Changes in brain volume after EC-IC bypass surgery.

We studied changes in brain volume on magnetic resonance imaging in 10 patients with and without EC-IC bypass surgery who met the inclusion criteria for the Japanese EC-IC bypass trial, a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, prospective study of patients with hemodynamic brain ischemia due to cerebral artery occlusive disease. We also examined the association of cerebral hemodynamics on single photon emission computed tomography with the changes in brain volume. As a result, the affected/unaffected ratio of the % brain volume declined in patients without EC-IC bypass surgery (p < 0.02, n = 4), and the affected/unaffected % rCBF ratio increased in patients with the surgery (p < 0.03, n = 6). Acetazolamide reactivity increased in the affected hemisphere of patients with surgery (p < 0.01). And also two-year increase (decrease) in acetazolamide reactivity of the affected hemisphere showed a significant positive correlation with 2-year changes in the affected/unaffected % brain volume ratio (R2 = 0.737, p = 0.0007). Change in acetazolamide reactivity might be a good predictor for brain atrophy in cerebral artery occlusive disease.

Standardization of laboratory data and establishment of reference intervals in the Fukuoka Prefecture: a Japanese perspective.

Standardization of 22 clinical chemistry analytes and five serum protein constituents has been performed in the Fukuoka Prefecture, which has a population of approximately five million. The standardization project was established to determine reference intervals for these analytes by educating physicians, medical technologists and staff of medical institutions, and by daily or monthly monitoring the use of common control samples through e-mail. Standardization extended to 97% of the institutions in the prefecture. Results for 14 of the 22 clinical chemistry analytes have become highly reliable and differences between institutions decreased. Standardization of other analytes is now in progress. Regional collaboration based on international guidelines led to a significant improvement in interlaboratory comparability. Areas where further improvements are needed have been identified.

[An autopsy case of pulmonary embolism due to renal angiomyolipoma in an elderly woman].

An 86-year-old woman with a 13-year history of hypertension was admitted because of consciousness disturbance, hypotension, tachycardia, and cyanosis at her extremities. Enhanced computed tomography showed a thrombus in the truncus pulmonalis and right pulmonary artery, and also showed a left renal mass and a right renal cyst. Under a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism we started anticoagulant therapy, but the patient died five days after admission. At autopsy, a saddle-like thrombus was found in the truncus pulmonalis and bilateral trunks of pulmonary arteries. Microscopic examination showed smooth muscle cells in the thrombus. We could not find any other thrombus in the inferior vena cava, intrapelvic veins, nor in veins of lower extremities by milking. We also found tumors in both kidneys. Microscopically all tumors were diagnosed as angiomyolipoma. There were many fibrin thrombi in the sinuses of the tumors but there was no evidence of malignancy. We finally diagnosed pulmonary embolism due to renal angiomyolipoma because there was no other thrombus origin and microscopically the same smooth muscle cells were found both in the renal tumor and the pulmonary thrombus. There is only one case report concerning pulmonary embolism due to renal angiomyolipoma which happened during operative treatment. The treatment method of renal angiomyolipoma is determined by tumor size and symptoms, and usually intensive treatment is not performed in cases without symptoms. Our patient had no symptoms until the onset of severe complication of pulmonary embolism, suggesting that radical treatment is necessary for renal angiomyolipoma with a thrombus even when there are no symptoms.

[Detection of exercise induced left ventricular asynergy by two-dimensional echocardiography (author's transl)].

In order to detect an exercise induced asynergy, cross-sectional echocardiography was performed during multistage maximal bicycle ergometer stress test in the supine position. 1) Left ventricular (LV) asynergy occurred earlier than or simultaneously with the appreciable ST segment change. 2) In patients with angina, LV asynergy appeared in the area of dominant coronary stenosis, while ST depression was seen in V3-6 as well as II, III and aVF, despite of the localized area of asynergy. 3) In patients with myocardial infarction, LV asynergy increased or extended over or around the infarcted area except one case, ST segment elevated in the leads over the infarction with abnormal Q waves and depressed in the reciprocal leads. These observations revealed that ST depression does not necessarily mean an occurrence of new ischemia over the corresponding area in myocardial infarction. Thus exercise cross-sectional echocardiography was demonstrated to be a good method to detect an exercise induced ischemia and would be particularly valuable in view of the coronary artery bypass.