentially to specific neck muscles: these connections are reviewed with regard to the origin of the reflex are from each receptor to its destination of specific muscles. Behavioral data from normal animals, and from animals whose vestibular receptor systems are selectively lesioned, will be reviewed to complement the functional interpretation of the sensory-motor transformations. Finally, the requirements for space-time coordinated cat head-neck movements will be synthesized, based on biomechanics, muscle kinematics, canal/otolith connectivity, and selective lesion experiments.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Adjuvant 131I-anti-CEA-antibody radioimmunotherapy inhibits the development of experimental colonic carcinoma liver metastases.

Adjuvant radioimmunotherapy (RIT) for human colonic cancer was performed in a nude rat model of experimental liver metastases. Thirty-three rats were injected intraportally through a mesenteric vein with 5 x 10(6) cells from the human colonic cancer cell line LS174T. Within half an hour, 20 MBq (n = 2), 75 MBq (n = 5), or 150 MBq (n = 10) of the 131I-labelled anti- carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) monoclonal antibody (MAb) 38S1 was administered intravenously (i.v.), whereas control groups received either i.v. saline injections (n = 12) or 150 MBq of the irrelevant 131I-labelled MAb 79C (n = 4). Decay corrected whole-body data showed that more than 80% of the initially MAb-bound radioiodine was excreted during the first 2 weeks. Whole- body clearance and blood clearance of 131I-38S1 and 131I-79C were essentially similar. At sacrifice 5-7 weeks after administration, neither 20 MBq nor 75MBq 131I-38S1 significantly prevented the development of liver metastases. By contrast, with 150 MBq, no metastases formed in the animals treated with MAb 131I-38S1 or 131I-79C. A radiation induced effect on the haematopoietic system was found in the 150MBq dosage groups. It is concluded that the inhibition of tumour induction was not strictly dependent on a radiation dose delivered by a tumour-specific MAb. Since a non-tumour-specific 131I-MAb, in a smaller group of animals, proved equally efficacious in preventing tumour growth, the total body 131I dose was probably the major contributing factor.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

5-FU uptake in liver metastases after intravenous and intraperitoneal administration: an autoradiographic study in the rat.

AIM: To analyse 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) uptake in hepatic metastases and normal tissues after intravenous (i.v.), intraperitoneal (i.p.e.) and intraportal (IPO) administration. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 18 inbred rats with hepatic metastases were injected with 14C-labelled 5-FU either through the i.v. (n = 7), i.p.e (n = 7) or IPO (n = 4) route. Radioactivity was visualised autoradiographically and quantified by computer-based image analysis. After 20 minutes, 10 i.v. injected tumours showed a higher amount of radioactivity (mean +/- SD) 23.8 +/- 7.8 than 6 i.p.e. injected (16.5 +/- 5.1, P = 0.06). At 2 hours, 9 i.v. injected metastases contained more radioactivity (49.6 +/- 9.2) than 19 i.p.e. injected tumours (28.2 + 11.3, P = 0.00003). After 24 hours, 2 i.p.e. injected tumours had higher radioactivity (mean 25.2) compared with 7 i.v. injected (7.6 +/- 4.1). IPO administration did not confer higher radioactivity at any time point. When the calculations were based on average metastatic radioactivity of individual rats, the difference between i.v. and i.p.e. injected rats was still present at 2 hours. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that early tumour 5-FU uptake after intraperitoneal and intraportal administration may be inferior to that after intravenous injection. Deposition of the drug in the peritoneal cavity may, however, act as a slow release preparation giving continuous drug exposure for prolonged periods of time. These results suggest a role for combined intravenous and intraperitoneal adjuvant therapy.

Animals↗