Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to W Kuhn.
The lymphangioma of the vulva offers difficulties in differential diagnosis because of its wart-like appearance [7]. Is the diagnosis histologically confirmed, there often arise uncertainties about an adequate therapy [7, 2, 15]. By this case report these problems will be explained. Vaporisation with the CO2-Laser showed to be the predominant therapeutical procedure.
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Parkinson's disease was found in three post office workers who were in close contact with lead-sulfate batteries over a period between 1947 and 1983. The workers had been working in a charging station for lead storage batteries used for the battery-traction of post wagons. Parkinson's disease was diagnosed by the characteristic features of rigidity, tremor and elements of hypo-, brady- and akinesia. Additional symptoms were: bradyphrenia (n = 3), memory deficits (n = 3), depressive symptoms (n = 2) and peripheral neuropathy (n = 2). We hypothesize that the parkinsonian symptoms of these post office workers are primarily caused by lead or lead compounds. However a possible toxicity of sulfur containing compounds cannot be ruled out.
In humans different problems are associated with the direct application of neurotrophic factors like e.g. nerve growth factor (NGF). Therefore increasing attention has been focused on the concept of pharmacological stimulation of endogenous synthesis of trophic factors. For various compounds, especially catecholamines and their analogues, it has been demonstrated that induction of synthesis of NGF in glial and neuronal cells is possible. However, further experiments are necessary to confirm these results under in vivo conditions and to ensure safe and efficient clinical application.
The potential role of immune mechanisms in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease is still a matter of controversy. Both peripheral and central immunological disturbances have been reported. It is possible that this altered function of the immune system is responsible for autodestruction of neurons in Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. In this case possible neuroprotective therapeutic strategies could be developed. However, further investigations are necessary to elucidate the conditions of normal or pathologic interaction between the brain and the immune system.
Several lines of evidence suggest that endogenous and exogenous toxins may play a major role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). In the brain aromatic beta-carbolines, like harman or norharman, may be formed by cyclization of indoleamines. Because of the structural similarity to MPTP, beta-carbolines have been proposed as endogenous toxins. For further elucidation of the role of beta-carbolines in neurodegenerative disorders, harman and norharman plasma levels were measured in 36 patients with PD and compared to an age- and sex-matched control group. Plasma levels of norharman in PD were significantly higher compared to the control group. Harman in the plasma of Parkinsonian patients was also elevated compared to the controls, but this difference was not significant. On the one hand these results may suggest a possible role of beta-carbolines in the pathophysiological processes initiating PD. But on the other hand one may speculate that elevated levels of norharman and harman are due to an endogenous upregulation, caused by unknown metabolic processes to reduce oxidative stress by inhibiting e.g. monoaminooxidases in neurons.
The aim of this study was to estimate the pharmacokinetic properties of amantadine after infusion and subsequent peroral application of two galenic forms at a daily dose of 200 mg. In addition, the pharmacodynamics of the different treatment regimes evaluated by the motoric items of the UPDRS were investigated. Furthermore, the relationship between plasma levels and clinical efficacy was evaluated. To address these questions Parkinsonian patients were randomly assigned to 3 groups: infusion-tablet, infusion-capsule, infusion-infusion. Parenteral application of amantadine sulphate provided a rapid improvement in Parkinsonian patients within the first three days. This response could be stabilized and even improved further by peroral treatment for another 3 days. The change from intravenous to peroral tablet therapy was followed by a transient decrease in cmax and AUC(o-t) being not reflected by a reduction in clinical efficacy. Conversely, a persistent reduction of the plasma concentration after switching to the capsule therapy was paralleled by a somewhat unfavourable clinical response.
A statistical evaluation of homologous blood transfusions is imperative in any gynecological surgical department, to be able to define the transfusion-associated risk of the individual interventions. On the basis of our own statistical data and reports in the literature, strategies for limiting the use of homologous blood are discussed. So far, experience with autologous blood transfusion in surgical gynecology is limited, and clinical studies are needed to better define its role. In special cases, the use of erythropoietin and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues extends the possibilities for reducing homologous blood transfusion.
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The authors analysed the fibronectin content of the uterine cervix during pregnancy and delivery. The aim of their investigation was furnishing data to the biochemical changes during cervical maturation. The ripening of the uterine cervix during pregnancy is a result of complicated interactions between different macromolecules, where the fibronectin plays a key role. The quantitative determination of the extracellular matrix fibronectin is impossible because its extraction from tissues recently is not solved. Taking this fact in consideration the authors choose a semiquantitative method, being reliable indicator of changes in fibronectin content of uterine cervix. They took small pieces of materials from portio vaginalis uteri of 139 women being in postmenopause and premenopause, in different stages of pregnancy and parturition concerning directly after delivery. The slides were incubated, with rabbit-anti-human fibronectin-FITC. The evaluation of fluorescence happened with an Axiophot (Zeiss) microscope. Authors stated that the fibronectin content in the cervical extracellular matrix and in the cellular membrane of fibroblasts increases during the 1st trimester pregnancy. This increase can be shown in the 3rd trimester as well and it drops significantly during delivery. They could not found any relationship between the leucocyte invasion observed during delivery and the changes of cervical fibronectin content. These observations call our attention to the importance of fibronectin in cervical ripening respectively dilatation and the need of further examinations.
The authors obtained small pieces of materials from portio vaginalis uteri of 122 women being in postmenopause and premenopause, in different stages of pregnancy and parturition concerning directly after delivery. Different biochemical investigations of these 30-200 mgs specimens were performed to study the physiological background of its ripening process. They examined the changes in activity of sialidase which cleaves terminal sialic acids. The authors performed these investigations with the use of Triticum vulgaris (WGA) and Limulus polyphemus (LPA) agglutinins (lectins) marked with FITC. The evaluation of the lectin linkage happened with fluorescence microscope. They evaluated the whole fluorescence of extracellular matrix but separately of different extracellular matrix elements as well. From their investigations was stated that the number of WGA and LPA binding sites of the uterine cervix increases predominantly in the 1st trimester pregnancy compared to the non-pregnant state. As compared to the 1st trimester they described a slight reduction of LPA- and WGA-binding sites in the 3rd trimester. The most impressing changes of LPA and WGA binding sites in the extracellular matrix were observed during parturition. These results coincide with the authors' previous experience whereas the sialidase activity increases significantly during parturition. These data support the assumption that the terminal sialic acids and the sialidase play a recently yet not cleared role in the ripening of the human uterine cervix during pregnancy and in dilatation at the time of parturition.
Fifty-one patients with advanced ovarian cancer FIGO III were studied to determine new tumor biology-oriented prognostic factors. The tumor-associated protease urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and its inhibitor PAI-1 were detected in malignant ovarian cancer tissue extracts. The concentration of both factors was significantly higher in malignant tissue compared with benign ovarian tissue specimens (P < 0.01). According to a cutoff value for uPA and PAI-1, patients could be subdivided into risk groups: patients with low uPA and PAI-1 (uPA < 0.9 ng/mg protein and PAI-1 < 13.5 ng/mg protein) had a statistically significant better prognosis than patients with high uPA and/or high PAI-1 (P = 0.01). Especially in patients without residual tumor, uPA and PAI-1 were strong prognostic parameters (P = 0.03). In multivariate analysis the residual tumor was the most powerful prognostic indicator (P = 0.013) closely followed by uPA and PAI-1 (P = 0.047). Moreover, there is a strong correlation between uPA levels and lymph node involvement (P = 0.004) and a trend to higher uPA-levels in poorly differentiated (G3 + G4) cancers (P = 0.059) and in tumors with increased ascites production (P = 0.09). A trend to higher PAI-1 levels was also noted in the above-mentioned tumor situations. The differences, however, were of no statistical significance. From these data it can be concluded that the pattern of tumor spread (mainly intraabdominally versus additional extensive lymph node involvement) and tumor biological appearance (ascites production, differentiation) are reflected by the expression of the tumor-associated proteolytic factors uPA and PAI-1. Adjuvant therapy might be adjusted to uPA and PAI-1 not only in advanced ovarian cancer but also in carcinoma of low malignant potential or early-stage ovarian carcinoma.
Amplification of the proto-oncogene c-erbB-2 (HER-2/neu) has been shown to be a prognostic marker in ovarian cancer. In order to obtain further information on the biological role of the c-erbB-2 gene product p185 it is necessary to quantify expression levels. In this study we evaluated an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the extracellular domain of p185 to determine whether a soluble oncoprotein fragment can be detected in the serum of ovarian cancer patients and in the serum of pregnant women. Sera from 199 women (57 previously untreated ovarian cancer patients, 62 pregnant women and 80 healthy controls) were assayed in a sandwich ELISA utilizing two mouse monoclonal antibodies. To study c-erbB-2 overexpression in ovarian cancer tissue samples we have used an immunohistochemical technique involving a monoclonal antibody specifically reactive with the external domain of the protein p185. The mean serum value for the normal controls was 1203 HNU/ml with a standard deviation (SD) of 279 HNU/ml and a range of 595-1947 HNU/ml. We chose a level of 1761 HNU/ml (2 SD above the mean) as a cut-off to distinguish individuals with elevated levels. The ovarian cancer patients' serum values ranged from 526 to 16,332 HNU/ml. Immunohistochemically detectable p185 was noted in 8 of 57 ovarian cancer patients. The oncoprotein fragment levels in the sera from these 8 patients ranged from 878 to 16,332 HNU/ml. Of 8 patients with p185 overexpression in their tumors, 4 had elevated serum levels. In the sera from the 49 cancer patients without overexpression the values were distributed in the range 526-2892 HNU/ml. There was no association between serum oncoprotein fragment levels and tumor stage, histological type or grading. Serum concentrations of the p185 fragment in pregnancy ranged from 612 to 3265 HNU/ml. The highest levels were found in the third trimester. The results of the present study raise the possibility that the soluble c-erbB-2 protein level in serum is an indicator for cell proliferation and therefore deserves further evaluation as a diagnostic tool in ovarian cancer patients and pregnancy.
In recent studies disorders of colour vision in Parkinsonian patients have been demonstrated. Up to now, the influence of dopaminergic treatment on those phenomena remains unclear. We therefore performed a colour vision test (Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue Test) in 19 patients with Parkinson's disease before and after the oral application of the morning dose of L-Dopa. The colour discrimination was significantly improved after the ingestion of L-Dopa. There was no different effect of L-Dopa on the blue-yellow or red-green axis of colour vision. The morphological structures responsible for these colour vision disturbances are unknown, but it can be concluded that the dopamine deficiency in Parkinson's disease is not restricted to the basal ganglia but may involve the visual system as well.
Recent studies have described the origin of the collagenase responsible for the degradation and loss of collagen during cervical ripening and dilatation to be polymorphonuclear leukocytes. In the present study the clinical feature of cervical dilatation was correlated to the serum levels of human granulocyte collagenase. The serum collagenase level was measured in 19 premenopausal women and in 181 pregnant women. In 15 of these pregnant women serum samples were obtained from the onset of labour to the active phase of labour at four different times. The collagenase concentrations remained low up to the 35th week of gestation (19.4 ng/ml) in comparison with the beginning of pregnancy. From the 35th week of gestation on we found a slight increase in collagenase in maternal serum. The maximum peak was reached during parturition at a cervical dilatation of 6-8 cm (71.2 ng/ml). The serum levels returned to non-pregnant values the first day following delivery. The results show that collagenases are critically involved in parturition.
The distribution of water in the polymer matrix of a silicon microchip was studied by NMR imaging. The chip was saturated with water in a water steam atmosphere and then dried in five steps. After every change of the water content a three-dimensional (3D) NMR image was acquired. A 3D back-projection spin-echo sequence was used to avoid fast gradient switching during the sequence. The experiments show that water invades the chip mainly through the gap between the metallic parts and the polymer body.
The growing demand for minimally invasive operative processes and the unmistakable progress in pelviscopy, have led to an extension of the indications for minimally invasive surgery. At the same time, the operative treatment of ovarian cysts is the third most frequently performed pelviscopic operation. The indication for ovarectomy depends, above all, on anamnestic factors, the clinical findings and the results of pre-operative vaginal sonography. In the event of inadequate hormone secretion by the ovaries, the indication for organ removal should be generously applied. Vaginal sonography is not capable of proving or excluding the existence of a malignancy with 100% certainty. The average rate of ovarian carcinomas is 2.6% in case of smooth-walled, unicamerate cysts. Pelviscopy is also unable to differentiate reliably between benign and malignant ovarian tumours. With the aid of pelviscopic operative processes, a cystic ovarian tumour cannot be extirpated in toto with the necessary certainty. In spite of the conflicting results in the literature, an iatrogenic rupture of an early ovarian carcinoma can be expected to result in worsening the prognosis. The Department of Obstet. Gynecol. University of Göttingen, adopted the following procedure: 1. A (mini-) laparotomy with immediate section for microscopic examination is always performed on sonographically suspect ovarian tumours. 2. On smooth-walled unicamerate ovarian tumours > or = 3 cm which persist or fail to respond to treatment with oral contraceptives, (mini-) laparotomy is performed with complete extirpation of the cystic ovarian tumour and immediate section for microscopic examination; a conceivable alternative is, if possible, total pelviscopic extirpation of the ovarian cyst with immediate section for microscopic examination.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Hydronephrosis as the first symptom of primary metastasised breast cancer is described in two case reports. The literature regarding this topic is also discussed. Although retroperitoneal metastases are rarely found, patients with breast cancer should undergo a regular sonographic control of the kidneys, simultaneously with the routine ultrasound of the upper abdomen.