[Current possibilities of the comprehensive diagnostic assessment in the differential diagnosis of inflammation and tumors of the spine cord].

The article discusses the differential diagnosis of transverse myelitis. An algorithm for the assessment of patients was given. The authors present two clinical examples demonstrating the role of the integrated neuroradiological approach in the differential diagnosis of difficult cases.

[Auditory and verbal agnosia in the left-handed patient: comparison of neuropsychological data, magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography]. / Slukhorechevaia agnoziia u levshi: sopostavlenie dannykh neiropsikhologicheskogo analiza, magnitno-resonansnoi i pozitronno- émissionnoi tomografii.

A case of the post-traumatic auditory-and-speech agnosia in a left-handed female patient is presented. The patient (a professional painter) showed satisfactory recovery in painting, speech production, reading and writing, whereas a severe deficit in auditory recognition of speech, melodies and rhythms persisted over time. She was also impaired in some aspects of visual recognition including prosopagnosia. To study this patient comprehensively, a neuropsychological assessment was combined with structural (magnetic resonance imaging-MRI) and metabolic (positron emission tomography--PET) data. Both PET and MRI revealed a large bilateral cortical damage in the medial basal cortex of the frontal, temporal and occipital lobes along with the anterior half of the lateral temporal cortex. In the left hemisphere the damaged area involved the whole temporal lobe, a large part of the occipital lobe and the opercular frontal and parietal regions. The relationship of the symptoms with the brain damage extension is discussed taking into account the left-handedness of the patient.

[Cerebrospinal fluid therapy in patients with central motor disorders]. / O likvoroterapii bol'nykh s tsentral'nymi dvigatel'nymi narusheniiami.

The authors relate new concepts of the mechanisms of the pathogenesis and compensation of central motor disorders of organic origin, based on experimental exploits of the I.P. Pavlov Physiological Department of the Institute of Experimental Medicine. It is shown that in these mechanisms, of paramount importance is the neurochemical component determining a considerable part of the symptomatology of neurological disorders and process of disturbed functions recovery. Based on the regularities discovered and studies of the properties of the convalescents" CSF, a method of its use has been developed in order to treat residual phenomena after brain stroke or craniocerebral injury. The authors describe the results of the clinical testing of that method, demonstrating its effectiveness in the treatment of chronic neurological patients.

[Clinico-immunologic parallels in evaluating the treatment of multiple sclerosis]. / Kliniko-immunologicheskie paralleli v otsenke lecheniia rasseiannogo skleroza.

Certain immunological parameters were examined over time in 54 patients afflicted with multiple sclerosis. Nonhormonal multimodality treatment methods including immunomodulatory remedies and corticosteroid hormones were employed. The total counts of T and B lymphocytes as well as their functional activity were found to be related to the disease stage. The pattern of changes in the main factors of immune responsiveness influenced by different types of therapy was established to be inconclusive. Based on an analysis of the clinico-paraclinical parameters it is concluded that conventional multimodality therapy including the use of immunomodulators may be administered both during disease remission and, in some cases, during its exacerbation.

[Transplantation of embryonal nerve tissues in the treatment of Parkinson disease]. / O transplantatsii émbrional'nykh nervnykh tkanei v lechenii parkinsonizma.

The authors describe the results of experimental studies of transplants of embryonal nervous tissues of man in the brain of adult animals. Base the use of transplantation of the embryonal dopaminergic structures for the treatment of patients suffering from parkinsonism. Provide the first results of the treatment of 2 patients suffering from parkinsonism by means of transplanting parts of the medium cerebral vesicle of human embryos. The observation period amounts to 6 months.

[Myelinotoxic activity of the serum in multiple sclerosis patients]. / Mielinotoksicheskaia aktivnost' syvorotki krovi u bol'nykh rasseiannym sklerozom.

The diagnostic significance of the myelinotoxic activity (MA) of the blood serum was studied in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The method was based on radiometric determination of 3H cholesterol utilization under the influence of blood sera in the culture of nervous tissue. The study involved 110 MS patients and 21 patients with other diseases of the nervous system. MA in the blood was observed in 86% of the MS patients and in only 14.7% of patients with non-demyelinating diseases. Clinico-laboratory correlations were determined. The method employed was found to be both diagnostically and prognostically valuable.

[Effect of tissue hypoxia on the structure of cerebral cortex neurons (light--electron microscopic study)]. / Vliianie tkenevoi gipoksii na strukturu neironov kory mozga (sveto-élektronno-mikroskopicheskoe issledovanie).

An examination of the cerebral cortex of rats exposed to sublethal doses of potassium cyanide has revealed changes in the neurons characteristic of the developing histotoxic hypoxia. The neurons of the large hemisphere cortex showed a pronounced hydropic reaction in their cytoplasm with prevalent involvement of the mitochondria. This form of the pathology was observed irrespectively of the duration of the animals live after the poisoning. In rats which survived for a longer time there appeared hyperchromic neurons the number of which gradually increased. This fact was interpreted as addition of the hypoxic state of the neurons to the cyanide intoxication: this was confirmed by development of signs characteristic of hypoxic hypoxia at this stage. The degree of the changes in the mitochondria was found to correlate with the depth of the impairment of vitally important neuron structures. The data obtained show that the primary morphological changes in the neurons develop in their cytomembranes. The degree of the impairment of the mitochondrial membranes can serve as a criterion of reversibility or irreversibility of the pathological process in the nerve cells.

[Early changes in the cerebral cortex in acute ischemia (light--electron microscopic study)]. / Rannie izmeneniia kory mozga pri ostroi ishemii (sveto-élektronno-mikroskopicheskoe issledovanie).

Studies on the cortex of rats during different periods following ligation of the carotid arteries demonstrated an early appearance of ischemic changes, which were characterized by different states of the nervous cells, glial elements and capillaries. The largest group consisted of neurons of the deep cortical layers, which showed reactive states of the nucleus and nucleoli, as well as signs of chromatolysis in the cytoplasma. Less distributed form of pathology involved changes of the "dark" type, involving small stellite and pyramidal neurons of the upper cortical layer. Changes of the glial elements may be mainly considered as signs of oedema and partial melting. These changes demonstrate not only a different sensibility of neurons of the upper and lower cortical layers, but different mechanisms of the structural regulation in the cell metabolism, providing its optimal level and organization for each functional state.

[Reactions of neurons and neuroglia of the cerebral cortex at different times during a post-hypoxic state]. / Reaktsiia neironov i neiroglii kory mozga v razlichnye sroki postgipoksicheskogo sostoianiia.

By means of optical and electron microscopy the authors studied some morphological symptoms of the glial reaction to hypoxia in different periods of a posthypoxic states. The obtained data were compared with neuron changes in compensatory-adaptative, reparative and pathological states developing during the same period. A study of the changes in the satellite glia was performed with a calculation of the number of nuclei and a subsequent statistical analysis of these data. The achieved data indicate that there is an increase of the amount of satellites around the neuron when the morphological signs of reparation are most expressed as well as changes of the ultrastructure in the satellites. Such facts may speak of an active involvement of the neurons in reparation. The achieved data are discussed in the aspect of their connection with astrocyte glia and oxidative metabolism.

[The dynamics of morphologic changes in the sensomotor cortex of rats with acute hypoxia and its sequelae]. / Dinamika morfologicheskikh izmeneniia sensomotornoi kory krys pri ostroi gipoksii i ee posledstviiakh

The authors studied by light optical methods the dynamics of morphological symptom of functional and organic changes of neurons in the sensomotor cortex, in paraphine and semithin layers of the cortex of postmortem cases in white rats who had suffered from acute hypoxial hypoxia with a subsequent survival from 0--4 hours. These data were correlated with electronomicroscopic studies as well as with biochemical data presented in current literature. On the basis of such information the mechanism of cellular polymorphism changes as well as the pathogenesis of irreversible shifts in the brain cortex during hypoxia or discusse. The results of such studies may serve to a certain degree as a morphological basis for a clarification of pathomorphological changes in early and late neurological symptoms in the post reanimation periods in humans. Evidently, such data may promote an eleboration of therapuetical and prophylactical measures, preventing the development of irreversible changes in the brain due to hypoxia.