An improved method for recovery of muscle-stage larvae from mice infected with Toxocara canis.

We report a modified digestion method that improves the recovery of Toxocara canis larvae from skeletal muscle. Minced muscle tissue from infected mice was incubated in artificial gastric juice for 48 hr at 37 C, and ethanol was added for the second 24 hr. This procedure allowed the larvae to be identified and counted more quickly than with the standard digestion method. This method allows measurement of the total number of larvae present in muscle tissue following oral intubation of embryonated eggs, although it does not permit counting of live larvae.

[Evaluation of a method to determine the myocardial uptake from 123I-BMIPP myocardial SPECT and its significance].

We examined methods of calculating myocardial uptake (TU) of 123I-BMIPP by SPECT, and compared TU to heart function (ejection fraction (EF), cardiac output (CO), cardiac index (CI)) calculated by left ventriculography. Forty-two patients with acute myocardial infarction were classified into 5 groups; within 1 week (I), from 1 to 2 weeks (II), from 2 weeks to 1.5 months (III), from 1.5 to 3 months (IV) and more than 3 months (V) after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Chest depth (Tw) was calculated by measuring the thoracic absorption rate of 123I. In calculating TU, the myocardial count was calculated from short-axis tomograms, and then absorption was corrected using Tw to calculate each value on early-phase image (E) and delay-phase image (D). The influence of lung uptake on myocardial count was only 1.76%. When TU was compared to heart function, there were correlations between group I and group V. Especially in group V D-TU was a significantly correlated with heart function. In heart function CI, but not EF nor CO, was significantly correlated with TU. It was suggested that the correlation between TU and heart function reflected the infarct condition before PTCA in group I, and that the individual difference in recovery of fatty acid metabolism in group V. The significant correlation between D-TU and CI suggests that D-TU reflects heart function and fatty acid metabolism, although TU is influenced by differences in physical status.

[Strategy for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma].

Hepatocellular carcinoma is a refractory cancer for the following two reasons: the tumor characteristics, including formation of tumor thrombus in the portal vein, metastasis within the liver and multicentricity of growth; and liver function disturbance due to cirrhotic change by B- or C-type viral infection. The most desirable treatment is hepatic resection, the only method producing a disease-free condition. However, there are not many cases that meet the indications for hepatic resection, since they have advanced lesions and/or liver dysfunction. If one cannot perform a hepatic resection, other suitable therapies should be selected, including transcatheter arterial embolization, percutaneous ethanol injection therapy, ligation of hepatic artery, irradiation, chemotherapy from hepatic artery via reservoir and so on. Combined therapy may sometimes be necessary for satisfactory efficacy. For long-term survival it is very important to do a close follow-up study over a long period. This encourages us to detect new lesions earlier and then perform suitable therapy again. Notifying patients of the disease and obtaining informed consent are needed for this long-term follow-up and treatment. When patients were examined who had first undergone hepatic resection and then hepatic re-resection for recurrence, we found that their survival rate was not different from that in the non-recurrent cases. This result indicates that overcoming refractory hepatocellular carcinoma requires a multidisciplinary treatment in which hepatic resection is the main means.

[The relation between ECG findings and lesions of acute and old myocardial infarction in autopsy cases].

Sixty-four elderly autopsy cases with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were investigated in Nagoya Koseiin Geriatric Hospital. First AMI was observed in 35 cases, and recurrent AMI in 29. The primary causes of death were cardiac rupture and congestive heart failure in the first AMI and the recurrent AMI, respectively. The most frequent ECG findings before AMI were ischemic ST-T-change (57%) and Q-QS abnormality (41%) on the first and recurrent AMI, respectively. The ECG findings were normal in 6 (21%) of 29 recurrent MI cases. There was a tendency towards Q-QS abnormality in large size old MI, but not in small size MI. In 29 cases with recurrent AMI, the positional relationship between the old MI and the AMI was classified into 3 groups of different area, same area, and different and same area according to the Maccarie classification. The frequency in our cases was similar in the 3 groups. Ten cases with different area were further classified into 3 groups, i.e. opposite, adjacent, and opposite and adjacent. Opposite cases consisted of 4 (40%) cases, while opposite and adjacent consisted of 6 (60%). It is suggested that the recurrent AMI is more likely to be fatal when AMI occurs opposite to a previous lesion rather than adjacent to an old lesion.