Intracardiac Myxoma, Cerebral Aneurysms and Elevated Interleukin-6.

Cerebral aneurysms are well known to be associated with cardiac myxomas. The mechanism of cerebral aneurysm formation remains to be elucidated. Embolization of tumor particles in the vessel wall has been proposed as the likely mechanism for aneurysm formation. Recent reports suggest interleukin-6 (IL-6) may play a role as well. We describe a patient who presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage secondary to ruptured right middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysm and unruptured left MCA aneurysm. Subsequently, the patient was found to have an atrial myxoma and persistently elevated serum IL-6 levels. Transcranial Doppler monitoring showed multiple emboli in the right MCA vascular territory on day 1 after surgery but no recurrent embolization during the next 2 weeks on repeated tests. Elevated IL-6 levels were noted both on day 1 and on day 30. Our findings provide evidence that IL-6 elevation and not tumor embolization is likely the culprit for aneurysm formation in some patients with atrial myxoma.

Evaluating the reliability of the Attitudes to Randomized Trial Questionnaire (ARTQ) in a predominantly African American sample.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the reliability of the Attitudes to Randomized Trial Questionnaire (ARTQ) in measuring perceptions of cancer clinical trials in a predominantly African American (AA) sample in South Carolina (SC). METHODS: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cronbach's alpha estimates were used to assess the reliability of the ARTQ in a convenience sample of 315 participants (81.4 % AA) who were recruited from 2008 to 2013, and who live in eleven different counties in South Carolina with high rates of racial disparities in cancer mortality rates. RESULTS: Slightly more than half of the 315 participants had at least a college education (77.9 %), 84.8 % were female, and 53.1 % had an annual income of $40,000 or more. In this study, PCA confirmed that the ARTQ is unidimensional. Cronbach's alpha for the ARTQ was 0.86. CONCLUSION: The ARTQ displayed strong evidence of high statistical reliability. This analysis has great implications for future research because it represents the first test of reliability of the ARTQ in a predominantly African American sample and lays the groundwork for use of the ARTQ in future studies in diverse populations.

Neurovascular changes measured by time-of-flight MR angiography in cholesterol-fed rabbits with cortical amyloid beta-peptide accumulation.

PURPOSE: To test the hypothesis that narrowing of cranial blood vessels in cholesterol-fed rabbits is a function of the duration of the high cholesterol diet. Such neurovascular changes, caused by elevated serum cholesterol, are linked to stroke and Alzheimer's disease risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four groups of New Zealand White rabbits were studied. Six were fed a normal diet, 19 were fed a 2% cholesterol diet with 0.12 ppm copper in the drinking water for 8 weeks, 10 weeks, or 12 weeks. Time-of-flight (TOF) MR angiography (MRA) at 3 Tesla was used to measure arterial diameters in 11 vessels. Previously published data for amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) accumulation in the brains measured postmortem were correlated to vessel diameters. Ventricular volumes of rabbits were measured on group-averaged data. RESULTS: Several vessel diameters decreased with cholesterol diet duration. The posterior communicating arteries showed the largest significant effect. Abeta accumulation was inversely correlated with arterial diameter. Ventricular volumes between the normal diet and 12 weeks cholesterol-fed groups were not significantly different. CONCLUSION: Reduction in vessel diameter of medium-sized vessels but not large vessels was measured in these hypercholesterolemic rabbits. The vessel diameter narrowing and cortical Abeta deposition occurred before measurable ventricular enlargement.